That's right, I've kicked the habit(almost): Magic

[Ransac]

I never thought this day would come, but I've finally begun the path to quit Magic, for good. Yesterday, I gave all of my Magic cards(except for a few decks) to my brother, PrinceRXI. This decision came after not having been competitively playing since I went to college and not having played Magic at all since August. I also noticed that, when filling out my Christmas list, that no Magic products crossed my mind at any point to be put on the list. It was about a week later that I realized I didn't put it on. And, you know what, I really didn't mind it.


Does this mean that I've given up for good? No. Like I said, I'm keeping some of my decks that hold sentimental value. But, nothing recently has made me appreciate this game more. The entire Onslaught cycle was sub-par(in my honest opinion). I thought that I'd be excited about this new set(Mirrodin) after reading the spoilers, but I haven't been. Plus, I've been dedicating myself solely to school and singing(which has improved immensely to the point that I'm singing two solos at our annual Messiah concert, have the title role in our "Noel Coward' tribute, and am already being prepped by the Opera teacher for the lead in our spring production). I have little time for myself as it is and Magic is just one more thing to clutter my schedule.

So, the nearly ten-year journey has almost come to the end. I want to thank everyone here for being fun to post with and having a fun time. But, it's just my time. The only website that I've been posting regularly on, recently, has been MTGNews.com, and that's for wrestling purposes.



Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[orgg]

I am quite sad to hear it, Sac-man. You hold the spirit of Casual in you, and the spirit of a Scholar.

Now I think you're making a bit of a mistake. While I know RXI and his friends will enjoy Ransac'ng your collection, I think you should try to make it a simple loan at this point.

Many times during my studies at Full Sail I began thinking I might quit Magic. I only played it IRL a few times during the whole year-- I probably played more at the last PR I attended than I did down in Florida. Twenty games, tops.

Right now, you're focusing on your education-- that is a GOOD thing. Afterwards, you don't know what the situation is going to be! I didn't think about Magic really for a full two months after college, other than checking the sites. Now that I'm broke and nobody has hired me, its become a good distraction.

I'm not as Gung-Ho about it anymore, but I still know the rules and I still enjoy having fun with it. My christmas list right now stands at two Devo CDs from rhinohandmade.com and the book at devobook.com. I'm now more interested in hearing the different ways music is produced and mixed than the latest deck strategies.

Mark, Don't begin to even think that you've 'kicked' the habit-- you're now a student, concentrating on your studies. That, right now, is the habit that is much worth working at and growing strong with. In four or five years, who knows? You might splurge a few hundred, pick up a few packs of what you missed, and jump right back into the game at The War Room.

Then again, mabe not. Just don't stop coming around Off Topic, alright? Stick Around. If we still have DUke, we still need to have you.

 

[Notepad]

I agree entirely with Orgg! Don't "quit entirely" but take a hiatus, as Orgg recommends.

I have to say thanks, Ransac, for always being around to liven things up. You were one of the first good fellows here at CPA who greeted me when I came on board, and I will always remember that.

Additionally, thanks for inspiring me here. Rather than typing a whole lot, I'll just recommend to check the front page early next week, as this is gonna be the topic for my next Mad Dog Rant.

PEACE!
-SeFRo

 

[DÛke]

Then again, mabe not. Just don't stop coming around Off Topic, alright? Stick Around. If we still have DUke, we still need to have you.

Does that almost mean that he's Neo and I'm Agent Smith? Well then!

I disagree with the guys above. Believe me when I say that you will not miss the game. Do you remember when you were a little, little boy and once maybe thought that your life, and all of life in general, revolved around video games? or maybe around this or that toy or that one "special" TV show? And doesn't it all seem too small by now, haven't you really picked up more interesting things, don't you see more great things, higher things? I commend you for taking your school time a tad bit seriously; it shows character and growth. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to give up all your older and childish habits, but you did - there is no shame in that; it only means that you're growing more into yourself and exploring to the highest extent those psychic places which, if I'm allowed to say, most people never reach. I'm glad that you have such focus in your life - most people lack a center of gravity and need leaders or groups or whatever it is that gives them a "reason" to live, as if life by itself is not worth living!

I remember Magic. It was great. But I remember the future too, and I see there are more great things to be tried and tested.

This might seem like some "attack" on those who "still" play the game, but it is not. And to those who do still play, who haven't had enough, I'm glad that you're contented. That too is actually rare, and most people do not know what it is they want or if they want to want at all - they're stuck between one thing and the other, without gravity...

So maybe I'm no Smith, but, hmmm, Morpheus?

 

[Istanbul]

You'll miss it. Almost everyone that quits does. Duke is just doing his standard whatever-everyone-else-says-I'll-say-the-opposite thing.

 

[DÛke]

...

Actually, Istanbul, anyone who quits anything will without a doubt miss it, but only under one condition: that he has nothing else to do. Ransac, and myself as well, and few others, have quit in the first place because from our point of view there is something "better" for us. But suppose I quit out of being financially unable to afford the cards, or if I quit because I can't find people that match my standards of gaming, of course I would miss it as hell at that moment! But if I quit because I chose to quit, because I felt that I had outgrown it, then no, I will not miss the game, per se, but rather maybe some of the people. I quit, but I have never once regreted it; I don't have time for regret in the first place - what I miss sometimes are some people, like Purple_Jester, to give a concrete example.

As long as Ransac is spending his time willfuly and with what he enjoys, say, singing and his school work, Magic will slowly vanish and will become just a memory. What survives are the people behind that memory, and not the game itself.

Of course, you'd know all about "missing the game," wouldn't you? The thought of quitting invaded your mind many times due to the lack of players - see, if you had quit, you would have missed the game, because you had nothing better to do. But say you're like me, you wake up one day and the world is no longer "the world" anymore but is something entirely different, as if you're seeing for the very first time, and the people you once knew all require more knowing, because it turns out you don't know them at all - trust me, Magic would not even cross your mind that day.

The only time Ransac will think of Magic is when he's extremely bored, and I mean unfathomably bored.

 

[Apollo]

I myself miss Magic, and I do have better things to do. I think it just depends on the person--some people cut ties with something instantly, and others will have the urge to come back on occassion. When I see people playing Magic on tables in the Union or something, I want to be those people. Most of the time, though, I don't think about it too much.

On a different note, I've pretty much quit altogether because of college. I bet it's the number one killer of Magic players there is...

 

[train]

I actually quit for about a year - missed Masques block - Thank God!!!...

but the wife said she realized how much I really loved it, and she supported me getting back into it...

We now take at least 4 road trips a year - based on Magic...

Don't know if i could ever quit it now!...

 

[Spiderman]

Well, I agree with both views here and Apollo summed it up best: it depends on the person. You could miss it while you're doing "better" (I prefer "other") things, you could miss it when your things start to slow down, you may not miss it at all, period. As long as you're keeping some cards, that's good in itself. Besides, it really doesn't take much to get back into it, depending on what format you're jumping back into; a few packs and free gifts of commons and uncommons is always a good way to start anew.

 

[Izaryo]

hope you make the right decision ransac...

but your the one who decides it...

 

[train]

Whatever you do Ransac - good luck!

I'm focusing a lot on school too, and I understand...

 

[Notepad]

Originally posted by train
I actually quit for about a year - missed Masques block - Thank God!!!...

SAME HERE!!! And I am just as glad. Though I left because of time/money reasons in addition to thinking the game was beginning to suck real bad, that year off was nice but I missed playing Magic.

Ransac, you'll miss it, too. You'll come back just like everyone else, especially Rizzo. *kisses pic of Rizzo*

 

[train]

*kisses pic of Rizzo*

*Wonders that if this happened because Rizzo came back, What will happen when Ransac gets back...*

**shiver**

 

[Ransac]

*Ransac is looking for the next Mad Dog Rant, but it apparently has gone off to pee on a fire hydrant(or at least a midget dressed like one.)*


Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[Nightstalkers]

You cannot kick Magic, Ransac. I will come over to your house, and force feed you M:TG until you can't get anything else into your mind.

Just a little reminder that Nightstalkers Inc. has no association with Wizards of the Coast.

—Nightstalker Exterra

 

[Ura]

Hey everyone, its been a LONG time.
Just wanted to throw in a couple cents to the subject since I can.
In this perticular subject matter I agree very much with our friend Duke. He is right in many regards on this and I speak from experience.
I haven't played magic in almost 3 years. When I finally quit there were quite a few reasons for it. There wasn't any real competition for me here, I didn't feel like spending more money on the game, I had a new career in the casino business to concentrate on, and just other hobbies I wanted to pursue.
Before I sold all my cards I would flip though them, basking in their wonderfulness, absorbing all the juicy playing power they had. But I knew that there simply wasn't any use for them to me anymore, so I searched around till I got a good offer for them and sold everything. I missed them for about two weeks until the newest copy of Turbo magazine came out and away I went never to look back again.
Now with what I know about card marking and sleight of hand cheating from work I wouldn't even be able to play a game of Magic and keep it on the fun "casual" level. Mind you it would almost be impossible for me to lose a game now too if I decided to cheat, not that thats any reason to play cause that would just suck.
Now I've got other things going on in life that my only real reminder of magic is a roommate whos got some cards lying around on a shelf somewhere and coming here to see whats new on the boards and check my e-mail.
I play high stakes poker once a week, that keeps my card skills nice and sharp and usually makes me money rather then costs me it. I've got other hobbies too like working on my car. Its horribly expensive, but I've got a 350hp Honda Civic now that I get to terrorize the local roads with.

In the end though, you only quit if you get rid of it all with no intention of maybe playing again, till then you're just taking a break. If you do quit you should do it for good reasons like you simply don't have the interest in it anymore or you have other things that you really want to spend your time on. Singing is an awesome one. I learned Japanese as one of my other hobbies in prep to go to Japan in two years.

Will you miss it? Maybe.
Will you have other things to fill the gap? Definately
Will you regret it if you make the decision with a clear not? Not a bit.

Cheers,
Ura


P.S.
Rizzo is still about as ungodly cool as they come.

 

[Nightstalkers]

Remind me to get together with you sometime Ura, I use a little slight of hand not only to befuddle the public, but also to place an edge into my games.

Hey, you don't get the full Habuki experience until you try to play a constructive cheater. Why do you think I'm not allowed to even go near 3-5 colored decks anymore? I had a system so flawless I was teaching it to the local indian casino...

Shouldn't be telling you this because you'd just track me down and turn me over to the gaming commission. Oh well, I've been meaning to have a talk with them anyways.

—Nightstalker Habuki

 

[Ura]

Sounds good Nightstalker. I could really care less what you do in other casinos, just don't do it in mine. Grrr!!

I've played against cheaters before, I was trained by one of the worlds best international gaming specialists. Mike Joseph out of Las Vegas. He's also one of the only three people in the world who can do the Faro shuffle.

What you need to do with your skills is get the gaming commision to hire you, depending on which state you live in, as a games protection consultant and trainer depending on how good you are. May as well make them pay you for your time and knowledge without having to worry about getting busted.

 

[Reverend Love]

What's the Faro shuffle?

 

[Nightstalkers]

Faro shuffling is simply controlling the shuffle. You merely change the top and bottom cards a bit, and doing it I think 8 times returns the entire deck back to its original composition.


Great technique to master when playing magic or any other card game because of the implications of a "cheap shuffle" (as most people like to say.). You simply set up your opening hand, your draw, etc. and perform your shuffling trick to the deck about 8 times, and you've gotten yourself back to square one.

Some tournaments around the country are now making their players cut each others decks. It went out in a DCI article sometime back about how people used this and other techniques to gain an "unfair advantage" over other players.

Hope that quenches your thirst for knowledge... Erm... Here's a quick site I found if you need a little information:

http://www1.superb.net/~cardtric/sleights/outfaro.htm

—Nightstalker Habuki
__________________________
Nightstalkers handbook pg. 84 = Preventing the flow of knowledge is not accepted in Nightstalkers Inc. staff or members, but you may hinder the flow of information as you wish.