I am not sure I agree that it is an insult, per se, but I am leery about spending $10 a pack for product that is essentially both a lottery ticket and also potentially really flawed (curly/warped foils and other quality problems.) And because I am leery I am not doing it. Plus $10 is a price point that makes real how unaffordable for many the game has become.
Similar to the purported raise in price for cmd18 to $40 per deck. On top of the ridiculous number of badly foiled cards in that product, they are making sure they don't lose a cent on the secondary market.
I suppose I don't find it insulting because I already know WOTC does not value individual customers. They once did I think, but their priorities have changed. Now they view us as kine.
25 tix is way, way, WAYYYYYYY too much for a M25 draft, given the amount of chaff you can open. My initial impression is also that the format is nowhere near as good as Vintage Masters was, which is a big bummer.
Think it is a very reasonable one, and not at all specifically directed at this article writer. On the contrary, my point is that this is prevalent in the whole community/websites.
Articles like these underline how much poorer the game is in mind and spirit than what it could have been.
- "be prepared with tokens and dice", how pathetic is that to put in an article to display.
On CFball we regularly see articles that talk about "remember the picture on that basic land, if you see a different one later you know he has drawn a land".
Cliches, repetition, obviousnesses, the game is ridden with stupid/and/or/nonexisting rows of "logic" in the rules. This in turn affects how people talk/lingo. Mtg makes stupid.
You don't think my phrasing is pertinent? I mean being a dick requires an active sense of malice. Some of these fools don't even realize how angry they make their opponents. Someone driving 200miles (or 440km) to play a game of casual magic doesn't want to waste 90% of their precious evening out watching someone play solitaire. They don't consider that. Hence "idiot".
I think there certainly are competitive players who don't know how to build multiplayer decks that don't instawin on turn 3 or take infinite turns or otherwise go infinite (maybe very slowly) because they just know the deck they are playing wins. Not how god-awful it is to witness time and again. Particularly the repeat performance is what I hear most often about when people complain about ridiculously unfun games.
Some of those players certainly are being dicks. But you're NOT going to get them to stop by calling them that. Pointing out that they are essentially masturbating instead of playing a real game is usually what gets them to rethink their approach.
Play counters, ld, hand destruction, removal, mass removal, pillow fort lockdown even, but don't waste people's time doing it. That's what I am getting at. The message never gets old and never becomes obsolete.
Being aware of/understanding the floor rules is something that cannot be done in mtg regarding the shuffling rules (and in lots of other areas of the rules). If you see the opponent trying to cheat with shuffling f.ex you can just cut the deck so that the cheat works against him, but this is not allowed per the mtg rules, which it would be in other games.
Shuffling is the hardest part of the transition. Particularly in this age of sleeves. Back in the day we just played without sleeves and riffle shuffled just like regular playing cards. That's why really old cards tend to have whitened corners.
And a 60 card pile now is twice as thick as an unsleeved version. Being aware of/understanding the floor rules is probably the 2nd hardest part. But if you are just playing at low rel events that shouldn't matter so much.
As for learning to play mtgo, I started during the beta and as I recall it was relatively good and not horrendous. The clock was initially much longer, the interface was simpler (there were no function key settings) and chat was pinned open. And there were multiple chats that the game just maintained. The game play was relatively easy as well. From 2001 to now, the game has also become much more complex.
1000% agree with these points. It hearkens back to my paraphrasing of Sheldon Menerie's quote about the format: "Breaking the format is easy. ANY idiot can do it. Don't be that idiot."
I am not sure I agree that it is an insult, per se, but I am leery about spending $10 a pack for product that is essentially both a lottery ticket and also potentially really flawed (curly/warped foils and other quality problems.) And because I am leery I am not doing it. Plus $10 is a price point that makes real how unaffordable for many the game has become.
Similar to the purported raise in price for cmd18 to $40 per deck. On top of the ridiculous number of badly foiled cards in that product, they are making sure they don't lose a cent on the secondary market.
I suppose I don't find it insulting because I already know WOTC does not value individual customers. They once did I think, but their priorities have changed. Now they view us as kine.
Nope.
Hence I am only doing phantom drafts (though I am hurting that I opened a foil Jace in a phantom pack) :(
I'm avoiding M25. It is an insult.
Unless you liked losing to a common that made four 1/1 birds with no easy answers in the format over and over
25 tix is way, way, WAYYYYYYY too much for a M25 draft, given the amount of chaff you can open. My initial impression is also that the format is nowhere near as good as Vintage Masters was, which is a big bummer.
Did your Constant Mists deck include Drownyard Temple? Buyback 4G Fog, in effect.
I think the War-riders deck should have 4x Electrickery
I have seen people play mtgo accounts they do not own, should I report them ?
And what will wotc do about it ?
Aw man, I missed Generalissimo taking it home. On the plus side, finally back.
Did I miss something? This series is aimed at newer players and though it seems obvious, it actually isn't second nature to newer players.
Thank you for the shout-out! I'd advise checking the current state of program though^^ (or just go to the http://stsungalters.com/deckgen/ )
Anyway if you like check the generator out and if it is going to work for you, use it^_~
If you have any feedback let me know.
Think it is a very reasonable one, and not at all specifically directed at this article writer. On the contrary, my point is that this is prevalent in the whole community/websites.
That is certainly an opinion...
Articles like these underline how much poorer the game is in mind and spirit than what it could have been.
- "be prepared with tokens and dice", how pathetic is that to put in an article to display.
On CFball we regularly see articles that talk about "remember the picture on that basic land, if you see a different one later you know he has drawn a land".
Cliches, repetition, obviousnesses, the game is ridden with stupid/and/or/nonexisting rows of "logic" in the rules. This in turn affects how people talk/lingo. Mtg makes stupid.
You don't think my phrasing is pertinent? I mean being a dick requires an active sense of malice. Some of these fools don't even realize how angry they make their opponents. Someone driving 200miles (or 440km) to play a game of casual magic doesn't want to waste 90% of their precious evening out watching someone play solitaire. They don't consider that. Hence "idiot".
I think there certainly are competitive players who don't know how to build multiplayer decks that don't instawin on turn 3 or take infinite turns or otherwise go infinite (maybe very slowly) because they just know the deck they are playing wins. Not how god-awful it is to witness time and again. Particularly the repeat performance is what I hear most often about when people complain about ridiculously unfun games.
Some of those players certainly are being dicks. But you're NOT going to get them to stop by calling them that. Pointing out that they are essentially masturbating instead of playing a real game is usually what gets them to rethink their approach.
Play counters, ld, hand destruction, removal, mass removal, pillow fort lockdown even, but don't waste people's time doing it. That's what I am getting at. The message never gets old and never becomes obsolete.
I think more of Wil Wheaton's "don't be a dick" :D
I also read it, and edited several others.
Yours was the only one that did not mention hexproof.
You're welcome--good to know that someone is reading probably my most self-indulgent article yet (even if I stuck in the reprint set news at the end).
Being aware of/understanding the floor rules is something that cannot be done in mtg regarding the shuffling rules (and in lots of other areas of the rules). If you see the opponent trying to cheat with shuffling f.ex you can just cut the deck so that the cheat works against him, but this is not allowed per the mtg rules, which it would be in other games.
Shuffling is the hardest part of the transition. Particularly in this age of sleeves. Back in the day we just played without sleeves and riffle shuffled just like regular playing cards. That's why really old cards tend to have whitened corners.
And a 60 card pile now is twice as thick as an unsleeved version. Being aware of/understanding the floor rules is probably the 2nd hardest part. But if you are just playing at low rel events that shouldn't matter so much.
As for learning to play mtgo, I started during the beta and as I recall it was relatively good and not horrendous. The clock was initially much longer, the interface was simpler (there were no function key settings) and chat was pinned open. And there were multiple chats that the game just maintained. The game play was relatively easy as well. From 2001 to now, the game has also become much more complex.
As always great article! :D
1000% agree with these points. It hearkens back to my paraphrasing of Sheldon Menerie's quote about the format: "Breaking the format is easy. ANY idiot can do it. Don't be that idiot."
Thank you for sharing!
It was my pleasure. I look forward to the next time.
Thanks for having me on again. Really enjoyed it.