I don’t know if the matter was discussed already, nonetheless I was wondering if there is any plan to allow the creation of games for “Base Set” only format decks, both in career and quickplay game modes.
At the present time, game modes with “vintage” formats start from Base-Fossil (which include also Jungle and Fossil sets other than Base Set), so Base Set only games cannot be created.
The only workaround I see for creating such games is creating a quick-game mode room where in description is explicitly written “Base Set only” or something similar, but I stated above it would be interesting to play such games also in career mode.
Currently, the Base Era is split into more sub-formats than any other, mostly because it is an iconic period of the game.
TCG ONE currently has these formats with Base Set: Base–Fossil, Base–Rocket (Career only at the moment), Base–Gym and Base–Neo. I do think Base Only might be a bit overkill, but there is really no harm in offering it as an option.
first of all thanks for all your efforts in keeping up the vintage formats, with lists, documentation and a lot of other useful information on the game during that era: your blog, along with TCG ONE platform, is probably the main reason why I got back into the game after so many years.
So, as I was saying before, I would really enjoy having “Base Only” format selection available, since the other “Base-type” formats are perfect as they are at the present time and I really enjoy them a lot but I think the Base Only would offer a different playstyle less centered about the usual power cards / mechanics (haymaker variants, rain dance, etc.), and more about currently unplayed cards in those formats (think about Charizard, base Mewtwo)
I will tell you this: if you ask around in the chat, you can usually find someone to do Base Only with you! You just select Base–Fossil, but agree to not use any cards from Jungle/Fossil. I used to do this myself!
Oh, and needless to say, that the same would apply and be (at least from me) very much welcomed for the creation of career decks and games of the “Base-Jungle” format (i.e. no Fossil cards allowed)…
" Playing the Base & Jungle Format
The Base & Jungle format is often mischaracterized as being nothing more than a mindless slug-fest between two Haymaker decks. And to be fair, back in 1999, that wasn’t an inaccurate description of how it was played. But when friends and I began re-exploring the Base & Jungle format in 2016, we discovered there was much more to it than originally remembered. We managed to develop several decks that could go toe-to-toe (and even defeat) the Haymaker deck—a deck that was regarded as nearly unbeatable back in 1999!—and we also realized that games were intensely skill-based. In fact, I consider the Base & Jungle format the most skill-based format in the history of the game. The reason for this is that drawing six prizes through -30 Resistance, Scoop Up and Super Energy Removal is very difficult. With prizes so hard to come by, most games end in a deck-out, creating a format where it becomes critical to get as much use out of every single card in your deck as possible.
Despite its limited card pool of 150 cards, deck building in Base & Jungle can go deep, with odd cards like Maintenance and Imposter Professor Oak sometimes showing up in decks. Turns start and end quickly, and players are constantly faced with crucial decisions, not just what cards to play, but what cards not to play. The format certainly takes some getting used to, and there’s some tips towards the bottom of this article that will help you do just that. With practice, you’ll learn how to preserve cards for the right moment, and if you’re like me, Base & Jungle will end up becoming one of your favorite formats to play."
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not crazy about encouraging players to create official formats from the game’s history (or even formats like block formats that use only cards that were designed to be played together) using the custom formats feature rather than just implementing them on the website. I’m not saying you’d need to add all of them, but if there’s sufficient interest in a format (based either on data from the TCGONE player base or from the wider Pokémon fandom), it’s probably worth just adding to the front page. I’m guessing it would take you less time to add Base-Rocket Quickplay, Prop 15/3 Quickplay, e-card Quickplay and whatever else people are already playing on TCGONE using the less reliable format-substituting method than to add the custom formats feature first. Base Set only sounds like it would fall into this category, as Jason attests that there is usually someone about who is willing to play the format.
If you are worried about there being too many formats for beginners to choose between, we already have more formats than most people will ever be able to learn, so newcomers will either come in with a particular format in mind, investigate and research until they find one to try, or just default to the last standard format on the website. New players will find a format to play regardless of whether or not you add another three to six formats.
It also seems like a disservice to demote popular, official formats to a secondary page of the website, and if anything, it will give them less publicity than when players create a Base-Gym queue with “Base-Rocket” or “Prop 15/3” in the description. Drawing players away from the main page would damage the Prop 15/3 community more than allowing players to enforce the format’s rules would nurture it. Now that I think about it, adding these formats to Quickplay seems almost essential if for no other reason than to prevent some well-meaning soul from creating a custom “Prop 15/3” format and drawing the Prop 15/3 community off the main page and onto a thread buried in random, truly custom formats like “Base-Skyridge Gym Leader Challenge,” “Prop 20/2,” “Base Fossil 60 HP basics,” etc. (Yes, I have seen people discuss all these and more. Any real format that was created as a custom format would be buried in days.)
Too long, didn’t read (because let’s be honest, this is long): Official formats that people are playing should be added to Quickplay before you add the custom formats feature, because it will draw more people to those formats rather than pushing people away from TCGONE.