Decipher’s “Fight Klub” Tough to Decipher

The company behind the old Star Wars and Star Trek CCGs, which ran into various business issues in the past (that I assumed meant we had seen the last of them) is releasing… something. What is that something? It’s still fairly mysterious, but damn if it isn’t ambitious.

Let me see if I can try to parse what I read from the website. They’re making a new CCG. It will feature a bunch of licenses (as many as they can get their hands on) and, well, they won’t be the usual ones. (The one actual card I found on the site is from Reservoir Dogs.) It won’t be sold in stores; it will be shipped right from Decipher. You don’t buy booster packs, you buy “Kilos” which are 121 cards. It will have a pyramid scheme where you invite new players, and then receive a percentage of what they spend on cards. They’re encouraging viral marketing (and the whole thing has a viral marketing feel to it anyway.) There will be gangs/territories, like a cross between the RPGA regions and MMO guilds. Like all their previous games, they’re going to hire models to be their booth babes, a fact they advertise fairly prominently (way to immediately alienate an audience, Decipher.)

Completely absent from the site is ANYTHING ABOUT GAMEPLAY, other than a vague opening about it being a ” wonderful addition to your gaming lifestyle.” What you can find, however, are plenty of comments left from potential players who seem less than excited.

Without more info, of course, I can’t judge this on any level other than “ambitious.” I like the idea of a game with tons of licenses and some of the community stuff, but am completely put off by the models, pyramid scheme, and decision to cut out the Friendly Local Game Stores across the country who did so much for the company previously. Time will tell if non-digital CCGs are ready to make the jump to an internet-supplied business model.