Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[rinkworks]

I went to order more blank Dominion cards from the BGG store and got the following notice:

Quantities limited to ONE per customer per direction from Rio Grande Games.  Any additional orders of this to the same buyer will be cancelled and refunded.

Apparently this is the case for all of the Dominion promo cards, including the blanks.  Elsewhere on the site it said this agreement with Rio Grande Games was effective January 1, 2012.  It's not problematic to me to limit sales of the other promos, because how many Walled Village packs do I need?  But what's the point of limiting the blank cards?  I use the blank cards for making my own custom cards.  Apparently now I can't do that anymore.  This is extremely disappointing.

[Donald X.]

I went to order more blank Dominion cards from the BGG store and got the following notice:

Quantities limited to ONE per customer per direction from Rio Grande Games.  Any additional orders of this to the same buyer will be cancelled and refunded.

Apparently this is the case for all of the Dominion promo cards, including the blanks.  Elsewhere on the site it said this agreement with Rio Grande Games was effective January 1, 2012.  It's not problematic to me to limit sales of the other promos, because how many Walled Village packs do I need?  But what's the point of limiting the blank cards?  I use the blank cards for making my own custom cards.  Apparently now I can't do that anymore.  This is extremely disappointing.

I don't know the official reason, but I can sure guess.

Promos are promotional. They aren't products. RGG gives them away, at a loss, in order to promote the game. They're promotional!

We don't want fans to be mad due to being unable to get a promo that was given away with a magazine or at a con or what have you; so, they are available through BGG. They are still promos though, they are still not products, they are still made at a loss.

The blanks may seem different but they aren't. There is no blank cards product. RGG loses money on each set of blanks that goes out. They exist simply because it seemed good to somebody to pair Stash with something on BGG, since Envoy and Black Market went together before that.

So it does not actually make sense to let people have all the blanks they want. It would only make sense as an actual product, that RGG charged for. It's unlikely to ever exist as a product though, due to lack of demand. You can probably buy them from people who have blanks they don't want though.

[greatexpectations]

have i ever mentioned how awesome it is that the creator of this game lurks these forums and responds to our questions?  because it really is fantastic.

[rinkworks]

I don't know the official reason, but I can sure guess.

That makes sense.  Still disappointing, but is totally understandable.  Thanks.

[Piemaster]

It kind of makes sense, except I can't believe that somebody somewhere isn't making a profit on these cards.  DGG are selling the promos for either $2.50 or $5.00, which works out to 23/45c per card and they must only cost a few cents at the margin to print.  After all, you can buy 500 of them with a free box and instructions for $30, which works out to 6c per card.  Okay, you can talk about postage and storage costs, but these exist for the boxed game as well and shouldn't amount to that much.

So either DGG are making a tidy profit on something they are being given for next to nothing, or RGG are making a profit at their end, or both.  I don't mind this at all, but it suggests that there should be a way that players could buy multiple sets of blank cards that would be a win/win for everyone involved.

[WanderingWinder]

It kind of makes sense, except I can't believe that somebody somewhere isn't making a profit on these cards.  DGG are selling the promos for either $2.50 or $5.00, which works out to 23/45c per card and they must only cost a few cents at the margin to print.  After all, you can buy 500 of them with a free box and instructions for $30, which works out to 6c per card.  Okay, you can talk about postage and storage costs, but these exist for the boxed game as well and shouldn't amount to that much.

So either DGG are making a tidy profit on something they are being given for next to nothing, or RGG are making a profit at their end, or both.  I don't mind this at all, but it suggests that there should be a way that players could buy multiple sets of blank cards that would be a win/win for everyone involved.

Well, it doesn't cost that much more to ship and store a ton of stuff than it does a scrap of paper. So as a percentage, the shipping and storing on only a few cards is a much much higher percentage of what they're charging you.

[rrenaud]

I could probably manage to scrounge up some blanks for you, rinkworks.  It might even give me an excuse to open up the cornucopia box that has been sitting in my office for months ;P.

[theory]

It might even give me an excuse to open up the cornucopia box that has been sitting in my office for months ;P.

I guess this might no longer be relevant after Isotropic dies, but I wonder how Donald X. would feel about your proposal of not buying any more expansions and just sending him $40 checks directly?

[GendoIkari]

It might even give me an excuse to open up the cornucopia box that has been sitting in my office for months ;P.

I guess this might no longer be relevant after Isotropic dies, but I wonder how Donald X. would feel about your proposal of not buying any more expansions and just sending him $40 checks directly?

I got Cornucopia for Christmas, and I actually played with the physical set for the first time last night!

At the end of turn 3, I just took all the cards I had in play and shuffled them into my deck without thinking... I had to re-learn what I'm supposed to do after each turn!!! For some odd reason, the new hand of cards wasn't just magically appearing before me, and I actually had to do things like "draw" and "shuffle."

[lympi]

I could probably manage to scrounge up some blanks for you, rinkworks.  It might even give me an excuse to open up the cornucopia box that has been sitting in my office for months ;P.

No need to open Cornucopia. There are no blanks. Instead there are these five useless "Prize" cards. Lame. They can't be any good, they cost 0 and they're not even in the Supply!

[philosophyguy]

As a workaround, couldn't you put the blank cards in a sleeve and just print out the text of the custom card, cut it to fit, and put that in the front side of the sleeve? Between all the sets that are out thus far, you should have enough for 2 or 3 custom cards per game…

[rinkworks]

I could probably manage to scrounge up some blanks for you, rinkworks.  It might even give me an excuse to open up the cornucopia box that has been sitting in my office for months ;P.

I'd love to have whatever blanks you don't want (though as lympi says, Cornucopia doesn't have any).  Thanks!  I'll PM you my address, and we can work out how I can reimburse you.

[Empathy]

As a workaround, couldn't you put the blank cards in a sleeve and just print out the text of the custom card, cut it to fit, and put that in the front side of the sleeve? Between all the sets that are out thus far, you should have enough for 2 or 3 custom cards per game…

Couldn't you do the same for non-blank cards?

Just use those extra coppers from intrigue, or buy an extra set?

Or are blank cards much less expensive than say, coppers?

[Atto]

I just saw some blank cards in the new online shop of our German publisher "Hans im Glück".
See here: Blankokarten - cundco.de
I tested to put more than one into the shopping card, which was possible. Did not buy anything there yet, so i do not know if it really works.
The cards are quite cheap compared to the ones in the BGG store. 0.49 € are about $ 0.62. Of course the shipping costs to other countries are really high.

But this may be a useful general idea. You could also check for blank cards in other countries nearer to you. If they have comparable prices but lower shipping costs, it will be an interesting option. Language does not matter for blank cards.

[Kirian]

I'm suddenly imagining an eBay black market for blank Dominion cards.

[^_^_^_^]

I'm suddenly imagining an eBay blank market for blank Dominion cards.

fixed that for ya, you're welcome. 

[Tables]

Hm, this limitation could suddenly be a problem. I'm running a tournament in a few weeks, and we were going to use promo cards as prizes... but if I can only get 1 of each that could end up being a problem. Especially if I decide I want to buy promo cards for myself.

[Beyond Awesome]

Maybe, you can email Rio Grande and tell them that you want to run a tournament. Maybe, they can help you since you are promoting their game.

[Tables]

That's a good idea. Except... I can't really claim to be promoting the game. The tournament assumes you're already familiar with the game (it needs to, otherwise you have to allow slow play, which means you can't schedule games easily, and then people can get frustrated and too few games may be played to determine a winner). Still, I can give it a shot.

[dondon151]

Maybe some random people will observe, or something.

[Beyond Awesome]

That's a good idea. Except... I can't really claim to be promoting the game. The tournament assumes you're already familiar with the game (it needs to, otherwise you have to allow slow play, which means you can't schedule games easily, and then people can get frustrated and too few games may be played to determine a winner). Still, I can give it a shot.

Actually, you are promoting the game. I know Dominion is not a  CCG, but for Magic, Pokemon, and WoW, they have tournaments where they give out promo cards as prizes that are provided by those game publishers. Why do they do this? To keep people coming back and buying their product. Even though you might not be recruiting new players, you are bringing players who have an interest in Dominion to your store. Perhaps, some of them don't own every set. And, maybe, having a tournament there will make them interested in buying an expansion or two. You might also get an observer who watches the game and ends up buying Base or Intrigue that night. So, in my opinion, by hosting a tournament, you very much are promoting the game.