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I am delighted to announce that Mike Mulvihill will be an upcoming guest on the Pirates CSG Podcast! He is one of the true giants of Wizkids Pirates CSG history, having designed the majority of the game pieces! He was heavily involved in numerous aspects of the game from Spanish Main through Rise of the Fiends, and helped with certain aspects on Fire and Steel. The game was basically his in terms of game design, concept creation, game mechanics and gameplay concepts, as well as rules, factions, and the specific individual game pieces.
Feel free to post your questions here! (try to keep them as related to Pirates CSG as possible of course) Please list questions in a first-person format, as if you are asking him directly. I cannot guarantee that all questions will be asked, as we may run out of time.
How did you get involved with Pirates CSG?
What other Wizkids employees did you work with on Pirates?
What percentage of the game pieces (across all types – ships, crew, UT’s, etc) did you design?
Was there always a concrete formula for making the point costs for game pieces? If not, when did it come into being? Are you able to share it?
What was your general philosophy around creating sets? Did you want the factions of each set to revolve more around the theme of the set or the ongoing faction theme?
Do you remember when the sets were designed compared to when they were released? (the time difference in design vs. on store shelves – I saw 2-4 month estimate in a board game documentary video)
What thoughts/concept went behind the development of the ships and crew?
Do you remember any particularly memorable game design concept meetings? (such as a divisive mechanic or faction, or a quirky idea that led to big success)
From Chris: What computer programs were used to aid in the design of the game pieces?
Do you recall any discussions with Tony Vigil (Piranha) or Woelf about the rules of the game?
From Xerecs: Why was the original point limit suggestion 30 points?
Why was the suggested limit changed to 40?
Were other suggested point limits for games discussed or tested among the designers?
Why did the suggested point limit for games stay at 40, and not increase later?
What was the reason for the “half of starting gold value” rule?
Were other victory conditions planned but never put into practice?
Did/does the design team believe that games would revolve around racing to get treasure or fighting to get treasure?
From Luke Menzie: Was the Schooner keyword supposed to “work” with the masts overlapping and blocking their own lines of fire? (rotating on stern for better angles) Was the movement bonus from stern turning also an intentional part of the keyword?
Where did the change in direction from quasi-historical to full-on fantasy come from? (ex: Davy Jones’ Curse and beyond) Was part of it based on customer research or other existing games? (such as those popular with the target demographic)
What determined how many game pieces a set received? Was there a limit on how much could go into one set? If so, who imposed that limit or how was that limit determined?
Do you know what happened with the Caribbean set ship artwork? (HMS Endeavour not looking like a 3-decked ship of the line, HMS Dauntless having a wide blue stripe through the sails, etc.)
Did you consider making some of the “pirates” in the PotC set originate from The Cursed faction instead? (such as Davy Jones, or even making a crew like Mistress Ching be from the Jade Rebellion)
Were you involved in the legal/IP discussions on the Disney PotC set? (getting the license, working with anyone at Disney, etc.)
Was anyone from Disney involved in the game piece creation and design elements of the PotC set? (ex: did they have an employee overseeing your work on the set to make sure it lined up with what they would want representing the brand in stores)
Do you know what happened with the game pieces that “fell out” of Rise of the Fiends? (on the checklist but either released later on or never released – numbers 091, 092, 095, 097, 099) On a related note, do you know if artwork or a prototype ever existed for Ochobrazo?
What inspired the flotillas, switchblades, scorpions & other similar “pokéships” as the community knows them?
Were the ships with movable parts (scorpions, switchblades, hoists) partly implemented because of the settlement with WotC? Once it was determined that the patent did apply to Pirates CSG but Wizkids was able to continue producing the game via the licensing agreement, is that what prompted that stuff to enter the realm of design ideas? (since before those ship types appeared, no movable parts on ships could be part of why Wizkids claimed non-infringement in 2007)
What did the playtesting process consist of? Were all the playtesters employees at Wizkids? Did any community-centric playtesting initiatives occur where feedback was solicited from the broader player base?
Did playtesting volume vary across different sets? (ex: handful of PotC game pieces that are OP)
Per Woelf’s comment, do you know which stats were discounted for the original factions?
After Mike Selinker’s Dutch faction was removed during the revision process for Spanish Main, were there any thoughts or plans to bring the Dutch into the game in a set after SM?
From Captain Zone: How come the Cursed were designed to be so much weaker than the other factions? Was it the fear of their gimmicky abilities being too strong?
Do you know if the Mercenary faction flag was based on anything historical/etc?
Do you have a crew character in the game?
Do you have a favorite set?
Favorite faction?
Favorite game piece?
Favorite ship type?
Favorite terrain type?
Favorite rule or game mechanic?
Do you have any least favorite sets/pieces from the game? Or at least something that didn’t hold up as well as expected?
Did you have any ideas that never made it into the game? (for a set/faction/game piece/mechanic/etc)
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What advice would you give to community members who are designing their own Pirates game pieces or even full sets?
From Xerecs: What are your thoughts on the Simcost and UDC (Uff Da Costing) that people in the community have come up with to gauge the point values? It would also be interesting to hear his thoughts on the various custom ships that now exist. (quick peek at 1-2 customs)
Do you know what printing process was used to apply the artwork to the cards? (rotary screen printing? Shane Hartley said it was unlikely to be either flexographic press, stochastic press, or digital press)
Were sales numbers consistent across the sets? I’m curious if they went up shortly after PotC movie releases or if the introduction of fantasy concepts (correlated with the reverse power creep) increased or decreased revenue.
What was your involvement like with the SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) digital version made by Direwolf Digital?
Did you play the SOE version beyond a playtesting/beta version?
Follow ups from the first session (from Xerecs): Did you realize that the victory conditions and rules decisions would lead to the meta of using ships that are as fast as possible while being as cheap as possible to fit into a 40 point framework? | Given that he and the other designers wanted the game to be about gathering the treasure instead of fighting it out, did they realize how important a ship’s speed and abilities that boosted that speed would be?
Do you know what went into the process of balancing out the 10-masted ships like the Zeus?
Do you remember any pushback from the gaming community or Wizkids Pirates forums for a specific set/faction/rule/idea/etc?
Do you know if Captain Teague (Keith Richards) from the PotC set was replaced by Damsel in Distress due to likeness/IP issues?
Do you know how far Jordan Weisman got in trying to get a license to use PotC IP for the first set?
Do you still maintain a collection?
Do you have any prototypes or special Pirates items? (unreleased/non-playable pieces/etc.)
If you haven’t already seen the record, what do you think is the highest dollar amount that any ship from the game has publicly sold for? (and which ship)
Do you know what happened to the giant ships from GenCon 2007 that Ethan made? (Tiffany thinks possibly given to someone at the convention)
Do you know if Wizkids has an archive of their old forums from the site in 2004-2008? (some of it is visible via the Internet Archive, but not much)
Other than this year, when was the last time you played?
What are your favorite memories of Pirates CSG?
Is there anything you would have changed in hindsight?
How did you get out of Pirates?
What do you think is the biggest reason that Pirates CSG went out of print?
Do you know if the licensing agreement with Wizards of the Coast is part of why there were more non-pack products released in the later sets at a higher price point? (ex: Savage Shores Scavenger Pack boxes as opposed to regular booster packs, etc.)
Do you think Wizards of the Coast will release a new patent similar to the existing one that covers the CSG concept?
Do you think the game has a chance to come back in the future?
Do you think that Zev Schlasinger’s departure from Wizkids this past summer is part of why there might be a possible relaunch of the game from Wizkids?
Do you think the game could sell well if it was relaunched as a Living Card Game or as a non-collectible game?
What distribution/packaging method do you think would be optimal for the game if it was in stores today? (sealed packs just like the original game, semi-collectible small boxes/tins, non-collectible all in one box, etc.)
Do you think the game could come back as a digital/virtual game?
Have you had personal experience with the patents for other games expiring and being open to anyone reproducing the game?
If Pirates CSG came back, would you want to return to it?
Do you have any idea how the Shuffling the Deck card game did in sales?
Why do you think Wizkids doesn’t care about the game? (low margins, cultural moment of pirate mania is arguably over, etc.)
If you were trying to bring the game back now with its current situation, what would you do?
What are you doing now?
Where can people find you online?
Anything that you want to promote or give a shoutout to?
Questions of the Day
My question for Mike would be:
How come the Cursed were designed to be so much weaker than the other factions? Was it the fear of their gimmicky abilities being too strong?
they lack many staples the other factions have such as a canceler, world hater, reroller, +5 limit ransom crew, etc.
Why was the original point limit suggestion 30 points?
Why was the suggested limit changed to 40?
Were other suggested point limits for games discussed or tested among the designers?
Why did the suggested point limit for games stay at 40, and not increase later?
What was the reason for the “half of starting gold value” rule?
Were other victory conditions planned but never put into practice?
Did/does the design team believe that games would revolve around racing to get treasure or fighting to get treasure?
Thought of a few more, hopefully not too late.
What determined how many game pieces a set received? Was there a limit on how much could go into one set? If so, who imposed that limit or how was that limit determined?
Follow up questions from part 2:
Does Mike realize that those victory conditions and rules decisions lead to the meta of using ships that are as fast as possible while being as cheap as possible to fit into a 40 point framework?
Given that he and the other designers wanted the game to be about gathering the treasure instead of fighting it out, did they realize how important a ships speed and abilities that boosted that speed would be?
The Mike Mulvihill Supercut podcast is here! No new content vs. the 8 separately released episodes, but I wanted to have it available all in one place and one file. 8+ hours of Pirates info and discussion! 😀
https://pirateswithben.com/pirates-csg-podcast-mike-mulvihill-supercut/
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