Digital Card Central

Even though the release of the new Force Awakens cards has been awesome, the really intriguing thing that I want to talk about has nothing to do with that directly. Smuggler’s Den is a new feature on the game, and I wanted to spend some time going through some of my thoughts.

Background

Base cards, as a whole, have pretty much been played out as much as possible – save one new element I discussed earlier last week. Thanks to hoarding contests, base cards have a new life in the app, and I have a feeling that was partially why something like this feature was even discussed. With many of the week 1 base counts reaching past one million now, the apps potential depends on doing something worthwhile with those cards.

Additionally, the trade in experience provides a way to launch releases that havent been possible in the past, of which I definitely have some ideas. Up until this point, SWCT has been about opening packs and collecting sets. With the addition of Smuggler’s Den, those two main elements go into hyper drive.

Exchange Rates

If you are just looking to trade in your base to complete sets, here is how it works.  Yellow to Gold seems a bit costly at first, but when you actually take a look at how many of them you have, you might want to figure out how to migrate your cards up the scale to complete the offer. Many of the golds are still rare by base card standards, and that makes them good trade bait for trading on the feed as throw ins.

• Yellow to Gold: 20 cards
• Red to Yellow: 10 cards
• Blue to Red: 5 cards
• White to Blue: 5 cards

I would guess white to white is coming, although its not guaranteed. Similarly, you can only trade in cards of the same guy to the same guy, so its not like you can trade in someone you dont hoard for someone you do – yet. It would really be a shame if character transfer trades werent eventually in the cards.

Ideas

In the article’s recent updates, some of the ideas I was going to suggest have already been added. This includes trading in base for monument inserts and other things like that. Here are some other ideas I have been playing around with, things that I believe would be a lot of fun.

• Set Collections – Make award cards instantaneous when you can collect the whole set. Forget waiting for the card, it will make completing the whole set early much more attractive. Since the den reduces card count, it will also come with a penalty. Sure – you will have your award early for trading purposes, but you will also lose a copy of your set. Similarly, if the offer does not expire, the value of dead cards could stay a bit higher, knowing that you can retrieve the offer at any time. However, as mentioned before, it means sacrificing your set to do it after the deadline.
• Base Variants – It would be awesome to trade in an entire gold set and get a new color variant of your favorite character. Its expensive enough that only certain people will use the offer, but worth a shot. Similarly, trading in sets of base for nice rewards would be awesome, especially if you could trade in a character “rainbow” (all base colors) for a cool card. I could also see trading in your base cards for all sorts of different things, and packs should be one of those available rewards. If available, Boba Fett packs should be a trade collectors can make.
• Coin Rewards – You could include coin redemptions in packs that would be traded in through the Den. Think about pulling a 250k coin redemption that you could either trade for some major goods on the feed, or redeem for the reward? That would be awesome. In another fashion, putting bounties out on certain cards would be really cool, especially for people who open a lot of packs. Say something like, “the first person to pull and trade in XXXX card will get 500k coins. The next 10 people will get 50k, and the next 100 will get 10k.”
• Pack Rewards – Similar to coin rewards, redemptions for free packs should be a great way to use the den. This could provide some added reason to keep busting packs, especially if you know that you could get a card for a free pack or more.
• Insert Variants – When chasing a set, there are a lot of times when you pull multiple cards of a certain type, especially if the counts are high. For Icons, I had at least 3 of each. Would have been cool to be able to do something with those extras that I wasnt trading to complete my set. I could also see trading in multiples of a Vintage or a Widevision for a special variant or award card. The great thing about Smuggler’s den is multiple different offers could exist at once. You could even structure it like light vs dark side, depending on which trade you want to do. Then, based on your first trade, other offers would populate. Choose your own adventure type thing.

The main issue with using offers is that you have to make the choice between keeping the card or redeeming it. We saw that with the premiere set, only a handful of people were willing to give up their cards for the villain award, and that was a real dilemma those individuals faced. Ultimately, the best offers in the den will be creating cards that are worthless on their own to hold onto, and very valuable when traded in. Coin and pack redemptions are similar in that respect.

Neil Kleid, who oversees all the design elements of the apps has mentioned puzzle cards, which will definitely function in that fashion. As long as the cards are tradeable, the dilemma will exist. This tension is key to the success of this feature. Do I trade in the card for myself, or trade it away for something I want? Therein lies the question.

I think its safe to say that you cant swing a dead cat in the feed without hitting a post that is saying they are hoarding something. Hoarding has become so much a part of the trade economy, that the app has even started providing reward cards for the users that can gather the most of a certain card. Here are some thoughts on the subject.

Background

The word hoarder never used to apply to the base cards the way they do now. In fact, closer to weeks 5 and 6 from launch, hoarding applied more towards certain users who had found ways to stock up on some of the most valuable cards in the game. These are the guys who had 10 Vintage Han cards, coupled with their 15 Widevision Obi Wans. That is just insane when you think about it, especially considering that these cards were at the peak of their value.

Around that same time, there were users who had started enormous collections of white common base cards, and were showing them off on Twitter and other outlets. The concept of being the quintessential collector of a certain character’s card started to spread from that point. Eventually Topps rightfully wanted to reward the tedious work that these users had put in, and offered the first monument card – Darth Maul. The top 20 hoarders would get their time in the sun, and it would provide incentive to everyone who wanted to start their own collection.

Benefits of Hoarding/Hoarders

Let me start off by saying that I think hoarding is a good thing for SWCT. It provides a use for base cards that never existed before, and anytime base cards have added value, im all for it.

Similarly, it adds a banner to the user’s profile, basically saying that as a user I am someone who identifies with X or Y. Because the faction affiliation really doesnt offer much, hoarding has taken its place.

The best part of it is that there doesnt even have to be a monument in the works for people to want the card. People still hoard Darth Maul and the other monument cards just because they like the character. Its pretty impressive when you think about it.

Trading With Hoarders

As I mentioned above, I think hoarding is a good thing. However, I wont take up your quest unless I know you personally. If I know you, take whatever base cards you want, as long as you dont mind your trade sitting for a while if I am offline. I dont have a hoarding collection, so it doesnt bother me if my friends take some of my goods.

That being said, when I post on the feed, I dont like random people sending me hoard offers. Im fine accepting one or two trades, but any accepted trade signals to the user that the floodgates are open and that they shouldnt stop until its dry. That is just not cool.

I am horribly OCD about pending trades in my inbox, and I really dont want to open the app to find 15 pending hoard offers from people I dont know. In that same vein, I would advise against sending blind hoard offers too.

My suggestion is to send a note with your trade from the feed, just to see if there is something you and the person you are offering to can work something out. You might even want to ask how many of your hoard card they are willing to give up. Set expectations ahead of time.

How Should Topps Support Hoarders?

There are a lot of reasons why the monument cards got messed up, and it has caused some level of stress on the people who were owed those cards. More importantly, I believe there is a huge opportunity to take monuments a bit further.

If I were Topps, I would be adding special awards for collecting a ton of any one card. It would be better if the award could come with its own mini monument, a card generated when a user completes a designated hoard. If that isnt possible, coins work too. I just think it would add a lot to the game’s economy if Topps made hoarding a regular part of the reward system. Similar to collecting a complete set of base cards, users should get monument awards when they hit 1000 of a group of designated monument base cards.

You hoarded 1000 Han Solo base cards? An award is unlocked in your trophy case. You get a card to commemorate your achievement, and maybe a coin award. Same goes for Vader, and so on and so forth. Make it a thing. Do a new one every day or week.

Every so often another monument style chase like we have had with the few already would come around, but it would add validity to all those other people who are brave enough to hoard cards like Jocasta Nu.

I would suggest changes to the trade system to allow for more than 9 cards at a time, but I know that would be very difficult to do.

Either way, hoarding looks to be here for the long run, so its time to start getting more involved.

A few days ago, a set was released that many people have been waiting for, especially for the female collectors of the game. The demographics of the app are still likely dominated by males, but there are a lot of female users who are active. The “Women of Star Wars” set was released in the afternoon and sold out in less than 3 hours. With the volume of insert sets lately, that really doesnt happen anymore.

There was  a huge demand to commemorate the female characters from the movies and cartoons, mainly because of how skewed the checklist has been to the male dominated space opera. It should also go without saying that Princes Leia, Padme Amidala, Ashoka Tano, etc are incredibly popular among both sexes, and have demand regardless of a set of this nature. The question is, how does this impact the value of the set, knowing that if you arent in the app at the time of release, you wont get the cards?

For clarity’s purpose, here is what drives app demand in my opinion:

• Character subjects
• Universe (Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, Cartoons)
• Design
• Parallel Structure (fewer the better)
• Pack structure (cost and availability)
• Release schedule
• Marathon status
• Set reward
• Chases in progress at the time

Lets use Prism as a second example, because like WOSW, it sold out very quickly each time the cards came out. As a set that not only looked awesome, but featured top characters, it was clearly a favorite. The value of Prism remained high through the set’s release and the trade economy was fierce. Demand created huge value in the cards, even though there were many of the cards to go around. It wasnt like they were super limited.

It also happens that WOSW was also released when very few set packs were available. Thanks to the recent release of packs that had all inserts available, many of the older sets were cleaned out considerably. When a collecting app gets bored, any glimmer of a cool set will drive huge demand.

Either way, its very clear that the orchestrated release and pack structure of WOSW should be considered a huge success, and maybe this sort of approach be used after the eventual push that Force Awakens will likely get on or after Force Friday 9/4/15. Creating a huge demand has to be a major focus to ensure that users stay engaged, especially when we see that the recent sets of Icons, Posters of the Rebellion, and the like, have fallen relatively flat with the fan base.

Going to be interesting how things play out over the next few weeks for sure.

There are a lot of reasons why trading is more important on Star Wars than it is on any other app. Being that the word “trader” is part of the app’s title, the art of acquiring cards you dont have is a big reason why many people can be so successful in the app. There are really two ways to trade in the app, and here is how I approach both situations.

Blind Trading

If you dont know what I am talking about, blind trades are done by going to the main “all cards” sheet, selecting a card you are interested in, and clicking the trade button at the bottom. This will bring up a window where you can make an offer to multiple users at once, and not have to worry about going in individually and constructing your offer.

At the same time, it can be extremely risky, especially if you are offering to a user that has a ton of cards, and doesnt need what you are offering. It can lead to getting ignored, low rated, or any number of things. That doesnt mean it cant be incredibly successful, especially with cards that arent advertised on the fan feed as much. Its a great way to complete sets, especially if the card has a high count.

Here is how I approach blind trades:

• Always overpay. If you are asking someone for a trade unsolicited, you have to make it worth their while. Throw in some extra cards to sweeten the deal, and also to ensure that they dont put you on ignore.
• The people listed on top of the offers are always your friends, try to do those trades 1:1 as you likely added them for a reason. If you know the person, avoid sending them cards you might not know if they need or not.
• Pay attention to collection score. If someone has a collection score in the high 80s or above, the chances they need what you are offering is low. You could be offering on a set single, and that might mean your trade will be 1 starred. I usually target people in the 50s, 60s and 70s because I know there is less likelihood that they have cards I am going to offer.
• At the same time, you can try to offer on the larger score users, as they might have dupes they can spare. This is why blind trading is just that – blind.
• Its also IMPERATIVE you look at the trader rating counts of the users. If you are offering on card that is owned by someone with a low count of completed trades, they might not be in the app very often or at all. Your trade will just sit there and flare up your OCD when you see that “1” on your pending trade screen.
• Its customary to leave a note – even if its just one word. I am less likely to 1 star or ignore a blind trade if the user includes a note saying it was a blind offer.
• DONT BEG. DONT BEG EVEN ONE LITTLE BIT. I cant stress this enough.
• Be patient – these trades can take the full timer. Dont cancel a trade just because its been 15 minutes. Let them sit for hours.
• The best way I find to do it is overnight, as then the offers wont clog my trade inbox while other stuff is coming in. I wait until the people might have gotten up, as I know the first thing everyone does is collect their daily bonus.

I have gotten really lucky sometimes when you are in a pinch to complete a set. You need that last piece and you are tired of saying that you need it on the fan feed. I kind of use blind trades as a last resort. It does work though – especially if you make it worth their while.

Fan Feed Trade Offers

This is where things can get super hairy. Im not even kidding. You will find some of the craziest people in the app trolling the fan feed, and you need to be prepared for when that happens.

I would go into your text message spot, type up whatever your trade hook is, and get moving. The feed can be an exercise in futility, or it can be a windfall. You can get rich quickly, or start swimming in junk bonds. Schizophrenia doesnt even begin to describe.

Here is my approach:

• I like to take offers rather than make offers. Its easier to negotiate when you have the upper hand, and forcing people to make offers plays to that. If there is a card I need, I will definitely put some feelers out there, but as a rule, I like being the respondent rather than the offerer.
• Be vague in your hook, unless there is something specific you are only looking for. People who post super long and specific trade lists kind of bother me. Keep it short and sweet. Say what you need to say and leave the door open for those random trades that could end up being your big fish of the day.
• Again, as mentioned in the blind trade write up, the person making the offer should be prepared to overpay a little bit. Less so in the fan feed, but still make it a habit if you are the one making the offer. I see people say “fair trades only” in their hook, but that is like saying “pay me more than you should.” Just let convention speak for itself and dont be a jerk.
• New cards are always hotter than less new cards. Notice how I didnt say old cards, as there are a lot of old cards that continue to hold value regardless.
• Pay attention to card counts, but characters and sets matter too. A 3500 vintage is likely going to be worth more than the recent insert release to 1000. You never know.
• Dont be afraid to ask questions – send a same card trade with a note that asks the person on the feed what they are looking for. Even more so if the card is a big one.
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS review every card in the trade before hitting accept. There are a lot of scams out there where people will hide your nice cards in a bunch of junk so that you accept before reviewing. Great way to lose your parallels.
• If someone sends a horrible trade, dont berate them. Its not worth it. Just add a note that says, “sorry, no thanks.” and add them to ignore. If they are a brand new user, offer some help if you have the time.

I have more tips in the “Tips for Newbies” up at the top if you are interested. Keep in mind how difficult it can be to learn the unwritten rules, and you dont have to start from the top. There was a recent post on reddit that talked about someone starting with a white base card, and through a number of different trades, ended up with a Vintage Han. Dont try to trade nothing for something, as it will never work.

After all the golden rule of making offers is: If this trade were offered to me, would I accept it? If the answer is no, its time to retool your offer.