It is no secret that there are many things in the game that need to be fixed. Most of them we can't change, such as the nature of cards games or the need for Konami to make money on their intellectual property. In my many years playing the game since Metal Raiders, I have been both pleased and disappointed to see some changes made and others ignored.

Recently I came across a poll stickied in the Pojo Yu-Gi-Oh! Gossip Forums. It was very well thought out, and I highly recommend my readership (all 2 of you) to go and check it out and support them. I must say that I feel that it is doomed to failure. Konami, as a business, has to have a plan of action, a cost/benefit assessment as we'll as looking at how it affects the customer for each change it makes into the product. The survey nicely points out how the players feel, but does not address the other two points in great detail. Thus Konami might take it under consideration and come up with some new ideas, but much later and not to player satisfaction.

Konami makes money by keeping players hungry for cards. If we could get a structure deck that was competitive right out of the box, would you buy packs? Would a 10 year old have more incentive to play in a tournament where the prize is 500 dollars of scholarship? The answer of course is probably not. So we see rare cards come out, rise and fall and be reprinted. It is the name of the game.

So in order to bring some awesome to this jumble of words, I wracked my brain to look at changes Konami could implement that would satisfy players, collectors and the company's goals. Believe me, it wasn't easy.

1. Create Collectors Reprint Sets

Now this is one I can sink my teeth into. Players have always collected their favorite cards, whether it be Shapesnatch or Blue Eyes White Dragon. Unfortunately, some collectors find it so ridiculously hard to find cards that they stop collecting. A reprint set that has older cards in different rarities appeals to collectors and players alike. The Legendary Collections are wonderful examples of these, but they are generally to expensive for a collector to collect from. A reprint set such as Dark Beginnings 2 not only allows collectors and players to be happy, but also makes money for Konami as they can then charge say 5 bucks a pack instead of 4 as well as make their money back without all that expensive packaging. I still think the DB2 set was the best booster set ever released, and hope to see it again.

2. Better Coverage

As a budding writer, I can easily understand the stress and pressure that these writers are under. They have to fly out to an event, talk to grumpy nerds all day and then write about games that happen in a blink of an eye all for an exhausting two day period. Yikes! Unfortunately there is no easy way to remedy this, because if Konami throws more money at big events (which do NOT make them money by the way) something will have to give in the prize support or frequency of events.

What I suggest is a two-man three machine team. It is easy to set up camera feeds of the games in a secluded area. The writers do not even have to be there and can view the footage afterward. Writer 1 interviews the players after the games are over, allowing a more personal touch as well as allowing players to help get in the mindset of the competitive day. Writer 2 sets up cameras to film the games, and then can stream them online (more expensive, but easier for players to access and stay engaged) or review them during round breaks (up to 20 minutes sometimes) and put them online. Writer 1 can also help with this after he finishes his reviews.

This is good in the fact that Konami already hires 2 to 3 people to go to each event and do coverage and for a marginal cost (300 for cameras or solid phones) we get a more diverse coverage of the event, multi-media coverage as well as more in-depth coverage. This makes players happier to get more from event coverage and can ultimately increase event attendance by getting players more excited about events.

A unique incentive to have a featured match would be fun as well, such as a unique featured match deckbox or mat that you can get nowhere else. This is just icing on the cake, but sure would make me more likely to want to have a featured match.

3. Unique Event Incentives

Back in the olden days of yore, prizes were not given out to everyone. Only the top 8 or even top 5 of Regional events were given prizes. Konami listened, and now everyone gets cards for playing. That is all well and good, but now winning a Regional has no spark, you have an invite but the physical rewards are not there.

I came up with the idea of taking away a booster for the sign-up prize and replacing it with a World Premiere/Alternate Art/Alternate Rarity exclusive card. I would think the alternate rarity card would be best as Mosaic/Starfoil in order to keep costs down.

This would definitely have an effect on player attendance, as now there is a UNIQUE reason for them to visit. 5 packs for 20 bucks is a good deal, but I can get packs anywhere. If you have a mosaic reprint of Jowgen the Spiritualist though, then you get players coming for just that card. You have high end collectors entering multiple times to get them as well as packs. We can have the entry fee the same even, saving Konami money which they can then reinvest into a winners prize such as a 3DS and still make a bit more cash. Everybody is happy and there is a minimum of effort and money expended by Konami as a single card is cheaper to print than a pack. Nice.

Well honestly this was all I had come up with a plan of action for, but there are a few ideas rattling around in this ol' noggin so you can expect to see more soon. Please email me ideas that you have to make the game better, ideas for decks, deck fixes and questions or comments should you feel so inclined. My email is alarbios@live.com and put YGO in the title so I won't spam it.

As always it is a pleasure writing for you, and I hope this article helps.

Thanx for reading!
GZ