tech13: hello ryan
RyanM: Howdeeee
tech13: i dig the new set
RyanM: Thanks!
RyanM: we had a blast working on it

Darth_Marth: I weep for the destruction player.
Darth_Marth: Good set though

RyanM: how long has it been out in your area?
Darth_Marth: 14 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds here
tech13: i had it yesterday
tech13: opened 6 boxes :)
RyanM: NICE!

Darth_Marth: I have a question. I don't quite know how to put this, but...when can we start looking for Blanket of Lies fiction?
RyanM: That's a good question, and I'm afraid I don't have an answer right now. We have some guys working on fiction though.
Listen2Reason: I think you put that quite well.

tech13: btw ryan , when are the pages and deckboxes coming out.. i was under the assumption that they would come with our BOL shipment
RyanM: yeah, we've had a lot of issues with those two products
RyanM: I'm not sure when we will get those out, unfortunately
tech13: are we talking weeks?
RyanM: could be :(
Darth_Marth: I happen to have just the thing for this. The tacklebox I use to carry my stuff has slots just the right size for my Hec decks.
tech13: at least tell me this.. tell the pages just arent 4 pocket pages like the ultrapro ones
Listen2Reason: Necessity is the mother of invention, it seems.
RyanM: 4 was the max we could fit on a page
tech13: well i realize this but i want a custom holder so they stand up straight
RyanM: Ahh...yes, they hold them straight
RyanM: got some samples right here at my desk
tech13: ive googled them to death to find pics of them
RyanM: heh, as soon as I'm allowed, I will post some
tech13: 844 rares.. i need some sheets ;)
Listen2Reason: "Googled to death"...curious mental image.
* tech13 is being impaled by the google logo

Listen2Reason: so...are you Feeling Lucky?
RyanM: heh, yeah, this game is a blast to concept for
tech13: ryan check those out: http://www.mr-egos.com/heca12.jpg
RyanM: NICE tech!
tech13: thanks.. ok im done being a link whore ;)
Darth_Marth: When I saw how many gods there were in that collection, I shouted every obscenity I could think of.
tech13: hehe
Listen2Reason: Wow.
tech13: im up to 124 now ;)
RyanM: too many gods for ya?
tech13: lets just say i really like the game
WizO_KiRin: ne can never have enough gods. ;)

RyanM: Some of the ones in the next set are pretty freakin cool
Darth_Marth: Does that set have a name yet?
tech13: set 4
tech13: hehe
RyanM: not yet
Listen2Reason: Does it have black-hearted fey?

Darth_Marth: Is The Hive (god) supposed to be the thematic Insectoid overlord? I like to theme my decks.
RyanM: Yep, he's the god of the insectoids

Darth_Marth: I couldn't find anything about this. Aside from being treated as relics, do relic minions have any special rules (ie: can you play them as relics instead of as minions)?
RyanM: no, no special rules

tech13: i just want to make sure hecatomb is gonna be around for awhile considering all the money i've put into it
Darth_Marth: You'll keep them in business! XD
RyanM: hehe
tech13: well i hope i do my part
tech13: i whore it out enough around here
RyanM: lol
tech13: tell me at least it'll last til next year

Nihimancer: you probably already got a lot of this since I'm late in, but congrats on BOL, Ryan. its awesome.
RyanM: thanks nihimancer!
RyanM: It's been a while since I've worked on it, I've spent the last few months working on EX3

Nihimancer: ooh... shiny. whats the theme for the next one gonna be?
RyanM: I'm not sure what I can talk about just yet...
RyanM: it has something to do with vampires though....
tech13: tell me someone is stabbing tom cruise in a card?
Listen2Reason: Interesting...
tech13: hehe
RyanM: I stabbed him once, but I don't think we got it on a card
tech13: hahaha
cobralight: WOW COOL!! HOORAY on the vampires! Thanks for the little hint,
Darth_Marth: I read in a magazine that it was about urban horror and stuff. But I don't know how accurate that is.
tech13: frankenstein and crew
Listen2Reason: stabbing Tom Cruise ftw.
Nihimancer: I guess it probably isn't going to be spilt the day after the last one was released.

Darth_Marth: What's everyone's favorite doom?
tech13: GREED DARTH GREED
tech13: hehe
tech13: jk
RyanM: hehe yeah, that's right
Nihimancer: Corruption (actually deceit, I'm lying)
tech13: i like them all
Listen2Reason: Deceit, and a bit of Greed...I like the Animates. ;)
RyanM: I play a lot of greed now that BOL is out, Nephrodyte is a lot of fun
Darth_Marth: I like corruption. Hate greed. Wonder if there's anything to this opposing dooms thing.
tech13: that with Tepaphone and Aura Projector sounds cool
RyanM: Megavore is also very good, especially with the Krakon
tech13: Megavore is cool
Nihimancer: yeah... Megavore is killer.

Listen2Reason: Do you have a FFL?
RyanM: Not yet, the game's a bit young for FFL
RyanM: we are almost always playtesting the new set though
Listen2Reason: Ah, okay then. :)

Goro Onikuma

RyanM: Anyone have a favorite BOL card yet?
Nihimancer: my favorite card from the new set is Goro Onikuma. I'm hoping I get a couple in my first bunch of boosters.
Darth_Marth: Same here, but mainly because he's an oni, and I felt Amatsu deserved a follower.
tech13: shredding
RyanM: hehe, did you get his flavor text?
Listen2Reason: Not sure yet.
Nihimancer: Yup XD
robanke: yea
* tech13 looks
Listen2Reason: I got it. ;)
robanke: 11 years in japan
RyanM: nice
robanke: translation
RyanM: when I sent it to the editor, he had to research that one to make sure I spelled it right

RyanM: I wrote most of the flavor text for the set, and I had a lot of fun with it
RyanM: there are some funny ones, some creepy, and some gross
Darth_Marth: I prefer the creepy stuff to the gross stuff.
tech13: nothing beats destroy the mall yet.. or so ive seen
Nihimancer: I like Psi-Gorgers flavour.
RyanM: yeah, I try to keep the jokes down, they are fun but too many hurt the feel of the game

ronincyberpunk: I have to say I would love to get Binarius' art as an avatar... are we getting any BoL avs?
RyanM: Yep, as soon as the art gets to the online team
tech13: Majestic 12 is a GREAT card
RyanM: he is one of my favorite art pieces too
ronincyberpunk: I also love Reverend Koptick
Darth_Marth: I still say that's Matrix code in Binarius's picture.
ronincyberpunk: The Reverend
* ronincyberpunk nods
ronincyberpunk: I'm with everyone else so far, only positive things to say about it
RyanM: yeah, I saw Koptick's art early on, it stood out!
* tech13 will never get a horsehead cause hes confused with all those puzzles

Darth_Marth: Am I crazy, or are there no mutants in this set? I would have expected some, perhaps the result of an alien experiment gone horribly RIGHT.
RyanM: we gave a few races some vacation time, to make room for the new aliens

Darth_Marth: I haven't looked at all the cards yet. I know there's an Agent, but are there any men in black with sunglasses?
tech13: i dont think so
RyanM: We chose a different direction with the MIB's
ronincyberpunk: do tell
tech13: just men in hazmat like suits
RyanM: I wanted to make them more Hecatomb
RyanM: so instead of black suited men
RyanM: we went with the creepy, gas-masked men
* ronincyberpunk nods
RyanM: instead of wiping your memory when you have seen aliens
RyanM: they just kill you
WizO_KiRin: Much simpler that way.
RyanM: hence the term ""contamination""
ronincyberpunk: I like it

"Weather Balloons"

Darth_Marth: I think Runic Sorcerer is too powerful with the "Weather Balloons" and some relic minions.
tech13: darth: good luck getting that to make u win everytime
Darth_Marth: Who said I was going to use it? ;p
RyanM: yeah, the weather balloon was much stronger, I like where it ended up though
Listen2Reason: I like how "Weather Balloons" is in quotes...I'd like to see more nontraditional card names.
Nihimancer: weather balloon does cost 6, so it deserves to be a little open for abuse.
Nihimancer: I think
RyanM: yeah, the balloon used to cost 3, and it was just wrong
tech13: ballon at 3 is silly
tech13: hehe
Nihimancer: ouch
RyanM: yeah, Steve Warner build that deck, and it was sick
ronincyberpunk: wow
ronincyberpunk: Yeah

ronincyberpunk: Ryan, what are your thoughts on Hastur? I've heard all around that people consider him to be too powerful. Especially in the new 60 card decks, he is a guaranteed 6 drop.
RyanM: We playtested hastur more than just about any card,
RyanM: and given his total consistency, I think he's just about right
ronincyberpunk: Was he weaker originally or stronger? How did he change?
RyanM: he was weaker, he used to double all combat damage
RyanM: nobody wanted to play him
Darth_Marth: I wish there were more ways to get rid of gods. I mean, I know most of them can't die, but still.
ronincyberpunk: I think he's good but not over powered
Nihimancer: Hastur is great. it was the lovecraftian stuff that broguht me into this game, and he's possibly the best so far.
RyanM: his art is interesting, there's a face right-side up and upside-down

ronincyberpunk: So, what can you tell us about the next set?
tech13: ryan: so do you see any tournament worthy deck possibilites in hecatomb or do you think its a fact that hecatomb is more random than some other CCGs?
RyanM: If anything, it's less random than most TCG's, since you draw 2 cards per turn
RyanM: the reason we went to 60 cards was to increase the randomness
RyanM: that's one of the things that makes TCG's exciting
tech13: i guess what im saying is, that we havent seen any ""jitte"" type decks like in magic

Listen2Reason: I think it would be cool to see more artwork that looks different in some special way when you play it in the mana zone.
RyanM: There are some decks in Hecatomb that are pretty tough to beat
ronincyberpunk: Loki FTW
tech13: loki is a cheap win :)
RyanM: some that I haven't seen in the tourney scene yet...
Listen2Reason: I don't think we WANT to see a 'Jitte' in Hecatomb...>_>
tech13: i dont want that either
ronincyberpunk: And tech, you can say all you want about Loki, I'll just smile and win
RyanM: we have several decks here at WOTC that I don't think have been discovered yet
tech13: so share :)

Darth_Marth: I want my corruption Soulbound minions, and I want them NOW!
RyanM: hehe
tech13: hehe.. thats the only way u'll beat my namtar deck ;)

NUIT

Darth_Marth: Have you found a good way to use Nuit?
RyanM: Nuit is amazing....give her a try!
RyanM: we had to tone her down big time
Nihimancer: with the nuclear strike, fate exhuming and stuff... you might be able to deck your opponent, then restack your deck with NUIT. maybe...
* tech13 wishes he had access to WOTC deck lists
Darth_Marth: Well, what's she do? I confess I'm not getting it.
Darth_Marth: OH!
Darth_Marth: It's her Coming-into-play ability!
RyanM: Nuit is good because every card you play with her ability is like drawing a card
ronincyberpunk: Nuit = acceleration for Destruction
tech13: i wish she said ""shuffle target players deck into there graveyard""
RyanM: hah
RyanM: that would be teh broken
ronincyberpunk: Nuit = Destruction's middle game god
tech13: ;)
Darth_Marth: Oh, duh! How did I miss that!
ronincyberpunk: Destruction is weakest in the middle game and Nuit is there to help them by giving them more of a draw effect and thus try to strengthen their middle game.
Darth_Marth: I thought destruction sucked in the early game too?

ronincyberpunk: Here's a question for you Ryan, for the next big set, V, is it going to be a remake of I like another unnamed game's core sets? Or is it going to be a new set?
* ronincyberpunk watches Ryan's head asplode
RyanM: It's going to be a new set
ronincyberpunk: Oh cool :)

Listen2Reason: So the background story says there are 'uncounted parallel Earths'...how alike are they? Do they differ a lot? Is the Husker world just a massively different parallel Earth?
RyanM: The basic storyline is as follows:
RyanM: The Greys are master manipulators, and they have pitted the insectoids against the huskers for hundreds of years
RyanM: they take the strongest warriors that emerge from that war and use them as soldiers in their invasions
RyanM: Some grey endbringers managed to end their world, and now have hopped into ours, bringing their minions with them
Darth_Marth: Will the protagonist of the next fiction be one of us, or one of them.
Listen2Reason: Wow.
Darth_Marth: This is like totally the opposite from the d20 Modern story. There, the grays are friendly. Not here I guess.
RyanM: yeah, we wanted the greys to be more evil, more hecatomb
* ronincyberpunk nods
ronincyberpunk: It's good stuff
RyanM: I like how the grey's head is not attached to its body
Listen2Reason: A bit like Delta Green. ;)
RyanM: The huskers are a bit hard to kill, when they die, their spirit (or Anima) hovers nearby and can sometimes reinhabit it's old body

tech13: so i have a question.. where is the promotional card P8.. i have P7 and P9?
RyanM: P8 is for the endbringer league, and is an alternate art version of Nhandu
tech13: sweeeeeeeeet
Darth_Marth: Hey, our tournament organizer hasn't been very good at getting the EL packages. Will there be any way we can order the promos we've missed in the future?
RyanM: If we have them to spare, I would like to get them out to the players that want them, one way or the other

ronincyberpunk: Ryan, I don't suppose you can tell us anything about the next set?
RyanM: Hey Ronin, not much to say at this point, it's an urban setting with vampires...lots of good stuff!

RyanM: Have you guys had the chance to play much of the set yet? What do you think of the spawn abilities?
tech13: i think its nice to have a set like BOL.. does wonders for the game
* tech13 hasent made a deck yet
ronincyberpunk: I haven't got to play it yet, I get my cards tomorrow or Monday, but the theory of it looks great.
ronincyberpunk: I already had a guy ask about Vamshuul and Spawn, and we got it answered just in discussion about it
tech13: it was me
ronincyberpunk: I know :) But I wasn't gonna point you out for asking
Nihimancer: my cards aren't even gonna be in stock until the 10th next month XD but I've ordered em.
tech13: i guess our store orders the most hecatomb of any other store from this distributor :)
tech13: not just cause of me either
tech13: hehe
RyanM: nice
RyanM: we need more of that!
tech13: im all for it ryan
tech13: i want to see it last

Darth_Marth: What about werewolves? Will the next set have werewolves?
Listen2Reason: I'm still wondering about the black-hearted fey...;)

ronincyberpunk: Well I can safely say I'm doing my darndest to get the game going
tech13: we arent even a premeire store yet (cause wotc is SLOOWWW) so i run my own endbringer league and give away promo cards of my own i bought off ebay

ronincyberpunk: Ryan, I don't suppose you can tell us how the game is doing sales wise according to projections and goals? I'd assume not, but I figure I may as well ask.
RyanM: Yeah, that sort of stuff would get me into trouble...the greys are always watching!
ronincyberpunk: I figured :)

Darth_Marth: I have this wicked idea of what I'd like the booster packs to look like, where it has a filmstrip on the front (alluding to horror movies and all that).

ronincyberpunk: So, are you guys hiring *wink wink nudge nudge*
tech13: go ronin go!
tech13: hehe
RyanM: Nice!!
tech13: ronin u work for us ;)
Listen2Reason: I'd like to see a zombie in a business suit...
RyanM: I think we need some cultists
RyanM: Maybe some mutants too
ronincyberpunk: tech, Hey I love answering q's but I have to ask
RyanM: I'm an outsider myself
Listen2Reason: here I thought you were an alien...
tech13: im a reaper baby!
Acetv: You guys are nuts.

RyanM: Well gang,I must get back to work
RyanM: It's always a blast talking with you

ronincyberpunk: One more question!
RyanM: what's that horseman?
ronincyberpunk: Have you been reading the thread with people's ideas?
RyanM: Yep, i read those threads, lots of fun stuff in there!!
ronincyberpunk: Awesome :) Wasn't sure if the great ideas would get seen.

tech13: thanks ryan
Listen2Reason: You can come by and chat with us anytime, Ryan. ;)
Acetv: Thanks, Mr. M.
Nihimancer: thanks loads Ryan
cobralight: THANKS for your time Ryan, always a pleasure!

tech13: ryan
RyanM: yep
tech13: keep hecatomb alive :)

ronincyberpunk: Thanks for the time Ryan, it's always good to hear from you!
WizO_KiRin: Ryan, thanks so much for being with us!
Darth_Marth: bye bye
Listen2Reason: Thanks again Ryan!
RyanM: Night all!
Nihimancer: night
Acetv: Heh
tech13: whooosh
Nihimancer: right... bye all
tech13: damn greys
Darth_Marth: farewell
tech13: :)
Listen2Reason: Well, all this talk about gruesome aliens, undead, mutants and stuff was fun...
Listen2Reason: Now I need to go get some dinner
Listen2Reason: Night all!
Acetv: Cya everyone, back to annihilating the innocent...