The Death of Epic Duels – Prevention
As some of you may have noticed, as I have, the online Epic Duels community has been falling to the wayside as of late. The evidence is all there: no expansions planned (see this article with Rob Daviau from May of 2005: “http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/index.php?page=606”) no new posts in a month for the first time on the main yahoo group, participation in online tournaments is in decline, hardly any new decks have been created or discussed in recent months, and when you do a search of “epic duels” in google, the top 10 sites that pop up are all mostly “dead” sites that haven’t been updated in years. Most of the online Epic Duels content is scattered across the web among dozens of different sites. In short, if you do an internet search to learn more about the game, where do you go? Where is the “active” community?
The threat of this game and the online following coming to an end has always been there. How long would interest in an out-of-print board game with no hope of ever being expanded be sustained? One potential solution is to develop a “main hub” or centralized location for all known, online epic duels content. So, that when someone does a search, they’ll come to the main hub first and have an entry portal to the rest of the community. And what better place for such a page than “www.epicduels.com”? In discussing this offboard, several of us thought it would be great to put together a list of all of the available links of Epic Duels content, and list them by category. We’d put this sorted list on the frontpage of epicduels.com. This way, when you search “epic duels” in google, the first thing you get is epicduels.com, and all the categories with all of this great fan-made content.
And this is where all of us come into play. We need to come up with a list of links and categories to be included on the frontpage of epicduels.com. Just like all the other great ideas that get left by the wayside by corporate, capitalism (Firefly/Serenity anyone?), this is our chance to try to reorganize the online community and maybe, just maybe breath life back into a great game that Hasbro has forgotten about, and is on the verge of death. So, here is a start, if you see something that has been left off, chime in! If you think this is a good idea, chime in! Be sure to include the URL with any addition.
Potential Category Listings:
-Forums and Discussion Groups
-Epic Duels Online
-Fansites and Expansions
-Reviews and Articles
FORUMS and DISCUSSION GROUPS:
* Epic Duels Forum – Discuss the game in an easy to navigate thread-based forum
(http://www.epicduels.forumer.com)
* Epic Duels Yahoo Group – Discuss the game with Yahoo’s email and discussion group
(http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epicduels/)
* Boardgamegeek – Discuss the game specifically at the largest board game site on the web.
(http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekforum.php3?action=forumindex&objectid=3284&objecttype=game)
EPIC DUELS ONLINE:
* Epic Duels Online League – The yahoo group for playing online tournaments
(http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epic_duels_online_league/)
* Epic Duels Online League Expansion – An expansion for playing online tournaments
(http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epic_duels_online_league_expansion/)
* VASSAL – The engine used to play epic duels online
(http://www.vassalengine.org/community/index.php?option=com_vassal_modules&task=display&module_id=139)
FANSITES and EXPANSIONS
* Epic Duels Wiki – The largest source on the web for custom add-ons.
(http://epicduels.pbwiki.com)
* Rob’s Epic Duels – The creator and host of epicduels.com, his personal site has custom decks, strategies, rules clarifications and additional links
(http://epicduels.com)
* Aaron Shockley’s Epic Duels – Custom decks, strategies and more
(http://swepicduels.onestop.net/)
* ChrissieEric.com – A fansite with session reports
(http://chrissieeric.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=2)
* Dante's Epic Duels Expansions – Custom decks
(http://www.geocities.com/waidaat/epicduels.html)
* Dorkistan.com – From complete expansions to advice articles, Dorkistan.com is the full Epic Duels experience.
(http://www.dorkistan.com)
* Geektopia – Custom decks, session reports, analysis tools and more
(http://geektopia.cc)
* P.D. Magnus' Epic Duels Stuff – Custom decks, maps and more
(http://www.fecundity.com/pmagnus/epicduels/)
* Rich Pizor's Epic Duels Page – Custom decks, maps and more
(http://www.geocities.com/richpizor/)
* Scott Hagarty's Epic Duels Page Custom decks, strategies and links
(http://www.geocities.com/scotthagarty/StarWarsEpicDuels.html)
* Sean Jordan's Epic Duels Page – Analysis and Strategy
(http://epicduels.sean-jordan.com/)
* Tim Lennox's Epic Duels – Custom decks, maps, scenarios and more
(http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/lennoxtim/myhomepage/index.html/SWed.htm)
REVIEWS and ARTICLES:
*Amazon.com – An online retailer with user reviews
(http://www.amazon.com/STAR-WARS-Epic-Duels-Game/dp/B00005YXWQ)
* Answers.com - An in-depth review, with links to other ED related material. (http://www.answers.com/topic/star-wars-epic-duels)
* Boardgamegeek.com - Comments from world-wide gamers, with pictures to boot.
(http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284)
* Chat 11.com – A quaint review
(http://www.chat11.com/Star_Wars_Game_Epic_Duels)
* The Dice Tower – Interview with Rob Daviau, designer of Epic Duels
(http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/index.php?page=606)
* Everything2.com – A wiki-style review
(http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1325880&lastnode_id=0)
* Fair Play Games – An online retailer with user reviews
(http://www.fairplaygames.com/gamedisplay.asp?gameid=1587)
* Funagain.com - More gamer reviews.
(http://www.funagain.com/control/product/%7Eproduct_id=13356/%7Eaffiliate_id=WOSS)
* Gamer's Alliance.com - The hardest of the hardcore gamers talk about ED.
(http://www.gamersalliance.com/swepic.htm)
* Pacifier.com - A professional gamer's perspective.
(http://www.pacifier.com/%7Emillerb1/swed.html)
* RPG.net – A hardcore gamer’s review
(http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_6549.html)
* Strategy Gamers World – A gamer’s review
(http://www.strategygamersworld.com/game/bgames/epicduels.htm)
* Toymania – Article about the Epic Duels commericials
(http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/1905.shtml)
* Visi.com – A quaint review
(http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/epicduels.html)
* Wikipedia.com - An encyclopedic entry on the world's best game.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Epic_Duels)
*Wookieepedia – An encyclopedic entry on the Star Wars Wiki.
(http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Epic_Duels)
As some of you may have noticed, as I have, the online Epic Duels community has been falling to the wayside as of late. The evidence is all there: no expansions planned (see this article with Rob Daviau from May of 2005: “http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/index.php?page=606”) no new posts in a month for the first time on the main yahoo group, participation in online tournaments is in decline, hardly any new decks have been created or discussed in recent months, and when you do a search of “epic duels” in google, the top 10 sites that pop up are all mostly “dead” sites that haven’t been updated in years. Most of the online Epic Duels content is scattered across the web among dozens of different sites. In short, if you do an internet search to learn more about the game, where do you go? Where is the “active” community?
The threat of this game and the online following coming to an end has always been there. How long would interest in an out-of-print board game with no hope of ever being expanded be sustained? One potential solution is to develop a “main hub” or centralized location for all known, online epic duels content. So, that when someone does a search, they’ll come to the main hub first and have an entry portal to the rest of the community. And what better place for such a page than “www.epicduels.com”? In discussing this offboard, several of us thought it would be great to put together a list of all of the available links of Epic Duels content, and list them by category. We’d put this sorted list on the frontpage of epicduels.com. This way, when you search “epic duels” in google, the first thing you get is epicduels.com, and all the categories with all of this great fan-made content.
And this is where all of us come into play. We need to come up with a list of links and categories to be included on the frontpage of epicduels.com. Just like all the other great ideas that get left by the wayside by corporate, capitalism (Firefly/Serenity anyone?), this is our chance to try to reorganize the online community and maybe, just maybe breath life back into a great game that Hasbro has forgotten about, and is on the verge of death. So, here is a start, if you see something that has been left off, chime in! If you think this is a good idea, chime in! Be sure to include the URL with any addition.
Potential Category Listings:
-Forums and Discussion Groups
-Epic Duels Online
-Fansites and Expansions
-Reviews and Articles
FORUMS and DISCUSSION GROUPS:
* Epic Duels Forum – Discuss the game in an easy to navigate thread-based forum
(http://www.epicduels.forumer.com)
* Epic Duels Yahoo Group – Discuss the game with Yahoo’s email and discussion group
(http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epicduels/)
* Boardgamegeek – Discuss the game specifically at the largest board game site on the web.
(http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekforum.php3?action=forumindex&objectid=3284&objecttype=game)
EPIC DUELS ONLINE:
* Epic Duels Online League – The yahoo group for playing online tournaments
(http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epic_duels_online_league/)
* Epic Duels Online League Expansion – An expansion for playing online tournaments
(http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epic_duels_online_league_expansion/)
* VASSAL – The engine used to play epic duels online
(http://www.vassalengine.org/community/index.php?option=com_vassal_modules&task=display&module_id=139)
FANSITES and EXPANSIONS
* Epic Duels Wiki – The largest source on the web for custom add-ons.
(http://epicduels.pbwiki.com)
* Rob’s Epic Duels – The creator and host of epicduels.com, his personal site has custom decks, strategies, rules clarifications and additional links
(http://epicduels.com)
* Aaron Shockley’s Epic Duels – Custom decks, strategies and more
(http://swepicduels.onestop.net/)
* ChrissieEric.com – A fansite with session reports
(http://chrissieeric.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=2)
* Dante's Epic Duels Expansions – Custom decks
(http://www.geocities.com/waidaat/epicduels.html)
* Dorkistan.com – From complete expansions to advice articles, Dorkistan.com is the full Epic Duels experience.
(http://www.dorkistan.com)
* Geektopia – Custom decks, session reports, analysis tools and more
(http://geektopia.cc)
* P.D. Magnus' Epic Duels Stuff – Custom decks, maps and more
(http://www.fecundity.com/pmagnus/epicduels/)
* Rich Pizor's Epic Duels Page – Custom decks, maps and more
(http://www.geocities.com/richpizor/)
* Scott Hagarty's Epic Duels Page Custom decks, strategies and links
(http://www.geocities.com/scotthagarty/StarWarsEpicDuels.html)
* Sean Jordan's Epic Duels Page – Analysis and Strategy
(http://epicduels.sean-jordan.com/)
* Tim Lennox's Epic Duels – Custom decks, maps, scenarios and more
(http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/lennoxtim/myhomepage/index.html/SWed.htm)
REVIEWS and ARTICLES:
*Amazon.com – An online retailer with user reviews
(http://www.amazon.com/STAR-WARS-Epic-Duels-Game/dp/B00005YXWQ)
* Answers.com - An in-depth review, with links to other ED related material. (http://www.answers.com/topic/star-wars-epic-duels)
* Boardgamegeek.com - Comments from world-wide gamers, with pictures to boot.
(http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3284)
* Chat 11.com – A quaint review
(http://www.chat11.com/Star_Wars_Game_Epic_Duels)
* The Dice Tower – Interview with Rob Daviau, designer of Epic Duels
(http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/index.php?page=606)
* Everything2.com – A wiki-style review
(http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1325880&lastnode_id=0)
* Fair Play Games – An online retailer with user reviews
(http://www.fairplaygames.com/gamedisplay.asp?gameid=1587)
* Funagain.com - More gamer reviews.
(http://www.funagain.com/control/product/%7Eproduct_id=13356/%7Eaffiliate_id=WOSS)
* Gamer's Alliance.com - The hardest of the hardcore gamers talk about ED.
(http://www.gamersalliance.com/swepic.htm)
* Pacifier.com - A professional gamer's perspective.
(http://www.pacifier.com/%7Emillerb1/swed.html)
* RPG.net – A hardcore gamer’s review
(http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_6549.html)
* Strategy Gamers World – A gamer’s review
(http://www.strategygamersworld.com/game/bgames/epicduels.htm)
* Toymania – Article about the Epic Duels commericials
(http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/1905.shtml)
* Visi.com – A quaint review
(http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/epicduels.html)
* Wikipedia.com - An encyclopedic entry on the world's best game.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Epic_Duels)
*Wookieepedia – An encyclopedic entry on the Star Wars Wiki.
(http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Epic_Duels)




