1. Why use he/she him/her, instead of they/their
He or she reveals cards from his or her hand >>>> They reveal cards from their hand
2. Whats the current templating for lords????
Lifelink. Other creatures have lifelink
or >>>> Creatures have lifelink.
Both work just fine, yet the consistently switch back and forth.
3. This is my biggest pain with mtg cards...reminder text and useless text in keywords
I get it that its needed for less experienced players, but it isnt needed at rare. and they could put it on tip cards instead. Or I dont know, a plyer can google how a keyword works.
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
>>>>> Landfall — Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
And if reminder text is needed at common
>>>>Landfall — Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.(Landfall is triggered whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control.)
The same can be said for Rally, converge, and many other mechanics/keyword
4. Once something been given a keyword, you should be able to use it in a set even if its not a returning mechanic.
ex. Architect of the Untamed Its obviously landfall. though landfall isnt a returning mechanic, ITS STILL LANDFALL. So why not put it there, it wont be confusing since as number 3 mentions, the keyword still describes what the ability does. Landfall is the most used mechanic in other sets that i can think of. but metalcraft was used in Inventor's Fair
This would add more flavor to sets.
So all in all, the templating on most cards is atrocious in my opinion and can be simplified and cleaned up without losing anything at all. I welcome oothers thoughts on the matter
1. Why use he/she him/her, instead of they/their
He or she reveals cards from his or her hand >>>> They reveal cards from their hand
The current template uses fewer characters so you can have a larger font size and/or have more words on the card before it becomes to hard to read.
2. Whats the current templating for lords????
Lifelink. Other creatures have lifelink
or >>>> Creatures have lifelink.
Both work just fine, yet the consistently switch back and forth.
They both work fine but don't do the same things. With option 2 if the 'lord' stops being a creature it won't have lifelink. Not such a big deal with something like all creatures have x, but if you are getting more specific like Elves have or green creatures have if the object the ability is on changes characteristics it no longer qualifies so wouldn't have the ability with the second version of the wording.
3. This is my biggest pain with mtg cards...reminder text and useless text in keywords
I get it that its needed for less experienced players, but it isnt needed at rare. and they could put it on tip cards instead. Or I dont know, a plyer can google how a keyword works.
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
>>>>> Landfall — Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
And if reminder text is needed at common
>>>>Landfall — Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.(Landfall is triggered whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control.)
The same can be said for Rally, converge, and many other mechanics/keyword
Its a good thing that they already do this then, with reminder text only being added for the first printing of an ability and omitted when it is reused.
The other thing to consider is that there is no guarentee when a player will first see an ability and not everyone has access to or even the inclination to read the MTG Comp rules so you have to cater for every demographic.
4. Once something been given a keyword, you should be able to use it in a set even if its not a returning mechanic.
ex. Architect of the Untamed Its obviously landfall. though landfall isnt a returning mechanic, ITS STILL LANDFALL. So why not put it there, it wont be confusing since as number 3 mentions, the keyword still describes what the ability does. Landfall is the most used mechanic in other sets that i can think of. but metalcraft was used in Inventor's Fair
This would add more flavor to sets.
And this would reduce the difference between the sets by making them more homogenous. WOTC is currently in a good place at the moment with a range of evergreen keywords that they can and do reuse on a regular basis. Thre is no need to randomly drop odd keywords/ability words into sets just because you have an ability that is similar to an older one especially where it does not make sense in that world. Or would you advocate that Chubb Toad got Bushido 2?
So all in all, the templating on most cards is atrocious in my opinion and can be simplified and cleaned up without losing anything at all. I welcome oothers thoughts on the matter
Correction templating like pretty much everything else with MTG is at the point of best comprimse it can be. Make to many changes and you will either overload the cards with so much text that it is impossible to read or cut back so much that it is impossible to play the game without having the most up to date version of the comp rules to hand everytime you want to play a game. And considering the comp rules gets updated with every new card set having to do that would get very old very quick.
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Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and start slitting throats.
- H.L Mencken
I Became insane with long Intervals of horrible Sanity
All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
- Edgar Allan Poe
Giving "Lords" the ability they grant inherently rather than letting them grant it to themselves does make a difference. For one, it is clearer that the creature gets the ability from itself which makes it easier to keep track of the board state. For two, it allows them to be found in the library or graveyard based on that ability. Archetype of Aggression can be tutored for by Mwonvuli Beast Tracker while Groundshaker Sliver cannot be.
Neither Metalcraft nor Landfall are keywords so they absolutely need their "additional" text. In fact, not using Landfall or Metalcraft on the new cards saves space since they have to spell it out anyway. They are "Ability Words" and there is a difference between them and Keywords. The same goes for Rally and Converge. It seems you just don't like how they do Ability Words.
Otherwise, I agree with a lot of what Kahedron has already stated.
1. Maro has also answered this quesiton on his blog, numerous times. 2013, 2014 and 2015. Personally I think they/their would be needlessly ambiguous in a game that allows for multiple players.
3. Landfall isn't a keyword, it's an ability word. The difference is that keywords have a specific rules meaning defined in the comprehensive rules, while ability words just apply a label to similar abilities. Keywords always function the same way, while e.g. landfall only has the same condition for triggering, the actual effect varies greatly from one card to the next. Some ability words, like Tempting Offer would be difficult to make into a keyword. Also, there are some fairly basic actions in the game, like putting cards from the library into the graveyard, or returning permanents to their owner's hand; which IMO should also become keywords if WotC were to change their templating policy.
I, for one, am glad that keywords are printed with reminder text, because it makes drafting new sets easier. All in all it is a balance between printing card texts that are succinct and clear for experienced players, without being indecipherable for new players. Each word a new player has to learn is a stumbling block, it increases the mental cost of learning the game.
4. Ability words are only used if it's a major theme in the set they're printed in. This is done to avoid confusing players who haven't played with the old set the ability word would be referencing. A player starting in Kaladesh doesn't need to know that the ability of Architect of the Untamed could be called Landfall, because there aren't any other landfall cards in the set.
I don't know how long it's been since you've last taken a writing class or written, but using they/their to refer to a single individual is flat-out bad grammar. Using he/she/his/hers/etc is simply proper English.
Also, slapping other blocks' keywords and ability words on individual effects just because they work similarly doesn't make sense. Ability words, in particular, exist solely to unify a common theme amongst cards with different abilities within a block. There is no unified ability for landfall. "Landfall" is simply a title attached to certain cards from one of the Zendikar sets. Keywords and action words have more definite meanings, but they exist for largely the same reason. The only exception is the quasi-evergreen ability word domain because "the number of basic land types among lands you control" is a helluva mouthful no matter where it is.
I don't know how long it's been since you've last taken a writing class or written, but using they/their to refer to a single individual is flat-out bad grammar. Using he/she/his/hers/etc is simply proper English.
Although that's currently in the process of changing. Language evolves, and we may see Magic templates changing to that at some point in the future.
I don't know how long it's been since you've last taken a writing class or written, but using they/their to refer to a single individual is flat-out bad grammar. Using he/she/his/hers/etc is simply proper English.
Although that's currently in the process of changing. Language evolves, and we may see Magic templates changing to that at some point in the future.
I find, from personal experience (someone won't read that and get offended anyways), that gender neutralizing is offensive even around people where it seems most desirable to do so. Just... don't do it even if you think it's warranted... don't.
But I digress. Try reading the gender neutral version of Alice in Wonderland. It's terrible. You completely lose scope of two sided conversations and have no idea who is talking or saying what and when. It shows that far more of the English language (or any other gender biased language) will have to have dramatic evolution before gender neutral language becomes the accepted norm. I imagine MtG will long be off the market before that change is completed.
I don't know how long it's been since you've last taken a writing class or written, but using they/their to refer to a single individual is flat-out bad grammar. Using he/she/his/hers/etc is simply proper English.
Although that's currently in the process of changing. Language evolves, and we may see Magic templates changing to that at some point in the future.
I find, from personal experience (someone won't read that and get offended anyways), that gender neutralizing is offensive even around people where it seems most desirable to do so. Just... don't do it even if you think it's warranted... don't.
But I digress. Try reading the gender neutral version of Alice in Wonderland. It's terrible. You completely lose scope of two sided conversations and have no idea who is talking or saying what and when. It shows that far more of the English language (or any other gender biased language) will have to have dramatic evolution before gender neutral language becomes the accepted norm. I imagine MtG will long be off the market before that change is completed.
There are several gendered languages in the world today which have a neutral gender. It used to be that in the absence of a specific gender in English, male is always used. Today, it's common to use a phrase like "he or she". And moving forward, the singular "they" appears to be becoming more common. It's not even a new construct in English, appearing in text centuries old.
Neutral pronouns aren't about replacing all pronouns with a genderless one, it's about having something to use when there isn't a gender to specify, or the gender is unknown.
I don't know how long it's been since you've last taken a writing class or written, but using they/their to refer to a single individual is flat-out bad grammar. Using he/she/his/hers/etc is simply proper English.
Although that's currently in the process of changing. Language evolves, and we may see Magic templates changing to that at some point in the future.
I find, from personal experience (someone won't read that and get offended anyways), that gender neutralizing is offensive even around people where it seems most desirable to do so. Just... don't do it even if you think it's warranted... don't.
But I digress. Try reading the gender neutral version of Alice in Wonderland. It's terrible. You completely lose scope of two sided conversations and have no idea who is talking or saying what and when. It shows that far more of the English language (or any other gender biased language) will have to have dramatic evolution before gender neutral language becomes the accepted norm. I imagine MtG will long be off the market before that change is completed.
There are several gendered languages in the world today which have a neutral gender. It used to be that in the absence of a specific gender in English, male is always used. Today, it's common to use a phrase like "he or she". And moving forward, the singular "they" appears to be becoming more common. It's not even a new construct in English, appearing in text centuries old.
Neutral pronouns aren't about replacing all pronouns with a genderless one, it's about having something to use when there isn't a gender to specify, or the gender is unknown.
I understand that, however in the majority of cases, is it really necessary or even desirable? MtG included?
In a nutshell, I'm just saying that switching over to gender neutral pronouns to satisfy, what I think is, a very small demographic that is likely not going to be offended anyways at the risk of increasing confusion over the larger group is a bad idea. If genderless words can be used without creating confusion (or degrading grammar) then by all means go ahead. I don't want to sit there and try to figure out what a card is doing if the wrong pronoun was used.
Look, females shouldn't complain. All the good stuff is referred to in the feminine. Motherboards, Mothership, Mother Earth. My truck is a "she". My family even refers to our male cat as "she" because "she" looks hot (the words from my six year old, not mine). Women get their choice of Mrs, Ms, and Miss. Females even get to dip into Dr if they so choose. What do guys get? Mr? Sir? I've graduated to "old man" and females still get more.
I say keep the gender based cards!
I don't know how long it's been since you've last taken a writing class or written, but using they/their to refer to a single individual is flat-out bad grammar. Using he/she/his/hers/etc is simply proper English.
Although that's currently in the process of changing. Language evolves, and we may see Magic templates changing to that at some point in the future.
I find, from personal experience (someone won't read that and get offended anyways), that gender neutralizing is offensive even around people where it seems most desirable to do so. Just... don't do it even if you think it's warranted... don't.
But I digress. Try reading the gender neutral version of Alice in Wonderland. It's terrible. You completely lose scope of two sided conversations and have no idea who is talking or saying what and when. It shows that far more of the English language (or any other gender biased language) will have to have dramatic evolution before gender neutral language becomes the accepted norm. I imagine MtG will long be off the market before that change is completed.
There are several gendered languages in the world today which have a neutral gender. It used to be that in the absence of a specific gender in English, male is always used. Today, it's common to use a phrase like "he or she". And moving forward, the singular "they" appears to be becoming more common. It's not even a new construct in English, appearing in text centuries old.
Neutral pronouns aren't about replacing all pronouns with a genderless one, it's about having something to use when there isn't a gender to specify, or the gender is unknown.
I understand that, however in the majority of cases, is it really necessary or even desirable? MtG included?
In a nutshell, I'm just saying that switching over to gender neutral pronouns to satisfy, what I think is, a very small demographic that is likely not going to be offended anyways at the risk of increasing confusion over the larger group is a bad idea. If genderless words can be used without creating confusion (or degrading grammar) then by all means go ahead. I don't want to sit there and try to figure out what a card is doing if the wrong pronoun was used.
Look, females shouldn't complain. All the good stuff is referred to in the feminine. Motherboards, Mothership, Mother Earth. My truck is a "she". My family even refers to our male cat as "she" because "she" looks hot (the words from my six year old, not mine). Women get their choice of Mrs, Ms, and Miss. Females even get to dip into Dr if they so choose. What do guys get? Mr? Sir? I've graduated to "old man" and females still get more.
I say keep the gender based cards!
What are you even talking about? Genderless pronouns have nothing to do with satisfying a demographic.
Although that's currently in the process of changing. Language evolves, and we may see Magic templates changing to that at some point in the future.
I find, from personal experience (someone won't read that and get offended anyways), that gender neutralizing is offensive even around people where it seems most desirable to do so. Just... don't do it even if you think it's warranted... don't.
But I digress. Try reading the gender neutral version of Alice in Wonderland. It's terrible. You completely lose scope of two sided conversations and have no idea who is talking or saying what and when. It shows that far more of the English language (or any other gender biased language) will have to have dramatic evolution before gender neutral language becomes the accepted norm. I imagine MtG will long be off the market before that change is completed.
There are several gendered languages in the world today which have a neutral gender. It used to be that in the absence of a specific gender in English, male is always used. Today, it's common to use a phrase like "he or she". And moving forward, the singular "they" appears to be becoming more common. It's not even a new construct in English, appearing in text centuries old.
Neutral pronouns aren't about replacing all pronouns with a genderless one, it's about having something to use when there isn't a gender to specify, or the gender is unknown.
I understand that, however in the majority of cases, is it really necessary or even desirable? MtG included?
In a nutshell, I'm just saying that switching over to gender neutral pronouns to satisfy, what I think is, a very small demographic that is likely not going to be offended anyways at the risk of increasing confusion over the larger group is a bad idea. If genderless words can be used without creating confusion (or degrading grammar) then by all means go ahead. I don't want to sit there and try to figure out what a card is doing if the wrong pronoun was used.
Look, females shouldn't complain. All the good stuff is referred to in the feminine. Motherboards, Mothership, Mother Earth. My truck is a "she". My family even refers to our male cat as "she" because "she" looks hot (the words from my six year old, not mine). Women get their choice of Mrs, Ms, and Miss. Females even get to dip into Dr if they so choose. What do guys get? Mr? Sir? I've graduated to "old man" and females still get more.
I say keep the gender based cards!
What are you even talking about? Genderless pronouns have nothing to do with satisfying a demographic.
Holy smokes.... I have no idea. I've been up all night with sick kids.
Oh well... I stand by my statement... I guess.... not sure about that rant at the end.
Well, that was a bad example. I was trying to find something for haste (Dragonlord Kolaghan vs Madrush Cyclops) but I couldn't find anything and then I misread Archetype of Aggression.
He or she reveals cards from his or her hand >>>> They reveal cards from their hand
2. Whats the current templating for lords????
Lifelink. Other creatures have lifelink
or >>>> Creatures have lifelink.
Both work just fine, yet the consistently switch back and forth.
3. This is my biggest pain with mtg cards...reminder text and useless text in keywords
I get it that its needed for less experienced players, but it isnt needed at rare. and they could put it on tip cards instead. Or I dont know, a plyer can google how a keyword works.
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
>>>>> Landfall — Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
And if reminder text is needed at common
>>>>Landfall — Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.(Landfall is triggered whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control.)
The same can be said for Rally, converge, and many other mechanics/keyword
4. Once something been given a keyword, you should be able to use it in a set even if its not a returning mechanic.
ex. Architect of the Untamed Its obviously landfall. though landfall isnt a returning mechanic, ITS STILL LANDFALL. So why not put it there, it wont be confusing since as number 3 mentions, the keyword still describes what the ability does. Landfall is the most used mechanic in other sets that i can think of. but metalcraft was used in Inventor's Fair
This would add more flavor to sets.
So all in all, the templating on most cards is atrocious in my opinion and can be simplified and cleaned up without losing anything at all. I welcome oothers thoughts on the matter
The current template uses fewer characters so you can have a larger font size and/or have more words on the card before it becomes to hard to read.
They both work fine but don't do the same things. With option 2 if the 'lord' stops being a creature it won't have lifelink. Not such a big deal with something like all creatures have x, but if you are getting more specific like Elves have or green creatures have if the object the ability is on changes characteristics it no longer qualifies so wouldn't have the ability with the second version of the wording.
Its a good thing that they already do this then, with reminder text only being added for the first printing of an ability and omitted when it is reused.
The other thing to consider is that there is no guarentee when a player will first see an ability and not everyone has access to or even the inclination to read the MTG Comp rules so you have to cater for every demographic.
And this would reduce the difference between the sets by making them more homogenous. WOTC is currently in a good place at the moment with a range of evergreen keywords that they can and do reuse on a regular basis. Thre is no need to randomly drop odd keywords/ability words into sets just because you have an ability that is similar to an older one especially where it does not make sense in that world. Or would you advocate that Chubb Toad got Bushido 2?
Correction templating like pretty much everything else with MTG is at the point of best comprimse it can be. Make to many changes and you will either overload the cards with so much text that it is impossible to read or cut back so much that it is impossible to play the game without having the most up to date version of the comp rules to hand everytime you want to play a game. And considering the comp rules gets updated with every new card set having to do that would get very old very quick.
- H.L Mencken
I Became insane with long Intervals of horrible Sanity
All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
- Edgar Allan Poe
The Crafters' Rules Guru
Neither Metalcraft nor Landfall are keywords so they absolutely need their "additional" text. In fact, not using Landfall or Metalcraft on the new cards saves space since they have to spell it out anyway. They are "Ability Words" and there is a difference between them and Keywords. The same goes for Rally and Converge. It seems you just don't like how they do Ability Words.
Otherwise, I agree with a lot of what Kahedron has already stated.
3. Landfall isn't a keyword, it's an ability word. The difference is that keywords have a specific rules meaning defined in the comprehensive rules, while ability words just apply a label to similar abilities. Keywords always function the same way, while e.g. landfall only has the same condition for triggering, the actual effect varies greatly from one card to the next. Some ability words, like Tempting Offer would be difficult to make into a keyword. Also, there are some fairly basic actions in the game, like putting cards from the library into the graveyard, or returning permanents to their owner's hand; which IMO should also become keywords if WotC were to change their templating policy.
I, for one, am glad that keywords are printed with reminder text, because it makes drafting new sets easier. All in all it is a balance between printing card texts that are succinct and clear for experienced players, without being indecipherable for new players. Each word a new player has to learn is a stumbling block, it increases the mental cost of learning the game.
4. Ability words are only used if it's a major theme in the set they're printed in. This is done to avoid confusing players who haven't played with the old set the ability word would be referencing. A player starting in Kaladesh doesn't need to know that the ability of Architect of the Untamed could be called Landfall, because there aren't any other landfall cards in the set.
No it can't. Felhide Petrifier and Pheres-Band Warchief can, however.
Also, slapping other blocks' keywords and ability words on individual effects just because they work similarly doesn't make sense. Ability words, in particular, exist solely to unify a common theme amongst cards with different abilities within a block. There is no unified ability for landfall. "Landfall" is simply a title attached to certain cards from one of the Zendikar sets. Keywords and action words have more definite meanings, but they exist for largely the same reason. The only exception is the quasi-evergreen ability word domain because "the number of basic land types among lands you control" is a helluva mouthful no matter where it is.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I find, from personal experience (someone won't read that and get offended anyways), that gender neutralizing is offensive even around people where it seems most desirable to do so. Just... don't do it even if you think it's warranted... don't.
But I digress. Try reading the gender neutral version of Alice in Wonderland. It's terrible. You completely lose scope of two sided conversations and have no idea who is talking or saying what and when. It shows that far more of the English language (or any other gender biased language) will have to have dramatic evolution before gender neutral language becomes the accepted norm. I imagine MtG will long be off the market before that change is completed.
Neutral pronouns aren't about replacing all pronouns with a genderless one, it's about having something to use when there isn't a gender to specify, or the gender is unknown.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I understand that, however in the majority of cases, is it really necessary or even desirable? MtG included?
In a nutshell, I'm just saying that switching over to gender neutral pronouns to satisfy, what I think is, a very small demographic that is likely not going to be offended anyways at the risk of increasing confusion over the larger group is a bad idea. If genderless words can be used without creating confusion (or degrading grammar) then by all means go ahead. I don't want to sit there and try to figure out what a card is doing if the wrong pronoun was used.
Look, females shouldn't complain. All the good stuff is referred to in the feminine. Motherboards, Mothership, Mother Earth. My truck is a "she". My family even refers to our male cat as "she" because "she" looks hot (the words from my six year old, not mine). Women get their choice of Mrs, Ms, and Miss. Females even get to dip into Dr if they so choose. What do guys get? Mr? Sir? I've graduated to "old man" and females still get more.
I say keep the gender based cards!
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Holy smokes.... I have no idea. I've been up all night with sick kids.
Oh well... I stand by my statement... I guess.... not sure about that rant at the end.
Thanks for the better examples