volunteer if you want the CPA to live and you have what it takes

[Turtlewax Joe]

are you good at amgic? do you have good creative writing skills and the knowhow?

what i'm getting at is...we want a way to attract a more serious look to the CPA and attract more members.

I realize we want ot maintain a mostly casual nterest but on the other hand we want to stay alive.

MY IDEAS:

1) we get 3-5 volunteers to write weekly articles for the front page...we make a mock contract and hold them to it. then we pimp out our name all over the net when we've got a healthy scedule going.

2) when the new posting members start flooding in and want a place to discuss theories and deck tech and such as most more serious players want to do....we open a new forum on the index..."Magic Theories and serious stuff"

I am volunteering b/c i want to see this site reform as the kick ass site it was when i signed up.. that and i'm bored and have alot of theory type stuff going on in my head that i don't have money to just act out and play in a random extended tourney.

I fel i have what it takes to become a serious weekly author for the CPA...any others out there?

T.J.

 

[Multani]

I'll probably put a few articles up as soon as exam weeks hit.

 

[Dune Echo]

What is there to write about at the moment? There's nothing controversial at the moment and all the main discussions are about decks. I'd offer up the idea to write about Rizzo's joke attempt at a martyrdom, but Toby Watcher beat me to it. (I do feel like personally answering back to Ferrett's accusations though.) And nothing on the level of Waylay has happened in a long time.

I hate to be a downer, but articles about Magic seem to be generally about rants, tournament reports, or deck ideas. The forums cover the deck ideas, most rants are current and end up on other sites, and the same with tournament reports. The most controversial thing I've seen lately is on the 5-Color list in regards to whether or not Combo is emasculated in 5-Color and whether or not the "Wishes" should be able to get Banned and/or Restricted cards. Is anyone that isn't on the 5-Color list really interested in these arguments at the moment?

If there was something to MOO about, I would. This isn't something I'm complaining about, but I'm happy with Magic right now. I'm working on my own deck ideas and I'm occassionally playing 5-Color Magic. But I don't get to play often enough for it to be worth it writing about (nor do I take notes).

Is there anything worth rehashing? I don't think so. Is there anyone that has good article ideas out there?

 

[Gizmo]

Every internet magic site is in decline, because online testing has removed the need to read articles. You can`t wish any site better, as they are all in terminal decline.

 

[Jigglypuff]

Now that my jury is over, I've got plenty of time to start writing my "weekly" article again. Look for it coming soon!

(- Steve -)

 

[DÛke]

...

I can write articles interviewing some of the interesting and mature CPA members. I've had the idea for a while...but it never made it out. An interview would basically consist of the basic life of a Casual Player, including how they first started Magic and why...etc. I'll be sure to make it interesting enough though.

We can't write much about Magic, if at all, for reasons that Gizmo and Dune Echo already stated. Maybe we should start thinking outside Magic, and start writing about more active things...

Duster was planning to write articles about the creation of Magic cards. Dunno where that idea went.

 

[Elrond]

I personally don't think I would be able to write a single article worth reading let alone keep up a weekly series, but I would greatly appreciate reading what anyone else has to offer, no matter the toic.

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

I'll volunteer...I doubt I have anything interesting to add.

But...nothing to write about!? I find that hard to beleive. There's a new set spoiler out! Does no one care? We could talk about some of the crazy new cards like Goblin Game, about the whole rarity issue again, the weird new reprint policy....etc.

*sigh* I wish I was smarter.

 

[MrXarvox]

Perhaps we need to spruce the place up a bit? Give it a pretty new look? And when we're done there, perhaps we could expand the CPA to other things than just Magic:The Gathering.
Like general Fantasy Gaming, perhaps?

Just a thought.

 

[Duel]

Nah, I don't think so. Personally, I quite like the specialization, though I do think a couple really top-notch columns would be great.... alas, Brainburst seems to be getting the big contracts, and I don't want to pay to read magic strategy. Don't suppose any of you could convince Zvi to write a casual magic column for us?


*smiles*
I'm ba-ack.... miss me?

 

[TomB]

Originally posted by Duel
*smiles*
I'm ba-ack.... miss me?

Welcome back, Duel.

I disagree with you on the alternative gaming articles idea, mostly because of the reasons Dune and Gizmo stated - I think that if Magic really isn't that hot of a topic anymore it would make sense to expand our interest base, and Fantasy-type games are the logical way for our interests to go from here. I think it's a good idea, myself.

Unless, of course, you're volunteering to resume your weekly column, my friend...

 

[Duel]

Actually... once I've finished my AP tests in Chem and Physics, I'd be happy to... been looking for an excuse to draft more regularly....

 

[Dune Echo]

Um, I hate to say it TomB, but have you seen www.rpgnews.com, www.planetadnd.com, www.d20news.com, www.d20reviews.com, etc.? I've seen their sites and they're well-organized for that particular interest. I hate to say it, but when I go to look up info on the web for anything, I hate dragging my backside through 20 different sites for info and ideas. Keep it centralized for ease of use, especially for Fantasy Gaming. I've been a successful DM, and trying to find obscure information you need to run a session is a pain in the MOO.

I spent quite some time last night just trying to remember where I had read about some (horrible) combo decks that could possibly show up at Regionals, not to mention trudging through Brainburst's, Neutral Ground's, Sideboard's, and finally Star City Games' abyssmal search engines to find it.

I do say this: If someone has something to write about, write it if you feel it is good. The CPA has quite a bad rep which may be warranted, but I feel more at home here than anywhere else. I can come to the forums and I don't get flamed and I love running across the random deck I feel like commenting on in the Deck Ideas section. We've got something no one else does, freedom to talk and it doesn't have to be a serious Type 2 discussion. Hell, even Gizmo trash talks us in our own forums, does anyone care? Nope, he's just part of the whole group.

 

[Spiderman]

I think TJ's ideas are good, although if we're going to "pimp" their names on the Net, there better be a committee or something to "screen" those writing and making sure they have something people would want to read, at least initially.

I disagree with Dune Echo about nothing to write; you don't need something controversial to start writing, especially if it's a weekly column. Alongi sure didn't talk about anything controversial the majority of the time. A writer probably needs a "schtick", but it can be Jigglypuff's Undiscovered Gems or TomB's thoughts on Magic in general.

I also have reservations about "branching out"; if we're going to do it, you better go all the way and do it right; otherwise, there's other sites better devoted to that particular genre that would be more helpful.

. Hell, even Gizmo trash talks us in our own forums, does anyone care?

Some people do (unless they're all joking around, which a lot of the time it doesn't sound like)

 

[theorgg]

Time is one thing that is prohibitive with articles. If you've got the spare tme to actually wright articles, please do.

The reason we havn't gotten any article submissions by non-members in quite some time was it finally was made general knowledge that many "professional" sites give away product per page written. I think Rizzo got six full boxes from his 100 page rants and faqs.

I've been trying to get my Torment PR report finished ever since the weekend after the tournament was finished.

It's still got quite a bit to go. I promise it will be written, though.

I've been trying to get the e-mail of Vince Calouri to do another interview, but it seems to be very well hidden...

 

[Gizmo]

Rizzo was probably on about a box per article. That`s why he wrote so much.

 

[Gerode]

I've been interested in writing something too, but I also fall into the typical excuse of not having anything to say. I could probably make the time to write something every now and then, but I'm not as involved in Magic as I would like and there isn't much for me to write about that isn't rehashed over and over again.

 

[TomB]

And I understand what you're saying, I guess. But mainly that applies if you're setting out to "make the best possible resource for X" anywhere.

I'm not really suggesting that. I guess what it is that I'm saying is this: A large portion of our membership doesn't play Magic anymore, yet we are still, by and large, gamers. We have many widely varied interests here, and many people who could be considered experts at the other games (besides Magic) that they love to play, so why not publish well written pieces on those games? I mean, shouldn't the articles on the front page be a reflection of the interests of our whole community, even if they're not Magic?

And wouldn't allowing non-Magic related content on the front page potentially give Spidey more material for updates? Spidey? It seems like, to me, you're only getting material for 2 updates per week at the most. Wouldn't it be a bit more helpful to you to have more stuff to put up on the front page?

I agree that it would be better to publish only Magic-related material on the front page. It just seems like there really isn't enough of it to go around anymore...

Unless, of course, you're willing to pay for it...

 

[Spiderman]

Gizmo: Did you get anything for writing for StarCity or did they put that in after (I assume that's the site we're talking about. If not, never mind).

Does anyone know if Zadok got anything for writing for them?

Originally posted by TomB
And wouldn't allowing non-Magic related content on the front page potentially give Spidey more material for updates? Spidey? It seems like, to me, you're only getting material for 2 updates per week at the most. Wouldn't it be a bit more helpful to you to have more stuff to put up on the front page?

Yeah, it'd potentially give me more stuff to put up (and more stuff to check through, of course). As a lot of other threads suggest, the CPA would probably have to change its mission and submission requirements so everything is "in sync" and not to cause confusion of why non-Magic stuff is appearing on the front page though.

 

[Dune Echo]

We are casual, why couldn't we put up submissions on other card games? Spite and Malice (aka Screw Your Partner) anyone? Also, we could review other WotC games. I actually own Guillotine and wish greatly it allowed for Instant speed abilities. It's a wicked little game though.