SadisticMystic
Member
http://gccg.sourceforge.net
That's the best online play resource I know of. Like Apprentice and MWS, it's completely free of charge, and like MODO, you get direct connections to a server environment with multiple players, and can experience the idea of "collecting" cards.
When you get the program, run "Install Mtg.bat" and "Install Mtg Cards.bat"; the latter will take a REALLY long time to run since it has to download almost 10,000 card images along with card text and set data for all of those cards.
Then the next step isn't required, but it's REALLY useful: Edit the resulting "Mtg.bat" file in a text editor, and change the line
ccg_client.exe --user %USER% %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 game.xml
to
ccg_client.exe --full --user %USER% %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 game.xml
This activates full-screen mode and allows you to see everything regardless of your monitor resolution. "Mtg.bat" is the file you'll use to run the game.
Basic outlines:
When you first get your account, you'll start with $50.00 in play money. You can spend this money on packs by pressing Ctrl-P; note that all sets all the way back to Beta are considered in-print in GCCG and can be purchased at their original price (e.g. Arabian Nights for $1.45).
Alternately, pressing Ctrl-B (or right-clicking and choosing Show Collection) brings up the card list. You can see a list of every card in the game and, if you own copies of a card, that card will be highlighted. Right click a card for options, including buying a card at the lowest price anyone is currently offering it for, adding the card to your "wish list", adding it to your deck or sideboard, or (if you have a copy) putting it up for sale.
If you have copies for sale, hover the mouse over the card and type a number and press Enter; the number is the amount in dollars you would sell it for (e.g. "0.6", no dollar sign). Remember that only the lowest bid counts, so don't expect to sell your card for $13.00 if there's a 30-cent bidder who has it for sale.
Of course, you can't put cards in a deck that doesn't exist. Type /newdeck deckname to create a blank deck, then go to the card list and look for cards you want to put in the deck. As a shortcut, clicking the mousewheel adds a copy of the card and left-clicking removes a copy. Like Apprentice, you do NOT have to own copies of every card you add to your deck, but if you add cards you don't own, it will give a message at the start of the game such as "mr_pwnage is using 14 proxies in his deck." At the end of every game, if you played a deck with no proxies, you receive a free Unglued card regardless of win or lose. (Note that you can't otherwise buy packs of Unglued.)
So how do you play? There are tables that appear on the screen; some are type 1 or 1.5, others are type 2. Different tables are available for 2, 3, or 4 players; there's even a 1-player table for goldfish testing (note that you don't earn money or Unglued cards for playing 1-player games). Click a table to join it and then click the mousewheel to declare "I'm ready to play" (a box will appear around your avatar). Once the table quota is declared ready, the game automatically starts; clicking the mousewheel at a table with a game already active will simply make you a watcher in the game.
The more you play, the more you'll appreciate keyboard shortcuts; here's a not-necessarily-complete list to start:
Ctrl+R to roll 2d6 for starting the game
Ctrl+E to declare the end of your turn
Ctrl+U to untap all your permanents at the start of your turn
Whenever you're dealt damage or gain life, just enter the amount of life change (for example "-3" or "+5") and it'll automatically parse as a life change (as long as you don't have anything else written on the chat line). Alternately, you can just type your new life total as a number ("14") and it'll be set to that.
There are also shortcuts that work while the mouse is hovering over a card:
Ctrl-P to play the card (permanents go into play; instants/sorceries go to the graveyard and the game automatically knows which is which because you downloaded the card files)
Delete to put the card into the graveyard (whether you're destroying a permanent or discarding a card)
Insert to return a card to your hand (for the library, just click it to draw a card)
Ctrl+Delete to remove a card from the game
Ctrl+T to touch a card (for example, if you just played Terror, touch the card to indicate what you're targeting...if you played Lightning Bolt and wish to hit your opponent, Ctrl+T over their avatar will touch it)
Click the mouse wheel to tap or untap the card, such as tapping lands for mana or attacking with creatures.
Hold Shift in order to see an enlarged image if you need to know what the card does (this even works when you're not playing a game).
At the end of the game, the winner types "/win" to send the result to the server; this result is confirmed by the other player typing "/ok". "/draw" and "/undecided" are also valid game results; as with /win they don't get confirmed unless the other player agrees by typing /ok.
The winner of a 2-player game gets $10.40 and the loser gets $2.60 (these results are doubled in 3P games and tripled in 4P games), so even if you don't win very often it's still profitable to play a lot of games; this money can be used to buy better cards of course.
If you collect all cards in a set, type /register followed by the set's two-letter abbreviation to receive a bonus payout of $0.50 for each card in the set (so a complete Mirrodin set, for example, is worth $153). Again you don't actually have to buy any cards to play on GCCG, but there are players out there who frown at 60-proxy decks so it's probably a good idea to track down at least most of the cards you plan to use.
Hopefully this is enough information to get you started playing, but if it isn't, the GCCG designers were kind enough to include a command "/rtfm" which produces the text "http://gccg.sf.net/faq.php" for all to see; that generally means your remaining problems can be resolved there.
[DISCLAIMER] I am not a member of the GCCG staff or its programming team, and have no ties to it except that I use the program. It's just really good, and that's why it's being mentioned.
That's the best online play resource I know of. Like Apprentice and MWS, it's completely free of charge, and like MODO, you get direct connections to a server environment with multiple players, and can experience the idea of "collecting" cards.
When you get the program, run "Install Mtg.bat" and "Install Mtg Cards.bat"; the latter will take a REALLY long time to run since it has to download almost 10,000 card images along with card text and set data for all of those cards.
Then the next step isn't required, but it's REALLY useful: Edit the resulting "Mtg.bat" file in a text editor, and change the line
ccg_client.exe --user %USER% %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 game.xml
to
ccg_client.exe --full --user %USER% %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 game.xml
This activates full-screen mode and allows you to see everything regardless of your monitor resolution. "Mtg.bat" is the file you'll use to run the game.
Basic outlines:
When you first get your account, you'll start with $50.00 in play money. You can spend this money on packs by pressing Ctrl-P; note that all sets all the way back to Beta are considered in-print in GCCG and can be purchased at their original price (e.g. Arabian Nights for $1.45).
Alternately, pressing Ctrl-B (or right-clicking and choosing Show Collection) brings up the card list. You can see a list of every card in the game and, if you own copies of a card, that card will be highlighted. Right click a card for options, including buying a card at the lowest price anyone is currently offering it for, adding the card to your "wish list", adding it to your deck or sideboard, or (if you have a copy) putting it up for sale.
If you have copies for sale, hover the mouse over the card and type a number and press Enter; the number is the amount in dollars you would sell it for (e.g. "0.6", no dollar sign). Remember that only the lowest bid counts, so don't expect to sell your card for $13.00 if there's a 30-cent bidder who has it for sale.
Of course, you can't put cards in a deck that doesn't exist. Type /newdeck deckname to create a blank deck, then go to the card list and look for cards you want to put in the deck. As a shortcut, clicking the mousewheel adds a copy of the card and left-clicking removes a copy. Like Apprentice, you do NOT have to own copies of every card you add to your deck, but if you add cards you don't own, it will give a message at the start of the game such as "mr_pwnage is using 14 proxies in his deck." At the end of every game, if you played a deck with no proxies, you receive a free Unglued card regardless of win or lose. (Note that you can't otherwise buy packs of Unglued.)
So how do you play? There are tables that appear on the screen; some are type 1 or 1.5, others are type 2. Different tables are available for 2, 3, or 4 players; there's even a 1-player table for goldfish testing (note that you don't earn money or Unglued cards for playing 1-player games). Click a table to join it and then click the mousewheel to declare "I'm ready to play" (a box will appear around your avatar). Once the table quota is declared ready, the game automatically starts; clicking the mousewheel at a table with a game already active will simply make you a watcher in the game.
The more you play, the more you'll appreciate keyboard shortcuts; here's a not-necessarily-complete list to start:
Ctrl+R to roll 2d6 for starting the game
Ctrl+E to declare the end of your turn
Ctrl+U to untap all your permanents at the start of your turn
Whenever you're dealt damage or gain life, just enter the amount of life change (for example "-3" or "+5") and it'll automatically parse as a life change (as long as you don't have anything else written on the chat line). Alternately, you can just type your new life total as a number ("14") and it'll be set to that.
There are also shortcuts that work while the mouse is hovering over a card:
Ctrl-P to play the card (permanents go into play; instants/sorceries go to the graveyard and the game automatically knows which is which because you downloaded the card files)
Delete to put the card into the graveyard (whether you're destroying a permanent or discarding a card)
Insert to return a card to your hand (for the library, just click it to draw a card)
Ctrl+Delete to remove a card from the game
Ctrl+T to touch a card (for example, if you just played Terror, touch the card to indicate what you're targeting...if you played Lightning Bolt and wish to hit your opponent, Ctrl+T over their avatar will touch it)
Click the mouse wheel to tap or untap the card, such as tapping lands for mana or attacking with creatures.
Hold Shift in order to see an enlarged image if you need to know what the card does (this even works when you're not playing a game).
At the end of the game, the winner types "/win" to send the result to the server; this result is confirmed by the other player typing "/ok". "/draw" and "/undecided" are also valid game results; as with /win they don't get confirmed unless the other player agrees by typing /ok.
The winner of a 2-player game gets $10.40 and the loser gets $2.60 (these results are doubled in 3P games and tripled in 4P games), so even if you don't win very often it's still profitable to play a lot of games; this money can be used to buy better cards of course.
If you collect all cards in a set, type /register followed by the set's two-letter abbreviation to receive a bonus payout of $0.50 for each card in the set (so a complete Mirrodin set, for example, is worth $153). Again you don't actually have to buy any cards to play on GCCG, but there are players out there who frown at 60-proxy decks so it's probably a good idea to track down at least most of the cards you plan to use.
Hopefully this is enough information to get you started playing, but if it isn't, the GCCG designers were kind enough to include a command "/rtfm" which produces the text "http://gccg.sf.net/faq.php" for all to see; that generally means your remaining problems can be resolved there.
[DISCLAIMER] I am not a member of the GCCG staff or its programming team, and have no ties to it except that I use the program. It's just really good, and that's why it's being mentioned.
