Fantha Tracks guest contributor Philip Harrison Vazquez seized the opportunity to interview Mark Tuttle about his experiences working for a company that produced a fan favourite card game and his experiences as a Star Wars fan. Over to you Philip….
Mark Tuttle has had a long-running affinity for sci-fi of all kinds, from Star Trek to Star Wars and more. That passion has allowed him to be involved with a number of beloved Star Wars products, including Star Wars CCG, the card game made by Decipher, Inc., which ran from the mid-90s until the early 2000s. He now works in the video game industry, but he still is an avid Star Wars fan.
He was recently accepted into the Rebel Legion, attends conventions all over the U.S.A, such as Star Wars Celebration and San Diego Comic Con, and enjoys cosplaying with his children. I was lucky enough to have a chance to ask him some questions that have been on my mind because I have been an avid Star Wars and Star Wars CCG fan for 20+ years.
FT: Let’s start off with an easy one: What’s your first Star Wars memory and what got you hooked?
MT: I would say my first Star Wars memory was seeing stories about the movie in Starlog magazine. Soon after, the Marvel comic released (I believe) right before the film came out but I could already tell it was something I’ve never seen before.
I was a fan of Star Trek when I could see it. I didn’t like Doctor Who much and there was little science fiction available. I was in Omaha at the time and we got the film on day 3 of the nationwide release. I saw it that day, and then several times after.
FT: Back in the 90s, card games weren’t that mainstream, but they’ve never been unpopular. Now, with games like Hearthstone, Elder Scrolls Legends, Gwent, and many, many more attracting tens of thousands of viewers on websites like Twitch, what do you think gives them staying power?
MT: TCG’s are very much thinking games. You have to prepare your strategy before walking into the arena. They are essentially brain games wrapped in pretty pictures.
FT: You got your start with Decipher, just around the time the first expansion set for Star Wars CCG, A New Hope, came out. How did you come to work for a company making a Star Wars product? That sounds like a dream come true to me and, I’m sure, everyone else reading this.
MT: So a buddy of mine owned a comic book store in the town I was living in and I hung out there a lot. I began playing the Star Trek Customizable Card Game because I was a fan of Trek. I got into it big time. I had a decent job and enough discretionary income to buy a lot of cards so it was something of an addiction. The Internet was just coming around and I hung out on AOL in the gaming forums a lot. On the Star Trek CCG board, I started answering rules questions before the company rep, Tom Braunlich, could answer them.
After a couple of months, Tom approached me to write some strategy articles for a book they were doing on the game. I wrote a bunch of stuff and submitted and then didn’t hear back for a while. It turns out, they decided to make it a “picture book” and not really talk much strategy. I was pretty disappointed so Tom said, “listen, we’re working on another game that we could use your help on. This one is based on Star Wars. Are you in?” Easy answer, no?
FT: When you first started working for Decipher, what were your hopes and expectations? How did your time working with Star Wars and, in particular, the CCG impact your career?
MT: Really, I just wanted to be a part of something cool. My hope was that I could make a contribution. I knew this was Tom and Rollie’s (Tesch) game. I was just there to help. I started working with them as a playtester. They would send us packets of photocopied cards, we’d cut them out, play the rules and take extensive notes. It was far less glamorous than it sounds! But, they liked my feedback, and began inviting me down to Norfolk, VA to help with in person playtests.
I’ll cut the story short but eventually, they offered me several job opportunities. I was working in radio at the time and didn’t want to give up that gig so I worked contract for a couple of years until I finally switched careers and went full time into games.
FT: What was it like working for a company making a licensed Star Wars product in the mid-90s when Star Wars was on its way to becoming huge again?
MT: Well, it was great. And frustrating all at once. When we started making the game, there hadn’t been a new Star Wars movie for a while. They hadn’t yet announced the prequels so there was a bit of time there where no one knew if there would ever be more. When we eventually got the word that there were prequels, and we got the license, we were incredibly excited.
FT: How was it working for a company that worked directly with Lucasfilm? What were some of the struggles in getting things accomplished since you were dealing with a pre-existing franchise with hundreds of characters, locations, and stories loved the world over?
MT: Approvals were always interesting. There were sometimes things we wanted to do but couldn’t. But mostly, they let us do what we wanted because we all respected the license. It was funny when Phantom Menace rolled around because they were super protective of all of the assets. The first release of Young Jedi was extremely light on assets because they didn’t want to give out too much prior to the film release.
FT: When making new sets of cards, did you try to make them fit in more with game themes or with the the source material they were based on?
MT: Well, both, really. For Dagobah, for example, we wanted to work the whole Jedi training mechanic in because that was storyline. However, there were almost no humanoid characters on Dagobah except Luke and Yoda so that set was extremely light on characters. It was a tough balance from time to time.
FT: You were one of the people at Decipher in charge of the rules for Star Wars CCG. I assume that can be a difficult task given how many cards were made and the unplanned interactions they had on the competitive scene. What was the process when making cards? What was the process when making erratas? Can you compare those two processes for us?
MT: Being the net rep was really difficult. We were dealing with hundreds of cards at a time, several hundred new cards every few months, and an ever-increasing bloat of rule mechanics. It was difficult to keep it straight and often at times I would get different answers on a particular rules question depending on which designer I asked.
When we made cards, we would try to test against the entire volume of cards that had come before but with the somewhat limited size of our playtest group, that was difficult. Things got through. Notably: Asteroids and Operatives. We had a policy though that if you bought a card from Decipher, you got to play that card. Hence, we didn’t want to ever ban a card. We would try to releases “magic bullets” to knock out a problem card or strategy in later sets but that was often not the best way. Digital TCGs have it so easy these days. Change the text in the database and the problem goes away! ☺
FT: Considering the previous questions, were there any cards that surprised you at how overpowered they became and then needed an errata?
MT: Again, I would say Asteroids and Operatives. I didn’t like Operatives in playtesting because I didn’t like common cards that could add to pretty much everything. I guess I wasn’t loud enough. I don’t know that anyone saw Asteroids coming. That one was bad, and relatively early in the game’s history so there wasn’t as many cards to combine with.
FT: Star Wars CCG is still, to this day, going relatively strong, thanks to the players’ committee . Very few card games that end production see that kind of longevity and staying power. Did you expect the game would still be played over a decade after its final official set was released?
MT: Didn’t expect it, no. I think the Player’s Committee is great for having the passion and desire to keep it going.
FT: Your bio in the DecipherCon 2000 Program stated that you hosted the first-ever trivia at the inaugural Star Wars Celebration in 1999 in Denver. How did that come about and what was that like?
MT: So Celebration was looking for things to entertain the masses. At a previous DecipherCon, the rep from Celebration saw me do my “Last Man Standing Trivia” competition that I used to do at live radio events. It’s essentially trivia that you can do outside with large groups of people. He asked me to do it at Celebration.
So even though I was there working for Decipher, I was also working for the Celebration. Unfortunately, it rained sideways for the first several days of the event and since a lot of it was outside it was a washout. We only finally got some trivia off at 5pm on the last day of the show.
FT: You also attended the most recent Star Wars Celebration in Orlando 2017. Now that Star Wars has changed hands from Lucas himself to Disney, what differences, if any, have you noticed?
MT: That’s a tough question. I think both groups just really want to make great Star Wars product. They just do it in different ways. I am not a big fan of the prequels for a lot of reasons. Disney makes movies very differently from how the prequels were made. The natural inclination is to say “Oh, Disney just wants to make money”. Well, yeah. Ok, that’s why we all go to work in the morning. But I think they understand fandom much better than Lucas did and they know how to stoke that invisible army of fans.
FT: How many Celebrations have you attended over the years? What are some of your most memorable moments?
MT: I believe I’m up to 5 Celebrations now. Some I worked professionally, some I went as a fan. I have to say, I enjoy the latter much more. The rain and meeting my wife at the first Celebration were definitely memorable, as well as attending the “Jar Jar Jam”. (The less we speak of that, the better.) In LA, Carrie Fisher held my infant daughter, which was cool. In Orlando last year, I was passing out some tiny bottles of sand I collected from the film site of Return of the Jedi, specifically from the Sarlacc Pit. I was posting to social media and making people find me to give them one. It was a lot of fun. The 501st bash with Weird Al was amazing and I met some beautiful people. Dedicated, passionate fans that also felt the lightning strike that was Star Wars when they first saw it.
FT: I noticed you have done some cosplaying over the years. Can you share what got you into it? Who have you cosplayed as over the years? Who was your favourite of those?
MT: So, 20-some years ago, way before cosplay was a thing, I found a site online called “Build Your Own Boba Fett”. I believe it was hosted by a fella named Mark Bradley. He was selling vacu-formed pieces of Fett armor so I bought that and spent like 6 months making my costume. It’s nowhere near Mandalorian Merc standards today but I thought it came out well. Since then, I have put together Bespin Han Solo (my favorite), TFA Han Solo (cuz I’m an old guy now), Director Krennic which I’m working on for 501st submission, Ep. III Obi-Wan which I’m working on for Rebel Legion, the generic Jedi that I just got approved for in the Rebel Legion, Master Luke Skywalker which I did for the release of The Last Jedi, and I have two sets of TK armor I need to build. Plus, I built a Tusken Mask a couple of weeks back and I’m trying to decide if I want to build the whole suit.
FT: Star Wars has been going strong for 40 years with no signs of slowing down any time soon. How does it feel, looking back on your time at Decipher, knowing you had a hand in developing a beloved card game based on one of the most prolific franchises ever?
MT: It’s really great. One of the best memories I can imagine. To help craft a product that so many people still play and enjoy today is incredibly satisfying. In total, I’ve worked on 6 different Star Wars games over three companies and it’s a license I love interacting with.
FT: You now work as the Director of Ecommerce, Strategic Partnerships & Esports for Daybreak Games, which used to be Sony Online Entertainment. How does working for a company which deals with video games compare to working for one that dealt with a physical card game?
MT: It’s very different. I do miss the smell of paper cards and the physicality of it. But video games are a completely separate beast.
FT: Have you worked on any other Star Wars related projects besides the CCG?
MT: So there was the three Star Wars games at Decipher, then I worked on the Star Wars Pocket Models game at Wizkids. Finally, I moved onto the Star Wars Online Trading Card Game which was tied to SOE’s Star Wars Galaxies.
FT: Just a few quick questions to close us out. These are all Star Wars CCG related. Of the sets you worked on, which was your favorite and why?
MT: That’s a toss up between Hoth and A New Hope. A New Hope had the “blow up the Death Star” mechanic that I don’t think we really got right but we had a lot of fun trying. But Hoth introduced the AT-AT’s and that vehicle combat. I really enjoyed that.
FT: Of all the cards you worked on, which was your favourite and why?
MT: I don’t think I had a favourite, per se, but I liked the Objectives very much. It really let us tell stories and introduce mini-rule-set changes.
FT: Are there any card(s) you wish got released, but weren’t? If so, what would it have been?
MT: Honestly, and maybe this is only because I just recently saw the finale with the cast and crew up in LA this week, but I would have loved to have been able to play with some of the characters and situations from Star Wars Rebels. I really liked a lot of what was in that show, especially how they expanded the Force.
FT: Quick fire questions now first answer only. These are all general Star Wars related. Favourite film?
MT: Star Wars, followed by Empire.
FT: Favourite character?
MT: I was totally a Luke guy as a kid, but now it’s Han.
FT: Most ridiculous random piece of merchandise?
MT: Ha ha. There was a Darth Vader figure, mint on card surrounded by Christmas lights a couple of years ago. I just shook my head. That, and Yoda oranges at Target for The Force Awakens.
FT: Holiday Special or Caravan of Courage?
MT: I saw both of those. When they originally aired. Not on tape. I still have those horrible, horrible dreams.
FT: Clone Wars or Rebels?
MT: Rebels, hands down.
FT: Least favourite film?
MT: Episode II.
FT: Porgs or Ewoks?
MT: Depends on the range of condiments.
FT: Most treasured Star Wars possession?
MT: When I saw Star Wars when I was 12, my mom bought me the program magazine. I’ve keep it in mint condition for all this time. For some reason, they’re not worth much on ebay which surprises me. But, it’s one of the few things I have that she bought me so it’s priceless to me.
FT: What color lightsaber would you have?
MT: Orange, because why not.
FT: Which planet would you most like to visit?
MT: Scarif, but not during Death Star season.