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| Logic: the Processing: Cardlist | Visual spoiler | Export | Booster | Comments | Search | Recent activity |
| Mechanics | Foreword |
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History: [-] |
A qualitype is additional qualifier that goes on the type line. They have no inherent rules or effects, but they may be referenced by abilities. Rather they are used as qualifiers to group or identify cards via flavor, lore, association, etc.
Each qualitype for a card is separately enclosed by angled brackets <>. They appear after subtypes.
Ex. Fire may be a qualitype. It may appear on any card type, such as Instant - <Fire>, and Enchantment - <Fire>, and Creature - Elemental <Fire>. An ability may say for instance " spells cost 1 less."
Q: There may not be enough room on the type line.
A: That is a flaw with Magic card frame. On the Vogon frame, the type line runs almost the entire vertical height of the card, which is 40% longer than the width.
Actually idea was inspired by Shadowfist's designators. Shadowfist cards may have additional designators printed in bold at the top of the rules box. Other card games do something similar. Guardians CCG put additional qualifier words in bottom right of rules box.
So.. this is 'subtype' then?
The big overlapping ball of types thing is indeed something a lot of other CCGs do. It tends to end up as "This is the type I care about, and here's a bunch of others I ignore" Maybe that's OK? It can certainly be flavourful. (Ice, entry, Observer, Dog...)
I suggested years ago that fire, water, night, lawful etc. could be supertypes without associated rules . Subtypes are obviously tied to cardtypes - which has some issues when you try to fit the type on both instants and Elemental creatures -, but supertypes are fine. You can have "Fire Creature - Elemental" on a type line.
I don't think it's necessarily the best way to go, but it's an option I keep in mind since I'm cultivating a side project that wqill introduce flavor-only subtypes to all card types.
One thing to consider is whether this makes you consider a GCTU-like overhaul, because right now neither Fire Elemental nor Fire Ball are fire spells (or "<Fire> spells" in your notation).
Every detail you add to a card even as trinket text/subtype/qualifier may make the card less reprintable e. g. because a qualitype the card wouldn't have under the old system doesn't fit the new setting. Other issues may take the form of the Dryad Nymph issue, where you create redundant typing.
Since you are considering "flavor, lore, association, etc.", do you have anything in mind other than Elements? For Elements particularly I have a very out-of-the-box solution.
I don't disagree on keeping things simple from WotC's side - doubly for a product with a paper trail.
Guilds, wedges, shards may be qualitypes.
Qualities linked by pattern. Ex. <Cantrip>, <Charm>
Planeswalker possessive tense. Ex. Creature - Illusion <Jace's>
Yeah... stuff like Character Identity Words.
"Guilds, wedges, shards" is weird since two of them describe in-universe concepts and once is a term for a certain set of color combinations. Why would colors need to be codified as "qualitypes" rather than just as colors.
And the in-universe qualitypes create questions: No one will argue Selesnya Guildmage qualifies as Selesnya, but is Heroes' Reunion? Is Dark Heart of the Wood Golgari? Is Mortify Orzhov or Sorin's?