I picked mine up fast and early. Any mythic around the 2 ticket range is usually a good investment if only for redemption: A mythic which foreshadowed the next set was only going to go up, either until we knew what was in the next set or until the next set needed it.
That, and once the creature type is updated, I have so many ideas for using them to cheat stuff...
As to the 3 week lag on releases... I'd like to add a couple thoughts..
First off I think that they should definitely start the beta same day as Prerelease (or that monday since no one wants to work saturdays)
Second, I'd like to see the "mtgo prerelease" start at most the weekend after the real release.
Third, Cards from the MTGO pre-release should not be playable in constructed tourneys till the actual release date. It is just silly, they don't do this in paper.
fourth, during pre-release the cards should also not be guaranteed bug free. i.e. no compensation requests for errors prior to the actual release. This could cut down on the beta time as they will get free testing from a much larger segement during pre-release.
Nothing about the price of Eye of Ugin blowing up after that spoiled Eldrazi eh? Sorry if it's mentioned in the PC, can't listen to it at work.
I grabbed one two nights ago for a ticket or so, then figured I should probably complete my set, only to find folks selling them for 5 minimum, some offering up to 10 for 1. Mtgo has it for 7 now. Not a bad price hop for those who speculated and gobbled them up (as I know many did) at 1 and 2 tickets.
Supposedly paper playsets went for 60-90 for a bit on ebay. Looks like the are about $40-50 for playset right now.
I am on the same line as longshot. You are on the client to play the game, and are you playing yes. Why sit and nitpick so may little things, when what you are on there for is to play. The client works fine.
as jam stated, as long as you have a copy of DCI-R to run on your computer then the hosting parts as far Pairings, results, and standings are simple. Not to mention you can alternate between Single elim and swiss for each tournament.
Awesome article and great idea for the series. I like your take on eldrazi green though I think it did see decent play in PT: San Diego...just not as successful as yours was. I wonder how the deck would run splashing black for maelstrom pulse...
That said, I always have problems sideboarding in mono-colored decks...
I am assuming you mean the end numbers relating to people playing 47 individual decks. I hope my math on deck pricing and total cost is correct. I agree the chances of 47 players running 47 different decklists is impossible. Like you said though, my prices are based only on regular mtgo card prices excluding foils. I know many players who pimp out their decks(Looking at you Whiffy). Adding foils into the mix would really make your wallet vomit.
Though he may not be an optimal inclusion in your deck, from a theme point of view he seems pretty gluttonous to me :)
I've had an itch to build a mono-green deck for a long time. Too bad the prices on Nissa and Eldrazi Monument aren't as low as I'd like them to be. I'd really like to play a deck like this semi-casually, but really don't want to shell out any more money to WotC :P heh
I totally understand this, I think while its so obvious to everyone whats wrong with the game we rarely acknowledge what's right with it.. the fact that it can use those thousands of cards and keep rules straight and interactions correct (in most cases, I know there are sometimes exceptions) is pretty awesome
RE #10 Wizards has been adding new sets to gatherer on the Friday before the prerelease recently. I think starting it that weekend is a good idea but brings up another issue.
Wizards runs a 24/7 business but does not support it as such. Weekend support has always been sketchy which is frankly unacceptable and is why I don't see them starting a beta on the weekend. Wizards I'm pretty sure is making money hand over fist on this product and should spend some of that on weekend support when there are the most players and the least support.
good stuff, but your end numbers are a bit off lol that's all well and good, but the odds of those people each running individual decks is incredible lol what you'll more likely see is several people playing a really expensive list and 2-3 with full foil like Oath in Classic for example... I'd imagine that the price is way more then that lol
This actually doesn't always work. Crypt of Agadeem is a relevant example, and sometimes, for reasons unknown to me, I have to click for just generic, normal mana, especially in Commander games even when nothing is in play that would modify mana in way.
Does WotC really need to listen to the complaints of us die-hard fans? Anybody who reads or writes a decent amount of Magic Online articles is probably not going to quit because of lousy service in several areas of Magic Online.
In my mind this is especially true when you are talking about several fairly expensive software fixes. Sure we'd all like WotC to change these things and I'm sure WotC are working on several of these areas, but most of us are not going to significantly change our spending habits because we're grumbling and complaining about all of the things that Magic Online does poorly.
Magic Online is not a great program and I think few of us play it because of its ease of use and user interface. Most of us play it because we love the game and love the convenience of it, even if we're grumbling and complaining all the way to the Magic Online store.
In the end, I think changing these things would help grow the community and make Magic Online more attractive to new players, but I don't think any of us have any way of quantifying potential new player growth in a reasonably way that would make WotC think about changing their budget from what they are currently doing.
i could care less about updates until they bring back leagues. they better soon, i cant find the 2-3 hours for a draft without the ball and chain raising a fuss
As someone who runs a PRE practically every week, I have to disagree with your assessment that having a player-initiated PRE system will work. There are so many things that go into a PRE that you can't do with the current system, like being able to late enroll a player if they show up late, and having to disqualify a player based on not showing up for their match on time, or maybe just having them lose a round, or having them have to change their deck because they didn't understand the construction rules. There are lots of extenuating circumstances which make PREs a lot more like a real-life tournament than a MTGO tournament simply because it is run by a real person.
Also, the restriction that there should be no prizes makes a PRE a lot less fun - I give prizes every week (including a door prize for people who play the whole way through for fun) and I think that there would be less participation if there were no prizes at all. (Full disclosure - PureMTGO sponsors a bunch of tournaments as well, and I could be construed as associated with this site)
Pairing players and announcing matches is not hard at all if you have a copy of DCI-R, and there are some programs to help out. I actually have a bot that I use myself and will be releasing in the next week which posts results, pairings, and does registration all through a chat room.
The "you need this" interface should allow you to buy right then and there. The separation of the store from the rest of the program, in terms of GUI (you notice you can't be in the store and go to ANYTHING else without closing the store - though it remembers your cart, thankfully) is a rather poor GUI decision.
Yes, the "scenes" concept is dumb. It's actually a part of the dock interface, but then I think it probably merits it's own number. I would like to have the TP and the events rooms opened too.
I believe the 2nd thing you listed is a bug with the deck editor and for sure the 3rd thing you listed is a bug with the collection server.
So cut that back to Friday, and cut out the 4 days that normally occur before the final build (which goes into production the Wednesday before prerelease), put a special build up on Friday morning and presto - one week saved.
Clarification on your comment about spoilers - Gatherer releases all the cards in new sets on the Friday before every prerelease. WoTC isn't hiding spoilers from anyones eyes after that point.
The thing about a beta test starting on the weekend of the prerelease is:
-Clashes with the prerelease
-Something like that starting on a weekend?
I do think that starting it the Monday after a prerelease is fine though.
When did WWK beta start anyway?
There's a solution for that one. Simply click on the X spell (to cast it) BEFORE you float the mana. In that case, the client will ask you to pay {R} + {X} (+ {1} for each additional target in the case of a Fireball). The first mana (red) will be used for the "R" portion, any additional mana you draw from lands will be directly used for the "X" portion.
By the way, it's always more useful to click any spell before tapping for mana, as you can always click "CANCEL" - the lands you already tapped will automatically untapped (and even unsacrificed, e.g. Barbarian Ring / Lotus Petal &c, because the previous game state is restored in that case). The spell will be cast when you fulfill the complete mana cost.
An option I would like to have is joining multiple drafts, and only playing the one that starts first.
Sometimes there ar 5/6 people in both the 4-3-2-2 en swiss queue.
I wouldnt mind playing either one, but have to choose.
I could enter both if I have the packs, but then i'd risk playing both at the same time if the second fills up while I am truying to leave the queue.
Just let us join, and automaticly leave the other queue we are in.
I picked up my playset for 5 and resold them yesterday for 20. Maybe I made the wrong move by selling to early, maybe not.
I picked mine up fast and early. Any mythic around the 2 ticket range is usually a good investment if only for redemption: A mythic which foreshadowed the next set was only going to go up, either until we knew what was in the next set or until the next set needed it.
That, and once the creature type is updated, I have so many ideas for using them to cheat stuff...
As to the 3 week lag on releases... I'd like to add a couple thoughts..
First off I think that they should definitely start the beta same day as Prerelease (or that monday since no one wants to work saturdays)
Second, I'd like to see the "mtgo prerelease" start at most the weekend after the real release.
Third, Cards from the MTGO pre-release should not be playable in constructed tourneys till the actual release date. It is just silly, they don't do this in paper.
fourth, during pre-release the cards should also not be guaranteed bug free. i.e. no compensation requests for errors prior to the actual release. This could cut down on the beta time as they will get free testing from a much larger segement during pre-release.
Nothing about the price of Eye of Ugin blowing up after that spoiled Eldrazi eh? Sorry if it's mentioned in the PC, can't listen to it at work.
I grabbed one two nights ago for a ticket or so, then figured I should probably complete my set, only to find folks selling them for 5 minimum, some offering up to 10 for 1. Mtgo has it for 7 now. Not a bad price hop for those who speculated and gobbled them up (as I know many did) at 1 and 2 tickets.
Supposedly paper playsets went for 60-90 for a bit on ebay. Looks like the are about $40-50 for playset right now.
I am on the same line as longshot. You are on the client to play the game, and are you playing yes. Why sit and nitpick so may little things, when what you are on there for is to play. The client works fine.
as jam stated, as long as you have a copy of DCI-R to run on your computer then the hosting parts as far Pairings, results, and standings are simple. Not to mention you can alternate between Single elim and swiss for each tournament.
Awesome article and great idea for the series. I like your take on eldrazi green though I think it did see decent play in PT: San Diego...just not as successful as yours was. I wonder how the deck would run splashing black for maelstrom pulse...
That said, I always have problems sideboarding in mono-colored decks...
I am assuming you mean the end numbers relating to people playing 47 individual decks. I hope my math on deck pricing and total cost is correct. I agree the chances of 47 players running 47 different decklists is impossible. Like you said though, my prices are based only on regular mtgo card prices excluding foils. I know many players who pimp out their decks(Looking at you Whiffy). Adding foils into the mix would really make your wallet vomit.
Yup, unfortunately I submitted the article last Thursday when prices were still relatively high.
Though he may not be an optimal inclusion in your deck, from a theme point of view he seems pretty gluttonous to me :)
I've had an itch to build a mono-green deck for a long time. Too bad the prices on Nissa and Eldrazi Monument aren't as low as I'd like them to be. I'd really like to play a deck like this semi-casually, but really don't want to shell out any more money to WotC :P heh
I totally understand this, I think while its so obvious to everyone whats wrong with the game we rarely acknowledge what's right with it.. the fact that it can use those thousands of cards and keep rules straight and interactions correct (in most cases, I know there are sometimes exceptions) is pretty awesome
RE #10 Wizards has been adding new sets to gatherer on the Friday before the prerelease recently. I think starting it that weekend is a good idea but brings up another issue.
Wizards runs a 24/7 business but does not support it as such. Weekend support has always been sketchy which is frankly unacceptable and is why I don't see them starting a beta on the weekend. Wizards I'm pretty sure is making money hand over fist on this product and should spend some of that on weekend support when there are the most players and the least support.
good stuff, but your end numbers are a bit off lol that's all well and good, but the odds of those people each running individual decks is incredible lol what you'll more likely see is several people playing a really expensive list and 2-3 with full foil like Oath in Classic for example... I'd imagine that the price is way more then that lol
This actually doesn't always work. Crypt of Agadeem is a relevant example, and sometimes, for reasons unknown to me, I have to click for just generic, normal mana, especially in Commander games even when nothing is in play that would modify mana in way.
Does WotC really need to listen to the complaints of us die-hard fans? Anybody who reads or writes a decent amount of Magic Online articles is probably not going to quit because of lousy service in several areas of Magic Online.
In my mind this is especially true when you are talking about several fairly expensive software fixes. Sure we'd all like WotC to change these things and I'm sure WotC are working on several of these areas, but most of us are not going to significantly change our spending habits because we're grumbling and complaining about all of the things that Magic Online does poorly.
Magic Online is not a great program and I think few of us play it because of its ease of use and user interface. Most of us play it because we love the game and love the convenience of it, even if we're grumbling and complaining all the way to the Magic Online store.
In the end, I think changing these things would help grow the community and make Magic Online more attractive to new players, but I don't think any of us have any way of quantifying potential new player growth in a reasonably way that would make WotC think about changing their budget from what they are currently doing.
i could care less about updates until they bring back leagues. they better soon, i cant find the 2-3 hours for a draft without the ball and chain raising a fuss
MTGO_NET.exe
The "you need this" interface should allow you to buy right then and there. The separation of the store from the rest of the program, in terms of GUI (you notice you can't be in the store and go to ANYTHING else without closing the store - though it remembers your cart, thankfully) is a rather poor GUI decision.
Yes, the "scenes" concept is dumb. It's actually a part of the dock interface, but then I think it probably merits it's own number. I would like to have the TP and the events rooms opened too.
I believe the 2nd thing you listed is a bug with the deck editor and for sure the 3rd thing you listed is a bug with the collection server.
So cut that back to Friday, and cut out the 4 days that normally occur before the final build (which goes into production the Wednesday before prerelease), put a special build up on Friday morning and presto - one week saved.
Rayjinn, I said cards, not avatars. It's the cards that can alter the format. Just clarifying.
Clarification on your comment about spoilers - Gatherer releases all the cards in new sets on the Friday before every prerelease. WoTC isn't hiding spoilers from anyones eyes after that point.
The thing about a beta test starting on the weekend of the prerelease is:
-Clashes with the prerelease
-Something like that starting on a weekend?
I do think that starting it the Monday after a prerelease is fine though.
When did WWK beta start anyway?
There's a solution for that one. Simply click on the X spell (to cast it) BEFORE you float the mana. In that case, the client will ask you to pay {R} + {X} (+ {1} for each additional target in the case of a Fireball). The first mana (red) will be used for the "R" portion, any additional mana you draw from lands will be directly used for the "X" portion.
By the way, it's always more useful to click any spell before tapping for mana, as you can always click "CANCEL" - the lands you already tapped will automatically untapped (and even unsacrificed, e.g. Barbarian Ring / Lotus Petal &c, because the previous game state is restored in that case). The spell will be cast when you fulfill the complete mana cost.
An option I would like to have is joining multiple drafts, and only playing the one that starts first.
Sometimes there ar 5/6 people in both the 4-3-2-2 en swiss queue.
I wouldnt mind playing either one, but have to choose.
I could enter both if I have the packs, but then i'd risk playing both at the same time if the second fills up while I am truying to leave the queue.
Just let us join, and automaticly leave the other queue we are in.