Subject: [ISSUE] Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 09:11:55 -0400 From: Michael Siciliano To: Magic Dojo Issue: Innovation vs. Imitation Why is it that everytime I post a new deck idea to the dojo I get someone who sends me an e-mail saying: "The least you could have done was give me credit for stealing my idea." (It has happened four straight times now with Recursive Nightmare, en-Kor Justice, Zur's Oddity and now The Black Plague) Oh please! Give me a break. There are thousands of Magic players all over the world thinking up new ideas all the time. That's the beauty of Magic. If there weren't so many possible combinations and permutations we all might as well be playing Sorry, Monopoly or Checkers for all the diversity there would be. The chances of two or more people coming up with the same idea independently at the same time is fairly high, though, because of several factors. We all read articles examining card strengths and weaknesses. We are all told by our Magic-playing friends what cards are useful and which are not. The flow of information via the Internet allows everyone to share their ideas with a huge amount of people and this, by the way, is a good thing. I refuse to be dragged into the ridiculous "dojo effect" theory which, in my opinion, has no more credence than "crop circle" theories (remember, Jason, riding lawn mowers-always riding lawn mowers). In tournament play we are shown, quite clearly, which cards can help you win and which don't (depending on circumstance of course). We are all led to general conclusions about what cards and deck types to play. Those players that choose to innovate rather than imitate will go against conventional thinking, but are still limited in what they can try because they need to compete with other tournament-level decks (Ever seen a tournament-level deck with Goblin Rock Sled? Summon Rock Sled! Whooooooo! I think not). Most of the decks I create I first try against the popular type II tournament-level decks. Frankly, it can get a bit frustrating to get toasted by these decks while trying out a new deck that I think/hope has potential. Most fail but I do keep some of them together to play as "fun" decks. Actually, I think all Magic decks should be fun decks but that depends upon your concept of "fun." Innovating is very rewarding. Not because people might tell me what a good idea I came up with but because I know that I came up with something new (new to me anyway) and gave it a shot. The point is this: There's alot of Magic being played out there, alot of tinkering, alot of bickering and debates up the wazoo. The chances of you coming up with a completely new idea before everyone else in the world is very, very small. Don't worry about it-it's just stupid ego inflation anyway. I don't measure my intellegence on my ability to construct decks or play Magic and neither should you. Don't bother claiming intellectual property on a Magic idea because there's no way to verify it. Only the person making the claim knows whether they came up with the idea independently or not and there's no way they could prove it. Forget all that ego garbage-that's truly what is wrong with Magic players. Don't give your fellow players an obnoxious attitude. When playing Magic it is important that all players enjoy themselves but not at the expense of one another. Michael Siciliano (msicilian@worldnet.att.net)