Another Stupid Decision: Play or Draw mothballed

[Notepad]

Well, well, well. It looks like Star City isn't the only site making bonehead moves lately.

AGN, the owners of Brainburst and Play or Draw, have decided to pull the plug on Play or Draw. Brainburst was supposed to be the elitist/superpro site, with Play or Draw being the more open site, ala The Dojo. Looks like that model didn't work, and the two sites have merged.

No, my bad. Brainburst absorbed the tasty bits of Play or Draw that it liked. And the rest is gone.

Wow, great they told everyone. Oh, wait, they didn't! Not even their writers. Sheesh! Hey, I still think SCG was bonehead for going premium, but at least they had the cajones to not only announce it (although a little late) AND publicly post their reasons for it, sorta a Q&A session. AGN has done nothing of the sort for Play or Draw.

Sad, just sad.

I contacted the editor but haven't gotten word so far. So, if any of you liked reading The Casual Chronicler, it *just might* be migrating this way, to CPA. This is only MIGHT right now...since I dunno if they're moving their featured writers to Brainburst. (Argh, doubtful, since I didn't hear squat...and it looks like no shift has been made. Sad, sad. *sigh*)

-Dramaqueen, err...Notepad out

 

[Spiderman]

Well, *I* sure hope we get you...

 

[Notepad]

Well, so much for getting paid to write articles, heh.

But at least now I can write for a place I like. The AGN had nice staff, but the readers were a bit elitist...and they made up crap just because of my DCI suspension. *sigh*

So, now that leaves me two options...
-Write here totally. (A nice idea)
-Write here mainly, but give SCG a try with a few articles. (What I think will happen.)

Since Ferrett is editing casual stuff instead of that no-talent elitist hack Knutwad*, and since SCG appears to be on the lookout for casual content finally, I just may have a shot at getting stuff accepted there again. And, with that power...I can do as Rasko does, and link here! ;-)

Of course, all humor and fiction will always be here, no matter what. Even in the off chance that I strike it totally lucky and go -gasp- featured writer** there.

In fact, I'm working on an MTGO article right now that will likely go to SCG, unless I hear something from my former editor.

Okay, now that I got that dandy bit of "let's talk about me"*** out of the way, I gotta ask: Do I really need to do more "Participate NOW!s"? Why the hell aren't there more people writing? I mean, more than Making it Work (gonna get to that in another thread)? Why aren't all these creative and lunatic people writing for the front page? SHEESH!

-Notepad out


*Gee, is the grudge apparent there or what?
**Yeah friggen right. IN MY DREAMS!
***Notepad = NARCICIST!!!

 

[Ferret]

I've often given a lot of thought to the question "Hey, where are the other writers?" and I think it boils down to a few factors:

1. Fear. They're afraid that their articles won't match up to the high standards we have w/ our other writers (standards? What are those?)

2. Simplicity. They prefer to come up w/ short thoughts and just post them in the forums.

3. Other employers: they might be writing for other sites and would not rather post their Magic-related material on our site, but instead prefer writing for sites that might actually pay them some day

-Ferret

"or, like me, 4. NO TIME! Stupid war keeps me occupied all the time..."

 

[Spiderman]

Heh, I've thought about it too and think it's more a combination of 3 and 4. I don't think we have THAT high of standards (I've seen front page replies to the effect of "why/how did THAT get posted") and while 2 plays a small part, I think 4 plays a bigger in that you need time to set down your ideas in a "good" way. But there's 3 also since at least a couple people like Isty and orgg send stuff to other sites (I don't think they're getting paid though).

 

[orgg]

I'm ~TRYING~ to get paid, myself.

Now that PoD is defunct(and I was trying for the fifty dollar check there...), I'll probably submit the piece once again to StarCity-- The Ferrett actually likes me from the time that I mailed him when he was a featured writer.

(and I know how to spell write, now, too... That might help me out...)

 

[Notepad]

Hmm...

To anybody trying to get money for their stuff: Really now? Passion before money.

Definitely, definitely *definitely* gotta write a PN! about this...

 

[Istanbul]

No offense, but...
I got a foil Dissipate (I luuuuuuvs me them Dissipates) sitting at home right now telling me that turning in my draft articles (and how casual are drafts, really?) to cardshark.com was the right thing to do.

 

[Spiderman]

I'm not blaming you or anyone else trying to get paid or whatever your reasons are for sending to another site , I was just stating that there are some members here who write, just not for the CPA (at least, that's what I was trying to express).

 

[Notepad]

I ain't condemning people getting paid, either. My point is people should enjoy writing first. And, most of all, if they're sitting around not writing because they want to get paid first...then that's what's wrong.

 

[Istanbul]

Is it my imagination, or are a lot of Magic sites self-destructing?

 

[Notepad]

I tend to agree. PoD goes down. BB actually has seemed to be a bit on its toes lately. SCG going premium out of supposed desperation. MTGNews losing its core crew to Salvation, and then Salvation just turning into a chaotic little pit of humor that's fun to watch. Any others I should mention?

Can't list here. We've always been slow. We're like the calendar and clock shop in the mall. Who the hell shops there? Yet, there it is...

 

[Spiderman]

Heh, I would have said the Tortoise from the Rabbit and Tortoise race, but your analofy is much better

 

[HOUTS]

I used to write for this site, but there were several determing factors for not doing so.

1. Elitist attitude. Too many issues with some of the people who actual troll this site.

2. You can't write what you want. So, **** it.

So I moved on to BB and was paid. I've written for other sites and were compensated and I found it more than satisfactory.

I write, like Rizzo did, because I love to hear the sounds of my own words.



HOUTS

 

[TheCasualOblivion]

Is it my imagination, or are a lot of Magic sites self-destructing?

Maybe thanks to Raffinity, there isn't really anything interesting to say about the Standard Tournament Environment.

 

[Notepad]

Urza's Block = Mirrodin Block?
I think the cycle has been said here (or maybe at another site) before. If you follow it around, the blocks do seem to mimic stuff from the past.
Mirage = Odyssey
Tempest = Onslaught
Masques = Kamigawa
Invasion = Ravnica??? (we can only hope!)

Another bit of food for though...didn't The Dojo self destruct around the time of the Urza/Masques transition? Are we actually, for real, seeing a pattern here, or just a HUGE coincidence?

 

[Spiderman]

It depends when and how you define "self-destruct". Urza's was '98, Masques was '99. I think the Dojo went under for good mid-2000 or so, because this site was started during the Dojo (mid-99) and I joined January 2000 and I still belonged to the Dojo forums at that time.

 

[Oversoul]

Urza's Block = Mirrodin Block?

Both have overpowered cards that are based around artifacts. They are pretty similar for that.

Mirage = Odyssey

I see a slight resemblence. Neither one is all that well-defined compared to surrounding blocks. Odyssey has more cards based around the graveyard, but both blocks have them.

Tempest = Onslaught

What? Tempest is way better than Onslaught. There are some similarities here though. Onslaught focuses more on creatures and creature types in particular. Aside from that, they have some things in common. But Stronghold and Legions are nothing alike. Exodus and Scourge, however, seem more akin to each other now that I think about it...

Masques = Kamigawa

Well, they both use somewhat underpowered cards (possibly as a knee-jerk response to the overwhelming strength of cards in the previous blocks). I don't see anything else substantial...

Invasion = Ravnica??? (we can only hope!)

Why would we hope that?