Yesterday, I was at GP Baltimore, and I had scrubbed out pretty early. I spent a large portion of the day trading, and I was looking for some hard-to-find cards. There was one card that I was looking for that I probably talked to well over a hundred people trying to find, and I had ended up asking a few pros along the way. There were two in particular who were pretty rude to me, as far as I was concerned.
I'm not going to name names, because I don't want this to accidentally snowball into some sort of stink. But I was just wondering if anyone else had any experiences with pros who were kind of nasty.
In one encounter, when I walked up to him, while he was clearly just shooting the breeze with someone else, not actually talking about anything that sounded important, he didn't even move his head when I spoke up. He obviously saw me, because he turned his eyes around to me, looked for a couple of seconds, and then turned his eyes back, almost as if he was trying to ignore me. When I spoke up again, he did exactly the same thing again, and it was obvious that he knew I was there, but was trying to ignore me.
In the other encounter, when I walked up to another pro asking for trades, again, while he was just chatting with his buddies, he turned to me, looked for a couple of seconds, sneered at me, and turned back around to talk to his friends.
I was pretty disenchanted by this experience. I had always heard that the pros tend to be more laid back, because they're already at the top and have nothing to prove. This was kind of depressing though. Seriously, just because someone is good at a card game doesn't give him or her the right to be a complete jerk.
Well the only I would suggest is dont ask for trades. I know most all the pros are willing to sign mats, cards, etc but to ask for trades from people who typically do not even own the cards is not smart in my opinion. I know most of them use the card pool from Channelfireball or Starcitygames. I have worked for SCG many of times now and every time their "pros" just come up and ask for cards to use and they give a list and I have to pull out said cards from the inventory.
Seriously, just because someone is good at a card game doesn't give him or her the right to be a complete jerk.
So.. they were being rude to you, and you put the blame squarely on them being rude because they think they're better than you? Did they say "go away noob?" or something to that effect?
Seriously, don't be too quick to assign blame.
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Yesterday, I was at GP Baltimore, and I had scrubbed out pretty early. I spent a large portion of the day trading, and I was looking for some hard-to-find cards. There was one card that I was looking for that I probably talked to well over a hundred people trying to find, and I had ended up asking a few pros along the way. There were two in particular who were pretty rude to me, as far as I was concerned.
I'm not going to name names, because I don't want this to accidentally snowball into some sort of stink. But I was just wondering if anyone else had any experiences with pros who were kind of nasty.
In one encounter, when I walked up to him, while he was clearly just shooting the breeze with someone else, not actually talking about anything that sounded important, he didn't even move his head when I spoke up. He obviously saw me, because he turned his eyes around to me, looked for a couple of seconds, and then turned his eyes back, almost as if he was trying to ignore me. When I spoke up again, he did exactly the same thing again, and it was obvious that he knew I was there, but was trying to ignore me.
In the other encounter, when I walked up to another pro asking for trades, again, while he was just chatting with his buddies, he turned to me, looked for a couple of seconds, sneered at me, and turned back around to talk to his friends.
I was pretty disenchanted by this experience. I had always heard that the pros tend to be more laid back, because they're already at the top and have nothing to prove. This was kind of depressing though. Seriously, just because someone is good at a card game doesn't give him or her the right to be a complete jerk.
You were asking people for trades who aren't going to be carrying cards on them, who are in the middle of a competitive event, and who don't need to trade for anything. Walking up and saying "hi, im a big fan" is going to provide a much different reaction.
You do realize pros don't usually bring trade stock to a gp, certainly not when they are playing. So someone they don't know comes up to them asking for trades when they are otherwise occupied might be seen as rude on your part. I'm not gonna try and justify their responses but look at if from their side before you are so rash to judge them. Perhaps if you'd just tried to start up a conversation with them when they weren't talking you might have gotten a diffrent response. I'm no pro but I do go to a lot of gps and play seriously. If you had asked me like that I would have been annoyed and said " sorry but I don't have my trade stuff with me" on a good day and "do you see a trade binder?" on a bad one.
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I'm going to have to side with the OP on this one. Just because you are good at a card game does not make you a celebrity. It certainly does not give you the right to be rude to other people.
Furthermore, do you seriously expect me to believe that pro players do not trade? They have all the cards they need for every single format that they play? Highly unlikely. Trading is part of the game... that's why it's called a trading card game.
These are also the people that are supposed to be representing this game... and if they're rude to people, it makes a bad impression on all magic players.
I believe that I have enough social competence to slip into a party or two, potentially wooing some attractive females that would not mind spending the evening performing the booty dance on me.
I'm going to have to side with the OP on this one. Just because you are good at a card game does not make you a celebrity. It certainly does not give you the right to be rude to other people.
Furthermore, do you seriously expect me to believe that pro players do not trade? They have all the cards they need for every single format that they play? Highly unlikely. Trading is part of the game... that's why it's called a trading card game.
These are also the people that are supposed to be representing this game... and if they're rude to people, it makes a bad impression on all magic players.
Pro players do not trade because they do not have to trade.
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Wow, I can't believe that some people are actually siding with these rude individuals that are regarded as "pros". It seems that a lot of people are regarding these people as celebrities and flock like sheep to their side. The point is these two individuals are undeniably rude to the op and its just unbelievable that some people are finding it justifiable.
Wow, I can't believe that some people are actually siding with these rude individuals that are regarded as "pros." It seems that a lot of people are regarding these people as celebrities and flock like sheep to their side. The point is these two individuals are undeniably rude to the op and its just unbelievable that some people are finding it justifiable.
Why take either side? Were you there? Did you see what happened?
Wow, I can't believe that some people are actually siding with these rude individuals that are regarded as "pros". It seems that a lot of people are regarding these people as celebrities and flock like sheep to their side. The point is these two individuals are undeniably rude to the op and its just unbelievable that some people are finding it justifiable.
Did you not read the part where he interrupted conversations both times?
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EDH GEzuri, Elf OverrunG BGeth, GraverobberB UThada Adel, ThiefU RUrabrask, Big RedR WElesh Norn, CrusadeW WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Did you not read the part where he interrupted conversations both times?
So two wrongs make a right? Walking up to someone and saying "excuse me, do you have xx for trade?" is rude and should be responded to with an even ruder remark?
In one encounter, when I walked up to him, while he was clearly just shooting the breeze with someone else, not actually talking about anything that sounded important, he didn't even move his head when I spoke up.
That's a pretty poor attitude to have when wanting to interrupt a stranger's conversation, simply assuming what they're talking about isn't important.
Just as easily, those pros could be posting on the internet about some stranger at the GP who interrupted their conversation in order to trade.
Remember, just because you know who the pros are doesn't mean they know who you are. You are a stranger to them, so be polite and wait for them to be done talking with their friends.
Ah yes, and pros don't trade really, etc. as mentioned in prior posts.
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So two wrongs make a right? Walking up to someone and saying "excuse me, do you have xx for trade?" is rude and should be responded to with an even ruder remark?
What you said doesn't even make sense and really doesn't support either argument at hand. The op is in a public and socially active setting. He approached two people to trade because you know... MTG is a trading card game. In tournament settings, I get "interrupted" during conversations all the time to trade. Do I turn around and sneer at the person? No, I do the polite and courteous thing and say "Hold on for a sec, I'll be right with you." Now, if the OP is interrupting said individuals when they are in a match, it'll be a different story.
I'm going to have to side with the OP on this one. Just because you are good at a card game does not make you a celebrity. It certainly does not give you the right to be rude to other people.
Furthermore, do you seriously expect me to believe that pro players do not trade? They have all the cards they need for every single format that they play? Highly unlikely. Trading is part of the game... that's why it's called a trading card game.
These are also the people that are supposed to be representing this game... and if they're rude to people, it makes a bad impression on all magic players.
They most certainly have all the cards they need for every format. The Channelfireball crew uses the stores cardpool which I can guarantee is HUGE. I worked for SCG and they most certainly had 12-15 Alpha-Beta Black Lotus' and cases after cases of Alpha-Beta Dual lands so yes I do believe that they have all they will ever need.
I have no comment on the story in the original post, as I don't have enough information to make a meaningful one.
It does occur to me, though, that some people in a Community Issues thread a couple of weeks ago were complaining that Salvation is anti-pro player. Based on this thread and threads like this, I'm not sure why.
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Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching.
This is clearly yet another case of Magic players lacking basic social skills, on both sides of the equation. On one side you have someone so blinded by their pursuit of a piece of cardboard, that not only will they approach random strangers they don't know, they'll also do it without any proper greeting, etc. and then get offended when that person responds poorly.
On the other end, you have these supposed "pros" who probably don't have a lot going for them in other areas in life, so they try to make themselves feel special by being rude to random strangers. It doesn't take much effort to give a polite response. There is no possible scenario I could see where you should feel justified in sneering at a complete stranger, unless that person has done something to gravely offend you.
They most certainly have all the cards they need for every format. The Channelfireball crew uses the stores cardpool which I can guarantee is HUGE. I worked for SCG and they most certainly had 12-15 Alpha-Beta Black Lotus' and cases after cases of Alpha-Beta Dual lands so yes I do believe that they have all they will ever need.
Not all pros are sponsored, and furthermore, not all pros work for SCG or CFB. And even when it comes to the pros that are sponsored, I'm sure there are pros that are collectors in addition to players. I mean, who plays magic purely for making money? If you want to make a ton of money, magic is a poor career choice. It's a game. You don't play it professionally unless you really have fun playing the game, which means they must want special foil cards, foreign language cards, rarities, etc.
I believe that I have enough social competence to slip into a party or two, potentially wooing some attractive females that would not mind spending the evening performing the booty dance on me.
Not all pros are sponsored, and furthermore, not all pros work for SCG or CFB. And even when it comes to the pros that are sponsored, I'm sure there are pros that are collectors in addition to players. I mean, who plays magic purely for making money? If you want to make a ton of money, magic is a poor career choice. It's a game. You don't play it professionally unless you really have fun playing the game, which means they must want special foil cards, foreign language cards, rarities, etc.
That might be true, but most of the people who are at the GP to seriously compete in the main event, especially pros and semi-pros [even the ones who are not sponsored] probably didn't bring their trade-stuff with them at all. And if they did, it's probably either not at the convention center with them, or just not near them. I went to GP Austin with some friends who are floor traders/vendors, so they brought a big fat bag of binders of trade-stuff. They didn't carry it around with them while they were competing, though; they had me put it in the judge's booth area with my own bag so it was somewhere safe until they needed it. After one of them dropped out of the main event and was ready to start trading and hitting up the vendors, that's when they came and got the bag.
If you're at a GP to compete, would you bring along your bag and your binder and have one more high-value thing to have to tote around and keep track of on the off chance you'll get a chance to trade between rounds? Probably not. If you plan on hitting up vendors to sell some stuff, or hitting up traders, you plan to do it after the main event, or on day 2, or after you drop. Better to leave your bag in your car, or your hotel room, than to haul it around with you constantly.
Not all pros are sponsored, and furthermore, not all pros work for SCG or CFB. And even when it comes to the pros that are sponsored, I'm sure there are pros that are collectors in addition to players. I mean, who plays magic purely for making money? If you want to make a ton of money, magic is a poor career choice. It's a game. You don't play it professionally unless you really have fun playing the game, which means they must want special foil cards, foreign language cards, rarities, etc.
Doesn't change that interrupting their conversation is just plain rude. The bolded part is also wrong- I'm one of those PTQ grinders, and I don't bother with pimping decks at all. Why? Because it's an unecessary expense.
Doesn't change that interrupting their conversation is just plain rude. The bolded part is also wrong- I'm one of those PTQ grinders, and I don't bother with pimping decks at all. Why? Because it's an unecessary expense.
I avoid all foils because its a big hassle to make sure they arnt slightly bent from that goofy shining coating. I really have fun playing the game but why would that mean I would care about owning some nonsense "super special" piece of cardboard , when I could have actual useful money.
Pros dont often own cards, and many are sponsored and have a playset of everything in the format or access to it.
I avoid all foils because its a big hassle to make sure they arnt slightly bent from that goofy shining coating. I really have fun playing the game but why would that mean I would care about owning some nonsense "super special" piece of cardboard , when I could have actual useful money.
Pros dont often own cards, and many are sponsored and have a playset of everything in the format or access to it.
Yeah, I do as well for the same reason- I don't want to get a warning/game loss for having "marked cards".
I'm not going to name names, because I don't want this to accidentally snowball into some sort of stink. But I was just wondering if anyone else had any experiences with pros who were kind of nasty.
In one encounter, when I walked up to him, while he was clearly just shooting the breeze with someone else, not actually talking about anything that sounded important, he didn't even move his head when I spoke up. He obviously saw me, because he turned his eyes around to me, looked for a couple of seconds, and then turned his eyes back, almost as if he was trying to ignore me. When I spoke up again, he did exactly the same thing again, and it was obvious that he knew I was there, but was trying to ignore me.
In the other encounter, when I walked up to another pro asking for trades, again, while he was just chatting with his buddies, he turned to me, looked for a couple of seconds, sneered at me, and turned back around to talk to his friends.
I was pretty disenchanted by this experience. I had always heard that the pros tend to be more laid back, because they're already at the top and have nothing to prove. This was kind of depressing though. Seriously, just because someone is good at a card game doesn't give him or her the right to be a complete jerk.
Thanks to Rivenor for the awesome Signature!
Trades
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
Seriously, don't be too quick to assign blame.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
You were asking people for trades who aren't going to be carrying cards on them, who are in the middle of a competitive event, and who don't need to trade for anything. Walking up and saying "hi, im a big fan" is going to provide a much different reaction.
Current post- Grand Prix KC Modern Postmortem (7/7/13)
BEtched Champion/InfectB
WSoilders/knightsW
WUVenser SplicerWU
RRDWR
GFeed the Pack comboG
WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH
GEzuri, Elf OverrunG
BGeth, GraverobberB
UThada Adel, ThiefU
RUrabrask, Big RedR
WElesh Norn, CrusadeW
WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Extended
WGElvesWG
Legacy
RGoblinsR
UBGFariesUBG
UBGRaffinityUBG
Furthermore, do you seriously expect me to believe that pro players do not trade? They have all the cards they need for every single format that they play? Highly unlikely. Trading is part of the game... that's why it's called a trading card game.
These are also the people that are supposed to be representing this game... and if they're rude to people, it makes a bad impression on all magic players.
RUG Riku, Two is Better Than One
UB [PRIMER] Wrexial, Classic Control
RG Radha, Ramp's Theme Goes With Everything
Pro players do not trade because they do not have to trade.
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Why take either side? Were you there? Did you see what happened?
I would've thought it covered general good manners to acknowledge anyone speaking to you in a polite manner.
Doesn't take two minutes to say something along the lines of 'sorry, I don't have trades on me but thanks for asking.'
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Did you not read the part where he interrupted conversations both times?
BEtched Champion/InfectB
WSoilders/knightsW
WUVenser SplicerWU
RRDWR
GFeed the Pack comboG
WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH
GEzuri, Elf OverrunG
BGeth, GraverobberB
UThada Adel, ThiefU
RUrabrask, Big RedR
WElesh Norn, CrusadeW
WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Extended
WGElvesWG
Legacy
RGoblinsR
UBGFariesUBG
UBGRaffinityUBG
So two wrongs make a right? Walking up to someone and saying "excuse me, do you have xx for trade?" is rude and should be responded to with an even ruder remark?
I'm responding soley on what the op described. And from what he said, yes, I do take his side.
That's a pretty poor attitude to have when wanting to interrupt a stranger's conversation, simply assuming what they're talking about isn't important.
Just as easily, those pros could be posting on the internet about some stranger at the GP who interrupted their conversation in order to trade.
Remember, just because you know who the pros are doesn't mean they know who you are. You are a stranger to them, so be polite and wait for them to be done talking with their friends.
Ah yes, and pros don't trade really, etc. as mentioned in prior posts.
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So a wrong and a right make 2 rights?
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What you said doesn't even make sense and really doesn't support either argument at hand. The op is in a public and socially active setting. He approached two people to trade because you know... MTG is a trading card game. In tournament settings, I get "interrupted" during conversations all the time to trade. Do I turn around and sneer at the person? No, I do the polite and courteous thing and say "Hold on for a sec, I'll be right with you." Now, if the OP is interrupting said individuals when they are in a match, it'll be a different story.
They most certainly have all the cards they need for every format. The Channelfireball crew uses the stores cardpool which I can guarantee is HUGE. I worked for SCG and they most certainly had 12-15 Alpha-Beta Black Lotus' and cases after cases of Alpha-Beta Dual lands so yes I do believe that they have all they will ever need.
Thanks to Rivenor for the awesome Signature!
Trades
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
It does occur to me, though, that some people in a Community Issues thread a couple of weeks ago were complaining that Salvation is anti-pro player. Based on this thread and threads like this, I'm not sure why.
On the other end, you have these supposed "pros" who probably don't have a lot going for them in other areas in life, so they try to make themselves feel special by being rude to random strangers. It doesn't take much effort to give a polite response. There is no possible scenario I could see where you should feel justified in sneering at a complete stranger, unless that person has done something to gravely offend you.
Both sides are in the wrong here.
Not all pros are sponsored, and furthermore, not all pros work for SCG or CFB. And even when it comes to the pros that are sponsored, I'm sure there are pros that are collectors in addition to players. I mean, who plays magic purely for making money? If you want to make a ton of money, magic is a poor career choice. It's a game. You don't play it professionally unless you really have fun playing the game, which means they must want special foil cards, foreign language cards, rarities, etc.
RUG Riku, Two is Better Than One
UB [PRIMER] Wrexial, Classic Control
RG Radha, Ramp's Theme Goes With Everything
That might be true, but most of the people who are at the GP to seriously compete in the main event, especially pros and semi-pros [even the ones who are not sponsored] probably didn't bring their trade-stuff with them at all. And if they did, it's probably either not at the convention center with them, or just not near them. I went to GP Austin with some friends who are floor traders/vendors, so they brought a big fat bag of binders of trade-stuff. They didn't carry it around with them while they were competing, though; they had me put it in the judge's booth area with my own bag so it was somewhere safe until they needed it. After one of them dropped out of the main event and was ready to start trading and hitting up the vendors, that's when they came and got the bag.
If you're at a GP to compete, would you bring along your bag and your binder and have one more high-value thing to have to tote around and keep track of on the off chance you'll get a chance to trade between rounds? Probably not. If you plan on hitting up vendors to sell some stuff, or hitting up traders, you plan to do it after the main event, or on day 2, or after you drop. Better to leave your bag in your car, or your hotel room, than to haul it around with you constantly.
The latest Comprehensive Rules are also good, and can be found here.
Doesn't change that interrupting their conversation is just plain rude. The bolded part is also wrong- I'm one of those PTQ grinders, and I don't bother with pimping decks at all. Why? Because it's an unecessary expense.
Current post- Grand Prix KC Modern Postmortem (7/7/13)
I avoid all foils because its a big hassle to make sure they arnt slightly bent from that goofy shining coating. I really have fun playing the game but why would that mean I would care about owning some nonsense "super special" piece of cardboard , when I could have actual useful money.
Pros dont often own cards, and many are sponsored and have a playset of everything in the format or access to it.
Yeah, I do as well for the same reason- I don't want to get a warning/game loss for having "marked cards".
Current post- Grand Prix KC Modern Postmortem (7/7/13)