Feature Request - My Collection

[Killcycle]

I believe adding a Personal Collection structure to OCTGN would be helpful to its current users, and to potential users.

By Personal Collection, I mean something similar to a Deck file - a container of cards, but also utilizing OCTGN's built-in filter options, so that a user could search his/her collection in the same way they would search a set.

There are a number of people who've said they'd use OCTGN except for the fact they can't have their own collection, or don't like using cards they don't own. This would appeal to those users, as well as current users who'd like to keep track of their own collection digitally. And, of course, being able to digitally search one's own collection is a godsend for deckbuilding.

Additionally, it would help make OCTGN's utility more encompassing of the functionality MTG and other card game players desire. As it stands, to have this functionality, another service is required - which introduces the need for a deck converter, and sometimes other middle-man programs that are unreliably usable as updates for either client are released.

[jamesinvt]

You can have your own collection. You just search for the cards you own and add however many you have in your deck.

If customized sets were allowed in there is not much stopping people from adding non-official cards. Which isn't fair. :P

I would much rather have OCTGN make it so players have to earn cards instead of having everyone available. For example, to start off you can pick between a couple starter decks. If you win matches, you get gold and with that you get to buy things like cards and boosters. The problem with that is OCTGN is not meant to be designed for one or two games, it's meant to be a framework for games so something like that would be too specific.

Stay tuned, OCTGN 4.0 is going to be awesome.

[Killcycle]

For decks, yeah, that's fine. I asked about creating custom sets, but that's obviously a poor solution for both difficulty of use and compatibility with other players, as well as your noted issue. What I'm asking for isn't a custom set. It'd function like the deck does in the deck editor, just a list that can be searched through and had filters applied to it. It would only reference cards already installed in OCTGN through official sets.

What's wrong with that?

And as for other games, a "Deck" works for most of the games, I understand; why would a personal collection container, which is basically only a modified deck container, not also be usable by most of the other TCGs?

[brine]

I don't understand how not having a collection option is stopping people from using octgn. This program is a virtual game table, the whole point of it is to play decks that are unhindered by physical limitations of having to collect or own them. Emulating the collection aspect of card games with boosters is a dangerous way to avoid having to spend more real money on a game which is what companies look for when dealing out cease & desists

[Killcycle]

I don't mean to say it's stopping people from using it. Just maybe that it would do a little more for some people using it, and convince a few more to use it. I also don't mean to have the My Collection replace anything, just a helpful way to manage one's own collection. No adding boosters, or anything like that.

If you're not into it, I guess it's just a terrible idea. My logic was that OCTGN had the best interface, and I didn't think this would be a far step from what you've already implemented.

Thanks anyway, though. :)

[kellyelton]

How about tagging cards? Like with github, you can add a specific 'label' to an issue, maybe we could set something up to add custom 'labels' to cards. So then in this case, all the cards in your set could have the label 'RL Cards'. It doesn't allow you to save and load these settings, but it's a start. If this seems like a good idea, and it works, we can then add exporting and importing functions.

[Gadget2020]

I like the idea of ticking off cards you have to form a collection, but I think it would have to be a counter rather than a tic-box.

It would then be cool to have a "global" filter to only show/work with the cards you have (perhaps generate/export a user 'set' from them?), or only show the cards from a set that you are missing: it would be a great way to catalog and keep tabs on your own collection. (And a great way to virtually try/play decks before compiling them in reality.) You could also use it to generate trading sets.

[brine]

It is a cool idea, my main concern I've expressed in the past regarding it though, is that we do not want to encourage OCTGN to be used as a sort of substitute for owning ACTUAL collections of cards. OCTGN's card database is external to the rest of the program -- any programmer with knowledge/guidance of accessing the database can make whatever kind of app they'd like, whether it be a collection manager, advanced deck analyzer, or even a guess-the-art game. So what I'm getting at here is that you don't have to be an actual developer for OCTGN to make a collection manager, it just wouldn't be integrated into its deck editor (which may not actually be a bad thing)

[Gadget2020]

I understand the concern, but I think the ability to limit the card sets to ones you /Actually/ own would be an encouragement for people to own cards, trade cards, and perhaps to seek physical cards that would compliment what they have already.

I think that playing a deck, play a sweeet card and have it tagged as 'owned' for you (and your opponent) to see would be much more satisfying... of course people will always brag and lie, but a computer program isn't going to stop that.

It would be nice to have app "plugins" to OCTGN for things like you suggest rather than stand-alone apps. (Even if it's just a 'launch' from within OCTGN)

[brine]

The plugins can be done already, there's just nobody that wants to make them

[kellyelton]

This is basically done. If you're a subscriber you can save load search filters in the deck editor.