What would you think about having a Paper MTG Senior Division at certain events where there would be an age minimum to play? It could be 40, 45, 50 or 55 and up or something to that effect? This would not occur but at a small handful of organized events and any payouts/prizes would be lesser as to the regular open formats.
A couple of things to maybe include in your response. Age (or and age range if so inclined) of yourself to give perspective on your post. I'll start I'm 47 (48 next month). Obstacles or drawbacks you may face if you are an older player. And if maybe you would be tempted to join in a Senior League event where you might not in an open field.
Let me state I'm all for inclusiveness in MTG. Yet I don't see why there couldn't be small, irregular events open to say "Seniors" or Women or even Teen division groups as well. I'd be all for an 18 and under division, or a Women's only division.
One of the reasons I bring it up is as I age there are certain life events that do tend to make hard core tournament play more challenging. Hearing and vision worsens, things like arthritis can slow shuffling and game play, even the act of sitting for 8 to 10 hours with certain medical conditions can be a challenge. Many of us have careers and families to attend to as well. A "Seniors" division could possibly shorten the number of rounds of play, or holding overall time to a morning or afternoon which would be easier to attend over say two 10 hour days. Those with families and children of their own will know what I'm talking about.
Again, its just a thought and I'd like to know what others in my cohort think on this. Would you be enticed to attend a GP or SCG Open if they had a half day Seniors tourney geared toward our life schedules? Whether it would make Wizards or tourney sponsors any more money would be the big deciding factor I'm sure.
Lastly, this is nothing against younger players. I enjoy playing games with my son and other players far younger than myself. But I admit sometimes I feel out of place being 20 plus years older than anyone else around the table. There is precedence for Seniors leagues and divisions in other activities and sports as well. This wouldn't be to supplant the regular structure of MTG tourneys, just open it up a bit to be more accommodating.
Thoughts?
PS: Don't say there already is a division for older players, its called Vintage or Legacy. When you are paying bills, mortgages, loans, feeding and clothing and health care for your entire family a $20,000 Vintage or even $3,000 Legacy deck may very well be like asking for a spare kidney.
PPS: Again please include your age if you can, much appreciated.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I think that on paper (on screen, whatever) this sounds like a good idea.
However, I think Magic is currently in a particularly sensitive position where both the community and the company needs to take care of some internal housekeeping before anything-only "leagues" should ever be considered.
In addition, I doubt WotC, or most organizers in general, would really care. The Beta Draft is proof enough what WotC really thinks of the community. A bunch of doddering old fools spending a weekend pence on Standard is going to be pretty low on the G.A.S. meter.
Another thing to mention, catering to an older crowd that does have more disposable money, (theoretically) and is in more of their prime earning years could be interesting to some.
Personally, I'm thinking of a 40 and up division and this would be on a limited format basis as well, Maybe something like Draft, Standard, Modern and Pauper. Like many electronic/CCG games I doubt there is a lot of playership of paper Magic at the 60 plus year old level. Although I know there are a small handful out there. But I do think there are quite a few players in their 40s and 50s that started back in the 93/94 era and would still like to play today but find it odd to be competing/playing with players their children's or even grandchildren's age.
Whether or not WotC wants that image, I can't be sure. But again I'll go back to money. Who would have more money to spend on the game, a 50 year old professional white collar player pulling in 80K a year or the 13 year old who has a paper route? Of course they would want the longevity of that younger player over time. Buying for several decades, but we all get older and then what? There is an old adage. You can sell young person's car to an older person but you can't sell an older person's car to a younger person. Or something to that effect.
I do think the company needs to be in a better position than they are in. But I think age disparity is something real in this game. There is a reason a lot of sports and activities have Senior leagues only and they function quite well.
PS: This wouldn't preclude a senior player from competing in the regular events as well unless they were run concurrently. I am in no way advocating for separation based on age. More of from a competitive and personal/physical playership due to age and life position as an additional category to cater to the older player. (And their money)
Magic's a good game for socializing,
Thanks for sharing that and I wanted to highlight it. Socializing within your cohort is far easier than socializing outside your cohort. Older players sometimes get that, "weird old man/woman" tag or "creepy p-phile" tag when there is nothing more than just wanting to play a game. I have a hard time relating to players in their teens on issues outside of the game and teens do vice versa. Just something that as an older player I experience. But thanks for sharing.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Seniors-only... I'm guessing that's a working title, since I bet some people would see a sign for that at their LGS and imagine a retirement home in there (I'm only half-kidding). But honestly, whatever we'd call it, it's not a bad idea, though I can imagine different and simpler reasons for it. Mainly, a 40 and up crowd wouldn't have to deal with obnoxious teenagers or middle schoolers, and they'd have more to talk about between matches or even during. I certainly chat more with gamers my age about stuff like computer games and college and just being a Millennial in general, and for the older players, I simply leave them alone, because I doubt they'd be interested and I imagine that they have plenty on their mind like family and career stuff. I suppose if an area has enough middle-aged players, they might appreciate a weekly tournament where, well, they can be middle-aged breadwinners and family men together. (I'm imagining an all-male crowd; most of the few girls I've seen who play are around my age or a bit younger). I, for one, would feel weird playing in a tourney where everyone is 10 or 12! I imagine something similar for middle-aged players surrounded by college-age people. At my old LGS in Kansas City, there was a big crowd for FNM. About half the attendees were 20-somethings like me, and most others were tweens or as young as 8 or so. There was one older man around 55 or 60 and I was polite to him when we played but otherwise didn't chat with him, for reasons I listed above. I didn't talk with the kids, either. Only players around my age.
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EDH/Commander
UBR Sedris RG Omnath, Locus of Rage UB The Scarab God RUG Maelstrom Wanderer WU Dragonlord Ojutai
I like the idea mostly because unfortunately, older players even so much as entering their mid 30s don't always have the time to do the constant grinding that the late teen and early adult players end up engaging in. Something about the late teens and early adults leads them to highly competitive E-sport level play that is alien to me. I know I'm a bit of a spike, but I don't grind nearly enough to be on the level they are often at.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I think you misunderstood me when I said they would spend a weekend pence on Magic. I was simply referring to the money one spends on entry fees, not on cards.
But since we broached the subject. I'm not entirely sure someone with 80k+ a year would spend more on Magic for playing as opposed to a kid and his paper route. It's true, I spend more on Magic now as an "engineer" than I did 25 years ago working a crap job at Taco Bell. There is a huge difference where my money goes now however. I don't buy anywhere near as much sealed product as I did 25 years ago. Instead, a much higher percentage of my Magic budget goes towards buying singles, specifically Legacy playables. I guesstimate a rough difference of 60/30 with the last 10-15% going towards support materials like sleeves, entry fees, etc, etc.
In essence, for every $1 I spend on Magic related product, WotC would be lucky to see about 30 cents from that. Based on retail prices of packs of course, obviously WotC sees much less than that depending on what LGSes pay.
Conversely, 25 years ago when I was young and dumb, I only bought penny sleeves for my decks (no other option). Paper cardboard boxes. No mats. I reused dice from Monopoly or whatever I had on hand and I think I stole my bag of counters from school or something. My budgets was much lower but far far more of it went to packs and boxes. Maybe 90%? Can't remember what I paid for on many of the singles at the time. Definitely not more than $50 to get the complete Dark set.
I bought multiple boxes of every set from eerr.. Ice Age I guess to Tempest I think. I bought at least one box of other sets like Chronicles and Fallen Empires and packs of many others still. All of this while working garbage jobs.
My point? I'm not entirely sure older players in their 40's or higher have the spending patterns WotC really is looking for. I'm pretty sure I don't anyways.
I spent approximately $100 on a Dominaria box and entirely skipped buying packs for Amonkhet and Ixalan block, opting to buy Standard and mostly Legacy singles instead. I swung in for a box of Core 2019. $100. I'm not sure I'll buy a box of the RtRtR sets. Meanwhile, I see my 20-something peers easily dumping $100-$300 into packs/boxes of each of those sets. I know this (in my circle at least) because I sit there and watch them do it at FNM.
Is my observation on the spending habits of players definitive? Probably not. I'm just offering my observation as food for thought.
If you're older, look at where your Magic money goes. How much of it actually goes to WotC and how much of it is third party?
Again, I seriously don't think it's a bad idea at all. I just think WotC, and the community as a whole, needs to clean house before it becomes viable.
So you're wanting Wizards of the Coast to implement age divisions for sanctioned events in Magic similar to what TPCi does for Pokémon TCG with the Junior, Senior, and Masters divisions? Sounds like a pretty good idea actually. My main concern however is how they'll name each of the age divisions in a way that gets the community triggered for no reason whatsoever. I still remember the backlash from how the company changed the philosophy of the game to associate players from Wizards to Planeswalkers when they were first introduced in Lorwyn.
Nowadays nobody is bothered by it that much since Planeswalkers have become the norm for Magic and have been the norm story wise since Invasion block in 2000. It was only when they became their own card type that players started to care more about the source material even though it was never really the game's strong suit. We live in an age now where Trading Card Games/Collectible Card Games won't sell unless the gameplay mechanics match up with the source material, Magic was released in an era where it wasn't that much of a requirement when the genre was still relatively new at the time.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Thanks for all the feedback so far. I again wanted to highlight a few thoughts that have been shared.
Mainly, a 40 and up crowd wouldn't have to deal with obnoxious teenagers or middle schoolers, and they'd have more to talk about between matches or even during. I certainly chat more with gamers my age about stuff like computer games and college and just being a Millennial in general, and for the older players, I simply leave them alone, because I doubt they'd be interested and I imagine that they have plenty on their mind like family and career stuff. I suppose if an area has enough middle-aged players, they might appreciate a weekly tournament where, well, they can be middle-aged breadwinners and family men together. (I'm imagining an all-male crowd; most of the few girls I've seen who play are around my age or a bit younger). I, for one, would feel weird playing in a tourney where everyone is 10 or 12! I imagine something similar for middle-aged players surrounded by college-age people.
I can't stress this one enough. As a soon to be 48 year old, it is extremely awkward to sit down and play a game with teenagers or even players in their early 20s. What you described is exactly what happens most of the time. Teen and youth can reasonably expect to be surrounded by their cohort when they attend a FNM or many competitive events. Off topic but I'm sure that is what a lot of females feel as well as they attend events, but if they are of similar age they will have things to talk about with their own cohort at least. I'd be willing to bet that is the single largest hurdle that keeps 40 plus players away from events.
older players even so much as entering their mid 30s don't always have the time to do the constant grinding that the late teen and early adult players end up engaging in.
Family and responsibility dictate that of course. And is why any Senior tourney needs to be shorter/less rounds/less time that regular events to accommodate an older adults schedule. I don't do MTGO but I imagine there are loads of 40+ players there that grind on their own time, nights and weekends that can't do paper tourney times.
My point? I'm not entirely sure older players in their 40's or higher have the spending patterns WotC really is looking for.
Maybe not, but a little catering to a group that has far more potential money to spend would not be a bad thing.
So you're wanting Wizards of the Coast to implement age divisions for sanctioned events in Magic similar to what TPCi does for Pokémon TCG with the Junior, Senior, and Masters divisions? Sounds like a pretty good idea actually. My main concern however is how they'll name each of the age divisions in a way that gets the community triggered for no reason whatsoever.
Something along those lines and on a trial basis at first. Maybe start with "Senior" event first, then "Youth", "Womens" or whatever. I don't mind being called Senior as that is exactly what I am. I am a Senior player that has been playing longer than a huge chunk of the playership has been alive. I don't think my cohort would mind that label. But it could be called Seasoned/Experienced or something to that effect. They can call us the Fossil division for all I care. Creating an environment where we can interact with similar aged players would be worth it to me for sure.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Something along those lines and on a trial basis at first. Maybe start with "Senior" event first, then "Youth", "Womens" or whatever. I don't mind being called Senior as that is exactly what I am. I am a Senior player that has been playing longer than a huge chunk of the playership has been alive. I don't think my cohort would mind that label. But it could be called Seasoned/Experienced or something to that effect. They can call us the Fossil division for all I care. Creating an environment where we can interact with similar aged players would be worth it to me for sure.
As long as this only applies to competitive and not casual environments then I don't have much of a problem with this. In a format like EDH/Commander it's hard enough as it is to get together a 4 player pod based around similar age groups let alone a 6 player pod which would take forever depending how late said LGS will be open. Unfortunately Pokémon TCG doesn't have that sort of luxury when it's mostly driven by competitive players than casual, same with Yu-Gi-Oh! and Cardfight!! Vanguard for example.
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America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Yes, its definitely geared toward competitive. Casual was is and always will be just that, casual.
Maybe WotC will give something a trial run someday if they get their house in order. If not, maybe SCG or CF could offer a trial at an event they run/support. In business they say it costs 10X as much to hook a new customer as it does to retain an existing customer. Why not keep players playing and buying past their 20s/30s and try to grow the base at the same time rather than burn through customers, then try to find younger customers to replace them.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
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A couple of things to maybe include in your response. Age (or and age range if so inclined) of yourself to give perspective on your post. I'll start I'm 47 (48 next month). Obstacles or drawbacks you may face if you are an older player. And if maybe you would be tempted to join in a Senior League event where you might not in an open field.
Let me state I'm all for inclusiveness in MTG. Yet I don't see why there couldn't be small, irregular events open to say "Seniors" or Women or even Teen division groups as well. I'd be all for an 18 and under division, or a Women's only division.
One of the reasons I bring it up is as I age there are certain life events that do tend to make hard core tournament play more challenging. Hearing and vision worsens, things like arthritis can slow shuffling and game play, even the act of sitting for 8 to 10 hours with certain medical conditions can be a challenge. Many of us have careers and families to attend to as well. A "Seniors" division could possibly shorten the number of rounds of play, or holding overall time to a morning or afternoon which would be easier to attend over say two 10 hour days. Those with families and children of their own will know what I'm talking about.
Again, its just a thought and I'd like to know what others in my cohort think on this. Would you be enticed to attend a GP or SCG Open if they had a half day Seniors tourney geared toward our life schedules? Whether it would make Wizards or tourney sponsors any more money would be the big deciding factor I'm sure.
Lastly, this is nothing against younger players. I enjoy playing games with my son and other players far younger than myself. But I admit sometimes I feel out of place being 20 plus years older than anyone else around the table. There is precedence for Seniors leagues and divisions in other activities and sports as well. This wouldn't be to supplant the regular structure of MTG tourneys, just open it up a bit to be more accommodating.
Thoughts?
PS: Don't say there already is a division for older players, its called Vintage or Legacy. When you are paying bills, mortgages, loans, feeding and clothing and health care for your entire family a $20,000 Vintage or even $3,000 Legacy deck may very well be like asking for a spare kidney.
PPS: Again please include your age if you can, much appreciated.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Um....
I think that on paper (on screen, whatever) this sounds like a good idea.
However, I think Magic is currently in a particularly sensitive position where both the community and the company needs to take care of some internal housekeeping before anything-only "leagues" should ever be considered.
In addition, I doubt WotC, or most organizers in general, would really care. The Beta Draft is proof enough what WotC really thinks of the community. A bunch of doddering old fools spending a weekend pence on Standard is going to be pretty low on the G.A.S. meter.
Art is life itself.
Personally, I'm thinking of a 40 and up division and this would be on a limited format basis as well, Maybe something like Draft, Standard, Modern and Pauper. Like many electronic/CCG games I doubt there is a lot of playership of paper Magic at the 60 plus year old level. Although I know there are a small handful out there. But I do think there are quite a few players in their 40s and 50s that started back in the 93/94 era and would still like to play today but find it odd to be competing/playing with players their children's or even grandchildren's age.
Whether or not WotC wants that image, I can't be sure. But again I'll go back to money. Who would have more money to spend on the game, a 50 year old professional white collar player pulling in 80K a year or the 13 year old who has a paper route? Of course they would want the longevity of that younger player over time. Buying for several decades, but we all get older and then what? There is an old adage. You can sell young person's car to an older person but you can't sell an older person's car to a younger person. Or something to that effect.
I do think the company needs to be in a better position than they are in. But I think age disparity is something real in this game. There is a reason a lot of sports and activities have Senior leagues only and they function quite well.
PS: This wouldn't preclude a senior player from competing in the regular events as well unless they were run concurrently. I am in no way advocating for separation based on age. More of from a competitive and personal/physical playership due to age and life position as an additional category to cater to the older player. (And their money)
Thanks for sharing that and I wanted to highlight it. Socializing within your cohort is far easier than socializing outside your cohort. Older players sometimes get that, "weird old man/woman" tag or "creepy p-phile" tag when there is nothing more than just wanting to play a game. I have a hard time relating to players in their teens on issues outside of the game and teens do vice versa. Just something that as an older player I experience. But thanks for sharing.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Seniors-only... I'm guessing that's a working title, since I bet some people would see a sign for that at their LGS and imagine a retirement home in there (I'm only half-kidding). But honestly, whatever we'd call it, it's not a bad idea, though I can imagine different and simpler reasons for it. Mainly, a 40 and up crowd wouldn't have to deal with obnoxious teenagers or middle schoolers, and they'd have more to talk about between matches or even during. I certainly chat more with gamers my age about stuff like computer games and college and just being a Millennial in general, and for the older players, I simply leave them alone, because I doubt they'd be interested and I imagine that they have plenty on their mind like family and career stuff. I suppose if an area has enough middle-aged players, they might appreciate a weekly tournament where, well, they can be middle-aged breadwinners and family men together. (I'm imagining an all-male crowd; most of the few girls I've seen who play are around my age or a bit younger). I, for one, would feel weird playing in a tourney where everyone is 10 or 12! I imagine something similar for middle-aged players surrounded by college-age people. At my old LGS in Kansas City, there was a big crowd for FNM. About half the attendees were 20-somethings like me, and most others were tweens or as young as 8 or so. There was one older man around 55 or 60 and I was polite to him when we played but otherwise didn't chat with him, for reasons I listed above. I didn't talk with the kids, either. Only players around my age.
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
But since we broached the subject. I'm not entirely sure someone with 80k+ a year would spend more on Magic for playing as opposed to a kid and his paper route. It's true, I spend more on Magic now as an "engineer" than I did 25 years ago working a crap job at Taco Bell. There is a huge difference where my money goes now however. I don't buy anywhere near as much sealed product as I did 25 years ago. Instead, a much higher percentage of my Magic budget goes towards buying singles, specifically Legacy playables. I guesstimate a rough difference of 60/30 with the last 10-15% going towards support materials like sleeves, entry fees, etc, etc.
In essence, for every $1 I spend on Magic related product, WotC would be lucky to see about 30 cents from that. Based on retail prices of packs of course, obviously WotC sees much less than that depending on what LGSes pay.
Conversely, 25 years ago when I was young and dumb, I only bought penny sleeves for my decks (no other option). Paper cardboard boxes. No mats. I reused dice from Monopoly or whatever I had on hand and I think I stole my bag of counters from school or something. My budgets was much lower but far far more of it went to packs and boxes. Maybe 90%? Can't remember what I paid for on many of the singles at the time. Definitely not more than $50 to get the complete Dark set.
I bought multiple boxes of every set from eerr.. Ice Age I guess to Tempest I think. I bought at least one box of other sets like Chronicles and Fallen Empires and packs of many others still. All of this while working garbage jobs.
My point? I'm not entirely sure older players in their 40's or higher have the spending patterns WotC really is looking for. I'm pretty sure I don't anyways.
I spent approximately $100 on a Dominaria box and entirely skipped buying packs for Amonkhet and Ixalan block, opting to buy Standard and mostly Legacy singles instead. I swung in for a box of Core 2019. $100. I'm not sure I'll buy a box of the RtRtR sets. Meanwhile, I see my 20-something peers easily dumping $100-$300 into packs/boxes of each of those sets. I know this (in my circle at least) because I sit there and watch them do it at FNM.
Is my observation on the spending habits of players definitive? Probably not. I'm just offering my observation as food for thought.
If you're older, look at where your Magic money goes. How much of it actually goes to WotC and how much of it is third party?
Again, I seriously don't think it's a bad idea at all. I just think WotC, and the community as a whole, needs to clean house before it becomes viable.
Nowadays nobody is bothered by it that much since Planeswalkers have become the norm for Magic and have been the norm story wise since Invasion block in 2000. It was only when they became their own card type that players started to care more about the source material even though it was never really the game's strong suit. We live in an age now where Trading Card Games/Collectible Card Games won't sell unless the gameplay mechanics match up with the source material, Magic was released in an era where it wasn't that much of a requirement when the genre was still relatively new at the time.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I can't stress this one enough. As a soon to be 48 year old, it is extremely awkward to sit down and play a game with teenagers or even players in their early 20s. What you described is exactly what happens most of the time. Teen and youth can reasonably expect to be surrounded by their cohort when they attend a FNM or many competitive events. Off topic but I'm sure that is what a lot of females feel as well as they attend events, but if they are of similar age they will have things to talk about with their own cohort at least. I'd be willing to bet that is the single largest hurdle that keeps 40 plus players away from events.
Family and responsibility dictate that of course. And is why any Senior tourney needs to be shorter/less rounds/less time that regular events to accommodate an older adults schedule. I don't do MTGO but I imagine there are loads of 40+ players there that grind on their own time, nights and weekends that can't do paper tourney times.
Maybe not, but a little catering to a group that has far more potential money to spend would not be a bad thing.
Something along those lines and on a trial basis at first. Maybe start with "Senior" event first, then "Youth", "Womens" or whatever. I don't mind being called Senior as that is exactly what I am. I am a Senior player that has been playing longer than a huge chunk of the playership has been alive. I don't think my cohort would mind that label. But it could be called Seasoned/Experienced or something to that effect. They can call us the Fossil division for all I care. Creating an environment where we can interact with similar aged players would be worth it to me for sure.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Maybe WotC will give something a trial run someday if they get their house in order. If not, maybe SCG or CF could offer a trial at an event they run/support. In business they say it costs 10X as much to hook a new customer as it does to retain an existing customer. Why not keep players playing and buying past their 20s/30s and try to grow the base at the same time rather than burn through customers, then try to find younger customers to replace them.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."