"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
Yes, especially because it's so benign. If you think the price point is too high, don't buy it. You can use regular copies of those planeswalkers, they're exactly as functional. I have slightly more sympathy for the complaint that it's only available in the United States, but even there the problem is that you don't have as easy of access to a slightly more premium version of your card that's exactly as functional as a regular version. It's reminding me of the Weird Al song "First World Problems" in how tiny of a complaint it actually is.
I agree with H that Nexus of Fate had people's nerves raw, since there are legitimate issues with tournament-viable, limited availability cards.
However, I think in this case a lot of the ire could have been avoided if they just called them something other than "Masterpieces". Most players associate Masterpieces with the positive effects of people cracking tons of boxes to get them, which keeps the price of Standard down. I doubt Hasbro will make more than 1000 units of these, so they'll not just be SDCC-rare, but the box gimmick won't affect supply issues at all.
They should have pitched it as, "Here are these special promos for only $250! For $10 more than our usual planeswalker promos, you get a full box! Even if you're not satisfied with your full art walkers, keep the box as our FREE GIFT to you!" but instead they hired the same ad guy who gave us "Masters 25 is the set you've been waiting for!" and now people are mad again.
Imagine MtG's World Championship so ill-advertised that most people only became aware of it because Jerry Thompson was sick of WotC's shit and boycotts it now:
https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/co...ic_player_and/
Good for Gerry. But the thing is, he isn't saying anything new here, or bringing new light to already existing issues that have been highlighted dozens of times before. Given what a complete shitshow the MTGA closed Beta was, it's not even like they have anything coming up to look forward to on the horizon.
Goals for open Beta - figure out the 5th card problem --- you mean, literally the entire F2P economy? That's "Heckuva job Brownie" level pathetic.
Way to read the mood and reflecting on your mistakes, WotC:
https://twitter.com/wizards_magic/st...90879626973184
I'm gonna grab the popcorn.
My two favorite responses so far:
Skyl3lazer 🌹
@Skyl3lazer
1h1 hour ago
More
Replying to @wizards_magic
lol Artifact is gonna start w/ a million dollar pro tour you dorks
and
José Moreira
@heyzeto
52m52 minutes ago
More
Replying to @wizards_magic
nice worlds is today, good news to hear.
I can't wait to see some new ravnica cards beeing played there!
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Gerry Thompson is a whiny baby and I laughed at his demands.
There's plenty of reasons to be angry at WotC; shafting Legacy in a bunch of ways, RtRtR being formulaic shit (they basically stuck RtR in a microwave and called it good), cards looking/feeling like shit, the flood of unnecessary supplemental product...but a bunch of replaceable pro players not getting paid enough? The care just ain't there.
I think the entitlement some pros have to think they deserve to make a living by grinding MtG tournaments is hilarious. That said, WotC is way too stingy with their payouts. And considering they allocated a good chunk of their yearly payouts towards Worlds and then doing a crap job at advertising the biggest MtG event of the year speaks volumes.
You can make more playing a simpler game in your office that Blizzard supports with real prizes and advertisements.
I don't open packs outside of Draft and Limited. I won't crack packs for cards. If Blizzard let me buy singles I don't think I would play Magic anymore.
I really can't disagree more with this. Pros should absolutely be able to make a living doing this. Name even one remotely comparable esport (in terms of game popularity) that treats its pro players like this. You can't, because those guys are really just there to convince little Johnny that if he spends an extra $100 on his deck, he can make the dream come true too.
WotC should be promoting the fuck out of their pros for all the same reasons casino's put up big fucking billboards of their big winners: you need success stories to draw in the rubes.
That's the thing - Magic is NOT an esport (by the very virtue of being a physical card game; their digital offerings are a joke) - despite whatever stupid buzzwords the Hasbro CEO is using (considering Dungeons & Dragons is an esport according to him as well). Magic lacks the infrastructure and support to be one. There no teams and big sponsors to support a stable income, not to mention travel costs eating up a good chunk of your potential prize money.
To clarify my previous comment: We're talking about a company here which is so stingy that judges had to sue to get paid. WotC actively discourages this kind of lifestyle with their payouts (remember the #paythepros shitstorm). It isn't meant to make you a living. That's what I see as the entitlement previously mentioned- "I play alot of Magic and I'm kinda good at it, so pay for my bills, Wizards!". That's not how shit works. And WotC's answer to Gerry's protest made it pretty clear that they don't give a fuck and are unwilling to change.
Don't get me wrong: If there are teams and big sponsors that guarantee a stable income and paying for travel costs, a pro player lifestyle is definitely feasible. Right now, it's just a really poor choice - streaming is probably more stable in terms of income (assuming you hit the player numbers and donations).
Totally agree with giving more spotlight to the pros. But WotC seems to have a different idea how to promote pros and their stories - see Maro's comment how the thinks that serial cheaters like Bertoncini are the bad guys required for good storytelling (like in wrestling). They did try to push Reid recently in GP: Reid, but that only worked because Reid is just too much of a nice guy to tell them to fuck off with their unpaid extra workload. It's really a shame they've completely abandoned the Invitational cards. Those were a great way to advertise players - but they got completely cut for money reasons. Is it really that hard to make it online only to save money? Instead, they waste it on disasters like the recent Silver Showcase.
tl;dr: WotC is a shitty company and their greed, stinginess and incompetence ruins everything.
You all need to read his statement. Pay out's are one point of MANY on there. This is not all about pay out. That is simplifying what he is doing and saying unfairly.
His points are valid.
Also, why isn't worlds using the new cards and a new format? use it to showcase your new exciting product etc, it's such a fucking easy slam dunk and they did it in the worst possible way. Most important tournament of the year, yet no one knows or cares. It's really really easy to make people know and care about such things.
Wotc is good at exactly one thing, and that's making cards, and they could be better at that for sure. They are fucking clown shoes when it comes to literally anything else to do with their product or brand. A shame and shameful.
Lets take the flip side of that argument. What if Magic is not meant to support a pro lifestyle. The top players should have other sources of income?
Pro Tours take a week or on site prep, and often another week prior. With 6 PT's per year you're looking at saying these players need to regularly take 12 weeks off of work per year. There's very few jobs out there that allow for that. So you're back at the initial idea that a pro scene requires wages that allow people to be full time pro's.
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