User blog:DutchRits/New Non-Event Cards

We’ve all done it…cracked a plethora of Gold or Silver Warrior Medals and hardly glanced at the results unless the rarity number reads “4” or “NEW!”. Who knows how many thousands of Common (C), Uncommon (UC) and Rare (R) cards we have sold or used for upgrade over the course of our time playing this game? Players’ focus is on improving their decks by upgrading the new cards (and rightfully so), which are all Super-Rare (SR) or Ultra-Rare (UR), introduced during new events as Raid, Reward, Campaign, Login Reward, or Friend Code cards.

So why propose new Common, Uncommon and Rare cards and not just give ideas for new Super/Ultra Rares? It seems like that would be a waste of time, especially for players who won’t give a second glance to a card that won’t make their battle deck.

I’m going to do my best to present a case for the inclusion of some new characters and reordering the current batch of C/UC characters by first answering WHY Mobage should do it. Then I’ll stipulate guidelines for HOW those types of changes should happen before I detail my proposal on exactly how I think it should be done. Finally, I’ll detail how to reorder the current crop of Common and Uncommon cards before giving a few examples of the opportunities Mobage has with these cards and characters.

 WHY Mobage Should Do It 

While the concern over introducing cards that are of use to players is a valid one, there are other considerations. So my answer to the question above is four-fold:

 ·          First, there is already an established pattern in which in-game characters were first introduced as Common, Uncommon, Rare and Non-Event Super-Rare cards based on “relative capability” (see previous posts for my definition of this term; in short, Optimus Prime is a Rare card while Huffer is a Common card, for obvious reasons). However, this list hasn’t been updated since launch. Several characters have been introduced in events/episodes as SR or UR cards without a corresponding C, UC, or R entry, so adding a lower-rarity version seems logical, especially when “Free Players” simply want a card of their favorite character but have no hope of finishing an event with a high enough ranking to earn a card.

 ·          Secondly, with a few exceptions the current assortment of cards in TF:L are of Generation One (G1) characters, but not all of the G1 characters are represented, to include some fan favorites. This allows for the introduction of these characters without having to wait for an event. It serves a double-purpose of providing characters that would then be ripe for selection for future events.

 ·          <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Thirdly, the campaign mission aspect of TF:L hasn’t been updated since…well…launch, as far as I know. Adding some new missions would spice things up a bit and be a welcome addition for the fans. However, this would require new C, UC, and R cards to avoid simply recycling the current crop of cards. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t need another Rare Cyclonus card.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">          <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Fourth and finally, the introduction of Campaign Events has caused players to confront teams of 3x various C, UC and R cards. While there are enough current cards to provide some variety in the potential assortment of adversaries for events to date, that’s going to run out quickly with more events. The addition of new cards will expand the potential assortment further and allow for a wider variety of combinations and storylines. Additionally, some of the teams encountered have repeat characters in them…for example, 1x UC Thrust, 2x R Starscream (on a side note, I was rather disappointed that a team of R Starscream, R Thundercracker and R Skywarp was not encountered during S.O.S. Dinobots, nor a R Ramjet, UC Thrust, UC Dirge). Adding more characters reduces the chances of repeat characters occurring, unless by design.

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">HOW It Should Be Done '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Assuming that my four points are valid, the way forward would be to simply introduce a batch of new cards. Yet as simple as that sounds, there are a few guidelines that should be followed:

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 1)<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">        <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Relative Capability  <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: a character’s card rarity (and tier within each rarity) should be determined by relative capability, as demonstrated with TF:L’s current assortment of C, UC, R and Non-event SR cards.   To determine this, a comparison of character Tech Specs (taken from TFU  and totaling all eight scores for comparison purposes) and common sense provides a fair assessment of where a character should be placed, in accordance with my proposed Tiers for each rarity (see previous posts). Also, when applicable I used my method of rebalancing the SR cards (again, see previous post) to ensure that characters that made an appearance in an Event as a SR/UR card maintained the same stat ratio when introduced as a C/UC/R card.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 2)<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">        <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Character Selection  <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: Characters selected for inclusion should be drawn from the Generation 1 list.    Furthermore, I’m drawing the line at 1986 although the inclusion of later characters has already been done (I’m looking at you, Nightbeat, Terrorcons  and Micromasters (Battle Patrol; ). I say this because the G1 storyline makes the most sense, it’s more in line with the aligned continuity & the current crop of games (WfC/FoC, etc), and the characters are the most recognizable.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 3)<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">        <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Card Ratio  <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: in TF:L’s current incarnation, there are 28 Common Cards (14 Autobot, 14 Decepticon), 32 Uncommon Cards (16 Autobot, 16 Decepticons), 22 Rare (11 Autobot, 11 Decepticons), and 20 Non-Event Super-Rare (11 Autobot, 9 Decepticon).   So obviously, there is a balance between the factions, as far as character card representation. Introducing new cards should adhere to this balance as much as possible, but given the quantities of characters available, this may not be totally possible. There are just more Autobot characters than Decepticons.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">So with all that said, let’s take a look at the characters I am proposing. I have shared three MS Excel 2007 files to give you a better visual for what I'm talking about. The first one is the G1 Character Tech Specs, which I pulled from http://www.tfu.info/. (All of the characters and data are the property of Hasbro, who holds all the appropriate copyrights and trademarks.   I'm just a fan speculating on how to improve this game.) I'll be using this data to make arguments for why I gave certain characters their MTM total (I used the same file for my previous posts about rebalancing the SR cards, too).

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">The second file is my Character Comparison workbook. This one is still a huge work in progress, so I apologize for the mess. This is where I keep track of the new characters' stats and use them for my previous "Character Comparison" blog posts.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Finally, we have my New Character Cards Proposal. This is where I made my calculations (the first sheet) and made it more presentable (the second sheet). This should allow you to follow along a bit better.

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">My Proposal for HOW It Should Be Done '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">After perusing the G1 Toyline I saw a BUNCH of characters that had not been added to the game yet, as I mentioned above. So after creating a list of these poor saps, I rationalized which rarity they belonged in, based on comparing Tech Spec totals and using just a little bit of common sense. Then I assigned MTM totals to these “new” characters based on the Tiers within each rarity, as I discussed in previous posts. Oh, and I insisted on using round numbers for the MTM totals. It made it easier, trust me.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Before I get into the details, there were a few patterns that I noticed in the current batch of Common and Uncommon cards.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Patterns

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">First, two of the Decepticon Combiner teams (Constructicons and Predacons) had two or three of their members as Common cards (Bonecrusher, Mixmaster, Scavenger, Headstrong, Rampage) and two as Uncommon cards (Long Haul, Hook, Divebomb, Razorclaw) while the Combaticons were all Uncommon Cards (Blast Off, Onslaught, Decepticon Brawl, and Vortex). Therefore, introducing additional combiner teams should generally follow the same pattern. Additionally, each team was missing one member (Scrapper, Tantrum, and Swindle), so adding these characters to the game seems to be a no-brainer.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Second, with the exception of Cliffjumper, Brawn and Bumblebee, all of the Minibots are Common cards. I would have liked to have seen Soundwave’s tapes, Reflector, and a few others as Common cards, too, and I detail my plan for that later, but whatever. Regardless, my plan would be to make future Minibots as Common cards, as well.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Third, it appears Mobage did a fairly decent job of balancing Tech Spec totals against popularity of respective characters, but in the end it appears that popularity won out. That’s the ONLY way to explain how Cliffjumper is an Uncommon card and Bumblebee is a Rare, while several others are Commons.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">With those three patterns in mind, here are my suggestions for new cards. For those of you who've downloaded the "Proposal" workbook, I'm on the second sheet.

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">New Common Cards- 16 Autobots, 11 Decepticons '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">I know, I know…I set the guidelines above and then I violate them with my first set of examples when it comes to Faction Card Ratio. The problem is, there aren’t enough Decepticon characters in general, but especially not enough to warrant inclusion as Common cards.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobots <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Beachcomber- for all intents and purposes, Beachcomber is a pacifist hippie. He’s a Minibot, too, so his stats should reflect that. I used his MTM stat total of 4,200 to place him close to Ratbat in power, and his stat ratios from his SR The Bee Team incarnation to divvy up his points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Cosmos- I used his stats from Cold Delivery to ensure proper point dispersal, but he’s still a Minibot. His Tech Specs are respectable, though, so I decided to place him as a low-end Tier 2 Common card, although an argument could be made to make him a Tier 3 or even Tier 4.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Fireflight- while three Aerialbots were introduced in Nemesis Rising, Fireflight didn’t make the cut. His Tech Specs have him strating pretty low (better than Ratchet, but below Huffer), so a solid Tier 3 at 6,700 MTM points sounds fair. His 2178 MTM ATK stat makes him the strongest Common card, in that regard.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">First Aid- the first of the Protectobots, First Aid is a low-end Tier 3 Common.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Groove- another Protectobot, Groove is only slightly better than First Aid at 6,400 MTM.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Hubcap- this Bumblebee wannabe is tied with Wheelie as the weakest card in the game (see below) with an MTM score of 4k due to his low Tech Spec total.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Outback- Only slightly better than Hubcap at 4,100 MTM, he’s still a Minibot and gets a low Tier 1.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Pipes- 4,400 MTM to put him on-par with Grappel.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Powerglide- he’s needed to be added for awhile. While still a Minibot, Powerglide gets a respectable 6k MTM points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Seaspray- still another Minibot, but with an MTM score of 5,700.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Skydive- another Aerialbot, he gets a score of 6,800 MTM points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Slingshot- his description from Episode Slingshot and from the Transformers Wiki clearly states that he’s the weakest Aerialbot…so I don’t know why he stated as superior to Episode Air Raid in Nemesis Rising. I fixed that by making him a solid Tier 2 Common at 5,800 MTM.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Streetwise- his Tech Specs help to put him on par with Red Alert, Tracks, Slingshot and Blades with an MTM total of 5,900.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Swerve- A recolor of Gears with his own unique backstory, Swerve is still a Minibot with 4,150 MTM points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Tailgate- Another Minibot, Tailgate has 4,100 MTM points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Wheelie- This guy should be the laughingstock of Transformers. He comes across as a Minibot version of Bear Grylls, though, even though his weapon is a slingshot. He gets the lowest Common card MTM point total of 4k, despite having the highest Tech Spec total of any Minibot (56, or higher than Mirage). Suffice to say, I have NO respect for this clown.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Decepticons <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Barrage- his first introduction as a raid card in The Bee Team and absence otherwise meant we should bring him in-line with his fellow Delux Insecticons in this card type (unless you take my suggestion to re-order the Common and Uncommon cards, in which case I’d give him 8.4k MTM and make him a UC). He joints Venom, Ransack and Chopshop as a Common card with 4,300 MTM points. Personally, I would have kept Hardshell/Bombshell, Shrapnel/Sharpshot, and Kickback at Common cards and made Barrage, Chopshop, Ransack and Venom Uncommons (see below).

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Blight- okay, here’s one of my deviations. The Terrorcons are from the 1987 toyline, but Mobage included four of them in the Unleash the Beasts event (no love for Cutthroat, apparently, nor any mention of their being a Combiner team). Blight/Blot is an unpleasant character according to his wiki bio, but his Tech Specs aren’t spectacular. An MTM total of 6,100 puts him as a peer of Warpath.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Breakdown- the first Stunticon, Breakdown is a Tier 3 Common with an MTM score of 6.2k, which makes him slightly less powerful than Sharpshot.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Cuttroat- the missing Terrorcon from Unleash the Beasts, Cuttroat gets an MTM score of 5,800 even though his Tech Spec has him as the second-strongest Terrorcon. This puts him equal to Hoist.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Dead End- another Stunticon, he gets a MTM stat total of 5,850.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Drag Strip- Drag Strip gets a MTM stat total of 5,700 as the weakest Stunticon.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Gnaw- this Sharkticon with the weird backstory gets an MTM stat total of 4,800 which puts him roughly superior to Trailcutter. I always saw his (their?) strength being in numbers, and his Tech Spec total of 41 (the lowest between Autobots & Decepticons, by my calculations) validates keeping him low, as does his weird friendship with Wheelie.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Growl- I wondered why Mobage included the Military Patrol. They’re not well known, and they’re from the Micromaster line which is was introduced in 1989. But anyway, Growl is (apparently) the weakest of the four, although I have NO way of proving that aside from where Mobage placed him in Full Assault. I have him 5.7k MTM, on par with Drag Strip or Mixmaster/Hoist.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Rippersnapper- using his Unleash the Beasts stats for the correct ratio and his Tech Specs for reference, his MTM stat total of 4,900 makes sense.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Tantrum- the missing Predacon from the standard card set, Tantrum’s Tech Specs make him second to Razorclaw in power, yet he should clearly be inferior to Rampage. I gave him an MTM total of 6.3k to put him equal to Sharpshot but inferior to Headstrong and Rampage.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Tracer- I gotta admit, Tracer looks pretty freakin’ cool. There aren’t many helicopter Transformers, let alone ones that look cool, and he makes the cut. I gave him 5.9k MTM to make him just ahead of Growl (on par with Windcharger) and a high-end Tier 2.

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">New Uncommon Cards- 12 Autobots, 11 Decepticons '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">This batch attains a much more improved balance that I spoke of before, as far as Card Ratio. The UC cards represent that tougher batch of soldier; the bigger, badder character that is clearly superior to the “Minibots & Minicons” in the Common cards, but not significant enough to warrant inclusion as a Rare. I envision the Autobot cars, the Dinobots (minus Grimlock, of course), the Seekers, and the leaders of the Combiner teams in this rarity, together with a few of the more memorable characters.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Three of the characters, Hot Spot, Nightbeat and Wildrider, don’t have complete stats. That’s because I don’t have complete Basic & Max stats to draw from, based on the data available from the wiki.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobots <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Air Raid- I’m surprised he and the rest of the Aerialbots weren’t included originally, but his popularity took off with his appearance in War for Cybertron, in which he was given a pretty bass-a$$ ‘bot & alt form. He’s not powerful enough to be included amongst the top-tier UC cards, even though his Tech Specs put him equal to Hot Spot, but he is still a solid Tier 2 UC at 10.9k.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Blades- his bio makes him out to be a bad-a$$, hence his 9.7k MTM stat total.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Camshaft- Camshaft gets a Tier 2 UC stat total of 10.1k as the Omnibot leader.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Downshift- another Omnibot, he gets 10k MTM points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Firestar- a relative unknown aside from one cartoon appearance, no toy (and no Tech Specs), and one appearance in the Fatal Furies TF:L event. I made her a mid-to-low range Tier 1 UC at 8.3k MTM.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Hot Spot- the Protectobot leader with a prominent presence in the To the Rescue event, the 13.3k MTM points I gave him reflects his position while maintaining his defense-heavy stat orientation.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Nightbeat- again, I have NO idea why Mobage included him in the game. But, since he’s there, I figured he needed a lower-rarity card…but feel free to ignore this one, Mobage. I gave him a 12.5k MTM total, since his Tech Specs were rather decent.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Overdrive- the final Omnibot, he gets 9.9k MTM points.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Silverbolt- perhaps the most well-known of the Autobot Combiner leaders and with a prominent role in War for Cybertron, Silverbolt gets the highest UC stat total of 13.7k. That makes him almost 400 points superior to Acid Storm, the current highest UC card. I wanted to make Silverbolt a Rare card, but just couldn’t justify it, in the end.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Skids- how he got left out of the original batch of cards, I don’t know, especially with his roles in the original comics. Still, he gets a high-end Tier 1 UC stat total of 8.7k, putting him equal to Steeljaw.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Topspin- one of the Wreckers, his inclusion would be pretty cool, for reasons I’ll detail below. I gave him an MTM stat total of 10.9k, which makes him a top-end Tier 2 UC.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Twintwist- as above, but with a stat total of 11k.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Battletrap- another deviation of mine from 1987, I added Battletrap and Flywheels to round out the number of Decepticon cards. I gave him a respectable 12.6k MTM total, mainly due to his being bigger than your average ‘bot, if you go by the old cartoons. He’s kinda like a “mini-combiner.”

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Bombshock- the leader of the Military Patrol, I couldn’t justify having him as a Rare, or even a Tier 4 UC. Maybe I’m wrong in my opinion and, if so, please let me know. But I gave him 12.9k MTM. Oh, and I used his UR stats as a percentage guideline.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Dropshot- Since he was the Tier 2 reward in Full Assault I figured I’d make him slightly inferior to Bombshock at 11.6k MTM.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Flywheels- see Battletrap, above; has an MTM stat total of 13.2k, based of his Tech Specs.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Motormaster- why this guy wasn’t part of Thin Blue Line, I’ll never know. Maybe he’ll appear later. Suffice to say, as leader of the Stunticons, I figured he belonged here with an MTM stat total of 13.6k, or second only to Silverbolt (see above). I gotta give props to a guy whose goal is to personally take down Optimus Prime.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Runabout & Runamuck- The inclusion of the Battlechargers (along with Runamuck) helps to round out the card totals. Still, I see them as low-end Tier 3 UCs, both with 11.3k MTM totals but with different percentages between ATK, DEF, and Health.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Scrapper- How is the leader of the Constructicons NOT in the game, yet? Anyway, I gave him 11.2k MTM total, putting him equal to Sideswipe.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Swindle- Interesting that he didn’t make the cut, either. I gave him a 9.7k MTM total, which makes him superior to Long Haul…and to the Combaticon leader, Onslaught. Heck even to Decepticon Brawl and Blast Off. Hmm…may need to re-organize the Combaticons, too. Maybe swap Onslaught with Vortex BEFORE making Vortex a Common card?

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Twinstrike- Originally Sinnertwin, I used his stats from Unleash the Beasts and his Tech Specs to give him a 13.1k MTM total, making him equal to Blaster.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Wildrider- the final Stunticon, I have him a MTM total of 10.2k, making him second to Motormaster and also making him equal to Hook.

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">New Rare Cards- 12 Autobots, 8 Decepticons '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Okay, much like with the “standard” array of Rare cards, these are the leaders and key characters in the Transformers universe. I also wanted to use this as an opportunity for Mobage to introduce a three-stage Evolve card to introduce the Triple Changers. Obviously, these guys would need their own signature weapons, too, to put them in line with the current batch of Rares.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Also, if it were up to me, I’d move Laserbeak and Ramjet out of this Rarity and add them to Common (Laserbeak) or Uncommon (Ramjet).

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobots

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Elita One- It pained me to put her here, especially since I’d never heard of her before Fatal Furies. But given her background, she gets 21.6k MTM to be a mid-grade Tier 3 Rare, on par with Slipstream/Autobot Jazz.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Evolve Sandstorm- He’s a Triple-Changer, and an Evolve card. Relatively weak for a Rare at 16.9k, but still decent.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Evolve Springer- Again, Triple-Changer and an Evolve card. He’s a high-end Tier 3 at 21.3k, or superior to Slipstream based off his prominent roles in the Transformers cartoons and comics.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Hot Rod- Okay, I know there’s a legal dispute over the name, hence the “Rodimus” cards. But given that he’s technically a different character, I have him a 15.8k MTM total. If the decision is to go with Rodimus, I’d bump that up to 24k (still inferior to Optimus).

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Impactor- I know what you’re thinking: “who the heck is Impactor?!?”   I’m glad you asked. He’s the leader of the Wreckers. No joke. But he’d be a cool addition, for reasons I’ll get into later. I gave him 19.5k MTM to make him a high Tier 2.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Omega Supreme- This one is for all those players who look at the Tier 1 Reward finishers with envy. C’mon, Mobage…we deserve this one! I gave him 24.2k MTM, which actually makes him superior to Optimus Prime. Heresy, I know. But I wanted to swap things around a bit, given that…you know…he’s a huge bada$$ that ended Megatron in one hit and all.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Rare Arcee- she’s a Non-Event Super Rare and has made two appearances in events as a Super Rare. It’s time for her to be a Rare, too. I gave her 17k MTM, which puts her in roughly the same strat as her Non-Event SR card (which is right between Elite Skywarp & Elite Thundercracker), between Skywarp and Laserbeak.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Rare Jetfire- I know, the last thing this game needs is another Jetfire, but it’s only fair to put him here. I gave him 23.2k MTM, which puts him just ahead of Shockwave, and matches his Elite Jetfire stratification of being ahead of Elite Shockwave.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Rare Metroplex- I’ve been playing since Fatal Furies and I STILL don’t have a MTM Metroplex. In fact, I only have his weapon. Yet there are some who have multiples of him. Not that I’m whining or anything. This would be for those other players who don’t have a SR/UR version of him. I gave him 24.5k MTM, which puts him ahead of Optimus Prime and Rare Omega Supreme.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Roadbuster- one of my all-time favorite characters, and I think it’s appropriate to make him a Rare. I gave him a 17.1k MTM total, making him slightly better than Skywarp. I’d LOVE to see him, in-game.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Sky Lynx- he was in Cold Delivery and his inclusion here makes sense to me. 21.9k MTM total, on par with Autobot Jazz.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Whirl- another favorite of mine, this crazy SOB gets a 16.8k MTM total. Another I’d LOVE to see in the game.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Decepticons

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Evolve Astrotrain- 22k MTM total and an Evolve card. ‘Nuff said.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Evolve Blitzwing- 21.5k MTM total. Not bad for a Triple-Changer.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Evolve Octane- perhaps the wussiest Triple-Changer, based on Tech Specs; I gave him 16.4k, or equal to Autobot Ratchet.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Hun-Gurr- he’s a bad-a$$. I put him up in the Tier 4 bracket at 23.2k, or just superior to Shockwave. However, using his stats from Unleash the Beasts as a percentage guide, his ATK is, by far, the best in this rarity. Like, better than Rare Trypticon. THAT may have to be fixed.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Nemesis Prime- I didn’t know much about this guy until Nemesis Rising and did a little digging. I put him here as a Rare with 23.2k MTM, which puts him ahead of Shockwave and behind Megatron.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Rare Flamewar- much like Rare Arcee above, she’s already in the game so I’m putting her here as a Rare. I gave her 16.4k MTM, which makes her close to Autobot Ratchet in power.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Rare Trypticon- Like Rare Metroplex above, Trippy needed a place as a Rare. I made him the most powerful Rare card at 24.6k MTM.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Sunstorm- I know he’s already a Rare with his appearance in Robots in the Sky, but if that card isn’t rebalanced (again…see previous posts) then I say include him here. I gave him a 19.9k MTM total, or just below Ramjet.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">And those are the characters/cards I would propose adding. There may be a few that I didn’t mention that probably deserve some consideration, so please let me know in the comments if you feel I missed someone.

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Re-Organizing the Common and Uncommon Cards '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Let’s face it…some of the characters selected for the Common and Uncommon rarities don’t make sense. Not that they shouldn’t be in the game, but that based on their relative capability they should be in a different rarity. So if we’re already adding a few characters, why not fix the ones that are already in the game? (If you look at the character comparison workbook, you'll notice the "X" on the leftmost column of the "C & UC MTM sort" tab)

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Common Cards

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">If I could re-order the existing Common cards, this Rarity type would include all Autobot & Decepticon tapes as well as Autobot “Minibots,” the Insecticons (Sharpshot, Hardshell and Kickback as opposed to the Delux Decepticons of Barrage, Venom, Chopshop, and Ransack), and Reflector.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">10 Common Cards I would move to Uncommon:

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">          <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobots (7): Grappel, Trailcutter, Autobot Tracks, Hoist, Smokescreen, Red Alert & Sunstreaker

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">          <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Decepticons (3) Chopshop, Venom, and Ransack

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Grappel’s Tech Specs put him on par with Hound, so moving him makes sense, AND it would fit my desired pattern of putting all the “Autobot Cars” (read: NOT a minibot) into the Uncommons.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Trailcutter is the same as Grappel.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobot Tracks and Red Alert have the same Tech Spec score as well, which puts them just below Mirage.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Hoist is relatively weak for a “larger” Autobot car, but it fits the pattern.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Smokescreen’s Tech Specs put him one point below Ironhide, so he needs to move up.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Sunstreaker’s stats are similar to Hoist’s, but he’s also only 1-point behind Sideswipe. Move him up.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Chopshop (53), Ransack (52), Barrage (53) and Venom’s (53.5) Tech Specs are ALL superior to Hardshell/Bombshell (49), Sharpshot/Shrapnel (50), and Kickback (46). Moving them to Uncommon just makes sense.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Uncommon Cards <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">This rarity type should include all Autobot Cars (minus the Rares), Dinobots (minus Grimlock), and Specialists (Blaster and Perceptor & Leaders of Decepticon Combiner teams, Seekers, and the Delux Insecticons.   I would also move Vortex to the Common cards to follow the pattern of having at least one member of a combiner team in the Common Rarity.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">10 Uncommon Cards I would move to Common:

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">          <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobots (5): Autobot Rewind, Eject, Steeljaw, Brawn, and Cliffjumper.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">          <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Decepticons (5): Reflector, Vortex, Decepticon Rumble, Decepticon Frenzy, and Buzzsaw.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">One for One Swap?

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Using my rationale above, you would almost have a basis a one-for-one swap of characters…EXCEPT that it throws off the Yin-Yang of the Faction Ratio. However, if I may be so bold, I recommend a no-kidding direct swap…stats and all (minus Spec & Class)…as follows:

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Grappel -- Reflector

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Trailcutter – Decepticon Frenzy

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Autobot Tracks -- Eject

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Hoist -- Cliffjumper

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Smokescreen   -- Vortex

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Red Alert – Autobot Rewind

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Sunstreaker – Decepticon Rumble

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Chopshop -- Buzzsaw

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Venom -- Brawn

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Ransack – Steeljaw

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">So what does this reorganization accomplish? Well, as I detailed above, it just makes sense. However, you throw off the faction ratio for Common (12 Autobots, 16 Decepticons) and Uncommon (18 Autobots, 14 Decepticons). But in reality, does that change REALLY matter that much?

''' <span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Opportunities for Mobage '''

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Okay, let’s assume that all of the changes I’ve suggested are implemented.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">So then what?

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Well, let’s examine where Mobage has been getting the inspiration (and titles) of their events. I’ll go ahead and spoil the end by saying that the titles are almost all from thG1 Cartoons. However, some of them feature characters and situations that Mobage did NOT use. For example, War Dawn featured three Combaticons (Vortex, Swindle, and Blast Off) fighting Trailcutter, Blurr, Cliffjumper and Mirage, but the cartoon featured the Aerialbots, Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, Wheeljack and Omega Supreme facing off against Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker in what really amounted to a history lesson from Optimus.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">So while we can assume Mobage is drawing upon the G1 Cartoons for inspiration for the titles of their events, it’s safe to say that there is no magical formula or restrictions as to what the events could be. I’m not going to detail a bunch of events, except to say that by adding this many characters, the possibilities are staggering. Particularly for Campaign events. For example:

Operation: Volcano<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> – a great opportunity to introduce the Wreckers. I can see this as a Raid Boss event, with Topspin, Twin-Twist, Whirl, Roadbuster and Impactor being the rewards/bosses (yes, five bosses…like Day of the Dinobots, Part 2) and the raid cards being the Coneheads. Or, maybe a Campaign event. The three Campaign Evolve capturable characters being Topspin, Twintwist and Whirl, with Roadbuster being the T2 reward and Impactor being the T1. Raid cards are, again, the Coneheads.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">That's just one example. With this many new cards, nearly the entire library of Transformers G1 lore is open for use in the game. Additionally, this amount of characters allows for at least two additional non-event campaign/mission zones for each faction, thus expanding a neglected aspect of the game.

<span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">The point is that my suggestion adds SEVENTY non-event cards (20 Rare, 23 Uncommon, 27 Common) and allows ALL players to access their favorite characters without having to finish Tier 1 in an event.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">So what do you think? I'm just one thirty-something fan looking to bring some pure enjoyment back to the game, but this plan is nothing more than my opinion. Would this be something you'd like to see? What about the products I posted? (I hope you can access them...I'm new to this whole "Dropbox" thing) Are they useful? And finally, am I just wasting my time with all this?