PTbob
06-16-2009, 10:08 AM
I have been playing competitively for almost 10 years, and casually for longer than that.
I understand the mentality of the experienced player. I also see why, for profitable reasons, changing the game to be more appealing to new players is good for the company.
I think the way everyone is thinking about this change is wrong, though.
WotC has changed the rules, yes, but that is not what is bothering so many people. Changes of this magnitude are so big that they don't just change the rules of the game, they effectively errata thousands of cards that we have been playing with for a long time. In this case, creatures and combat tricks have all received errata basically saying "you are less powerful."
We are used to seeing WotC make changes for future cards. Boy, I sure think it's stupid that counterspell costs 3 now, but at least the counterspells I have already bought and play with will still work at 2.
However, this time WotC has changed not only the future cards, but the cards we already own. That set of Siege-Gang Commanders you traded for is suddenly not a great card anymore. It is as if Mark Gottlieb is an evil Santa Claus - in one night he went all around the world and made all of our cards worse.
I see how many older players will feel this way, and it's not wrong. The game you have played and tried hard to master is going away, but it is really the cards that you are upset about. They have felt safe and you have cared about them because it's your hobby, but there is nothing you can do to bring them back now. And in some ways this is not a healthy thing for a game company to do, but honestly, look at WotC's history and tell me if you expected anything better.
These changes are happening, no matter how much sense they make, and to whom. So I have some advice for both sides.
For those of you who think this change is "good," beware - eventually you will be playing a game so diluted from the original version of Magic that it will be unrecognizable, and the target audience and composition of tournaments might not be people that you think are interesting and want to hang out with. Ask yourself if you really are willing to stay with this game until WotC runs it in the ground. I'm not saying they will necessarily, or that these changes will make the game worse, but the older players are on to something when they point out the similarities between the changes in magic over the last few years, and the kind of other card games that are profitable.
For those of you who think this change is "bad," consider this: over the years you have dealt with thousands of errata and rulings that have altered your game experience. We have put up with all kinds of arbitrary, infuriating, and seemingly backwards decisions by the people who run this game. This time, they have just applied this same method on a massive scale. You might not be interested in playing now that Arcbound Ravager, Siege-Gang Commander, Ravenous Baloth, etc., are not that great anymore. But it is still better to think about it in terms of those cards, and not the game as a whole. And maybe there are actually cards and ideas out there that are better with this new game, that might be interesting to play with.
In the end, I think this actually a bigger change than sixth edition, and perhaps it does not make as much sense. But it is going to happen whether we like it or not, and we should be ready to host our own 9E magic tournaments, or stop complaining and actually learn how you are supposed to attack in this new version of the game.
I understand the mentality of the experienced player. I also see why, for profitable reasons, changing the game to be more appealing to new players is good for the company.
I think the way everyone is thinking about this change is wrong, though.
WotC has changed the rules, yes, but that is not what is bothering so many people. Changes of this magnitude are so big that they don't just change the rules of the game, they effectively errata thousands of cards that we have been playing with for a long time. In this case, creatures and combat tricks have all received errata basically saying "you are less powerful."
We are used to seeing WotC make changes for future cards. Boy, I sure think it's stupid that counterspell costs 3 now, but at least the counterspells I have already bought and play with will still work at 2.
However, this time WotC has changed not only the future cards, but the cards we already own. That set of Siege-Gang Commanders you traded for is suddenly not a great card anymore. It is as if Mark Gottlieb is an evil Santa Claus - in one night he went all around the world and made all of our cards worse.
I see how many older players will feel this way, and it's not wrong. The game you have played and tried hard to master is going away, but it is really the cards that you are upset about. They have felt safe and you have cared about them because it's your hobby, but there is nothing you can do to bring them back now. And in some ways this is not a healthy thing for a game company to do, but honestly, look at WotC's history and tell me if you expected anything better.
These changes are happening, no matter how much sense they make, and to whom. So I have some advice for both sides.
For those of you who think this change is "good," beware - eventually you will be playing a game so diluted from the original version of Magic that it will be unrecognizable, and the target audience and composition of tournaments might not be people that you think are interesting and want to hang out with. Ask yourself if you really are willing to stay with this game until WotC runs it in the ground. I'm not saying they will necessarily, or that these changes will make the game worse, but the older players are on to something when they point out the similarities between the changes in magic over the last few years, and the kind of other card games that are profitable.
For those of you who think this change is "bad," consider this: over the years you have dealt with thousands of errata and rulings that have altered your game experience. We have put up with all kinds of arbitrary, infuriating, and seemingly backwards decisions by the people who run this game. This time, they have just applied this same method on a massive scale. You might not be interested in playing now that Arcbound Ravager, Siege-Gang Commander, Ravenous Baloth, etc., are not that great anymore. But it is still better to think about it in terms of those cards, and not the game as a whole. And maybe there are actually cards and ideas out there that are better with this new game, that might be interesting to play with.
In the end, I think this actually a bigger change than sixth edition, and perhaps it does not make as much sense. But it is going to happen whether we like it or not, and we should be ready to host our own 9E magic tournaments, or stop complaining and actually learn how you are supposed to attack in this new version of the game.