How true, but i actually like the one mana cycle, they work well with the ki flip guys.
You know that if every card was amazing draft would basically become all luck. SO having crappy filler cards actually is needed, i like how you made it seem though, nice little story here.
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Formerly corn hulio.
Hopefully i will have a swelling of pride sometime soon..........
If you dont get that, look at my username, and if you still dont get it, than your to young to have an account on here without your parents permission, YOU ARE A BAD LITTLE CHILD!!!!
Funny story, and I can see your concern. Personally, I think there are a bunch of crappy cards which I wouldn't play in my right mind. There are also quite a few fun cards which I'm waiting for in anticipation.
Thanks for the responses to my entirely fictitious and made up story (or was it?). I'm glad so many of you chose to respond and voice your opinions, but unfortunately most of you didn't catch on to the main point I was complaining about. This is not a "bad cards" gripe.
The point I was trying to make that nowadays, many, if not most, cards in a Magic set are not 'designed'. They are cranked up, stamped, mass produced, call it as you may. Those cards are definitely not a labor of love, but the product of a standard factory-process.
I remember Mercadian Masques, when ...
Okay, at this point most of you may be scratching their heads, thinking: "of all the sets to reminisce about, he chose Mercadian Masques?". And you know what, I agree with you. MM was a poor set, with more than its fair share of bad cards, but at least they tried. Out of 330 cards in MM, there were about 8-10 reprints or functional reprints. Less than 3%. And those reprints were needed for the core functions of the game (Disenchant, Counterspell, etc).
Now, in Betrayers of Kamigawa, a small set of 160 cards, there are approximately twenty cards which are identical or functional reprints, with possibly one characteristic altered for a good measure (such as the Arcane Fugue or the White Spore Frog). As a fan of the game, this hurts me. I believe Rosewater, Beuhler and their colleagues are not taking me seriously. "No need to do our best work to satisfy this guy. Just take a safe card that existed before, make a minor tweak, and be done with it.". The fact that most of those mass-produced cards also happen to be extremely bad to, and often well beyond, the point of unplayability, is just the insult added to the injury.
So, is this a "Magic is dying" article? Of course not. Anyone with half-a-brain can see Magic is not dying, and will keep making money for WotC for many years to come. WotC will keep doing whatever it is they are doing, since it obviosly works for them and their customer base. And it's not a "This is the worst set ever" article either. As a whole, BoK is on par compared to the other sets WotC produced lately. Also, it's not an "I'm quitting Magic" article. I'll keep visiting prereleases and local store drafts from time to time, since it obviously works for me.
What was the point of it all then? To give you an insight into what Mark Rosewater calls 'the creative process', of course... Duh!
The point I was trying to make that nowadays, many, if not most, cards in a Magic set are not 'designed'. They are cranked up, stamped, mass produced, call it as you may. Those cards are definitely not a labor of love, but the product of a standard factory-process.
OK, I didn't catch this point, and I do agree with you on this to some degree.
I think WotC is a bit too concerned with "brand" at this point -- by which I mean, they want "iconic" characters and a very well-defined set of characteristics for each color -- the much-maligned color pie. They've sacrificed some of the early game's quirkiness for consistency.
I obviously can't say for sure that "Magic branding" is a bad thing. It certainly seems like it's working from a business standpoint. You have to admit there's also a certain comfort to knowing certain broad types of deck will probably be supported by each set -- you can alwayscount on there being undercosted white weenies, solid red burn, black discard and creature destruction effects, blue counters, etc.
I agree that Magic has lost some of its weird charm in the attempted transition to a mass market game. But when 1,000 people show up at a Regionals, or 1,500 show up at a foreignGrand Prix, you can hardly fault them for doing things this way. But I do see what you mean and to some extent agree.
BUT (usually a code word for "ignore everything I've said up to this point, because I'm about to be a total ass")
I strongly disagree that this isn't a labor of love for Mark Rosewater (who didn't even head up R&D until recently). If you have ever met Mark Rosewater, I challenge you to tell me with a straight face that the man does not love Magic. He does not have free reign to do whatever he wants. No Magic developer does ... they have to deal with Branding and their pie charts, etc.
All that said, your bit was well-written. I just get a little squirrelly when it seems like what I consider the neatest game on earth is getting constantly bashed, and I think WotC does make a good faith effort to keep everyone as happy as possible under the circumstances.
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This is my Jackal Pup. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My Jackal Pup is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My Jackal Pup without me is useless. Without my Jackal Pup, I am useless. I must tap my Jackal Pup true. I must tap faster than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must beat him down before he beats me down. I will.
I strongly disagree that this isn't a labor of love for Mark Rosewater (who didn't even head up R&D until recently).
Haven't met Mr. Rosewater, and all I know about him I deduce from his weekly articles. If you know more about him than I do, I'll trust you on his personal assessment. BUT Mark Rosewater did not participate in either the design or development of BoK. (The design was done by Mike Elliot and Randy Beuhler, and the development .. well, you know who did the development, just read the initial post).
Other than 'being the head of R&D' MaRo didn't have direct involvement in the set, which is probably the reason why too many cards in BoK have this "Hmm, haven't I seen this before with a different manacost" feel. Maybe things would have been different had he been on the design team.
Anyway, BoK, as a whole, is an okay set, and I'm sure I will crack a draft booster or two or ten of it in the near future. And Magic is definitely not dying.
I agree that there are too many reprints in this set/block, but we WERE wanred. Before CHK came out, WotC announced that, for flavor's sake, there would be less strict reprints than usual, but a good amount more functional reprints. I think this is a trend just for this block (just like uncommon Legends) and that there won't be nearly as many reprints in Ravnica.
Anyway, BoK, as a whole, is an okay set, and I'm sure I will crack a draft booster or two or ten of it in the near future. And Magic is definitely not dying.
No worries, man.
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This is my Jackal Pup. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My Jackal Pup is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My Jackal Pup without me is useless. Without my Jackal Pup, I am useless. I must tap my Jackal Pup true. I must tap faster than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must beat him down before he beats me down. I will.
I liked the article, and agree that the functional reprints are a drag. I'm still not sure if its wizards being lazy or just trying to save/slightly tailor some of the cards that would be rotating out with the extended switch.
Edit: I think I may just be Dislexic(?) that or I just can't spell.
Currently Running Legacy: Burn; Various Stompy's; Food Chain Goblins; FC Elves Standard: Junk Super Friends, Elf-Wave Elder Dragon Highlander: Animar, Skithiryx, Bosh, Konda, Wort, Ezuri, Patron of the Moon
I actually questioned randy about the existence of cards like this and in particular Dripping Dead and of corse he gave the cop-out answer 'not all cards can be good'...blah phooey but do there really have to be ones as bad as it and chimney imp??? i mean really???
btw i have a japaneese foil dripping dead autographed by Richard garfield, Randy and a few other R&D guys stupid sloppy sigs dont remember their names =( that has got to be worth some big $$$
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CR!S!S909
"Everybody belongs to everybody else" Aldous Huxley
One thing though, I remember QUITE CLEARLY that the guys at WOTC clearly stated that there were going to be a lot of reprinting and functional reprinting in the set, so I don't really know what the hullaballoo is about...
And by the way, I really think this set is shaping up good. If we look back at the last years, the 2nd expansion is either the lamest (think Planeshift and Legions) or the most broken (Torment and Darksteel, methinks..., even Nemesis was broken when compared with the rest of the cycle). They usually don't give us a choice about it, it's either a home run or a foul.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
BTW: Do you guys really want to rock design? I humbly suggest to bring back the design team for Alliances, that is, Skaff Elias and Jim Lin (mentioned in the Shining Shoal preview). I believe alliances was one of the most creative and fun sets to play ever.
And yes, I hope magic will keep on dying for another 30 years or so.
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I know the perfect guy for the third faction:
"When you show up to the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease, you'll be asked to choose a faction: Mirran, Phyrexian, or Jaded A-Hole" Aaron Forsythe, on Twitter
Everything changes, nothing remains without a change - Buddha
One thing though, I remember QUITE CLEARLY that the guys at WOTC clearly stated that there were going to be a lot of reprinting and functional reprinting in the set, so I don't really know what the hullaballoo is about...
There is no hullaballoo. Just an insight into the decision-making process of professional cardmakers, and an attempt to explain WHY there are so many functional reprinting in the set.
If you have any other explanation as to the amount of reprints, I'd love to hear it. But I do hope it's a sound one and the words "For the health of the game" are not part of it. If they are, I'm gonna take offense, because, let's face it, I'm the one making all the jokes on this thread.
I find it very interesting that they actually decided to create a cards that could reset the game. Go figure that they would make it entirely unplayable...
Well Rusian, I must agree with you that reprinting is not quite healthy for the game, which is, after all, supposed to be an outlet of creativity.
The good thing is that relatively "new comers" for the game like me have a chance at having sets of Quash and its cousins -which I quite like-, but the bad thing is that we're still paying 4,50 for playing the same ol' cardboard.
If your idea was to say that these guys -as far as BoK goes- are, to put it somehow, slightly overpayed, then I must agree with you.
Let's just hope that the 3rd expansion is a bit more creative and a bit less of a, uh, homage.
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I know the perfect guy for the third faction:
"When you show up to the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease, you'll be asked to choose a faction: Mirran, Phyrexian, or Jaded A-Hole" Aaron Forsythe, on Twitter
Everything changes, nothing remains without a change - Buddha
That was a pretty entertaining read there Ruslan, good work. I agree that most of these cards seem like they are just reprocessed from older cards, as most of the arcane cards seem to be just that. Its funny that Demystify rolls into Quiet Purity to become arcane with no extra cost. But Shower of Sparks? C'mon something is wrong there.
Thanks for the responses to my entirely fictitious and made up story (or was it?). I'm glad so many of you chose to respond and voice your opinions, but unfortunately most of you didn't catch on to the main point I was complaining about. This is not a "bad cards" gripe.
The point I was trying to make that nowadays, many, if not most, cards in a Magic set are not 'designed'. They are cranked up, stamped, mass produced, call it as you may. Those cards are definitely not a labor of love, but the product of a standard factory-process.
I remember Mercadian Masques, when ...
Okay, at this point most of you may be scratching their heads, thinking: "of all the sets to reminisce about, he chose Mercadian Masques?". And you know what, I agree with you. MM was a poor set, with more than its fair share of bad cards, but at least they tried. Out of 330 cards in MM, there were about 8-10 reprints or functional reprints. Less than 3%. And those reprints were needed for the core functions of the game (Disenchant, Counterspell, etc).
Now, in Betrayers of Kamigawa, a small set of 160 cards, there are approximately twenty cards which are identical or functional reprints, with possibly one characteristic altered for a good measure (such as the Arcane Fugue or the White Spore Frog). As a fan of the game, this hurts me. I believe Rosewater, Beuhler and their colleagues are not taking me seriously. "No need to do our best work to satisfy this guy. Just take a safe card that existed before, make a minor tweak, and be done with it.". The fact that most of those mass-produced cards also happen to be extremely bad to, and often well beyond, the point of unplayability, is just the insult added to the injury.
So, is this a "Magic is dying" article? Of course not. Anyone with half-a-brain can see Magic is not dying, and will keep making money for WotC for many years to come. WotC will keep doing whatever it is they are doing, since it obviosly works for them and their customer base. And it's not a "This is the worst set ever" article either. As a whole, BoK is on par compared to the other sets WotC produced lately. Also, it's not an "I'm quitting Magic" article. I'll keep visiting prereleases and local store drafts from time to time, since it obviously works for me.
What was the point of it all then? To give you an insight into what Mark Rosewater calls 'the creative process', of course... Duh!
I thought it was a excellent!
Funny,and great job in pointing out flaws in the way magic now produces cards.
The fact that they say they are going to do a lot of reprints doenst excuse them for lack of imagnation.
I think they are clearly running out of ideas,and I am going to buy less of this set just for that reason.
Spellshapers, storage lands, APC spells, vanilla rebels/mercs. That's a lot more than 10.
It still depends on the basic frame...a Disenchant variant is still probably going to be playable. Teardrop Kami isn't much, but you can at least compare the sac ability to Sandbar Merfolk's cycling, or if you can flip Student of Elements etc.
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You know that if every card was amazing draft would basically become all luck. SO having crappy filler cards actually is needed, i like how you made it seem though, nice little story here.
Hopefully i will have a swelling of pride sometime soon..........
If you dont get that, look at my username, and if you still dont get it, than your to young to have an account on here without your parents permission, YOU ARE A BAD LITTLE CHILD!!!!
Thanks for the responses to my entirely fictitious and made up story (or was it?). I'm glad so many of you chose to respond and voice your opinions, but unfortunately most of you didn't catch on to the main point I was complaining about. This is not a "bad cards" gripe.
The point I was trying to make that nowadays, many, if not most, cards in a Magic set are not 'designed'. They are cranked up, stamped, mass produced, call it as you may. Those cards are definitely not a labor of love, but the product of a standard factory-process.
I remember Mercadian Masques, when ...
Okay, at this point most of you may be scratching their heads, thinking: "of all the sets to reminisce about, he chose Mercadian Masques?". And you know what, I agree with you. MM was a poor set, with more than its fair share of bad cards, but at least they tried. Out of 330 cards in MM, there were about 8-10 reprints or functional reprints. Less than 3%. And those reprints were needed for the core functions of the game (Disenchant, Counterspell, etc).
Now, in Betrayers of Kamigawa, a small set of 160 cards, there are approximately twenty cards which are identical or functional reprints, with possibly one characteristic altered for a good measure (such as the Arcane Fugue or the White Spore Frog). As a fan of the game, this hurts me. I believe Rosewater, Beuhler and their colleagues are not taking me seriously. "No need to do our best work to satisfy this guy. Just take a safe card that existed before, make a minor tweak, and be done with it.". The fact that most of those mass-produced cards also happen to be extremely bad to, and often well beyond, the point of unplayability, is just the insult added to the injury.
So, is this a "Magic is dying" article? Of course not. Anyone with half-a-brain can see Magic is not dying, and will keep making money for WotC for many years to come. WotC will keep doing whatever it is they are doing, since it obviosly works for them and their customer base. And it's not a "This is the worst set ever" article either. As a whole, BoK is on par compared to the other sets WotC produced lately. Also, it's not an "I'm quitting Magic" article. I'll keep visiting prereleases and local store drafts from time to time, since it obviously works for me.
What was the point of it all then? To give you an insight into what Mark Rosewater calls 'the creative process', of course... Duh!
OK, I didn't catch this point, and I do agree with you on this to some degree.
I think WotC is a bit too concerned with "brand" at this point -- by which I mean, they want "iconic" characters and a very well-defined set of characteristics for each color -- the much-maligned color pie. They've sacrificed some of the early game's quirkiness for consistency.
I obviously can't say for sure that "Magic branding" is a bad thing. It certainly seems like it's working from a business standpoint. You have to admit there's also a certain comfort to knowing certain broad types of deck will probably be supported by each set -- you can alwayscount on there being undercosted white weenies, solid red burn, black discard and creature destruction effects, blue counters, etc.
I agree that Magic has lost some of its weird charm in the attempted transition to a mass market game. But when 1,000 people show up at a Regionals, or 1,500 show up at a foreignGrand Prix, you can hardly fault them for doing things this way. But I do see what you mean and to some extent agree.
BUT (usually a code word for "ignore everything I've said up to this point, because I'm about to be a total ass")
I strongly disagree that this isn't a labor of love for Mark Rosewater (who didn't even head up R&D until recently). If you have ever met Mark Rosewater, I challenge you to tell me with a straight face that the man does not love Magic. He does not have free reign to do whatever he wants. No Magic developer does ... they have to deal with Branding and their pie charts, etc.
All that said, your bit was well-written. I just get a little squirrelly when it seems like what I consider the neatest game on earth is getting constantly bashed, and I think WotC does make a good faith effort to keep everyone as happy as possible under the circumstances.
Haven't met Mr. Rosewater, and all I know about him I deduce from his weekly articles. If you know more about him than I do, I'll trust you on his personal assessment. BUT Mark Rosewater did not participate in either the design or development of BoK. (The design was done by Mike Elliot and Randy Beuhler, and the development .. well, you know who did the development, just read the initial post).
Other than 'being the head of R&D' MaRo didn't have direct involvement in the set, which is probably the reason why too many cards in BoK have this "Hmm, haven't I seen this before with a different manacost" feel. Maybe things would have been different had he been on the design team.
Anyway, BoK, as a whole, is an okay set, and I'm sure I will crack a draft booster or two or ten of it in the near future. And Magic is definitely not dying.
No worries, man.
Machius proudly supports R_E's right to Rumour!
Edit: I think I may just be Dislexic(?) that or I just can't spell.
Currently Running
Legacy: Burn; Various Stompy's; Food Chain Goblins; FC Elves
Standard: Junk Super Friends, Elf-Wave
Elder Dragon Highlander: Animar, Skithiryx, Bosh, Konda, Wort, Ezuri, Patron of the Moon
btw i have a japaneese foil dripping dead autographed by Richard garfield, Randy and a few other R&D guys stupid sloppy sigs dont remember their names =( that has got to be worth some big $$$
"Everybody belongs to everybody else"
Aldous Huxley
And by the way, I really think this set is shaping up good. If we look back at the last years, the 2nd expansion is either the lamest (think Planeshift and Legions) or the most broken (Torment and Darksteel, methinks..., even Nemesis was broken when compared with the rest of the cycle). They usually don't give us a choice about it, it's either a home run or a foul.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
BTW: Do you guys really want to rock design? I humbly suggest to bring back the design team for Alliances, that is, Skaff Elias and Jim Lin (mentioned in the Shining Shoal preview). I believe alliances was one of the most creative and fun sets to play ever.
And yes, I hope magic will keep on dying for another 30 years or so.
"When you show up to the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease, you'll be asked to choose a faction: Mirran, Phyrexian, or Jaded A-Hole" Aaron Forsythe, on Twitter
Everything changes, nothing remains without a change - Buddha
Magic Rules Advisor
There is no hullaballoo. Just an insight into the decision-making process of professional cardmakers, and an attempt to explain WHY there are so many functional reprinting in the set.
If you have any other explanation as to the amount of reprints, I'd love to hear it. But I do hope it's a sound one and the words "For the health of the game" are not part of it. If they are, I'm gonna take offense, because, let's face it, I'm the one making all the jokes on this thread.
The good thing is that relatively "new comers" for the game like me have a chance at having sets of Quash and its cousins -which I quite like-, but the bad thing is that we're still paying 4,50 for playing the same ol' cardboard.
If your idea was to say that these guys -as far as BoK goes- are, to put it somehow, slightly overpayed, then I must agree with you.
Let's just hope that the 3rd expansion is a bit more creative and a bit less of a, uh, homage.
"When you show up to the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease, you'll be asked to choose a faction: Mirran, Phyrexian, or Jaded A-Hole" Aaron Forsythe, on Twitter
Everything changes, nothing remains without a change - Buddha
Magic Rules Advisor
I thought it was a excellent!
Funny,and great job in pointing out flaws in the way magic now produces cards.
The fact that they say they are going to do a lot of reprints doenst excuse them for lack of imagnation.
I think they are clearly running out of ideas,and I am going to buy less of this set just for that reason.
It still depends on the basic frame...a Disenchant variant is still probably going to be playable. Teardrop Kami isn't much, but you can at least compare the sac ability to Sandbar Merfolk's cycling, or if you can flip Student of Elements etc.