Maybe it is just me...

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Master Shake

Guest
I liked the feel of the game a lot more prior to the Mirage set's storyline.

Although Legends really had nothing to do with anything, the whole Arabian and then Ice Age feel of the game made it at least feel a lot more fun.

I did enjoy the Weatherlight saga, (including Urza's, excluding PY)

But... now it feels like...

Well, magic feels cheapened, they no longer seem to be going for story, rather card mechanics that people will like. Placing yourself in a story setting and making cards off that felt a lot better then making cards and throwing together a crack-shot storyline to go along with it.
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
You are not the only one who feels the disillusionment of .\\agic so far.

Just the first one to really voice his/her feelings so far.

Nightstalker Lazarus
 
N

Notepad

Guest
I thought the WL Saga sucked harder than a ho in Miami....

But now, we were force=fed this crap about the Mirrari, and that story SUCKED HARDER!!! :eek: Only redeeming thing was the characters were better, but the overall story itself was a heeping pile of dung!

Then we get this new Mirrodin story, which seems okay, but it doesn't look like it will really be that interesting, or will go anywhere fun. The book was more of a yawner than a truely enjoyable romp.

However, as lame as it was, it was better than the Odyssey/Onslaught story.

We need true flavor in the background, without forcing us to have a lame story. No WL Saga, no Mirrari Saga, no Moons of Mirrodin...just give us isolated environments to EXPLORE, like Arabian Nights, Ice Age and Fallen Empires!!! Yeah!
 
S

Senori

Guest
I don't know, the Urza block was nice, and I liked Legends... they do need to make more for those of us who enjoy the storyline though... sigh... :(
 

Oversoul

The Tentacled One
Personally, I'm more of a fan of the older sets with their translating some real-life/genuine mythology onto cardboard, rather than making crap up and not even doing a good job of it...

Library of Alexandria, Chains of Mephistopheles, Ali from Cairo, etc., etc.

And of course, making up characters and events is cool too. Volrath ROCKED. But now it looks like they're not even trying. Tsabo Tavoc? Kamahl? Come on...

Sure, there are some things to like. But it's obvious that they aren't putting much into the "flavor" of the game...
 
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Notepad

Guest
I pretty much agree with both your points, but...

Originally posted by Oversoul
And of course, making up characters and events is cool too. Volrath ROCKED. But now it looks like they're not even trying. Tsabo Tavoc? Kamahl? Come on...
Defnitely, but there are some exceptions. Come on, Chainer and Braids were frikken awesome! And if you read the books, Skellum was pretty cool, too. Unfortunately these dudes tend to be outshined by the crap of the characters...namely Jes(si)ka and Kamahl. Mirrodin block has not one cool character in the entire storyline. Slobad is mildly interesting for comments now and then, but not even near cool.
 
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Reverend Love

Guest
I agree SeFRo. I always enjoyed picking up multiple stories both present and past in a set. I remember only after viewing many cards that there was something going on between these guys Mishra and Urza..and Argoth was pissed at both. The world of Dominara seemed vast and unexplored back then. Now it's as if your strolling through an exhibit with a Narrator nonchalantly giving you the the story. Magic definitely lost some of it's mystic.
 
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Notepad

Guest
Yes...narrator feeling. That's it! Exactly as you put it, that's what's wrong nowadays.

Though, I guess it could be worse. For a while in Magic's history the flavor text was pure crap when it was used to explain just what the card was doing, because the rules text couldn't convey it well enough. I can't remember the era. I think around Mirage-Tempest-Portal.

For great examples, let's compare Same to Same:

Yotian Soldier
Old: Gave a creative background on how they assisted in a war of some sort. Vague, but nice in its atmosphere.
New: Simply gives a hint on how the heck this thing got to Mirrodin.

Brown Ouphe
Old: Well, now we know these guys get kicked a lot.
New: Again, simply fumbling the "now it's in Mirrodin" aspect.

Ornithopter
Old: Very creative background.
New: Another "how it gets here" text.

And don't even begin with the Artifact Lands, which do nothing more than give you the playtest Legendary Land names of these places.

Come to think of it, I think we have moved from boring narration over to the "how it works" style again. Or rather, are getting to a middle ground. Pretty bad if you ask me.

They need to bring back explorative stuff like the text in Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires and Arabian Nights.
 
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mythosx

Guest
I agree with sefro and reverend love. The frontier has been conquered. They try to explain too much. It was alot more fun trying to ask who exactly were some of these people. Heck, the storyline forum is dead. Cuz now any newbie can just go get the novel. Kinda lame.
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I'd use it if I was actually interested in the storyline as I don't want to bother with reading the novels, but I'm not really interested... :p
 
N

Notepad

Guest
The secondary part of that problem: They bog us down with forced stories...and then the stories themselves are crap.

Reminds me of visiting my grandma and she'd make crappy dinner dishes, then force everyone to eat them. I'd be like "I don't like being forced to eat your cooking. You fart when you cook all the time!"

And she'd force me to eat her cooking.

And of course I'd be like "But grandma, your cooking tastes like crap because you pretty much crap in the food!"

It is JUST LIKE THAT with the Magic storyline! :eek:
 
R

Reverend Love

Guest
To be honest the aspect of magic I miss the most is artwork. I remember all the big hoopla of the Artist pay being changed from profit sharing (or some form or another) to salary....if you don't believe me compare;

Legends to Legions.....Legends artwork is GREAT!

Granted there's some real mo-mo stuff but 95% can't be touched by today's standards.
 
M

Master Shake

Guest
So... here is an idea. Just for the hell of it, and because you, I and a number of people all have far too much time, lets design our own block. We can even use Wizards forumla today:

Each block has 2-3 mechanics, and 1-2 sets.
Each expansion has its own unique mechanic.

The trick is, we need a working storyline, and to balance the colors.

We can repeat a mechanic, but only one.

Anyone interested?
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I see deja vu all over again...

Seen two sets try to get off the ground with CPA-input, that's all. All in the Homemade Cards forum's past... :)

Which is not to say you can't do it, obviously. Go for it!
 
N

Notepad

Guest
Originally posted by Master Shake
The trick is, we need a working storyline, and to balance the colors.
And that is what Wotc has not done. Onslaught, for example, did nothing to explain the tribal mechanic, the sudden rush of new creature types, cycling, "bigger is better", provoke, doulbe strike, or amplify. Read the novels and see. Hell, they didn't even go along with the card art showing that the Mirari was changing the land. Reading the books, you see that all is fine and there are absolutely no mutations, save for the direct spot in the Krosan forest where the Mirari laid.

Reading the Mirrodin novel, you see nothing of affinity. Glissa kills no artifacts, nor does Bosh, but both their cards involve doing so. Though golems are shown to be common in the cards, they are pretty much extinct in the book. Though human wizards are common and high-powered in the cards, they are mere cattle-like slaves in the book.

Sadly, even though some people have called them out on this, they do nothing. They just keep on going with this stupid crap.
 
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