Was news ever this scarce for other expansions? I mean, news for Hinterlands (such as images and card details) came well before the October release date.
Ah, but October wasn't the official 'release date'. It was the 'all the non-GenCon attendees release date'. Likewise, we'll know all the Dark Ages cards in August, but won't be able to actually buy it until around October. At least that's how it's been for recent sets.
You are thinking of other sets. Hinterlands came out in October at Essen. I started previews a week before Essen.
Prosperity had shipping problems that meant people who got it at Essen had it way before other people. Cornucopia and Alchemy debuted at the Gathering of Friends and that meant people knew the cards a while before they could get them.
I expect that copies of Dark Ages at GenCon will have been shipped normally, not air-shipped, and if that's so then it will be full-on out then. If that doesn't work out and they are air-shipped then yes there will be whatever shipping delay before stores have it.
Ah, I see. Thanks for the detailed response. I look forward to your previews for Dark Ages and hope to see the 'two cards per day' scheme again.
I too eagerly look forward to the card previews before the release of Dark Ages. In fact, it would be great if Donald was able to start the previews a little earlier this time. Since it appears there are going to be over 40 cards, he could easily start previews three weeks before release at Gencon and still not reveal all of the cards before hand.
Personally, I would love to see the whole expansion be revealed two cards at a time over a period of weeks. The anticipation and excitement that would bring to its release would be quite profound. Imagine all of the discussion it will prompt also, and not discussion about what somebody thinks is going to be in the set, but discussion about the real cards and how to integrate them into our games.
Please, Donald, if you can fit it into your schedule, give us as many previews as you reasonably can. I think it was the best possible way to reveal the last expansion, and everybody loved it.