My vision for the future Golden Age of Magic...

[Yamo]

Okay, first off, I know that none of this will ever happen, because, frankly, WotC doesn't respect Magic or it's fans nearly enough to make such a noble vision a reality.
However, I will nevertheless proceed to outline for you now my plan for the ideal Golden Age of Magic: the Gathering.
1. Put the cards in the hands of the players. All of them.

WotC has one fatal flaw with regard to its approach to the marketing of Magic. Specifically, no respect for the history of the game.

I can't believe that there are people playing Magic today that have never even seen a Black Lotus, nevermind played with one. That have never known the joy of a first turn land, Mox, Sol Ring, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk.

Instead of being made widely available to be appreciated by players young and old, the classic cards that gave birth to the Magic phenomenon have been marginalized, ignored, and even actively derided by WotC.

No more!

Why should we be cut off from our past like this? Why should we be relentlessly scammed by the greedy, predatory leeches of the secondary market, paying double and triple digit figures for the great old cards that are every Magic player's birthright?

Under my plan, the basic set would include every single non-Portal Magic card ever printed! From Alpha/Beta to the most current expansion, nothing whatsoever would be omitted. Even the old promotional cards like Arena would be back. Players could concievably find Jilt and Black Lotus in the same booster pack.

All of the old art and flavor text would be in effect, too. For example, even though no more Serra Angels would be printed than any other uncommon card, 50% of the total Angels printed would feature the classic Douglas Schuler art and flavor text, while the remaining 50% would feature Mark Zug's newer version.

New expansions would be rotated into the basic set six months after their initial release. Barring possible minor typographic and card layout corrections down the line, this set would be a true unlimited edition.

Every player will have a chance to easily and inexpensively collect and play with every single card in Magic's long history.

2. The return of stand-alone and non-story-driven expansions.

We all know the drill with Magic expansions. There are three related sets in a cycle. Each cycle is story-driven with the same few characters appearing again and again and the card's name and abilities often chosen to reflect aspects of the meta-game story.

I wouldn't do away with this, but I would provide alternatives...

Remember Legends?

Great expansion, no? I think so. However, it featured no story whatsoever! Just a weird, wild grab bag of mysterious spells, artifacts, and personas from Dominaria's distant past. It was a fun set. Moreover, it didn't burden us with a load of cheesy Star Trek reject characters and their goofy flying boat for ten bloody expansions!

Some people liked Gerrard and company. I sure didn't. Not only were he and his friends uninteresting, but they narrowed the focus of Magic away from the grand, cryptic, mysterious, and (most of all) personal and toward something that resembled some 16 year-old pothead's half-baked D&D campaign. I preferred Urza back when he was a legendary figure mentioned in passing on a few Antiquities cards. Before he was flashing his ugly mug on every other bleepin' common.

Under my plan, both types of players would have their way. Between every story-based cycle of expansions would be at least one large, non-story-driven stand-alone set like Legends.

And no set of characters will be allowed to overstay their welcome like Gerrard and company. Not ever again.

3. Quality over quantity.

Four to five new sets a year getting you down? Magic is still WotC's main cash cow and if they think you'll buy 'em, than by God they'll print 'em! At the expense of playability and originality? Some think so.

Under my plan, quality comes first. If quantity is possible as well, so be it. If not, I'm happier with two truly great sets a year than five mediocre ones.

4. Get the players involved!

How's this for an idea? Each member of the DCI submits a single homemade Magic card to WotC. The 300 most fun, original, and balanced cards are chosen by the Magic developers and playtesters and released as a new, entirely fan-made Magic expansion! Players who have their cards selected are rewarded with an exclusive framed foil version of the card and their name printed on the card right below the artist's.

As a final touch, make this contest a yearly event.

This is just one example. I would get the players involved in ALL facets of the game. Including design.

Well, those are my ideas for elevating the game of Magic to it's highest level of excellence ever. What do you guys think?

 

[menolikeygurus]

Here Here!

Those are some wonderful ideas, and like you said have NO chance of being adopted.

I have only seen a couple of the P9 cards, but there is something about their rarely showing their faces. It makes them legendary and most magic players know what a black lotus is, unless they just learned. If they were reprinted they would have much less meaning, although it would make for some interesting game play. Another problem w/ reprinting every card ever made is that the game would go into a tale spin. Throwing so many mechanics and abilities back into the type 2 environment would do more harm than good, but it would be nice to have the cards once again.

I do dislike how magic has been turned in part to a money making machine for wizards, although I am mostly pleased w/ the new sets, except for planeshift, where there are very few cards that I like.

It would be interesting to have set made entirely of cards designed by players.

Overall nice ideas, and we can only hope wizards would by some chance adopt them.

 

[maraud234]

Very good insight Yamo. Even though I don't agree with everything you said, it is good to see that some people can think for themselves. You are correct when you say that Wizards is just trying to make money, but Wizards is a company, they would probably sell their children if somebody named a good price. But, in order to make money, Wizards has to put out a decent product, and they know that. When they try to pump out decks at the cost of quality(Nemesis, Prophecy) they lose money. I think they realize this because they've slowed down with new decks.

Your idea about letting DCI members submitting cards is very good. It is hard to think of a good card, anybody can think of a 9/9 dragon for 1 mana, but to think of really good cards that could also be printed is fairly difficult, and Wizards would benefit from the insight of so many different people. As for the idea of making a whole set on the ideas of DCI members, I would be neat, but it would never happen. I doubt that Wizards would accept just getting ideas in the first place, but it is more plausible.

As for individual sets, on a rating of 1-10 starting from Mercadian Masquesdes

Mercadian Masquedes- 8
Nemesis- 4
Prophecy(sucks)- -100
Invasion- 9
Planesshift- 7
Apocalyspe- I haven't gotten any of these cards yet, but the spoiler shows some promise.

 

[menolikeygurus]

maraud234, please explain to me how you gave a higher score to planeshift than to nemesis. Nemesis isnt a half bad set. There are a lot of cards from it that I want, just cant afford to buy em all. Planeshift has very few good rares..all be it there are a few, its not enough to save it imo.

 

[Spiderman]

The vision of an apparently unsatisfied customer...

While I respect your opinions, whether they're "noble" or will usher in a new "Golden Age" is highly subjective and doubtful.

First, for every unhappy customer, there's a happy one so obviously there's going to be a difference of opinion.

Now, for each point:

1.

1. Put the cards in the hands of the players. All of them.

Flat-out reprinting every card is a terrible idea in terms of game balance and play. I'd like to own the P9 but I don't begrudge the people who were smart enough to get in the game at the very beginning to get one. Plus the ones that came after and either traded for them or won them in tourneys. There's a reason why Magic is called a collectible/trading card game. You want the cards, work for them. There was a big long discussion a while ago about this on this site.

2.

The return of stand-alone and non-story-driven expansions

I do agree with this one, just keep in mind that some people probably like the storyline.

3.

Quality over quantity

This might be another matter for debate. Certainly some people will say that recent sets have been more playable than in the past (Urza's Cycle, for example)

4.

4. Get the players involved!

This seems like such an "ideal" from one who wishes he could work for the company, no offense. In theory, it's a good idea, but there's a reason why it's a company with a set number of employees rather than having it "open" to everyone. If I was in charge of WOTC, would I want to look through X amount of submissions from DCI members (which is probably in 6 digits, at least) to find 300 good ones, playtest and balance them, and then release them? And make it yearly? We already have problems on this board with members trying to make a home-made set. Problems I already see:

How do you verify that each members is submitting ONE entry?
How do you handle ownership of ideas (do the ideas become the property of WOTC or the submitter? If the person wants royalties in the future, will that hold up in court?)

How many other companies get their "customers" involved in EVERY aspect of the lifecycle of the product? I'd bet zero, and there's probably a good reason for that. I'm not saying it can't be done in the future though, but why the heck form a company if you have everyone involved?

Anyway, they are good ideas, but they seem to be coming from someone who is on the "outside" and wants "in". And I probably know next to nothing about business, but they seem unrealistic from a business standpoint.

 

[Rando]

I've always thought that Wizards should do the following...

1) Print a Chronicles-like set with the old power-cards, but only for use in Type-1 and 1.5. Eventually, every Black Lotus will fall to dust due to ware, so there should be replacements. This would also help boost play and interest in vintage formats, and put newer/poorer players on an even footing with the older/richer players. All football teams have access to helmets, right?

2) Print a "Legends II" set, reprinting all the Legends and Legendary cards to date. Of course some, like Tolarian Academy and Lin Sivi, would be either too powerful or too situational to bother with. This could be an add-on to the basic set, much like Chronicles was an add-on to 4th edition.

All in all, Wizards needs to get some gumption and go out on a limb once in a while, like the old days, and print off-the-wall, non-standard stuff. If they are afraid that it would not sell, then they are nuts. If they are afraid that sets released out of 1-2-3 block rotation would screw up the tournament scene, then they should realize that it's all flexible enough to be easily delt with. Who wouldn't mind an extra 100+ card set in type II?

Why not?




Whooo-Hoooo....

666 posts! Cool. Time to get a new screen name.

 

[maraud234]

"maraud234, please explain to me how you gave a higher score to planeshift than to nemesis"

Yeah, you are probably right when you say I'm giving Nemesis a bad rap, and there are some rares that are good, a few of my best cards come from Nemesis. But alot of the cards just aren't that good, there's nothing special about them, they aren't very creative, and they aren't very playable. I realize that not everybody feels this way, but I don't think much thought was put into Nemesis, save a few cards.

But I think we can all agree on how much Prophecy sucks. Even my Avatar of Woe sucks, when I got it, I thought I was the biggest mofo in the world, and so did all of my friends, because they went out and bought the Distress deck to get the avatar. Now all of the people I know who had an Avatar of Woe, no longer uses them. They are great when in play, and they can easily change the outcome of a game, but they are just so hard to put into play. The only exception to this is in a multiplayer format, then the Avatars can easily dominate the board, because their abilities can be more easily played(10 creatures die really fast in a multiplayer game).

 

[Killer Joe]

IMHO, if Wiz Co. has done a horiffic job at producing Magic, then I hope I can be that horiffic too, someday .
Seriously, Hard-Core MTGers long for the days of yesteryear, but it will never happen. Why? Because you can't turn back the clock (not even Timw Walk can do that ). Trying to make policy for any large corporation is like steering a hugh gigantic ship, if you wanted to turn 45 degrees to the left, it'll take some time to do it. Wiz Co. made Urza's Saga and got holy hell for making it, several expansions later, an answer to the consumers concerns came to fruition via Mercadian Masques (an over correction IMO).
Also, collectability has a huge amount to do with it, all of those Mahamoti Djinn's people were holding at a high value? boom-crash! Anyone can get a hold of it now, and, for a lot lower price than a year ago.
Stagnation, once something becomes stagnate, it's no longer a lucrative product. Doomtown, gone. OverPower, gone. Pokemon, soon to be gone (for real this time, muwahahahahaha!)
I say this: if anyone wants to create a league where only the "Good 'Ol Cards" can be used, then let them start it and leave Wiz Co. to deal with "all things new". And, as far as the secondary market is concerned, Wiz Co. has 0% to do with it, they do not profit from it, ever!
Last word, I could give a flying rats rearend about the P9 or any other ridiculously undercosted/over efficient/ Timmy power gamer card from the past!
<HEY YJ, don't you know that only the people that have never owned or played with the P9 respond like that but really wish they did own the P9?>
Um, No. If I wanted the P9, I would own the P9. Otherwise, I'll just keep playing with the realistic and playable cards I have because they are the ones I wish to own.

Dear Wiz Co.,
Keep up the good work and thanks for keeping this game alive.
Sincerely,
An extremely happy customer.

<Friggin' Rizzo would be proud, sniff)

....otherwise, I pretty much agree with Spiderman.

 

[Jake74]

Although I would like to be able to play with the older cards and would like them reprinted - I think they should not be tourney legal... I'd love to play with them in casual play, but the tournament scene would be too messed up with them.
The thing I would really like to see is all of the older rares(anything not T2) be reprinted with gold borders in special sets... After each block they can print, say the Masques Block Collectors Set and the Invasion Block Collectors Set. I think they would sell, maybe not like the regular cards, but enough to make it worthwhile... I'd even pay $2 for 10 reprint rares... like unglued...
(BTW, I think they should reprint the unglued lands... they are the best!)

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

Alot of those ideas are bad, but having a Fan Made set is not. Once, I would like. Or maybe have a whole cycle. Not a reccuring thing though.

 

[Apollo]

Okay, first off, I know that none of this will ever happen, because, frankly, WotC doesn't respect Magic or it's fans nearly enough to make such a noble vision a reality.

That's silly. Of course they respect it. It is making them money. They are a frickin' company! They have to make money or the go away!. Put it this way: they could do it your way and we would have no WizCo (they would go out of business), or they can do it their way and at least we have this great game.

1. Put the cards in the hands of the players. All of them.

WotC has one fatal flaw with regard to its approach to the marketing of Magic. Specifically, no respect for the history of the game.

No. They respect the history of the game, they just aren't stupid enough to throw all those idiotic broken cards like Lotus into the environment. If they did, there would be mass havoc and turn 1 kills in every single game ever played. Not only that, every collector and player that owns a Lotos or other OOP card would quit in anger over the violation of the reprint policy. There would be a mass exodus from the game.

Under my plan, the basic set would include every single non-Portal Magic card ever printed! From Alpha/Beta to the most current expansion, nothing whatsoever would be omitted. Even the old promotional cards like Arena would be back. Players could concievably find Jilt and Black Lotus in the same booster pack.

Every player will have a chance to easily and inexpensively collect and play with every single card in Magic's long history.

Hahaha. Do you have any idea how many different cards there are in the history of Magic? And you say players could "easily and inexpensively" collect every card? They would have to buy hundreds of boxes and spend thousands of dollars to get all the cards! you would have about a one-in-a-million shot of pulling that Black Lotus you want so much from a pack, because there are so many different cards that you could get instead.

2. The return of stand-alone and non-story-driven expansions.

The one thing you got right. I'm pretty sure that even most casual players hate the story.

3. Quality over quantity.

Four to five new sets a year getting you down? Magic is still WotC's main cash cow and if they think you'll buy 'em, than by God they'll print 'em!

Well, duh. Most people want less sets per year. But you know what? WizCo has to make money. If they don't print those sets, they don't make enough money, and Hasbro shuts them down. You are ignoring economics in favor of ideals. Put it this way: would you rather there were no sets?

4. Get the players involved!

How's this for an idea? Each member of the DCI submits a single homemade Magic card to WotC. The 300 most fun, original, and balanced cards are chosen by the Magic developers and playtesters and released as a new, entirely fan-made Magic expansion! Players who have their cards selected are rewarded with an exclusive framed foil version of the card and their name printed on the card right below the artist's.

Haha. Sounds good to you, eh? Well, there are probably hundreds of thosands of DCI members. And 19/20 of those are going to submit a stupid 0-cost artifact called "GOD" that wins you the game. Only 1/20 cards would be useful. Do you want to be the DCI member that wades through that? That's not to mention the swimming pools full of mail, each containing one card design. Than, R&D has to go through those cards that make it through, and pick 300 of them. Ridiculous.

As a final touch, make this contest a yearly event.

My favorite part. Even sillier.

 

[menolikeygurus]

you've really brought on a s*** storm havent you yamo...

at least we all agree that a non story driven set needs to be done...

 

[Spiderman]

The one diamond in the rough...

 

[Thallid Ice Cream Man]

Yamo, you sound like a politician (no offense )

"Vote Yamo in 2002!"

Most of this stuff sounds good, but these ideas would only work on a small scale, and definitely the idea about reprinting everything would become too chaotic.

 

[Multani]

I have two words for you Yamo.
Capitalist Society

What you're purposing is almost as ludicrious as world Communism.
Never will have a prayer of a chance happening.

You can't be in two places at once just as your ideas cannot please everyone at once.
As I see it, Wizards is printing Magic in a way that makes sure Magic will survive.
Money=Business=more Magic in the future.

Now, some isolated portions of your idea might be helpful, but as a whole, your "Golden Age" would end before it even begins.

 

[Dune Echo]

... at least this time, I DIDN'T START IT!

1. Put the cards in the hands of the players. All of them.

What a classic arguement. I don't disagree. However, your basic set idea is not... the best. Everyone remember just how hard it was to pull a good card from 5th edition packs?

I think Rando says it best in repeating the long suggested "Chronicles II" type set. There's just one problem: the collectors. WotC realizes that to some, Magic is an investment. Quite literally, they are damned if they do, damned if they don't on this topic. I think they're going for the least damning of the two choices.

There are a lot of options available to them though if they did reprint, maybe if they polled people to find out what the majority wants, it would be nice, which leads to your fourth item...

2. The return of stand-alone and non-story-driven expansions.

...

I wouldn't do away with this, but I would provide alternatives...

Remember Legends?

Do I remember Legends... oh, boy! You bet I do! When Fallen Empires came out (and when I joined the game), Legends was already $12 a pack, and The Dark was $8. But yes, the vague storyline behind Legends was cool, as well as The Dark. Does anyone remember the Fallen Empires spread in Duelist #3? It was a series of letters being passed back and forth between the different empires. It was one of the coolest things I can remember about the early storyline. In my opinion, the Duelist went downhill when it stopped doing articles like this.

3. Quality over quantity.

As someone said, this is debatable. I've liked it lately. It depends on what you're playing and what format you're in. My only gripe is red burn right now. Chain Lightning would have been SO much better than, cooler than, maintained the spell being a sorcery, and not had the "Incinerate" effect like Volcanic Hammer does now!

4. Get the players involved!

This idea has some big PROS and some big CONS. First, Spiderman and Apollo really sum up the problems with this. However, if you let the players in, not only do you cut down on wracking R&D's brain, but at the same time, they probably have TONS of their own ideas in the bucket just because of possible mechanics. Also, people are more inclined to invest more in what they perceive they have/had a hand in making. I know I would by so much of a product to get some of my own cards that made it to print.

 

[Thallid Ice Cream Man]

I have a stupid idea, which is probably just as bad as the first one of Yamo's... so I'll post it here along with the other ideas that got shot down.

They should find some way to legalize proxies in tournaments.
This would probably end up being overly complicated and many of the players wouldn't mind, but unlike the reprint thing, it wouldn't affect collectors.

There would need to be some kind of standard format for the proxies though, possibly something produced by Wizards.

Now who will be the first to show me why this is a bad idea?

Multani: Interesting analogy.

 

[Dune Echo]

Because some proxies just look bad...

 

[Sleepy]

Originally posted by Dune Echo
Because some proxies just look bad...

who cares what they look like Dune Echo I just want to play with them. I like TICMs idea!

 

[Apollo]

TICM: of course, once they do that nobody has to buy new cards anymore (they just proxy them) and Wizco goes out of business. But I think you realized that...