Subject: [ISSUE] Ugh. (more death and Magic) Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 19:06:29 +0000 From: Aaron M Huntsman To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com I haven't ranted like this in quite a while, so please bear with me. I've managed to avoid reading any of the "Magic is Dying" posts, mainly because I don't like bad news, and because I can't stand any kind of complaining. Ignorance is bliss. I like playing Magic because I like playing Magic, and that's all there is to it. Furthermore, I only get to play Magic once every couple weeks, so I'm in no position to say whether the game is dying or not. As long as I can find at least one other person to play Magic with, the game will not be dead in my mind. When I went to register for the recent PTQ in Indy, 10 minutes before the tournament, and was handed a badge numbered "29," I couldn't help but utter an "ugh." I'm sure the TO had a similar reaction. I like having a "tournament scene" in Indianapolis, because it is my home, and even when I'm in school, Indy is much closer to Terre Haute than Chicago is. So when I see a total turnout of 52 for a PTQ, I can't help but get concerned. So when I got back, I broke down and started reading the "Magic is Dying" posts on the Dojo, and believe me, it took me a good while. I think some of the main points of the articles applied to this tournament. It's a long way to Rome, Rath cycle _is_ getting a bit stale, and most folks would rather invest in Urza's Saga right now. Apart from that, I don't know what the problem is, and quite frankly, I don't care - I'm not a stickler for details. And as often as I want to jump up and down and shout, "It's just a farshugginer game!" I can't, because a lot of people play this game, and a lot of people, like myself, like it a lot, and would like to see it develop. In reference to another article, I don't think it's a problem with "Magic players". Don't get bogged down in the stereotypes. You meet a lot of people, you're going to run into a few folks who are immature, obnoxious, or don't smell quite right. When a lot of money is involved, expect that number to increase. But Magic is a game of social interaction, and that's what's so damn beautiful about it. Magic players are not anti-social - they are simply looked down upon by the rest of the people that don't get it, and it's the exact same way for any special interest group. Are attitudes a problem? Very likely. Again, you meet enough people, you're going to find examples from the shallow end of the gene pool. I look at it this way: if I'm playing someone in a tournament, I'm thinking, "I respect you as a Magic player. I respect you for playing the game of Magic, and for keeping the game alive by your participation. If you want any more respect from me than that, wash my car." Is it a problem with the "environment?" It could be. Many folks are complaining that there are not enough T2 tournaments, and I would have to agree. But people are going to find problems with any environment, and the same kind of paper/rock/scissors-type arguments are going to come up. Magic has countless environments. But people are only willing to play what everyone else is playing, and everyone else is only playing the environments that are going to rake in the cash. This is the problem. I certainly don't think it's a problem with the Dojo. Listen to me. The Dojo is a _good_ thing. It is a place of social interaction. Social interaction is _good_. The internet is _good_. "But bad players can copy decks and win PTQ's with them!" Whoop-dee-shit. More power to 'em, I say. Are people worried that the Pro Tour is disintegrating as an institution of the finest Magic players around? Who cares? Magic is a game of luck. The luck factor may vary depending on the environment, but there will always be a possibility of players you might call "scrubs" getting on the tour. Deal with it. I can't help but feel that the only reason this bothers anyone is because of egos or the ridiculous amounts of money given out at these events. Why don't they give the best judge or organizer $25 grand? "Stop printing decklists!" Whoa hoh hoh. Hope you have as much success as the government has had trying to keep porn off the internet. Stop printing decklists? Get real. This is the information age. The decks are going to be out there. If printing decklists is a crime, only criminals will have decklists. "There's too much gossip and mudslinging and otherwise useless information on the Dojo!" God bless America. If you don't like it, don't read it. Frank doesn't make this stuff up - he can only post what he gets. How about, "Give people some initiative to come up with original decks." The Magic-playing society already does this by belittling people who play unoriginal decks and win with them, calling them "scrubs" and such. This is a natural technique, but not particularly effective. The ultimate goal of the game is to win and take home the cash, and WotC clearly has the upper hand in this respect. When the money's gone, originality will be the only initiative. Does it sound like I'm bashing the Pro Tour? I am. I've said it before, and I'll probably alienate a good number of people in saying it again. The concept of "professional Magic" is ridiculous. The world does not _need_ any more professional sports. And at the rate things are going, professional Magic is likely to become as screwed up as Major League Baseball was a few years ago. The players who make the Pro Tour consistently should represent the Pro Tour and the company that sponsors it, WotC. They should not necessarily represent the greater population of Magic players. That's not a bash on PT players; I simply don't think that the state of Magic should be assessed by their actions. I'm sure there are lots of really nice PT players - there are lots of really nice non-PT players as well. "So why are you trying to get on the Pro Tour?" I'm not, specifically. I mean, I play to win. It's just my nature, I suppose. If going to the Pro Tour is a side effect of my winning a lot, cool. It just means I get to play some more, and meet a lot more interesting people. Now, to answer the question, "Is Magic dying?" No, but it will eventually. Let me describe the measuring stick I'm using to come to this conclusion. Magic has rooted itself into the history of gaming - it is by far the most popular CCG ever, and has spawned countless others like it, so there's no danger of it "dying" in that sense. I like to think I share Richard Garfield's vision of Magic, in that it will come to be uttered in the same breath as Chess, Bridge, Scrabble, Monopoly, etc. The game can never do that in its current state, and may not be able to do it in any state, without becoming a completely different game. In order for Magic to survive, it must become more readily available to a majority of the people. Thus, the cost of cards should drop significantly, rarity should be eliminated, greater attention must be paid to the balance of the cards and game mechanics, and the labyrinth of rules and rulings must be streamlined significantly. There's nothing stopping the third and fourth items from happening, but there's little doubt in anyone's mind that the first two will never happen. So why hasn't Portal been selling like hotcakes? I'd tack that one up to bad marketing. How many more people do you think have heard of Portal that haven't heard of Magic? You can't get more people into the game by giving them a stepladder - you have to actually bring the game down to sea level. I don't know. I'm a "big picture" kind of guy. It's possible that gaming will some day phase out of human civilization altoghether and no one will play anything anymore. It's possible that America will become a Communist country and the government will decide who gets what cards. It's just as possible that the Pro Tour will die off completely and WotC will have to change their policy to stay afloat. Que sera, sera. It's not the game that makes Magic what it is - it's the people behind it. If we Magic players are stressed out because our goals for the game are unrealistic, then we can either change the game or change our goals. Getting a million people to change anything is as hard as it sounds, but the people who truly care about the game are the ones that will keep it alive. The game will only die when everyone believes that it is dead. ------------------------------------------------------ Aaron "Lowspark" Huntsman /\~"~/\ WilliamsRandall/MC \=.=.=/ "Chirp!" =\ T /= aaronhun@willran.com ''' ------------------------------------------------------