I don't have the proof, but if this were possible, wouldn't people be trying to generate XBOX Live codes or iTunes Gift Cards or whatever else you find on the racks at 7-11s already?
Those have to be activated by the retailer. The number is useless on it's own. If this were something that was just in a pack you would not have that barrier.
Those have to be activated by the retailer. The number is useless on it's own. If this were something that was just in a pack you would not have that barrier.
Clearly WoW managed to get around that problem somehow... Does anyone actually know? (I don't play wow...)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Sig by Rivenor
Cube. The best way to play Magic. PERIOD. Come over and check it out. Also, check out my Peasant Split Card Cube.
The World of Pokemon RPG has been rebooted. Come over and check it out.
Clearly WoW managed to get around that problem somehow... Does anyone actually know? (I don't play wow...)
Easy: make the number of digits bug enough and the valid one sparse enough that the probability is too close to zero to matters. If you got a 20 digits numbers (a billion billions) then even if you got one billions number in circulation, the chance of typing in a valid number at random is one in a billion.
Increase the number of digits until you feel confortable. Use 20 letters instead and you've just added a factor (2.5)^20 ~= 9 millions on top.
Wizards online strategy is mind-bogglingly awful. The fact that they still make money off it shows just how powerful the underlying game is, despite their general cluelessness about making an online product (including each iteration of the terribad interface that they are finally updating to be slightly better).
It only included the cards present in the set, though, which isn't an incentive for anyone with much experience. For reference, here are the decklists:
Not exactly a power set unless you have some desperate need for Vizzerdrix, which wasn't printed in booster packs in 9th. I can't imagine anyone looking at that list and actually caring enough to redeem the code online. I personally would rather have cosmetic items (like Avatars) than this, which is just more clutter in my collection.
I've had this idea for a while, since MTGO really became a thing. Even if it wasn't 1:1 on packs, it could just be promo cards, special tokens, special avatars, free entry to an underplayed format even, or 10:1 on packs.
They could do tons of stuff and it feels like they're not taking advantage. Even the 10$ they would get from new accounts seems totally worth it.
To put it another way, when Pro player cards, rules inset, checklists and whatnot are found in packs, it creates a niggling feeling in some players. "I wish this were a card I can play instead." This feeling persists even if the extra card is just that--extra. Getting a ticket, for someone who doesn't play MTGO and has no easy way of trading for it, is like getting a pro player card.
Are you crazy? Eugene Harvey is the best card ever, he just wins the game with his insane cocky grin.
Really though, this sounds like it would have been a good idea when MTGO was first starting, but its big enough now that free stuff isn't going to sway people over as much as word of mouth, so why should Wizards have to? I mean, it'd be a nice jesture, but they really do already give out tons of "free" things on mtgo.
Wizards online strategy is mind-bogglingly awful. The fact that they still make money off it shows just how powerful the underlying game is, despite their general cluelessness about making an online product (including each iteration of the terribad interface that they are finally updating to be slightly better).
There are a LOT of people that prefer it to meatspace magic, so it cannot be all that awful.
Both markets share R&D expenses and when all is said and done i'd be willing to wager that the cost of producing physical product is only marginally more expensive than maintaining an online product. Both are extremely high margin.
If a person has $X to spend and is currently spending it on paper magic, it's logical to assume that any amount spent on MOTL will reduce the $X spent on paper magic.
Wizards probably doesn't want to make the push yet, as maintaining a healthy paper magic market is what really attracts new players and ascribes value to the product.
There are a LOT of people that prefer it to meatspace magic, so it cannot be all that awful.
-no shuffling
-rules engine
-easy availability of opponents and drafts
-instant trading
These are virtues not of Wizard's implementation of MTGO (except possibly the rules engine), but of being online and on a computer in the first place. Wizards could have thrown dogcrap online and it would still have these virtues (and they mostly did). The rules engine is the only part I will give them real credit for.
They badly need better interface designers, better network engineers, and a better strategy in terms of getting certain older cards out in circulation (*cough* Force of Will) so that the eternal formats don't almost entirely die off online. They also badly need to give paper players an incentive and an easier way to get into MTGO, as rebuying a massive collection online is a HUGE turnoff. There is also no reason packs should be the exact same price, as drafting, despite being easier, isn't nearly the same experience when done online and feels way more disposable.
The app isn't slick at all; it reminds me of Heroes of Newerth in terms of how generally clunky and unappealing the whole business is, and Wizards should have more money to throw at this than freaking S2 games. Cards aren't slick and fun to look at, the font is god-awful, sound effects are dinky and cheap sounding, etc. Physical cards are attractive and appealing to own in and of themselves. It's not impossible to replicate this online (see: the massive popularity of aesthetic items in any number of online games), but they haven't come close to it, at least not by my standards.
I think it is hilarious that people want the program to improve and want wizards to give away product at the same time. I have never seen a online card game with as much depth that had a better interface- an interface that tries to best imitate a physical play-space so as to attract meat-space players.
It is very easy to complain without the reality of what is needed to run such a game.
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!
Clearly WoW managed to get around that problem somehow... Does anyone actually know? (I don't play wow...)
Sig by Rivenor
Cube. The best way to play Magic. PERIOD. Come over and check it out. Also, check out my Peasant Split Card Cube.
The World of Pokemon RPG has been rebooted. Come over and check it out.
Set Creation Projects: Archester: Frontier of Steam Come over and check out our AWESOME Steampunk set.
(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)(U/R)(R/W)(W/U)
Easy: make the number of digits bug enough and the valid one sparse enough that the probability is too close to zero to matters. If you got a 20 digits numbers (a billion billions) then even if you got one billions number in circulation, the chance of typing in a valid number at random is one in a billion.
Increase the number of digits until you feel confortable. Use 20 letters instead and you've just added a factor (2.5)^20 ~= 9 millions on top.
0 Karn
W Darien
U Arcanis
B Geth
R Norin
G Yeva
UW Hanna
RB Olivia
WB Obzedat
UR Melek
BG Glissa
WR Aurelia
GU Kraj
BRU Nicol Bolas
RGB Prossh
BGW Ghave
GUB Mimeoplasm
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
GWU Treva, the Renewer
EDH Spike:
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls
Trades
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/arcana/763
wasn't that effective apparently
It only included the cards present in the set, though, which isn't an incentive for anyone with much experience. For reference, here are the decklists:
8x Island
9x Plains
3x Giant Octopus
2x Vizzerdrix
2x Coral Eel
1x Fugitive Wizard
1x Wind Drake
1x Eager Cadet
1x Honor Guard
4x Glory Seeker
1x Telepathy
2x Vengeance
2x Sacred Nectar
1x Holy Day
1x Rod of Ruin
8x Forest
9x Mountain
2x Norwood Ranger
2x Grizzly Bears
1x Spined Wurm
1x Craw Wurm
2x Enormous Baloth
1x Ogre Taskmaster
2x Hill Giant
2x Goblin Raider
1x Anaba Shaman
1x Blanchwood Armor
1x Naturalize
2x Lava Axe
2x Volcanic Hammer
1x Stone Rain
1x Dancing Scimitar
Not exactly a power set unless you have some desperate need for Vizzerdrix, which wasn't printed in booster packs in 9th. I can't imagine anyone looking at that list and actually caring enough to redeem the code online. I personally would rather have cosmetic items (like Avatars) than this, which is just more clutter in my collection.
They could do tons of stuff and it feels like they're not taking advantage. Even the 10$ they would get from new accounts seems totally worth it.
Are you crazy? Eugene Harvey is the best card ever, he just wins the game with his insane cocky grin.
Really though, this sounds like it would have been a good idea when MTGO was first starting, but its big enough now that free stuff isn't going to sway people over as much as word of mouth, so why should Wizards have to? I mean, it'd be a nice jesture, but they really do already give out tons of "free" things on mtgo.
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!
Both markets share R&D expenses and when all is said and done i'd be willing to wager that the cost of producing physical product is only marginally more expensive than maintaining an online product. Both are extremely high margin.
If a person has $X to spend and is currently spending it on paper magic, it's logical to assume that any amount spent on MOTL will reduce the $X spent on paper magic.
Wizards probably doesn't want to make the push yet, as maintaining a healthy paper magic market is what really attracts new players and ascribes value to the product.
Trades
-no shuffling
-rules engine
-easy availability of opponents and drafts
-instant trading
These are virtues not of Wizard's implementation of MTGO (except possibly the rules engine), but of being online and on a computer in the first place. Wizards could have thrown dogcrap online and it would still have these virtues (and they mostly did). The rules engine is the only part I will give them real credit for.
They badly need better interface designers, better network engineers, and a better strategy in terms of getting certain older cards out in circulation (*cough* Force of Will) so that the eternal formats don't almost entirely die off online. They also badly need to give paper players an incentive and an easier way to get into MTGO, as rebuying a massive collection online is a HUGE turnoff. There is also no reason packs should be the exact same price, as drafting, despite being easier, isn't nearly the same experience when done online and feels way more disposable.
The app isn't slick at all; it reminds me of Heroes of Newerth in terms of how generally clunky and unappealing the whole business is, and Wizards should have more money to throw at this than freaking S2 games. Cards aren't slick and fun to look at, the font is god-awful, sound effects are dinky and cheap sounding, etc. Physical cards are attractive and appealing to own in and of themselves. It's not impossible to replicate this online (see: the massive popularity of aesthetic items in any number of online games), but they haven't come close to it, at least not by my standards.
0 Karn
W Darien
U Arcanis
B Geth
R Norin
G Yeva
UW Hanna
RB Olivia
WB Obzedat
UR Melek
BG Glissa
WR Aurelia
GU Kraj
BRU Nicol Bolas
RGB Prossh
BGW Ghave
GUB Mimeoplasm
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
GWU Treva, the Renewer
EDH Spike:
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls
Trades
It is very easy to complain without the reality of what is needed to run such a game.
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!