After several retailer leaks last week, Ravensburger officially revealed the first expansion for Disney Lorcana, Rise of the Floodborn. The set, releasing in November, will feature another 204 cards and represent yet-unseen Disney franchises in the game, including Pinocchio, Zootopia, and Raya and the Last Dragon. Twelve new cards were revealed, including the delightfully themed Winnie The Pooh, Hunny Wizard, and a Floodborn Belle card tha💃t already has at least one member of TheGamer nervous. Also announced f⛎or December 1 is a new gift set called Disney Lorcana: Disney100 Edition, which includes six promo cards with original art by actual Walt Disney Animation studios animators. The Lorcana hype cycle has officially reengaged, and everything that’s been revealed for the next set looks exciting. So what’s there to complain about? Apparently, a lot.
I’ve seen quite a bit of criticism about the announcement over the last few days, some of which is expected, and some things I could never have anticipated people would have a problem with. Chief among the community's concerns, and the one I’m most sympathetic to, is the lingering frustration over the sparse availability of The First Chapter. Some people are finding it difficult to get excited about a new set when they’ve barely even been able to get their hands on the first one. Why look forward to all these amazing new Princess cards when a bunch of resellers lurking around Target are probably just going to buy all the packs before you can get there? For those who are cautiously optimistic about the future of Lorcana, I understand where you’re coming from.
But for some, that sentiment takes a weird left turn in their brains and goes off-roading somewhere I just can’t follow. It’s one thing to be disappointed about the limited availability of The First Chapter, but some people feel slighted that Ravensburger would even annouꦍnce another expansion amidst the shortage.
It’s hard to follow the logic there. It’s not as though Rise of the Floodborn could be delayed. TCGs are on a schedule, and Lorcana expansions are going to release three months apart from each other year round, come rain or shine. To support that release, there’s a cadence of marketing and communication with the players that is also necessary. Ravensburger can’t exactly wait a month for the next LGS restock before announcing the next expansion - especially✱ when details are getting leaked left and right.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of the bizarre criticism surrounding the RotF reveal though. I’m seeing complaints, based on the twelve cards revealed this week, that the next expansion has too much power creep. People are concerned that some of the new cards, along with the new keyword, R♐esist, are so powerful and impactful on the game, that they devalue all of The First Chapter cards they just invested in.
This isn’t a totally invalid concern, and it’s something that pretty much every live-service game has to contend with. It’s a natural part of any TCG, at least to some degree, but that doesn’t mean it's something we need to worry about today - especially based on just twelve cards.
Early reactions to The First Chapter were no different. People thought Evasive was going to be a completely broken keyword, but it turns out there’s plenty of ways to get rid of them, and none of the Evasive-focused decks are considered top-tier. We shouldn’t panic over a small collection of new cards just📖 because some of them seem stronger than cards we already have. Is Resist really that impactful when all of the top-tier decks rely on hard removal tools like Dragon Fire and Let it Go? Probably 🐭not.
What has been most interesting to see is the people that are upset that the expansion is coming so soon, irrespective of the supply problem. My partner had a similar reaction when I showed her the reveal, not angry, but shocked that more cards were coming so soon. It’s the double-edged sword of having a game that appeals to new TCG players. There’s a big community for the game that doesn’t understand the cadence of trading card games yet, and to them, it feels cards are coming way too fast. They haven’t finished collecting the first 200 yet and now they have to start thinking about the next 200, and they’re overwhelmed. I can see where they’re coming from, but this also wasn’t a surprise announcement. Ravensburger has said from the beginning that Lorcana will have four sets a year, and we’ve known that the next one is coming on November 17 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:since March. If you do𝓀n’t like that pace, may⛄be TCGs just aren’t for you.
I’m not going to make a habit of critiquing the community’s discourse. There’s always going to be a certain amount of negativity and bad faith arguing in any gaming community, and it’s not worth wallowing in it. But as the Lorcana community takes shape, it’s been fascinating watching what happens to the game’s collective consciousness. What kind of beliefs the people form, how familiar the trends are compared to otꦜher games, an🍃d the issues that players think are most important will all inform what the Lorcana community looks like in the future.
Seeing an irrationally negative reaction to an objectively exciting announcement is actually inspiring. Look at any game that has lasted many years, and you’ll see the same phenomenon. Other card games like Magic and🐼 Pokemon, as well as League of Legends, Diablo, Destiny, World of Warcraft, The Sims, and Halo are constantly pissing off their players. That’s not to dismiss fair criticism or say that these communities don’t have valid criticismsꦺ, but there’s clearly a pattern here of successful games having very vocal dissenters.
The worst thing for Lorcana woul🍌d have been indifference to the Rise of the Floodborn announcement. The fact that people are so angry about it, even though many of them are being ridiculous, shows that there’s a lot of passion for the game, and a diverse group of voices ൲engaging with it. If shitting on a game you love isn’t a sure sign of success, I don’t know what is.