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Post by Matt Miyama on Feb 7, 2012 17:15:30 GMT -5
As class began, Matt turned his attention away from the history book he had been reading and toward the professor. He listened as the professor gave a very brief overview of the game back when it was still young. Most of what she said were things he had heard about or figure out himself a long time ago. The abundance of low attack, high level vanilla cards the game had back then was enough to show just how far the game had come. Once the professor finished the overview of the early game and asked the class for questions, a flicker of doubt crossed Matt's mind. The lesson sounded a lot like something he expected from one of the dueling classes. He had thought he would be learning about the ancient histories of duel monsters. He pushed the thought from his mind quickly, figuring that the professor had decided to save those lessons for later in the year.
When no questions from the class came forth, the professor continued with her lecture. When the advice came to take notes, Matt grabbed a small notebook from his open bag and opened it. There were small but well drawn doodles of various duel monsters along the edges of the first page, though the main lines of the page had been left untouched. He retrieved the pen that was clipped to the front cover and wrote down the date that Pegasus has patented Duel Monsters.
As he looked up again, the words on the board had changed into a list of various years and blank spaces beside them. The dates, though only narrowed to the month and year, seemed familiar to him. After looking at the board blankly for a few moments, most of the dates clicked in his mind. He had studied these dates for thee entrance exam! However, he couldn't remember what happened in 2005 no matter how hard he tried.
"Yes." Matt spoke after the class was silent for a few moments, "In May 2002, the game's first restriction list was placed into effect, though no cards were outright banned until the list in April 2004. In August 2008, the yearly starter deck introduced the Synchro summon mechanic and Synchro monsters to the game. Three years later, in Ausgust 2011, the yearly starter deck introduced XYZ summons and XYZ monsters to the game. I... don't know what happened in 2005 though."
Matt felt a wave of nervousness wash over him as he fell silent again, feeling that most of the class had been watching him while he answered even if they hadn't. He wasn't even sure if he had gotten the earlier years right at all, but those were the only things he could remember from those years and his own studies. He remembered his sister making a big deal about some of her favorite cards being limited or banned back then. |
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Post by Setsuna Makenshi on Feb 7, 2012 17:40:41 GMT -5
When Setsuna had noticed Tori, she smiled and took a seat next to her. Even sitting down, her height was noticeable. She let out a sigh, then began quietly taking notes. Naturally, she had no idea what any of the major dates were that the teacher was asking about, and she cringed lightly as Matt seemed to list off all but one of them. Letting out a sigh, she muttered to herself, though most in the room would be able to hear her if they paid enough "Xyz Monsters? What are those? I only just recently figured out how Synchros work...and now this?"
It was frustrating...every time there was a slight hope that she might be able to catch up with the card game, something else came out and completely blew away any chances of that actually happening. It was the one thing about the card game she didn't like. As much as she loved playing it, there were always new cards coming out, and unlike a lot of people she knew who played the game, she didn't have the money or the patience required to keep up with it. Of course, she had no idea that she had said what he just said out loud. Otherwise, she'd already be feeling extremely embarrassed.
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Post by Victoria "Tori" Kyoakuhan on Feb 7, 2012 18:34:12 GMT -5
It hit Tori like a brick. She jumped up, her hand shooting in the air as her mouth blabbed out an answer. "The game came to the US!"She realized she spoke suddenly, loudly and without warning and her hand dropped instantly. She looked around and controlled her voice. "I mean.. the 2002 one was when the card game extended outside of Japan..."Why didn't see realize it? Her parents had started playing the year before they died--when the cards were released to the US. OF COURSE! Tori went quiet and started writing notes again. |
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Post by Amy Morrison on Feb 7, 2012 18:42:32 GMT -5
Amy nodded as she listened attentively to Matt's answers. He was a sharp one, for a Red. The woman idly wondered what he'd done to not be in Ra or Obelisk, but decided to keep to the task at hand.
"Not bad, Miyama. The advent of Synchro and Xyz monsters to the game have shaped how it's played radically since their invention. The formation of a banned list is another milestone, bu-" Amy was interrupted when Tori made her eureka-like observation. She couldn't help but smile at the girl's enthusiasm, though.
"Good catch, Tori. Yes, 2002 was when the game was released internationally. So we have these four things we can add to the list."
March 2002 - Duel Monsters' International Release
April 2004 - First Banned List published
April 2005 - ______________
August 2008 - Introduction of Synchro Monsters
August 2011 - Introduction of Xyz Monsters
"There's still one more topic that needs to be filled in, and to be honest it's the most obscure of the five. If any of you happen to have some older cards in your deck, you might be able to piece it together. Anyone else want to take a shot at it?"
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Post by Setsuna Makenshi on Feb 7, 2012 20:51:58 GMT -5
Setsuna racked her brain. For some reason, something about that particular month and year seemed familiar for some reason. She didn't know why it did, but it just did. It took her a moment, but something finally registered. Reluctantly, and with little confidence in her own words, she quietly and shyly spoke up "...um...d-did it have something to do with the ban list?...b-because...I remember my brother and some of his friends complaining about a few cards really popular cards being banned..."
She paused for a moment "...what were they called?...oh yeah. It was...um...Graceful Charity, I think...and Painful Choice?...and I think there was something about...fiber?..." She frowned "A-anyway...I...I'm probably wrong...aren't I?" As her voice trailed off, she more or less sank into her chair. She wasn't even sure why she spoke up the way she did, but she was already regretting it. And yet, there was a small part of her that was glad that she at least tried. Sure, she was most likely wrong, but at least she didn't just sit there and do nothing. Didn't make her feel any less awkward, though.
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Post by Leon DeHay on Feb 10, 2012 14:59:04 GMT -5
Leon simply sat quietly in his own little corner of the room, watching the dates. Miyama had it correct, of course. He looked over at him. For someone in Red, he seemed much too intelligent to be there. Was he there because of laziness, or did he guess about just ONE too many questions. Leon just shrugged and continued typing. He had all the exact same answers as Miyama, but the 2005 question perplexed him as well. What had happened in 2005 that he couldn't remember? He should of course know all of this, his father worked directly under Kaiba, and before that, under Pegasus himself. So why was this question perplexing him? He shrugged and continued typing, and even pulled up an internet page to start researching it. If no one else got it, he could at least know it himself.
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Post by Will Nimbus on Feb 11, 2012 14:10:49 GMT -5
For once... Will thought he was sure of an answer. Old cards? He had been looking at them for a while now... wait a minute!!
Will raised his hand. "Professor, in April 2005, the Banned list was updated to include many of the older staple cards in widespread use. Cards like Change of Heart, Confiscation, and Fiber Jar, long considered essential cards to have in a deck, were completely banned, while other staples like Graceful Charity, Lightning Vortex, Mirror Force, and Sangan were limited to one. Even cards like Gravity Bind, Level Limit - Area B, and Emergency Provisions were restricted to two per deck. This caused a major uproar within the dueling community, since many decks, including many of the top ranking decks in the world, were suddenly and without warning rendered useless, and illegal." Will said, before taking a breath.
"That.. or you are referring to the release of YuGiOh Online to the internet, however that didn't have as much of an impact as the banned list did." he added, just trying to cover his bases.
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Post by Amy Morrison on Feb 11, 2012 18:10:09 GMT -5
Amy waited patiently as she listened to the various theories. Perhaps not everything she saw as important was something they'd pick up on. Mentally making that note, she addressed the Osirus whose latest response was arguably just as big as the point she was going for.
"Yes, the April 2005 banned/restricted list had major shake-up on what decks were viable or not. To be fair, that's probably more memorable to you kids. April of that year was also the game's first significant change in terminology - the term 'magic cards' was replaced by 'spell cards' after a rather sticky legal battle with another company. Most texts merely gloss over the fact, but it's something that you all ought to keep in mind."
March 2002 - Duel Monsters' International Release
April 2004 - First Banned List published
April 2005 - First Cardtext Syntax Change - "Magic cards" become "Spell Cards"
August 2008 - Introduction of Synchro Monsters
August 2011 - Introduction of Xyz Monsters
"As Nimbus stated, the overhaul of the Banned List in 2005 caused a great deal of change. Can anyone think of other times when the game has dramatically changed due to cards being banned?" Amy herself remembered several, but she wanted to know what her students' thoughts would jump to.
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Post by Enzeru Ranmyaku on Feb 12, 2012 9:06:19 GMT -5
Enzeru had stayed quiet for everything up until that point, in which he raised his hand before speaking.
"The banned list has changed the game several times, creating the rise and fall of many decks. Chaos, Dark Armed, Destiny Heroes, and many others were created once the ban list removed cards from the current top decks, then they themselves were weakened once their strong cards were removed and new card sets introduced."
He then stopped to think for a moment, then shrugged. He had said enough.
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Post by Nana Hanamura on Feb 12, 2012 12:41:23 GMT -5
Nana's hand moved furiously as her pencil moved on the paper below to take all of the notes. She'd only known about a few of these things and felt bad that she didn't know more about the history of the game she loved so much. Despite that, though, she was learning a lot. She continued to follow the lecture and thought about what the teacher had just asked of them. It didn't sound like it was brought up, so she decided to throw it out.
"Well, the ban list also brought a halt to any decks that created FTKs - or anything remotely close to that - that were very hard to stop unless you had very specific cards to stop it. Like with Dark Magician of Chaos and Substitoad, right?"
She wasn't sure if she was completely correct with her statement, but she'd nodded with some satisfaction that she'd gotten it out.
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Post by Amy Morrison on Feb 17, 2012 23:34:10 GMT -5
"Absolutely, Miss Hanamura. The banned list's first priority is to keep the game interesting - something that isn't very easy if everyone's deck will win on the first turn almost every time. There've been several controversial bans over the past eight years, but I'd like to think that the game is better for it." Looking at the clock, Amy saw there wasn't much time before class ended.
"Before we break for the day, does anyone have any questions about this class, or anything we've covered today? There's no stupid questions except for the ones you already know the answers to."
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