Only if they bring back the old author's to go along with it. If they keep turning writing over to people like Wintermute, it's just a waste of paper in the end.
As for Elspeth, after the "revelations" of New Phyrexia, I don't really trust Wizards to convey a good story with the character, so I can only hope that her card is decent, though not overpowered, because I haven't been brewing anything with white and Sphinx's Rev doesn't need another buddy. :\
That's true, but there's always a chance to be optimistic and hope for good stories, right? But it's better off to be pessimistic and be pleasantly surprised if they do have good stories with great authors writing them. Still, it'd be nice to see a lot of flavor in the cards that relate to written books, instead of small blurbs and weekly articles.
Since it's Elspeth, I'm pretty sure it'll be guaranteed that her card will be very good.
Those IMG links don't work for me, anyone have the pic showing Karn/Elspeth? I'd be stocked to see those two together in the same block.
I'd love to see sales numbers on GTC/DGM. My shop can't get rid of them. The owner has gotten to the point he just hands them away to anyone who even signs up for FNM's now. I helped take out the trash one day for him and he gave me five packs. I work for Target too and we still have cases of Fat Packs lying around and normally those are gone in a week. And we don't sell any amount of packs compared to INN/DKA/AVR and RTR.
And I agree with the guy, I hate MaRo, so that's two guys on the internet.
"Market research" is not a measurable metric without divulged numbers and other sample data. It is more than just his opinion. There have been some serious issues crop up recently with just a "shove it up your ass" from wizards (black's power loss: response harder to get black staples, new legend rule, horrendous commons, bad supplemental products like commanders floppy wand, unavailability and price of modern masters to name a few). Every complaint is not senseless whining. You may not agree with it, but it does NOT invalidate his opinion.
I would love to see the sales figures too, because they are more reliable than anecdotal evidence and opinions of people who make up a loud minority on the internet.
Unfortunately(?) a large majority of the cash this game makes is on the backs of people who barely even read Dailymtg articles, let alone post on a forum.
And WoTC (I mean can you blame them?) see no good business reason to change course at this time.
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I'd love to see sales numbers on GTC/DGM. My shop can't get rid of them. The owner has gotten to the point he just hands them away to anyone who even signs up for FNM's now. I helped take out the trash one day for him and he gave me five packs. I work for Target too and we still have cases of Fat Packs lying around and normally those are gone in a week. And we don't sell any amount of packs compared to INN/DKA/AVR and RTR.
Rosewater did RTR and Innistrad, two of the best sets ever printed. The problem has really been "the other sets aren't matching up to his level."
And I agree with the guy, I hate MaRo, so that's two guys on the internet.
Make it three. Almost every set he has been lead designer on has been terrible. He has zero formal design training (he has a communications degree and was a third string writer on the tail end of Roseanne's run), and basically lucked into one of the greatest jobs in the world by making Magic puzzles for the Duelist before MTG was popular and chumming it up with people at WoTC. He knows he lacks the skills or design chops to do anything else, so once he got into WoTC he rooted himself there and will probably never leave until he dies.
Truly talented people are sought out for their skills and try new and different things in thier industry. Look at Richard Garfield and the breadth of games and companies he has applied his talents to. MaRo is a classic example of the Peter Principle in action. He is MTG's David Brent: an inept designer enamored with himself and his perception of his own abilities.
Well, the single most popular planeswalker character not named Jace.
This should be interesting, in any case. Both of the previous Elspeth cards were very, very good. I just hope this trend continues if there is a new one.
I'd say she's easily more popular than Jace, in that there isn't a large portion of the player base who hates her based on fatigue or notoriety.
Make it three. Almost every set he has been lead designer on has been terrible. He has zero formal design training, and basically lucked into one of the greatest jobs in the world by making Magic puzzles for the Duelist before MTG was popular and chumming it up with people at WoTC. He knows he lacks the skills or design chops to do anything else, so once he got into WoTC he rooted himself there and will probably never leave until he dies.
Truly talented people are sought out for their skills and try new and different things in thier industry. Look at Richard Garfield and the breadth of games and companies he has applied his talents to. MaRo is a classic example of the Peter Principle in action. He is MTG's David Brent: an inept designer enamored with himself and his perception of his own abilities.
Innistrad, Ravnica, Zendikar and Return to Ravnica?
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Really, it doesn't look like Elspeth to me... The armor is different, as well as her weapon. She ALWAYS uses that sword... to suddenly drop it in favor of a weapon she's never used...
Unless the phyrexians are beginning their onslaught on the multiverse, I doubt it's really Elspeth, and just random armored female warrior A...
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Make it three. Almost every set he has been lead designer on has been terrible. He has zero formal design training (he has a communications degree and was a third string writer on the tail end of Roseanne's run), and basically lucked into one of the greatest jobs in the world by making Magic puzzles for the Duelist before MTG was popular and chumming it up with people at WoTC. He knows he lacks the skills or design chops to do anything else, so once he got into WoTC he rooted himself there and will probably never leave until he dies.
Truly talented people are sought out for their skills and try new and different things in thier industry. Look at Richard Garfield and the breadth of games and companies he has applied his talents to. MaRo is a classic example of the Peter Principle in action. He is MTG's David Brent: an inept designer enamored with himself and his perception of his own abilities.
wow wow do you know that back way before invasion Maro was in design of the game? and since and after Onslaught he started to rise in the ranks... and Zendikar + Scars of Mirrodin + Innistrad + Return to Ravnica is all its work... Don't you?
also if be head design of Mtg is the best job out there then why leave?
You all hate MARO but don't even know who he is.... if you want to hate hin hate hin for Goblin Test Pilot (cause i hate it kkk)
Innistrad, Ravnica, Zendikar and Return to Ravnica?
Urza's Destiny - So busted the entire design team got literaly yelled at
Odyssey - Meh set
Mirrodin - So busted it had a banning in Standard
Fifth Dawn - One of the most boring sets in MTG's history
Scars of Mirrodin - Terrible set
Dark Ascension - Need I say more.
I personally thought Innistrad was a pretty dumb set, most of the cards were atrociously bad, and it was really just a bunch of cliche'd schlock
As for Ravnica, Future Sight, and Zendikar, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but historically, putting Maro on a set's lead does not turn out well. This is the man who admitted he literally fell asleep in a design meeting, someone woke him up, and he whipped up the little gem Goblin Test Pilot
I don't know about you, but falling asleep in meetings and having to be jostled awake to come up with horrible ideas doesn't sound like someone who's particular good, talented, or deserving of his job.
Anyway, this isn't the MaRo thread. I'm 50/50 on wether or not that picture is of Elspeth, it could be any generic female warrior, but the two round things on that staff sure look like they are from her sword.
Urza's Destiny - So busted the entire design team got literaly yelled at
Odyssey - Meh set
Mirrodin - So busted it had a banning in Standard
Fifth Dawn - One of the most boring sets in MTG's history
Scars of Mirrodin - Terrible set
Dark Ascension - Need I say more.
I personally thought Innistrad was a pretty dumb set, most of the cards were atrociously bad, and it was really just a bunch of cliche'd schlock
As for Ravnica, Future Sight, and Zendikar, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but historically, putting Maro on a set's lead does not turn out well. This is the man who admitted he literally fell asleep in a design meeting, someone woke him up, and he whipped up the little gem Goblin Test Pilot
I don't know about you, but falling asleep in meetings and having to be jostled awake to come up with horrible ideas doesn't sound like someone who's particular good, talented, or deserving of his job.
Anyway, this isn't the MaRo thread. I'm 50/50 on wether or not that picture is of Elspeth, it could be any generic female warrior, but the two round things on that staff sure look like they are from her sword.
But Maro isn't a developer, the set's powerlevel isn't his main concern.
Plaguefather.... Stahp.
MaRo haters: everyone misses occasionally, and if you hate broken or terrible cards THEN BUILD DECKS WITHOUT THEM. And try telling the general pop (henceforth, 'sane') how terrible Innistrad and RTR were.
Elspeth: let's keep our pants on and realize she will be solid white as always. Hope is cute, but, c'mon. You know.
/rant
Urza's Destiny - So busted the entire design team got literaly yelled at
Odyssey - Meh set
Mirrodin - So busted it had a banning in Standard
Fifth Dawn - One of the most boring sets in MTG's history
Scars of Mirrodin - Terrible set
Dark Ascension - Need I say more.
I personally thought Innistrad was a pretty dumb set, most of the cards were atrociously bad, and it was really just a bunch of cliche'd schlock
As for Ravnica, Future Sight, and Zendikar, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but historically, putting Maro on a set's lead does not turn out well. This is the man who admitted he literally fell asleep in a design meeting, someone woke him up, and he whipped up the little gem Goblin Test Pilot
I don't know about you, but falling asleep in meetings and having to be jostled awake to come up with horrible ideas doesn't sound like someone who's particular good, talented, or deserving of his job.
Anyway, this isn't the MaRo thread. I'm 50/50 on wether or not that picture is of Elspeth, it could be any generic female warrior, but the two round things on that staff sure look like they are from her sword.
Your list of bad Maro sets includes 3 or 4 of the most popular sets in the game (oddyssey is one of my faves, anyway). Not just the most popular, the most playable too.
Also I think that writing off Scars, RtR, Future Sight, and Innistrad, the last of which is widely accepted as the best design in magic is just silly, especially because of their close chronological proximity. he's hit a home run in the major set of the last 4 consecutive blocks.
I'm not saying he's perfect, I think there are lots of bones to pick with modern MTG, especially the Mythic Rare, which happened under his watch, but he's certainly got credentials.
Make it three. Almost every set he has been lead designer on has been terrible. He has zero formal design training (he has a communications degree and was a third string writer on the tail end of Roseanne's run), and basically lucked into one of the greatest jobs in the world by making Magic puzzles for the Duelist before MTG was popular and chumming it up with people at WoTC. He knows he lacks the skills or design chops to do anything else, so once he got into WoTC he rooted himself there and will probably never leave until he dies.
Truly talented people are sought out for their skills and try new and different things in thier industry. Look at Richard Garfield and the breadth of games and companies he has applied his talents to. MaRo is a classic example of the Peter Principle in action. He is MTG's David Brent: an inept designer enamored with himself and his perception of his own abilities.
Hahahahahha....like it even matters! (And this is from someone with "formal design training")
Hey, look! Another thread that's devolved into a couple of people hating on R&D. How shocking. I say this in every thread that turns out this way:
More people are playing and buying more Magic than at any time in the history of the game. Tournament attendance at GPs, PTQs, and prereleases is at an all time high. Decks across multiple formats are more diverse than they've ever been. And you want the game to shift focus for your enjoyment?
He was a minor character in the current history, in fact, new players do not even know what was his participation in Time Spiral... I want them to kill Elsphet, Ajani, Jace, Garruk, Chandra, Liliana and/or Sorin, and so the story continue without them like the story continued without Mirri, Urza, Sisay, Mishra, and so on...
Hey, look! Another thread that's devolved into a couple of people hating on R&D. How shocking. I say this in every thread that turns out this way:
More people are playing and buying more Magic than at any time in the history of the game. Tournament attendance at GPs, PTQs, and prereleases is at an all time high. Decks across multiple formats are more diverse than they've ever been. And you want the game to shift focus for your enjoyment?
While I agree with your sentiment, the success of the game has no direct correlation to the enjoyment one particular person may derive from the game. When someone says "Magic is dying" what they really mean is "Magic is becoming less fun for me personally". That's certainly a valid stance to make; it doesn't matter how "successful" a product if a person doesn't like it and something doesn't have to be good/better to be more popular (not saying that applies to Magic, just in general). However, many detractors follow their opinion with hyperbole, insults or make arguments with faulty logic and end up strongly undermining themselves
On topic, Elspeth is a cool character and I'm glad to see her return. It does feel a bit soon though. I hope that A) her new card is better than her 2.0 incarnation and B) they actually follow through with her story in the block. Gideon was just kind of "there" in RTR block. Did he even accomplish anything?
and the spear has the same two "lights" like her sword.
While I agree it could be her, it could be a creature with a spear that has her markings on it. There were a whole lot of creatures with Avacyns symbol on their weapon that weren't Avacyn. Could be an "Elspeth's Knight" or something, or even a token. Both Elspeth's made Soldier tokens.
Urza's Destiny - So busted the entire design team got literaly yelled at
Odyssey - Meh set
Mirrodin - So busted it had a banning in Standard
Fifth Dawn - One of the most boring sets in MTG's history
Scars of Mirrodin - Terrible set
Dark Ascension - Need I say more.
I personally thought Innistrad was a pretty dumb set, most of the cards were atrociously bad, and it was really just a bunch of cliche'd schlock
As for Ravnica, Future Sight, and Zendikar, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but historically, putting Maro on a set's lead does not turn out well. This is the man who admitted he literally fell asleep in a design meeting, someone woke him up, and he whipped up the little gem Goblin Test Pilot
I don't know about you, but falling asleep in meetings and having to be jostled awake to come up with horrible ideas doesn't sound like someone who's particular good, talented, or deserving of his job.
Anyway, this isn't the MaRo thread. I'm 50/50 on wether or not that picture is of Elspeth, it could be any generic female warrior, but the two round things on that staff sure look like they are from her sword.
The moment you said Dark Ascension and Innistrad were bad, you lost all credibility. That was one of the best draft formats in a long time, and the power level was huge. This was the set that contained Liliana of the Veil, Snapcaster Mage, Geist, Delver, all cards that are legacy/modern staples. Even Garruk Relentless sees play in legacy now. DA gave us Huntmaster of the fells, Lingering Souls, Gravecrawler, all modern or legacy cards as well.
Can someone actually attach the image? The first link isn't working for me :/
Edit: Nevermind, I found the post. It would be nice for someone to attach the image to the op though...
That's true, but there's always a chance to be optimistic and hope for good stories, right? But it's better off to be pessimistic and be pleasantly surprised if they do have good stories with great authors writing them. Still, it'd be nice to see a lot of flavor in the cards that relate to written books, instead of small blurbs and weekly articles.
Since it's Elspeth, I'm pretty sure it'll be guaranteed that her card will be very good.
I would love to see the sales figures too, because they are more reliable than anecdotal evidence and opinions of people who make up a loud minority on the internet.
Unfortunately(?) a large majority of the cash this game makes is on the backs of people who barely even read Dailymtg articles, let alone post on a forum.
And WoTC (I mean can you blame them?) see no good business reason to change course at this time.
Twitter
Rosewater did RTR and Innistrad, two of the best sets ever printed. The problem has really been "the other sets aren't matching up to his level."
Current post- Grand Prix KC Modern Postmortem (7/7/13)
...And Theros has the same lead Designer (MaRo) and lead Developer (Lauer) as Innistrad.
Twitter
Make it three. Almost every set he has been lead designer on has been terrible. He has zero formal design training (he has a communications degree and was a third string writer on the tail end of Roseanne's run), and basically lucked into one of the greatest jobs in the world by making Magic puzzles for the Duelist before MTG was popular and chumming it up with people at WoTC. He knows he lacks the skills or design chops to do anything else, so once he got into WoTC he rooted himself there and will probably never leave until he dies.
Truly talented people are sought out for their skills and try new and different things in thier industry. Look at Richard Garfield and the breadth of games and companies he has applied his talents to. MaRo is a classic example of the Peter Principle in action. He is MTG's David Brent: an inept designer enamored with himself and his perception of his own abilities.
I'd say she's easily more popular than Jace, in that there isn't a large portion of the player base who hates her based on fatigue or notoriety.
EDH:
Niv-Mizzet
Legacy:
The Rack
Modern
Venser, the Sojourner Control
Innistrad, Ravnica, Zendikar and Return to Ravnica?
Twitter
Unless the phyrexians are beginning their onslaught on the multiverse, I doubt it's really Elspeth, and just random armored female warrior A...
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wow wow do you know that back way before invasion Maro was in design of the game? and since and after Onslaught he started to rise in the ranks... and Zendikar + Scars of Mirrodin + Innistrad + Return to Ravnica is all its work... Don't you?
also if be head design of Mtg is the best job out there then why leave?
You all hate MARO but don't even know who he is.... if you want to hate hin hate hin for Goblin Test Pilot (cause i hate it kkk)
Urza's Destiny - So busted the entire design team got literaly yelled at
Odyssey - Meh set
Mirrodin - So busted it had a banning in Standard
Fifth Dawn - One of the most boring sets in MTG's history
Scars of Mirrodin - Terrible set
Dark Ascension - Need I say more.
I personally thought Innistrad was a pretty dumb set, most of the cards were atrociously bad, and it was really just a bunch of cliche'd schlock
As for Ravnica, Future Sight, and Zendikar, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but historically, putting Maro on a set's lead does not turn out well. This is the man who admitted he literally fell asleep in a design meeting, someone woke him up, and he whipped up the little gem Goblin Test Pilot
I don't know about you, but falling asleep in meetings and having to be jostled awake to come up with horrible ideas doesn't sound like someone who's particular good, talented, or deserving of his job.
Anyway, this isn't the MaRo thread. I'm 50/50 on wether or not that picture is of Elspeth, it could be any generic female warrior, but the two round things on that staff sure look like they are from her sword.
That was Urza's Saga, actually.
I'd type more, but I know it is a waste of time/effort.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)
Twitter
But Maro isn't a developer, the set's powerlevel isn't his main concern.
MaRo haters: everyone misses occasionally, and if you hate broken or terrible cards THEN BUILD DECKS WITHOUT THEM. And try telling the general pop (henceforth, 'sane') how terrible Innistrad and RTR were.
Elspeth: let's keep our pants on and realize she will be solid white as always. Hope is cute, but, c'mon. You know.
/rant
Your list of bad Maro sets includes 3 or 4 of the most popular sets in the game (oddyssey is one of my faves, anyway). Not just the most popular, the most playable too.
Also I think that writing off Scars, RtR, Future Sight, and Innistrad, the last of which is widely accepted as the best design in magic is just silly, especially because of their close chronological proximity. he's hit a home run in the major set of the last 4 consecutive blocks.
I'm not saying he's perfect, I think there are lots of bones to pick with modern MTG, especially the Mythic Rare, which happened under his watch, but he's certainly got credentials.
EDH:
Niv-Mizzet
Legacy:
The Rack
Modern
Venser, the Sojourner Control
Hahahahahha....like it even matters! (And this is from someone with "formal design training")
I was going to post this but someone was faster.
RRR Like a Bosh!
WUB Sharuum Solar Flare
UBR Thraximundar Zombie Beatdown
EDIT: I also support the idea of Zombie Venser from a few pages back.
Standard
RWUAmerica TempoUWR
& More...
Modern
URXGrixis/Tarmo/Tempo TwinURX
More people are playing and buying more Magic than at any time in the history of the game. Tournament attendance at GPs, PTQs, and prereleases is at an all time high. Decks across multiple formats are more diverse than they've ever been. And you want the game to shift focus for your enjoyment?
Oh my god, it's gonna be so good.
I don't know about anyone else, but Innistrad was amazing.
Holy mother of... Can no one spell Elspeth?
Suddenly I'm very excited. Loved Innistrad, esp limited.
While I agree with your sentiment, the success of the game has no direct correlation to the enjoyment one particular person may derive from the game. When someone says "Magic is dying" what they really mean is "Magic is becoming less fun for me personally". That's certainly a valid stance to make; it doesn't matter how "successful" a product if a person doesn't like it and something doesn't have to be good/better to be more popular (not saying that applies to Magic, just in general). However, many detractors follow their opinion with hyperbole, insults or make arguments with faulty logic and end up strongly undermining themselves
On topic, Elspeth is a cool character and I'm glad to see her return. It does feel a bit soon though. I hope that A) her new card is better than her 2.0 incarnation and B) they actually follow through with her story in the block. Gideon was just kind of "there" in RTR block. Did he even accomplish anything?
I elspetially can't spell Elspat.
While I agree it could be her, it could be a creature with a spear that has her markings on it. There were a whole lot of creatures with Avacyns symbol on their weapon that weren't Avacyn. Could be an "Elspeth's Knight" or something, or even a token. Both Elspeth's made Soldier tokens.
The moment you said Dark Ascension and Innistrad were bad, you lost all credibility. That was one of the best draft formats in a long time, and the power level was huge. This was the set that contained Liliana of the Veil, Snapcaster Mage, Geist, Delver, all cards that are legacy/modern staples. Even Garruk Relentless sees play in legacy now. DA gave us Huntmaster of the fells, Lingering Souls, Gravecrawler, all modern or legacy cards as well.
Can someone actually attach the image? The first link isn't working for me :/Edit: Nevermind, I found the post. It would be nice for someone to attach the image to the op though...