Revamping The Game
Announcing A New Title For A Vampire Game
Renton, Wash. (January 9, 1995) -- Wizards of the Coast, Inc. is pleased to announce it is renaming its Jyhad(TM) Deckmaster(TM) game. The company has signed a contract with White Wolf, Inc. to change the game's title to Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM). The unlimited version of the card game, in which players are vampires fighting in an ancient war, will debut under the new title in the Summer of 1995.
"A lot of people see Jyhad in stores, but they don't know what it is," says Matt Burke, Project Coordinator for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. As a result, Wizards of the Coast (and White Wolf concentrated on creating a new name for Jyhad, a game based on White Wolf's storytelling game Vampire: the Masquerade(TM). "Vampires are a hot topic in films, comics, and novels right now," says Burke, "and they have been for quite a while. Just look at the movies The Lost Boys(TM), Bram Stoker's Dracula(TM), and, most recently, Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire(TM)."
Besides changing Jyhad's name, Wizards of the Coast is also making adjustments to the game's rules. "We've rewritten and simplified the instructions, as well as adding new rules to cut down on playing time," says Burke. The rules changes will appear in instructions that accompany each starter deck and also in a new pocket players' guide, Darkness Unveiled(TM). The guide will be released in August 1995. Despite the changes, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle rules will be 100% playable with Jyhad cards. The game will also keep the green marble look and the Jyhad symbol.
Players who can't wait until Summer to see the game's new look will have a chance to see more in Spring. That's when Vampire: The Eternal Struggle retail and promotional posters arrive in stores. Renown vampire artist John Bolton will do the work featured in the poster. A Vampire: The Eternal Struggle expansion set is scheduled to be released in late Summer 1995.
Wizards of the Coast is a young game company based in the Seattle, Washington area. The company created a worldwide sensation when it released its trading card game, Magic: The Gathering(TM), in August 1993. Since then, more than 500 million Magic cards have sold around the globe. The game has received a number of high honors, including a "Mensa Top Five Mind Games" trophygames from all categories are considered for this award. In April 1994, Wizards of the Coast opened a second branch in Glasgow, Scotland. Several months later, the company expanded into a third office in Antwerp, Belgium.
(Magic: The Gathering(TM), Jyhad(TM), Deckmaster(TM) and Darkness Unveiled(TM) are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Vampire: The Masquerade(TM) is a trademark of White Wolf, Inc.(TM). Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM) is a joint trademark of Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf. The Lost Boys(TM) and Interview With The Vampire(TM) are trademarks of Warner Brothers. Bram Stoker's Dracula(TM) is a trademark of Zoetrope Productions).
1 comment:
Two weeks later the following information was posted:
Info posted on rec.games.trading-cards.announce on 2 Feb 1995, from Kathy Ice
In my post of a few days ago about Jyhad's upcoming name change, I said that the card backs would be changed to read Vampire: The Eternal Struggle instead of Jyhad. As it turns out, this is incorrect.
The V:TES team has decided that only the Vampire card backs will change. The green library cards will continue to say "Jyhad," and will therefore be indistiguishable from cards being sold now.
This is a compromise between people who felt that the card backs should be changed, and people who felt that the change would be too disruptive. Since it is a compromise, I expect that no one will be completely happy with it, but I hope that most players will find it a reasonable solution.
Thanks for your continued patience.
Not that this really happened, but still interesting to know that WotC considered this move!
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