Do kids ruin your game?

[Hellion]

Kids do in a way ruin Magic. But they promote the health of Magic too. Here's why;

Pros: They love to experiment with ideas and trade willingly for cards they want. Sometimes they get ripped off bad, however, most of them are willing to trade ANYTHING for just a few cards they crave. That desire, it's so rare in veteran magic players. They learn fast and are open to suggestions. They influence their friends mighty fast, soon your playing area is filled to the brim with Magic-mania.

Cons: They are noisy. They can be very sore losers. Try not to beat them badly, they might cry (it happened to me and my friends many times). They quote ridiculously high prices for an average rare you want because he/she was beaten by that card not long ago. They love to play netdecks. They burn out easily. Their zealousness also means that they are willing to steal, cheat or find other means to get cards.

To me, kids aren't cut out for CCGs. I'm not biased or anything but it's the truth. I would say that CCGs like Magic and L5R are really meant for players ages 15 and over. It would be nice if WotC wouldn't target players under 15 because it worked for Pokemon.

Sometimes I refer to Pokemon as a stepping stone for future Magic players. What's your say?

Anedotes and opinions are welcomed. Thank you.

 

[Baron Sengir]

Kid magic players are, for the most part, just like adults. I've played against a couple of kids that were more grown up about Magic than some adults I've played. One guy who I used to regularly play actually threw his cards in my face on a couple of occasions.

Most kids are cool about it. As long as I don't do a victory dance or something to rub in the fact that I beat them, they seem to understand the 'win some, lose some' thing. Plus, kids look at the game with a freshness that some of us may have lost. I can remember trading some kid a B/W dual land one time for a Lhurgoyf just because the kid was in such awe of this dual land that I didn't even need. He was so happy just to have a dual land that he was almost in tears. People tell me I got the shaft on that deal. Moneywise, maybe. But you should have seen this kid.

The worst thing about kids I've seen so far is when Child of Gaea had to destroy this guy in a tournament in front of his kids. I mean, he spanked him with his kids watching but he had no choice because it was a tourney. God, I bet that felt great. lol

I remain
The Baron
"Daddy, why did you lose?"

 

[arhar]

Whoa. I have to give you a lot of credit for just posting your opinion on a topic as controversial as this one, not softening anything.

In my opinion, although you're probably right in general, you can't stereotype like this. For example, after I officially ceased to be Multiplayer King and turned into a Tournament Scrub, at Neutral Ground NY I see a LOT of 10-11 year olds that play really good. It's still kinda weird for me to see little kids saying "I'll attune, discarding a Wave, Tide, and Opalescence" instead of "I'll evolve my Pikachu into Raichu". But you gotta admit - some kids are just as good as adults. If my memory serves me right, a 15 year old took 2nd place at Pro-Tour Chicago last year.

 

[The Undertaker]

I think the issue with kids is not really age but maturity. As someone posted, maturity levels of kids are sometimes higher than adults. I have witnessed this myself. It is really sad playing a tournament/league that is designed to be fun and have two grown men yelling at you non-stop for 20 minutes and even threatening bodily harm because they "accidentally" left a card out of their deck and half way through a game they wanted to shuffle it back in. Interestingly, they had a really bad draw and were mana screwed (two headed giant format).

Most of the kids I have played have been fairly competent players. That is the enjoyment for me, playing a skilled player so I can learn more about the game. If I play a kid that is immature, I think to myself they may still be hope for you. When I play an adult that acts the same way, I think they are an embarrassment to the game.

 

[Jaws10387]

Ok I'm only 13 and I started playing 3 years ago. I destroy all of my friends and I've never seen them cry about it. I honestly don't care if I win every game. I think most people just play for fun I've been comletely destroyed but I've never been that upset about it to cry.

BTW: I don't have a want list of 3 or so cards that I'll give anything for. And in online games I use my actual T2 deck that I designed myself.

 

[Hawaiian mage]

You know how degrading it feels for you to talk about us like that? Like everyone from 10 to 15 act all the same or what not.

Well actually it's kind of funny from my perspective. I'm 14, and I started playing when Legacy came out. The funniest part is that most of what you people are saying, I've never really noticed it untill now. I try to get more players too play, and I will trade for how good I myself rate the card rather then how much it's worth. Useually, unless I know the card is worth way more then what they are trying to trade. I find this whole discussion very humorouse, I can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[nodnarb24]

I take offense to you saying that kids aren't cut out for magic I started about five years when i was ten and i have seen a lot in the world of magic. The most common observation i have seen is that kids act like adults and adults act like children when they play. i have been to a few tourneys and i have seen adults getting very angry by losing to a kid and resorted to violence while i have never seen a kid react like that. Kids are more willing to fun playing the game and lose rather than not having fun and winning. Also kids are willing to experment with less used cards instead of going out and buying the big new card.

 

[Seeker of Truth]

Although I happen to be a member of the older generation (over 15), I agree with the young whippersnappers when they say that maturity is relative. When I play (which isn't that often), I never take into account the age of the player I'm going up against. Whether I'm playing against a guy who looks like he just started high school or a guy who seems to be in his early 40s, I play the game the same way, because I know that you can't judge how someone's going to play just on their age. I've never played against someone who broke down and cried at losing, nor have I played against anyone who threatened me or threw a tantrum.

As for trading, I don't trade much, but I've always thought that I end up on the losing end most of the time, so I haven't had any kind of good/bad experience with younger people in this area either. Most of the people I talk to who are Magic players are completely competent and mature people, and there's only a few players who I would truly classify as immature.

 

[Apollo]

Well, I started playing when I was 10, five years ago, when Ice Age first came out. At the time, I did some of these things, such as trading the world for a Shivan Dragon. But other than that, which is more because of lack of play skill than experience, most of what you said is wrong. Kids are usually better losers than adults. Kids usually play the game for fun and take it less seriously. I never cried after a loss, and I have never heard of anyone crying after a loss except Michelle Bush (an admitted adult).

And here's an example: Until recently, I went to tournaments at a local store every week. At this store, there was an 8 year old boy. He played a white weenie deck of his own design and played it very well. He came in second once and third or fourth many times. He never whined after a loss and was a very polite and gracious opponent. He was a quiet kid. There was also an older person, I believe a teen. He was loud and obnoxious. He played a goblin deck, and would be the first to tell you that it was much better than your deck. He wasn't a very good player. He also carried with him a naked picture of that girl from Pokemon that he downloaded off the internet. He would shove it in the face of anyone nearby, until one day I finally tore it up.

So tell me, who would you rather play with?

Apollo

 

[Duel]

I approve of kids because they bring new thoughts into the game. I take a heck of a lot away from games against horrible decks with good themes I've never seen before.

Oh, and I have a couple cards I'll trade almost anything for. Anyone out there got an alpha black lotus? anyone?

 

[TomB]

But that's a story for another day (or thread).

I tend to take my opponents as they come. I play the same way whether I'm going against someone younger than me (most everybody!), older than me (it's happened once or twice, I swear!), male, or female.

At least, I do until we've had a chance to talk a bit. Then I treat them as they deserve to be treated. If someone is relaxed and comfortable to play with, I play the same way. If someone's cocky and arrogant, and looks down their nose at my deck, or someone else's being played nearby, I tend to play very coldly, with more precision, and I'll question their every move and make them back up and redo something just to annoy them. If they seem new to the game, and I think I can help them, I'll offer to look at their deck and make some suggestions, but not if they're rude or ignorant to me or other players.

People like that wouldn't listen anyway.

Maybe it's just a matter of perspective. As I said, most everyone I've played with over the years has been younger than me (especially in tourneys) so perhaps my perspective IS a bit suspect. Still, I can tell you that jerks come in all sizes and ages, gender doesn't alter that (though the girls tend to smell better ), and I've never really noticed a concentration of jerkism (makes it sound like a calling, huh?) associated with any particular age group.

Play nice people.

 

[Spiderman]

Well, just agreeing with everyone else that it depends on the person, not the age. I (think) I haven't had any experiences with the obnoxious kind no matter what the age so I count myself fortunate.

 

[rkoelsch]

You have to look at each person as an individual. Being one of the older players I always try to encourage new players. I play in free tournaments on Tuesday's at the local game store. It is an excellent way of introducing new players and the tourney players use it for playtesting. I always take the time to explain rules, I allow new players to take back moves, and always try to trade fairly. I had a young person come up to me he had just bought a box of cards for $12. The store sells these to reduce their commons and uncommons. It is a box of about 300 cards mostly commons about 20 to 25 uncommons and 2-3 rares. He asked me to help him sort. I could of taken advantage and traded commons for the rares he had but what kind of creature would do that? I showed him which uncommons and commons were good. He had a rancor and radiants dragoon and mother of runes all good cards. I asked what colors he was playing he was going to play red. I traded him a crimson hellkite for a ritual of the machine I was missing from my alliances deck. He was very happy and so was I. So much for rambling time to get back to work.

 

[Killer Joe]

It's not the "Kids" that ruin the game, it's one's perception, view, paradiagm, that see's kids as the destroyer. To illustrate my point better let me take you through this makeshift scenerio:
You walk into an unfamiliar card store, you see two kids being loud while playing magic, you can't even notice how their play style is because they're so loud. You have already formed an opinion about those two kids, and until you learn more about them, your brain (paradiagm), keeps justifying your perception of them. You walk up to the store owner and you jokingly mention to her/him about how it's annoying to see that chaos going on. The store owner looks at you and replies,"See that kid on the right? He was last years JSS regional champion, and the other one? He "Q"'d for the pro-tour this year."

------silent "boom"-------

Your paradiagm just shifted.

Blanket views are bad, perhaps the question could be re-phrased like this:
"Don't you think immature or bad mannered magic players ruin the game?"






....what the hell have I been smoking lately?

[Edited by Yellowjacket on July 19th, 2000 at 10:49 PM]