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By: hamtastic, Erik Friborg
Nov 02 2007 9:44am
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Table of contents:
Announcements
Outstanding Issues
Bug Complaints
MTGO Discussion Items
Server Log In Availability
MTGO Price Movers and Shakers
Editorial Section
Conclusion

MTGO Announcements:
Lorwyn Events!:
11-02-07:

Lorwyn events start Friday, with new setups for the PE's.  Lets hope that the sacrifices help stability!  The MTGO community will be watching the availability closely this weekend.

10-26-07:

Lorwyn events have been posted and there's lots to choose from.  It seems that there are many options available for all sorts of players to choose from.

Lorwyn Release Events

Changes to Auction/Casual/1:1 rooms:

11-02-07:

A plea from elf to play nicely.  You wouldn't like him when he's angry!

Play by the rules, or you won't play at all

10-26-07:

Beware all ye who spam the trade rooms!  If you spam those rooms you could very well have your account muted or kicked from the server.  Additional details in the link below:

Auction/Casual/Trade Room Changes

Top 8 Drafts Removed from PE's:

11-02-07:
The biggest test of the Top 8-less PE's since the Sunday Debacle will be starting on Friday 11/2.  I guess we'll see what has changed.

10-26-07:
Events have been quite stable since the horrible Sunday experiment.  We're also waiting to hear what the plan from WotC is regarding running the 4x Top 8 events during the Release Events.  It's been requested that they fire more frequently than every three hours.  Worth and Scott are looking into the best way to handle them.

10-19-07:
There was a Sunday full of non top 8 PE's and stability still suffered.  There was over an hour of downtime on Sunday due to the server load and other items.  However, one of the biggest issues that would normally come from a crash would be corruption and manual clearing of an event which didn't seem to happen.

10-12-07:
This week the Top 8 Drafts were removed from PE's in the 2.5 client.  However, there appears to be a bug in them and this caused additional downtime to occur on Thursday morning.  According to Worth Wollpert the prizes for these Top 8's will include the packs from the draft that didn't happen. Although this may change with V3.

Top 8 Code Correction Outage
Worth's statement about top 8 prizes

Disabled Replays:

11-02-07:
In a further effort to reduce system stress, replays have been removed from the client's features.  Discussion about the change is below.

Play and Replay were in a boat...

Single Client Restrictions Status:

11-02-07:
Our current status is: SCR Active.

10-26-07:
Our current status is: SCR Active.

10-19-07:
Our current status is: SCR Lifted.

I’ll update this section as things change in this regard.

10-12-07:
Our current status is: SCR Active.
The single client restriction is per user, not per machine.  Meaning that only one login per person is allowed.  Bots and people breaking this rule have had their accounts banned for 24 hours recently.  Again, leaving this here for reminder slash warning.

How to handle those breaking the rules

Outstanding Issues:


PayPal payments not going through for some users:

11-02-07:
While there hasn't been an official update yet, reports have come in that some of the previously impacted players have been able to get purchases through.

10-26-07:
Still an issue.  I've bumped the thread below to hopefully remind them that we are still needing a status update.

10-12-07:

I'm leaving this on the list because it's still an issue and a very big issue at that.

PayPal issues

Bug complaints:

Standstill, Counterbalance, Paradise Plume, etc:

11-02-07:
This week they seemed to have broken many cards that are meant to trigger off of certain cards being played.  They were to be fixed during Thursday's emergency downtime, so please keep an eye out for any strangeness.

Sutured Ghoul + Tarmogoyf:

11-02-07:
Still no update on this fix.  Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully we'll see some progress made in this arena sooner rather than later.

10-26-07:
I had hoped to get an interview with a developer for this week but unfortunately it wasn't ready in time.  Long story short, this is still an issue as well as any other cards that received a functionality change with the Future Sight rules update.

10-19-07:
This interaction is still broken.  And based on the latest Pro Tour results, this will be a popular deck in Extended and likely Classic.  This is not the first time that an MTG rules update has lagged far behind on MTGO and thereby invalidated a deck type.  Phyrexian Dreadnought, Flash and suspend cards like Lotus Bloom have had similar issues in the past year.

10-12-07:
Sutured Ghoul + Tarmogoyf doesn't pump the Ghoul correctly.  And before anyone starts to yell about the Ghoul not caring about the Goyf's dynamic power, look up the Future Sight rules update information.  Or better yet, you can read about this question here and here.

MTGO Discussion Items:

Name Change for the Current MTGO 2HG Format:

11-02-07:

Once the Paper version of 2-Headed Giant is brought online we'll need to have a name for the current version that we are using.  Cast your vote below:

2HG for you and me?

MTGO Ventrillo Chat Server:

11-02-07:

Heath has launched an MTGO voice chat server with many rooms already defined for clans.  If you'd like more information on the what and the how's, click below.

Ventrillo servers

 

 

Server Log In Availability:
Card Price Fluctuations:

Here we have the further dropping of Ravnica block cards and the introduction of Lorwyn.  I will track these two for then next couple of weeks and show the decline of Lorwyn that revolves around Release Events.

 

Here we have the top 10 Loryn cards by price as of 10-31-07.  What a shock, Thoughtseize is tied for first!

 
Top 10 Lorwyn Rares
Garruk Wildspeaker 20
Thoughtseize 20
Gaddock Teeg 14
Cryptic Command 13
Jace Beleren 12
Chandra Nalaar 10
Gilt-Leaf Palace 10
Oona's Prowler 10
Liliana Vess 9

 

Editorial Section:
Have you ever been plagued by an idea?  That is what it felt like ever since I saw the card Goatnapper...  I made a couple of quips on the messageboards about it being the 'Aberforth' card and since then, well, the back of my mind has been been dwelling on a Harry Potter theme deck.  Like a toothpick stuck in a watermelon the idea was splintered into my brain.  Therefore, with Lorwyn finally upon us, I decided to grab the tweezers and perform a little bwain suwgewy.  Results are about what one would expect: horrible mana curve, and what I lack in synergy I make up for with random one of’s, and filler.  Gotta have some filler.  I decided that I was going to play it until it won, or until I ran out of time for the article.  Luckily for everyone involved, the win came during my second game.  There are details on my rousing victory below, but first the deck!
 
Good guys:
Harry Potter: Survivor of the Unseen
Hermione: Granger Guildmage
Ron: Dragon Mage
Hedwig: Sage Owl
Hagrid: Hill Giant
Sirius Black: Fugitive Wizard
 
Bad guys:
Voldemort: Soul Foundry
Draco: Draco
Aragog: Silklash Spider
Goyle: Basalt Gargoyle
Dungeon Troll: Uthden Troll
Whomping Willow: Living Terrain
 
Supporting Cast:
Dobby: Defiant Elf
Aberforth: Goatnapper
 
Random Stuff:
Learnin' and stuff: Arcane Teachings
Hand of Glory: Scrabbling Claws
Polyjuice Potion: Duplicant
 
Spells that I have not completely justified yet, but that help the deck a lot:
Fire/Ice
Jilt
Electrolyze
I ran a compliment of Fetches and Duals simply because I have them.  You could probably plug in some other mana fixing like Terramorphic Expanse or Wayfarer's BaubleThawing Glaciers + basics might be solid enough too since you don't have much going on in the first couple of turns.  However, I will admit that I took the easy way out when it came to mana.  Hey, we all have our weaknesses.
 
Another thing you will likely notice is that my criteria for selection was not static.  Some cards got in based on their name (Granger Guildmage), and some based on their art (Scrabbling Claws) and some based on what they did (Duplicant for Polyjuice potion).  Nevertheless, that is the glorious benefit of a self-made theme deck.  While the cards seem completely random, each one means something to the maker.
 
So how did it win?
 
Over the first couple of turns he starts out with some weenie creatures (Boros Recruit and Eager Cadet) which get Electrolyzed on my turn three and I get an extra card.   I keep forgetting how awesome Electrolyze is until I use it...
 
Turn four I play Dobby and give him some Arcane Teachings to make him an actual threat.  He plays a land on his turn four and passes back to me. 
 
I send Dobby in on turn five and he gets Boros Fury-Shield'd to hurt me instead of my opponent.  Thanks Dobby.  But then again, it kind of fits the theme, doesn't it?  I then cast Harry with the intention of digging for land to get past Duplicant mana and into Dragon Mage mana.  Turn five has another land from my opponent, but he still has four cards in hand.  He taps mana, then untaps it and passes the turn.   Bluff, or telegraphing?   We'll find out!
 
Turn six I use Harry to dig and get land, so Harry has now fulfilled his usefulness.  He sacrifices himself by not paying his upkeep and falls away from the field of play.  Dobby gets through for three damage, so it would seem that the untapping was a bluff.
 
On turn seven I attack with Dobby again but this time he gets Awe Strike'd and sets my efforts back a turn. Since he has not played a creature this turn I play a Dragon Mage instead of my Duplicant and pass the turn.   On his side of the turn he plays a Beacon of Immortality and I hunker in for a longer game.  He did however tap out to do this so I fear no surprises on my turn.
 
Turn eight I Living Terrain a (Somping Ground) and attack for 13 and we each get new hands.  His turn 8 consists of another Beacon of Immortality and a Feldon's Cane.  He's now at about 54 life... but no creatures out to my at least 13 damage on the table.
 
Turn nine I play a Soul Foundry imprinting a Duplicant and then play a Granger Guildmage.  I attack for 13 more and we each get new hands again.  After I get the new cards I give Hermione some learning too.  Unfortunately he Disenchants my Voldemort taking out both cards.  However he hasn't actually been able to do much with his mana.
 
Turn ten I swing in for 16 but 5 of that damage gets Awe Strike'd.  Again.  However I now have a full cast of characters in my hand including Hagrid, Goyle, and Hedwig which all come into play prepared to fight the good fight.
 
My opponent tries to mount some defense but a Duplicant makes that attempt moot.  He then concedes to move on to the next game... victory is ours!
The decision to write about this deck all started while I was chating with a buddy.  We were lamenting the fact that we often lose sight of the fun aspects of Magic as we start to get into the competitive side of the game.  Be it Drafts, Constructed Queues or PE's; once one goes down the path of winning at all costs, it is very hard to go back.  I can honestly say that I had more fun building this deck and playing with it (win or lose) than I have had in a long time playing Magic.  It brought back memories of learning to play when everything was shiny and new and amazing.
 
I urge anyone who feels that Magic has lost its spark to do something just for fun.  A theme deck around your favorite movie, book, or show is a great way to rekindle that sense of interest that many of us lose along the way.  If nothing else, it gives you a much different view of the cards in your collection, which in and of itself is fun.
 
New Features Rundown:
 
In your Magic Online folder (C:/Program Files/Wizards of the Coast/Magic Online by default) there is a file called "magic.ini".  In this magical ini file lie many wondrous tools for configuring your Magic Online experience.  The newest features that have been added are quite helpful... once you turn them on.  First up, chat logging.
 
Chat Logging
In the "[Config]" section set the following line:
logging=on
 
What this logs isn't really defined, so I'll break it down here.  It logs every chat window you are in.  Every chat window.  In game chat, general room chat, joined rooms chat, private message chat, trade chat... you name it, it's logged here.  The file structure takes a little getting used to, but once you do it's fairly simple to figure out what you're looking for.
 
The chat folders are housed in the /chatlogs folder in your Magic Online folder.  The four main folders that most people will have are: 'dual', 'general', 'message' and 'trade'. 
Those are pretty self explanatory, except that I believe that 'dual' is meant to be 'duel'.  Also in this folder are subfolders that are named for rooms you've joined, like 'bbs', 'puremtgo', and 'auction'.  Inside these subfolders are text files.  But they're not exactly what one might expect.  For example, instead of having a text file for each person I have chatted directly with, they're all kept inside one file per day.  So instead of having runeliger, joekewwl, or ‘MTGO Traders’ files, I have a file named: '20071029.txt' with my conversations with those people in them.  While not optimal if you are looking for what you specifically said to a specific person, it is infinitely better than what we had before, which was nothing.
 
The two that I was surprised to see logged, but that I'm extremely happy to have are the 'dual' and the 'trade' logs.  All of the duel logs are saved in the 'dual' folder, including solitaire games.  This is something I've been silently wishing for for quite some time now.  I like to goldfish my decks before unleashing them, and I like to know when and how they won with no disruption.  This gives me lots of historical information.
 
Also something for celebration is the text logs of the trade window.  You can see what was discussed, or if you're trading with a bot you can see what they quoted you and what you selected.  Very nice.
 
Trade Logging
The trade log brings me to the next feature that you can utilize: trade screen shot functionality.  This has a couple of options, and you need to be aware of them when you are deciding which one you want to use.  The options are 'off', 'on', or 'many'.  Off and On should need little discussion, however, 'many' needs to be carefully used.  The reason is that these images are being saved as PNG files.  Meaning that the quality is great, but the size is substantial.  With my resolution at 1280x1024, my screen shots are taking up 1.5 megabytes each... at least.  So while having recordings of your trades is great, it will take some maintenance to keep the size under control if you do much trading at all. 
The easiest tool I found for the job was "Batch PNG to JPG" converter.  Although one could accomplish a similar feat by saving them out one by one with a graphics program like Gimp.  Or you could just turn chat logging on (see above) and set TradeScreenshot=on.  Having it set to 'on' instead of 'many' means that it will just save the last trade as a screen shot.  These images will be saved in the  /trades folder.
 
Examples, copy and paste the one you like.
;chat saved, all trade screens saved:
[Config]
logging=on ; set to on to use chat logging
TradeScreenshot=many ; set to 'on' or 'many' to save pics of trades
 
;chat saved, only the last trade screen saved
[Config]
logging=on ; set to on to use chat logging
TradeScreenshot=on ; set to 'on' or 'many' to save pics of trades
 
;chat not saved, all trade screens saved:
[Config]
logging=off ; set to on to use chat logging
TradeScreenshot=many ; set to 'on' or 'many' to save pics of trades
 
;chat not saved, only the last trade screen saved
[Config]
logging=off ; set to on to use chat logging
TradeScreenshot=on ; set to 'on' or 'many' to save pics of trade
 
Conclusion:
A big thanks to elf this week for putting so much time and effort into bringing the player run rooms back under control  Bot spam has dropped a lot in all of these rooms and really has made a big difference.


~Erik

6 Comments

by hamtastic at Mon, 11/05/2007 - 13:34
hamtastic's picture

I'm not sure why someone would use 'on', honestly.  It seems like it wouldn't really do much good since I'd often remember my last trade, but would be hazier on the old ones...

Although I imagine that someone somewhere will have a use for it that makes sense for them.... proably. :)

Trade screenshots by Diem at Mon, 11/05/2007 - 11:55
Diem's picture

Not sure i exactly follow the difference between 'On' and 'Many' - does 'On' just keep overwriting the same file, whereas 'Many' create one per trade?

 If so - what's the point of 'On'?

Admiration by Jason (Unregistered) 69.183.79.217 (not verified) at Fri, 11/02/2007 - 12:19
Jason (Unregistered) 69.183.79.217's picture

Love this article! Keep up the good work :)

Lol by iceage4life at Fri, 11/02/2007 - 12:21
iceage4life's picture

Lol Hermione is a dude...

The secret of Hermoine... by hamtastic at Fri, 11/02/2007 - 14:53
hamtastic's picture

... it's a MAN baby!!!

/Austin Powers 

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dungdung's picture

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