Is the CPA... dying?

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DÛke

Guest
...

I have noticed this trend before 9/11, like Spiderman, but it didn't bother me at all. The Off-Topic forum should be a solid proof that the CPA is not dying.

What I think has happened, like some have already stated, is members have gradually "evolved," maybe gotten a new job, are in a relationship, have found another hobby, are just not interested, or just simply left.

Whimsical and Purple Jester, for example, have left. I think the participated a lot, Magic-wise even.

Cateran Emperor is somewhere.

FoR has moved, and I think he has limited access, but I'm not sure about that. Probably busy with all the school work.

Multani's presence are very limited, and Darsh has vanished. Both are most likely busy with school.

I don't see YellowJacket a lot anymore...he's fading...

I don't see Griffth_Se a lot anymore, especially when I used to see her logged every morning before I go to school...

Almindhra is busy in college...most likely...

I myself am busy with college, and music...and have quit Magic...

And those are just some examples...

Besides, like Dune Echo stated, there are other things that people can use their money on, and I think that could be a contributing factor.

I don't think it can get any "worse," but I don't think we'll ever have more talks on Magic than, say, on other issues in the Off-Topic. This *is* a coffee-shop lounge, and that's that. To me, it seems that Magic is *just* one of the few things one could do around here, and I think that's the way it will always be...
 
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Zadok001

Guest
Boy, it ain't gonna get any better after today (the terrorist conversations, that is).
 
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Apollo

Guest
...Well, Tony Hawk 3 and Madden 2002 are about to take $100 out of my pocket that might otherwise go to Magic. Whoever made that comment about PS2 was actually right, that's where my money's going right now.
 
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Almindhra

Guest
Originally posted by DÛke
Almindhra is busy in college...most likely...
Do I find myself actually agreeing with Duke for once?...scary...

But yeah, before 9/11 I haven't really been around...Its hard to juggle college, a job, a bf, family, friends, my beloved game Diablo2, and then the CPA and another website I frequent, Dragonmount...So pretty much I'm not around...I will tell you I do read the CPA everyday, even though I don't respond that much...

And after 9/11 my sentiments towards some people grew even more towards disgust and hatred, so no change there...
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I think Gizmo pretty much nailed it, in terms of the Magic talk here: No one's really building "oddball" decks with cards. I have to admit I belong to that category as I don't have new cards to build decks with, but I do have older cards... but as I said, there's only a small group of people who use older cards anyway.

And I've always said I thought Magic should be the focus here. I don't mind Off-Topic stuff, sometimes it's good to talk about other stuff, but personally I think it's a sad, sad day when it overshadows the Magic talk. You might as well put THAT as the General Forum and move Magic to Off-Topic. Obviously the board is evolving and people are talking more in Off-Topic, but like I said, it's just a personal opinion.
 
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arhar

Guest
Well, it's been a while since I "evolved" (or maybe the opposite?) from casual to struggling PTQ player... I mean, I used to write articles about multiplayer, and now I don't play multiplayer at all, sadly. And I'll admit to posting a lot more on the Off-Topic forum than on Magic-related forums... why? I don't know. Maybe cause there's not much Magic I want to discuss these days, whenever the world outside Magic becomes more and more interesting each day since Sep 11. And that's a BAD thing! As the known curse goes, "May you live in interesting times!" :) I do think, however, that we should look at the situation more realistically and merge all of Magic-related forums into one, considering there's what - a couple of posts per day on each? The splitting of forums has long outlived its usefulness, imo.
 

Killer Joe

New member
Ya know, nothing stirs things up like new blood.

Remember when DUke came? These boards were A-L-I-V-E!!!

How about ZERO? She livened things up a bit <heh-heh, if ya know what I mean ;)>

Of course when PJ and Whimsey stop by things get a little livelier.

Contraversy, that always stirs things up!!!!

Okay, how about this, you all from the South, SUCK!!!!

No, No, No. I LOVE the South.

Okay, how 'bout this. All you lefty's are ignorant!!!

No, No. Recent studies have shown that more successful people in the business/political world are left-handed.

Okay, that's all I got. :(
 
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Zadok001

Guest
"No, No. Recent studies have shown that more successful people in the business/political world are left-handed."

Therefore, all us righties are ignorant! HEY! Are you insulting me? You're going DOWN!

:D
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Contraversy, that always stirs things up!!!!
We had plenty of controversy with terrorist events in Off-Topic, but only a few stay in for the long haul... and apparently there's been no Magic controversy stuff happening lately.
 
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terzarima

Guest
Well, that's because I guess WOTC is doing a moderatly okay job :) Alot of people complained about the sets in invasion and masques, but oddyssey slipped by....

I even remember as a wothless scrub, I made a long (well, I think it was long) discussion about how many sets should come out in a year.

*Sigh*

I guess we aren't complaining enough, and that's what the CPA is for, eh?
 
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terzarima

Guest
Yeah... we actually seem to have taken a much more educated point of view instead of whining...
 
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krichaiushii

Guest
Lefty's aren't ignorant, they're just sinister.

I know this because a guy named Dexter told me. And he is always right.




















My, that was handily done, now wasn't it? ;)
 
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Purple_jester

Guest
Is the CPA dying? No. Definitely not. When you have a person as busy as me still stopping by from time to time there's got to be something going on.

This is a community of gamers. Not just Magic players, but gamers. We're a casual player's alliance, not a casual Magic player's alliance. We belong to that insane niche of people who play cards and video games and RPG's and read sci-fi and fantasy books and like anime.

But Magic is a thing we all have or had in common. So why the change? A few theories come to mind.

Firstly, I blame the change of mentality and mood on WOTC. Next to Bill Gates, they are the source of much woe. Their recent trend of "if it's playable then it must be rare" syndrome is NOT helping. There are just so many fun cards and themes you can get from those cards, but a casual player like myself can't access those options because of expense.

I do NOT want to spend $300 on cards just so I can have something to play with. To a tournament player, that amount is well worth the chance of winning. To someone like me, it's not worth the effort when all I want to do is play to have fun, for the sake of playing, not winning.

I mean, as much as UB is my favorite color combo, I can't afford to get myself even a single Finkel or Undermine. I would love to play with those cards, not because they would go a long way in helping me win, but because I feel a certain beauty in a counterspell that strikes back, or a souped-up UB Ophidian. When I first saw Extract, I thought to myself, "Wonderful! I like it! It's sooo cute!" Then I saw the price and the Vision Charm-Lobotomy-Jester's Cap-Extract fun deck in my head just blew away to nothingness.

WOTC has evolved the game of Magic from a fun pastime into a professional sport. A sport which the common player cannot afford to go into. Anybody can buy a basketball and any ordinary pair of rubber shoes to go and shoot some hoops with some friends. What would happen to basketball as a fun game if you were told that you had to spend $200 to $300 every YEAR just to keep the game fun?

Second, there's the community. It seems that the majority of Magic players are tourney players or tourney player wannabees. Type 2 brainwashed drones. Borgs who give no more thought to a card once it has "cycled out." Zombies who think that when you play casual (which is usually in an extended or T1 format), you're either unfair or not worth the attention.

Needless to say, this is not encouraging to those who still think of Magic as a game.

In conclusion, when I first signed up with the CPA, I was bursting with ideas for card strategy and decks. Most of them weren't worth a second glance as far as tournament quality was concerned, but the point is that I had fun building them anyway, and I sure had fun playing them. I knew nothing about the 101 theories of Magic. I knew little about Sligh or Ponza or Secret Force or Aggro. And I was happy with the game.

Then it became so much more complex. No one entertained ideas meant for fun anymore. Everyone started talking about tournament strategy. Even ideas meant for plain fun were met with comments like, "where is the mana curve" or "it won't work against Fires" or "U/R is too slow for today's environment" or somesuch. Too much of a headache.

I miss the days when I could post a deck idea, and all these wacky comments came in without regards to how well it would do against this or that, or without someone asking me to obtain 8 cards worth over $100.

I'm sure a lot of people still want to discuss such ideas on the boards, but something hampers me whenvever I give it a go. Everytime I read a thread, I have a little voice telling me, "Don't comment, PJ. This guy is strictly T2, and he wants to win at States. I don't think he'll appreciate you telling him how you think 2 Black Knights and a Sengir Vampire would round out the creature base."

So that's it for me. I'm still full of ideas. I just doubt that they'll be worth anythig anymore. :(
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
On this site at least, you shouldn't FEEL like you need to hold back. I know there are tourney players and that's fine, but more to the point, where were the casual players? Look at the recent revival of 5-color Magic talk. No tourney talk there.

Bottom line: You should post your ideas and see who posts feedback. I'm sure not ALL of them will go unanswered :)
 
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Thallid Ice Cream Man

Guest
Ya want controversy?

5 COLOR HIGHLANDER!!!

There :p
 
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Dune Echo

Guest
The fact that it's hard to plan such a deck...

or...

The fact that he's trying to be controversial and he's going to be taken aback when I announce that it's already been done! There's a slight subset to the 5-Color community that does play Highlander style. :) Think planning a 250 card deck is bad, just imagine it Highlander style!

Purple Jester: Great statement. Thank you very much.
 

TomB

Administrator
Staff member
Originally posted by Dune Echo
Purple Jester: Great statement. Thank you very much.
I'll second that...

What an excellent commentary on the current, and ongoing, state of the game. And her statements about our decks section (where I do not usually travel) are quite sobering.

I wonder if we should re-visit that idea about separate deck sections? Maybe that would help...
 
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