In the Beginning
The Star Trek: Next Generation CCG was released nearly a decade ago (1994), as (one of) the first skill-based CCGs. Alongside Magic and L5R, it's one of the longest-running CCGs around, lasting long past the end of its licensed series.
Not surprisingly, after each expansion (especially since they often introduced new rules), the game became more and more complex. Early cards often couldn't take into account later rules and cards that referenced them. Each card's three lines of text didn't allow the intent of the card to always be written properly. Flavor text (Lore) sometimes became rules text. According to Decipher designer notes, "Topping the list are too many card types (what's the real difference between events, objectives, and incidents, anyway?), too many "free" cards, too much front-end time (seed phase, building up crew, etc.) before getting to the "meaty" gameplay of mission attempts, too many rules that support only one or two cards (such as Borg timeline disruption), and too many affiliations." [1]
Besides cards, basic mechanics had problems as well. The cost (except for Interrupt cards, you could play one card per turn) of playing a card was the same. So there wasn't any reason you would play a cannon fodder personnel when you had a superior card. Multi-player games had problems with spacelines.
A few game tactics ran contrary to the spirit of the show. You could first send cannon fodder down to a planet to discard Dilemmas, dying in the process ("redshirting"). You could create a battlefleet of ships to destroy and shut down your opponent. (Sounds like good tactics to me, but guess which side I preferred to play...)
And, of course, there's the money pit. The Enterprise bridge crew, the most popular cards in both gameplay and collectability, were rares. You couldn't play out of the starter (not that that was true for any "first generation" CCGs...) so had to buy more cards just to play.
Make It So
Decipher realized that the complexity of the game lost existing players, and wasn't able to attract new ones. They "streamlined" the game, keeping ideas, but making definite changes to the mechanics. This section summarizes the rules and notes changes.
Setup
Each player places their five Missions on the table in front of them. Each Mission has a point value. To win the game, you must score 100 points by successfully completing your Missions. Typically, to complete a Mission, the Personnel visiting the Mission must have all the required Skills for the Mission (eg. Programming, Security) and their Attribute total must be greater than the required total (eg. Cunning > 30).
Change: No spaceline, no seeding! Dilemmas come into play when a player attempts to complete a mission. The setup now takes a shorter amount of time. Multiplayer games are easier to setup.
Step 1: Play and Draw cards
Each turn is divided into three steps: Play and draw cards, Orders, and Discard excess cards. During the first step, you receive seven "counters" (let's just call them Action Points or APs), and may spend an AP to either draw a card or pay the cost to play a card. All cards but Interrupts are played in this phase and have a cost to play.
Change: More powerful cards now have a higher cost to play. In first edition, a player drew a card and played any card from his hand, so, naturally, a player would build a deck with his best cards. Also note that you can now draw more cards per turn.
Step 2: Execute Orders
A player has no limits to the number of Orders he may execute per turn. Orders include Beaming, Moving a Ship, and Attempting a Mission.
Beaming: Beaming describes moving cards from a planet or headquarters (starting location) Mission to one of your Ships, or vice-versa. You can also beam between two Ships.
Moving a Ship: A Ship must be staffed to move. Ships have their staffing requirements (eg. one Personnel with the Command icon, and two with the Staff icon). A staffed Ship has a Range (movement points) it can move each turn. To move from one Mission to another (one planet to another) add the Span (cost to move) of the two Missions. If the Span is lower than the current movement points of the Ship, the Ship pays the cost to move from one Mission to another. If a Ship has enough Range, it can cover more than one Mission.
Attempting a Mission: You may only attempt your own Missions. Your opponent draws a number of Dilemma cards from his Dilemma deck equal to the number of Personnel cards attempting the Mission. Each Dilemma has a point cost, and your opponent selects Dilemmas whose total cost does not exceed this same number. Dilemmas typically have negative effects, such as stopping (tapping!) your Personnel, or killing (discarding) them. Negative effects are usually overcome by Skills of the Personnel at the Mission. Even though your Personnel may suffer negative effects, the Dilemma may still be overcome. If your entire Personnel are stopped and/or killed, any remaining Dilemmas are automatically overcome. If you attempt to complete a Mission you have already attempted, the number of Dilemma cards your opponent draws and the number of points he has to pay to play Dilemma cards is reduced by the number of Dilemmas you have already overcome.
Combats and Engagements: Combat and Engagements requires a card to initiate. Both require Personnel to be on the same planet (on a Mission), or Ships to be at the same Mission. For Personnel vs. Personnel Combat, the higher total Strength of the Personnel wins. For Ship vs. Ship Engagements, compare your Weapons versus your opponent's Shields. Cards determine the effects of the outcome of the battle. All your involved Personnel or Ships (including Personnel aboard them) are stopped.
Change: There is no spaceline. You can no longer attempt your opponent's missions. Because more Personnel on a Mission means more Dilemmas to play, it's no longer a no-brainer to send all your Personnel on a Mission. Combat requires a card to initiate, and the effects of combat are now dictated by the cards. (Killing a few Personnel, btw, doesn't seem to help. With the ability to draw multiple cards, Personnel reappear like flies...)
Step 3: Discard Excess Cards
If the current player has more than seven cards in his hand, he discards the excess. All stopped cards are unstopped.
A few other changes
Most words have become Skills and Keywords, which usually do nothing in themselves. For example, Cloaking in Second Edition requires a card to be played to have an effect.
Modularity
I actually don't see it too difficult to add house rules that make Second Edition more like First. You can allow players to attempt other player's Missions, you might be able to create a spaceline, and you could start combat and engagements without cards. Indeed, a special icon has been added to Second Edition cards that can be played in First Edition games.
It's Full of Stars...
Okay, already running out of sf taglines, but the cards look great. Instead of the flat colors of First Edition, Second Edition cards are reminiscent of the Next Generation futuristic starship panels (but don't look busy). Shading provides a three-dimensional look. Screenshots are larger and sharp, though they have been recycled.
First Contact
Mechanics-wise, the principle way players will interact are throught Dilemmas. Your opponent chooses the Dilemmas you must face. As the opponent, you must balance using enough Dilemmas to prevent the current player from succeeding this turn, versus not playing so many Dilemmas that his next attempt is too easy. You'll pretty much need the right cards to increase the interactivity of the game. The Sample Decks on the website are pretty good examples. The Federation deck focuses on damaging and crippling opponent ships (eg. reduced Range, reduced Shields, etc.). The Cardassian deck captures opponent personnel then does all sorts of nasty things with them. (;
The Starter Decks are quite playable out of the box. The Second Edition Base Starter Decks are Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Klingons, and Romulans. (Unfortunately, the Cardassians don't have their own deck.) New players will learn the game from these decks, although veteran ccg'ers may find them a bit bland. (Download the Sample Decks!) Hopefully, we'll see some interesting preconstructed decks in the future. The starters are fixed cards, with three random rares apiece, and cards only found in starters. Boosters are eleven cards apiece: one rare, three uncommons, and seven commons. Sealed deck play shouldn't be too difficult.
Not surprisingly, however, the most popular characters are still rare. The good news is that the starters do contain popular characters. The Next Generation deck has Jean-Luc Picard, William T. Riker, and Worf. The Deep Space 9 deck has Benjamin Sisko, Worf (like First Edition, Second Edition has different versions of some personnel) and other well-known characters from the show (see the link below for the Starter deck and other card lists).
Analysis, Mr. Spock
If you thought of playing or enjoyed the ST:CCG at one time (as well as have deep pockets!) you'll appreciate the "reset button" of a streamlined Second Edition. However, veteran ST:CCG'ers thinking of switching to Second Edition will have to consider starting over their collection. Likewise, veteran ST:CCG'ers considering playing Second Edition cards in First Edition games should look at the Spoiler lists to see which Second Edition cards are playable in First Edition (see the link below for spoilers and other card lists).
Non-Trekkie CCGers who haven't played ST:CCG (and don't mind a few hundred dollars on another CCG) should at least try the free website demo and sample decks. (See the links below.) Its unique mechanics have contributed to the longevity of the game. ST:CCG hasn't been around just because of its license.
[1] The "Next Generation" of Star Trek CCG:
http://www.decipher.com/startrek/designlog/071102secondedition.html
Card lists: http://www.decipher.com/startrek/cardlists/index.html
Demo and sample decks: http://www.decipher.com/startrek/downloads/index.html
Designer notes: http://www.decipher.com/startrek/designlog/index.html
DGMA articles: http://www.dgma.com/articles/default.asp
