Regarding collectibility

It seems like it would be difficult to have any sort of meaningful collectibility dimension in a game where everything is open. What made Pokemon great was how everyone wanted cards they didn't have, so they had to go out and either trade with friends or buy card packs. If someone doesn't have a Phylo card, it seems to me like they don't have to look hard to get one, they can just print it off themselves. I'm sure this has been brought up before, but a few quick searches didn't turn up any results, so I thought I'd ask -- has there been any discussion of this yet? Any solutions agreed upon (like, for instance, printing "rare" cards on some unusual kind of paper)?


Another question, only tangentially related -- does the license placed on the cards' art prevent 3rd parties from selling cards? Or does it only apply to whoever is putting out the cards? In other words, is the agreement simply that the party the artist is giving their work to won't use it for profit, is it an all-encompassing document saying nobody can use it for profit, or is it something else entirely? If I'm a collector who has never printed out a card and has no connection to the production process, and who has only traded cards with others, can I legally sell my collection? I ask because forbidding that strikes me as unwise.

Any answers would be greatly appreciated -- from where I stand, this project looks very promising!

Hi Wootfish,

Those are both great questions. For the first, I'll point you to an existing FAQ on the site (http://phylogame.org/about/#rare).

For the second question, right now the license chosen, in theory, prohibits anybody from making profit from the cards. This is in keeping with the general ideals of the project.

However, if the collaborative/card set ideas (see above link) is feasible (and it's important to note that this does require additional permissions from the artists involved), then those cards would operate under a different license (probably one where full rights are observed). The idea here is that it is still easier for a collaborator to "produce" a high quality card set, because the contact info for images are there, the artists are presumably already self selecting for being environmentally conscious and therefore may more likely be into providing permissions, plus we'll already have an established community and game mechanic associated with the cards.

Since these cards are sold already (perhaps with an underlying agreement that the project can establish - i.e. only for fundraising, only for this, etc), then the normal means of TCG culture can also be embedded in the project.