Subject: No scrubs + no playas = no Magic Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 13:49:09 -0500 From: "Kauffman, Troye" To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" I don't know if Magic is dying - I hope not since I think that it's a great game. However, in my area I see a lot of people getting out of it, and not many new people getting in. Here's why I think this is true (at least around where I live): - It's not the easiest hobby to get started in, unless you know some people. - It takes a huge investment of time and money to be something other than a scrub. - It takes a huge investment of time and money to remain a "player". - If you're a scrub, where do you go to play for tournaments? Do you drive 100 miles to sanctioned tourneys and get sneered at for being inexperienced? - Did I mention that it's expensive? The money: I've heard a million times from people that they think that WOTC comes out with new sets too often, and that recently purchased sets get rotated out too soon. I've also heard from WOTC (in a Dueliest article?) that market research shows their production is in line with market demand. My explanation for this discrepancy is that their marketing research might be a little skewed in favor of selling more cards, rather than truly trying to serve the game of Magic. How many other people out there have a hard time putting together a set of Magic cards and getting the hot cards before the next set is at the door? Is it just me? Combine this with the work that it takes to playtest all of these new cards, and you have mass burn-out. WOTC - Instead of trying to produce more NEW cards to buy, why not concentrate on keeping existing customers and attracting some new ones? Don't kill the Golden Goose! Concerning new players: I think that WOTC realizes that it needs to get new people involved (ie find new customers), however it will take more than a "Baby" Magic (Portals) to accomplish that. How about: - Make Portals cards legal to play with Magic cards. Who wants to buy cards that can't be used in tournaments? Not some kid that can only afford a couple of boosters a week. - Don't release all of the broken cards as rares - make some common and uncommon ones too. - Start designing some events to teach kids how to play Magic. - Start designing some events for scrubs only. - Start making it worth the judges' time to put on sanctioned tourneys - maybe we'd have more of them. What's the motivation to do them now? To the rest of the Magic community out there - I say encourage those scrubs! Teach them, hold their hands, give them commons, drag them along to tournaments, organize some mini tournaments at your house, and BE POLITE to them! Or you may just end up with a pile of worthless cardboard and a dead hobby. And don't give up on Magic yourselves, either. I've been kind of hard on WOTC - so here's some praise: - I love your product. - I think that you've come up with some really nice cards in the recent sets. Of course, I might be saying this because I'm partial to blue... Here's a big "Thank You" to Frank, for the Dojo - this site has kept my interest in Magic alive, by keeping me in touch with other people who care about this game.