I'm finding it difficult to care about this war for Mirrodin. Frankly, right now it doesn't matter to me who dies or who lives. Personally, I would like the Phyrexians to win, but what bothers me more is this sense of apathy I have.
The reason is very simple.
Ever since they stopped publishing 3 books per arc, the block stories have become increasingly distant from us, the readers. We are introduced to all these new people and places, and we aren't given any time to care about them before the story closes. Right now, we have a rough idea of what's going on in Scars, but who cares right now about the Mirrans? Who cares about Ezuri, Kemba, Unctus or Roxith? So what if they all die horrible deaths, or if they all live happily ever after? They're just names with pretty art. We haven't seen them in any deeper roles that than the cardboard/web reports they're printed on.
This is supposed to be a dramatic, intense story here. These are the Phyrexians corrupting and destroying an entire world. Shouldn't we get more on that? Doesn't such an important story deserve more books to make us, you know, actually feel something? Field reports do not count as story and character development.
Doug said in an article a few weeks ago:
Working on the Scars of Mirrodin block has been one of the most emotionally affecting projects I've ever worked on. There's more to say about that later, but for now I'll say this. Letting yourself feel the true horror of war involves opening yourself to it. To create a war that has an element of truth to it, you have to welcome it into your soul, take its coat, and serve it tea. You can't just have your conscious mind shove around a few war clichés, because if you do, the result won't just be superficial; it'll be insulting. To write about war, you have to dip your subconscious in it. You have to give it complete access. Let it walk around in your dark places and leave its claw-marks everywhere. You have to fill your deepest inkwell with it, so that it can become part of you, so that you can call on it when the time comes. Thing is, once you've done that, it can be hard to get the stains out. I have these dreams.
Well, maybe he's feeling it, but I'm... not. I don't think many of us on the outside do. But I want to feel it. I want to experience that emotional impact. I want to experience this war in a deeper way than just looking at pictures and reading snippets of flavor text. I want to have those dreams.
Is anyone else feeling this way?
Because this block, more so than Zendikar, Alara, Lorwyn/Shadowmoor.... has some incredible potential as far as emotion, tragedy, and horror go. This should be THE big story since the Mending, and an even better one at that. But all that potential is being wasted.
And that is the real tragedy of this block.
That having been said, I commend Doug Beyer on his latest article. It was a step in the right direction.
Well, even Lorewyn/Shadowmoor books just felt less like a good story and more like a game of "how many cards can we shoehorn into these books?" It didn`t even feel subtlely done
I am enjoying the Planeswalker books; it feels like the authors chosen for those books are better at writing than those chosen for the block novels (Alara was just ok, and Zendikar was terrible).
^That's because the Planeswalker novels are about Planeswalkers. There are not about a particular setting and the driving issues of a particular world/race/culture.
Right now, Mirrodin is on the brink of war and its people are facing complete corruption/extermination. I get the feeling that we're supposed to be feeling something here.
Books would help.
I was just reflecting the other day that we really don't know much about what's going on in Mirrodin right now, and that the story details are sparse. I told myself, "It's okay, its still very early."
And then I thought, "But wait... the first set's already been released. By this point we should be immersed in this world and conflict, shouldn't we? That's how it was for all the blocks that had 3 novels. By the end of the first set, we used to have more to discuss, more theories to mull over, and more material to work with.
The Zendikar block only needed one book, since the first two sets didn't have s story -- they were more of an introduction to what was about to go down in ACT 3. They were purely setting-driven, as was the first set in the Alara Block.
But now we have a story. And we really have very little idea wtf is going on. It's gotten so bad that every time a tiny little field report is published, it actually feels like a huge ammount of new information.
MTG is more popular now than it's ever been. So why not use some of that money to churn out more story?
Dude, I completely agree. Like 110%. Thankfully, I have the Halo novels to tide me over. Magic/Halo are the two only I care about, but I am losing intrest in Magic.
Welcome to the actual view of a planeswalker. One filled with apathy.
"Eh so what if the Phyrexians take over, I will just plane hop to somewhere and not give a damn about this war. It's not like I have any strong ties to this plane like it being my HOME or anything."
Maybe the reason it maybe apathetic from their view is they don't have as strong ties to that world they are trying to defend. Sure Koth is defending his home yet that is one walker giving a true care.
From a legends view, it tends to get to be more interesting like from Kamahal's point of view.
Yes, I feel apathetic about the whole thing. I've been that way for ages. We don't see enough of a plane to care. Chances were that it would be better upon revisiting Mirrodin since we've already been here, but no. Everybody we knew is gone and that which we knew that remained has changed. I find it hard to give a damn about a plane where some dumb elf broad went all "OOH NATURE! I MUST PRESERVE IT!" and let out a bunch of interplanar cookie monsters. (Or would that be planar monsters?). Even when thinking of them as Flying Spaghetti Monster and Friends it doesn't help. And don't get me started on Shards of Blah-lara. Or or ...*mumbles*
Yes, I'm apathetic about the storyline. And thoroughly jaded.
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[I was permabanned and all I got to show for it was .... well, nothing.]
I don't actually feel apathetic, I actually feel kinda hopeless, like I'm so far behind it's pointless and everything is lost on me. I've been playing the game on and off since..well I started around judgment, but I didn't really get into the game around Mirrodin. Even then I never bothered with the story of the game (world, flavor, all that) until Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. I dropped this game altogether when RoE first came out, and with the release of this block I can't even bring myself to pick up the book that was released alongside it let alone some booster packs. I've never read the bro wars, or any of those other highly recommended books even though my friends have them. I know bits and pieces, and that felt like it was enough at the time, but not anymore. I just don't know any of the characters all that well to begin with, and the wiki just isn't enough anymore. I don't know. Maybe I'll go borrow the books when I come home for winter break, but it seems kind of daunting trying to catch up on a decade or 2 worth of flavor. All this along with all the usual complaints of course
I would like to make a topic asking what I've missed, but I don't think that'd be cool So you think this week's Savor the Flavor is enjoyable huh? I'll go check it out right now then ^^
I was just thinking something along these lines not too long ago.
Basically for me it boils down to the fact that we haven't explored any of the Mirran culture and I considered it a lazy and fairly sh*tastic move to bring the phyrexians back. I never liked the Phyrexians to begin with since I came in waaaay after Urza's story, and despite the fact that I read his epic, I wasn't particularly enthralled with the phyrexians even when they were the main motivators. Yawgmoth was dull, and the only being I felt worthy of interest from that story arc was Volrath.
I definitely agree with the OP. This whole idea is a cheesy marketing gimmick and it's basically impossible to harbor anything but idle curiosity, and that's only for the planeswalkers like Venser and Karn. What happens to the plane will undoubtedly cause a big yawn.
They are trying with other forms of media. Mirrans and Phyrexians gossiping on Facebook and their recruitment ads. I guess you might get some more if the explore Mirroden website worked for you (I just find it jerky, slow and too frustrating to navigate to bother).
I would have liked to see more story-oriented articles on the mothership. They had more for Zendikar which did a better job of fleshing out the world/conflict. More comics could also help flesh out the world as well, but we havent heard anything since Koth kidnapped Venser. (Zendikar had a LOT of comics, even if they centered around the planeswalkers, you still got the storyline). We haven't gotten much for Mirroden yet. Even the story that just came out was more about a conflict between two wizards than their conflict with Phyrexia.
Everything I know about Mirroden is stuff I have been told, and not stuff I have been shown via story, guide, comic, article, etc. It doesn't really immerse you.
Think your watching/reading/playing something that is very scary. You can just turn off/put down the thing that is scary and read/watch/play something else.
Now apply that to the neo-walkers. As long as they can still plane hop, they can just flee to fight for another day.
Now take the legends who could never do that plane hoping. They are locked into that plane unless:
A) Some form of machinery grants them away to travel to different planes.
B) They get help from an actual walker.
C) You may not be a walker, but your pretty damn good at planeswalking. It's been practically part of your life's work.
When your locked into your own home and all you can do is either:
A) Defend it.
B) Die.
C) Turncoat.
They lack option:
D) Plane hop.
There is at least one legend I can think of that wasn't locked into their home, Niv-Mizzet. Remember when everyone was saying how "NIV IS A COWARD!", and probably still does? Well the neo-walkers are not any better because they have in the past fled if ☺☺☺☺ hits the fan.
Example: Sorin Markov. When he couldn't fix the lock because of a certain elf-walker, he fled and although he had other stuff on the agenda, it was probably safer and less of a threat to Sorin.
Another Example: Elspeth Tirel. When ☺☺☺☺ hit the fan for bant, instead of stay their and try to protect her "home", she fled Alara.
Though back to the scary reading/playing/watching analogy, there are some people who will complete what they are reading/playing/watching even if they had to avert their eyes a few times.
I'd suggest that maybe this is what Wizards wants from us with these novels. It is clear that a lot of us like the Planeswalker novels much more than the block novels. We actually get decent character development in the PW books. We only see a fragment of some given planar crisis in the block novel, much like one of our PWs in their novel might planeswalk to kamigawa one day and see some battle between nezumi gangs, and return again long after to see that the gangs are united and fighting the ogres or something. They don't know what has really happened in the period between; we don't really know what has happened between, say, Karona's departure and the Rifts emergence for example. that was a span of 100 years! Sure we may have gotten tidbits but its mostly quite obscure until you see what is going on right now (in book context).
And that is also quite universal. Our original walkers had it just as bad as neowalkers, even if some oldwalkers had more of a possible omnipotence or omnipresence. Most of them were still not keeping an eye on all worlds at all moments. New planeswalkers are the same but with a shorter timespan to work with. Therefore, while it isn't always feasible that they can see a plane progress in a given century, they can still see the aforementioned nezumi gangwars and eventual alliance in maybe 5 or 10 years, for example. They often won't know why because they haven't been around in over half a decade. That alienation is the flaw of most any planeswalker young or old, and in this argument, fictional or real.
We have been imagined as planeswalkers in the context of our game. I do think that perhaps Wizards is writing the novels to make us feel the part and relate with other planeswalkers.
I'd suggest that maybe this is what Wizards wants from us with these novels.
If that's the case, they're shooting themselves in the foot, and I hope it comes back to bite them, hard.
It is clear that a lot of us like the Planeswalker novels much more than the block novels.
Only because its near impossible to tell an entire block's story well in one novel. Ever since they limited the block stories to one book, the quality has fallen significantly. None of these Planeswalker novels would stand up to a decent three-book cycle.
We actually get decent character development in the PW books.
We used to get this in the three book cycles, too. Back when they existed.
We only see a fragment of some given planar crisis in the block novel, much like one of our PWs in their novel might planeswalk to kamigawa one day and see some battle between nezumi gangs, and return again long after to see that the gangs are united and fighting the ogres or something.
And here lies the problem: The Magic storyline has utterly lost its magic. Instead of focusing on making us care about these fantastic realms, their cultures and their people (which has always been the core of MTG, creatively), it is focusing instead on a few select individuals and their world-hopping. Are they really trying to detatch us from their worlds? Then they oughtn't expect us to feel anything if Zendikar gets mowed by Eldrazi or if Mirrodin gets overrun by Phyrexians.
The Mirrans are facing mass extermination? Who are the Mirrans? Why the hell should we care? It's Creative's job to make us care. And they're not doing it.
And that is also quite universal. Our original walkers had it just as bad as neowalkers, even if some oldwalkers had more of a possible omnipotence or omnipresence. Most of them were still not keeping an eye on all worlds at all moments. New planeswalkers are the same but with a shorter timespan to work with.
Aside from Urza, all the old planeswalkers were side-characters. They were wild cards, who stayed back and let the story revolve around mortals, like they should. And Urza spent most of his story on Dominaria. He went to other planes, but he always came back to Dominaria to keep reminding us that this plane is home, and we do care what happens to it. Dominaria never became distant.
We have been imagined as planeswalkers in the context of our game. I do think that perhaps Wizards is writing the novels to make us feel the part and relate with other planeswalkers.
I felt more like a Planeswalker when I had a more thorough experience of the worlds. We, the players, are here to experience rich worlds, and submerse ourselves in their cultures and conflicts.... not to hang out with other a few other people "just like us" as they skip around the Multiverse.
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"I'd rather die speaking the truth than live a lie." --Gix, to Yawgmoth (pre-Phyrexia)
I agree. I just recently got back into MTG again, and one of the things that was the hardest for me to adapt to was that blocks only have a single book now. The Mirrodin block books were among my favorite, and from what people are saying about the author, I'm in for a real disappointment for the next one.
They really should go back to a book a set. They kept my interested for the most part back then, but now I have to look online to see what's going on.
Books I've read:
Kamigawa Cycle, Invasion, The Thran, The Brothers' War, The Gathering Dark, the first Mirrodin novel, Planar Chaos and Future Sight. And Path of the Planeswalker Graphic Novel.
So, not many. I enjoyed almost all of them, but the graphic novel was all over the place and really didn't feel like much more than a book of awesome art with words over it.
I started reading the Shadowmoor and Eventide books, but was bored with them, so I stopped reading. Sort-of knowing the basic storyline of Phyrexia, when I read The Thran I knew the end result, and even then it blew me away at how well it was written and the slow progression of Yawgmoth's character's revealing.
Suggestions for more books that are "must-reads" and awesome? Cause I've skimmed the recent stuff (Alara-Present) and it hasn't interested me enough past the first half of the book.
And that is also quite universal. Our original walkers had it just as bad as neowalkers, even if some oldwalkers had more of a possible omnipotence or omnipresence. Most of them were still not keeping an eye on all worlds at all moments. New planeswalkers are the same but with a shorter timespan to work with. Therefore, while it isn't always feasible that they can see a plane progress in a given century, they can still see the aforementioned nezumi gangwars and eventual alliance in maybe 5 or 10 years, for example. They often won't know why because they haven't been around in over half a decade. That alienation is the flaw of most any planeswalker young or old, and in this argument, fictional or real.
This, plus some of these :mad::mad: pretty much sums up my reactions to the recent storylines.
While the Planeswalker novels are quit enjoyable. The block novel sucks donkey goobers.
Planeswalker this, planeswalkers that. Legendary...?, never to be heard from again.
My sollution, make anthologiea out of the block novels, this helps us see the world through eyes of others, and you can put all those legendary guys that don't pop up in the PW novels (Cromat, Wrexial and Kazuul and their ilk) and see what yust made these guys legenday on their world.
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“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.” —Volrath
You mean like how we are on a cliff hanger for Zendikar and that adding another book or two during ZEN/WW/RoE time would have actually not left us on the cliff hanger for god knows how many blocks till that story gets resolved?
It certainly would be nice to get at least two novels per block (one released with the first set and one with the third) just so we'd have an idea of what the heck is going on. I'm betting The Quest for Karn will be pretty planeswalker-centric, so we'll probably miss out on lots of the war stuff anyway. At least, that's my fear. I think Magic could use a good war novel at this point, but I doubt that's what we'll get in the end.
I've noticed that with Alara and Zendikar, the blocks do not end with a satisfying conclusion, or even a conclusion at all! I was so excited to learn more about the united Plane of Alara, but they ended the block with continued unrest. Zendikar is much the same, ending the block with the Eldrazi running rampant, Neither of these are endings!
I definitely think they could strike a better balance between the excellent world-creation and the excellent story-telling. It seems one is emphasized at the expense of the other. I definitely don't want to return to the days where a set's story was played out through the card art, but I could also use something a little more fulfilling (and less typo-ridden) than the Zendikar book.
"Apathy" is actually the exact word I would use to describe how I currently feel about the storyline. I wouldn't read them at all, but I figure I've been doing it since I was a kid and it doesn't take up that much time since only three--or two--books come a year anyway.
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This plays right into my comments about the lack of substance in the recent storylines. Having a war is fine and dandy but it's the easiest thing to write about and doesn't require much effort to execute.
When are we going to have a story with more gumption, more mature storylines that involve politics, romance and all that sort of stuff that made the Weatherlight story the epic it was.
The thing I find with the books is that yes, they are handy but if the set's flavour is created properly you don't need a book to tell the story. You were told the story through the flavour text. Pre-Tempest you had a handful of novels that gave you background details that were'd mentioned on the cards.
That is what captured a lot of the enjoyability of playing with the cards back in those days because you really felt as though were the one initiating an Abandon Hope or feeling the power of Sisay's Ring (to some extent). Granted, I read Mercadian Masques and Nemesis and they were relatively well written, but that's when they were part of a large, thought-out storyline with many facets entwined into one eventually.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Apathy isn't so bad if you slide into "I'll read these books as simple entertainment." And they do that.
Now, "back in the day" (1998-2004ish), I considered myself a Storyline Guru. We had much fun at MtGNews: theories on the Center of Consciousness (and the nature of the Spark), Karona as a mana matrix through which mana passed and became spells, mapping out the histories of the Elder Dragons, the identity of the Lord of the Wastes, consolidating pre-Revisionist with Revisionist, and, at one point, discussing Phyrexia's shift in biological interests to mechanical ones (or vice versa? I can't find any notes, nor posts, but at some point Gelcur and I dicussed how Gix, near the time of his death, may have argued against the direction the Dark Lord was going in, as to how much metal or biology should be included or compleated; again, I don't recall the details, and they're not easily returning to me).
Of course, I drifted away from Magic (I was always one to collect sets and play casually anyway), including the storyline mid-Kamigawa. I tried to return at Time Spiral, to no avail, and then picked up Agents and went from there. I don't have the time or energy to be upset, and I don't want the pessimism of apathy. So, I take Magic continuity for what it is: entertainment. It's not universal. It doesn't have a message. It's not convoluted politics or gray morality. It's a sword-and-sorcery story. And reading the books are nice. If I want something heavier, I go find another book.
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The reason is very simple.
Ever since they stopped publishing 3 books per arc, the block stories have become increasingly distant from us, the readers. We are introduced to all these new people and places, and we aren't given any time to care about them before the story closes. Right now, we have a rough idea of what's going on in Scars, but who cares right now about the Mirrans? Who cares about Ezuri, Kemba, Unctus or Roxith? So what if they all die horrible deaths, or if they all live happily ever after? They're just names with pretty art. We haven't seen them in any deeper roles that than the cardboard/web reports they're printed on.
This is supposed to be a dramatic, intense story here. These are the Phyrexians corrupting and destroying an entire world. Shouldn't we get more on that? Doesn't such an important story deserve more books to make us, you know, actually feel something? Field reports do not count as story and character development.
Doug said in an article a few weeks ago:
Well, maybe he's feeling it, but I'm... not. I don't think many of us on the outside do. But I want to feel it. I want to experience that emotional impact. I want to experience this war in a deeper way than just looking at pictures and reading snippets of flavor text. I want to have those dreams.
Is anyone else feeling this way?
Because this block, more so than Zendikar, Alara, Lorwyn/Shadowmoor.... has some incredible potential as far as emotion, tragedy, and horror go. This should be THE big story since the Mending, and an even better one at that. But all that potential is being wasted.
And that is the real tragedy of this block.
That having been said, I commend Doug Beyer on his latest article. It was a step in the right direction.
The first of a necessary many.
I am enjoying the Planeswalker books; it feels like the authors chosen for those books are better at writing than those chosen for the block novels (Alara was just ok, and Zendikar was terrible).
Right now, Mirrodin is on the brink of war and its people are facing complete corruption/extermination. I get the feeling that we're supposed to be feeling something here.
Books would help.
I was just reflecting the other day that we really don't know much about what's going on in Mirrodin right now, and that the story details are sparse. I told myself, "It's okay, its still very early."
And then I thought, "But wait... the first set's already been released. By this point we should be immersed in this world and conflict, shouldn't we? That's how it was for all the blocks that had 3 novels. By the end of the first set, we used to have more to discuss, more theories to mull over, and more material to work with.
The Zendikar block only needed one book, since the first two sets didn't have s story -- they were more of an introduction to what was about to go down in ACT 3. They were purely setting-driven, as was the first set in the Alara Block.
But now we have a story. And we really have very little idea wtf is going on. It's gotten so bad that every time a tiny little field report is published, it actually feels like a huge ammount of new information.
MTG is more popular now than it's ever been. So why not use some of that money to churn out more story?
"Eh so what if the Phyrexians take over, I will just plane hop to somewhere and not give a damn about this war. It's not like I have any strong ties to this plane like it being my HOME or anything."
Maybe the reason it maybe apathetic from their view is they don't have as strong ties to that world they are trying to defend. Sure Koth is defending his home yet that is one walker giving a true care.
From a legends view, it tends to get to be more interesting like from Kamahal's point of view.
Yes, I'm apathetic about the storyline. And thoroughly jaded.
I would like to make a topic asking what I've missed, but I don't think that'd be cool So you think this week's Savor the Flavor is enjoyable huh? I'll go check it out right now then ^^
Basically for me it boils down to the fact that we haven't explored any of the Mirran culture and I considered it a lazy and fairly sh*tastic move to bring the phyrexians back. I never liked the Phyrexians to begin with since I came in waaaay after Urza's story, and despite the fact that I read his epic, I wasn't particularly enthralled with the phyrexians even when they were the main motivators. Yawgmoth was dull, and the only being I felt worthy of interest from that story arc was Volrath.
I would have liked to see more story-oriented articles on the mothership. They had more for Zendikar which did a better job of fleshing out the world/conflict. More comics could also help flesh out the world as well, but we havent heard anything since Koth kidnapped Venser. (Zendikar had a LOT of comics, even if they centered around the planeswalkers, you still got the storyline). We haven't gotten much for Mirroden yet. Even the story that just came out was more about a conflict between two wizards than their conflict with Phyrexia.
Everything I know about Mirroden is stuff I have been told, and not stuff I have been shown via story, guide, comic, article, etc. It doesn't really immerse you.
Now apply that to the neo-walkers. As long as they can still plane hop, they can just flee to fight for another day.
Now take the legends who could never do that plane hoping. They are locked into that plane unless:
A) Some form of machinery grants them away to travel to different planes.
B) They get help from an actual walker.
C) You may not be a walker, but your pretty damn good at planeswalking. It's been practically part of your life's work.
When your locked into your own home and all you can do is either:
A) Defend it.
B) Die.
C) Turncoat.
They lack option:
D) Plane hop.
There is at least one legend I can think of that wasn't locked into their home, Niv-Mizzet. Remember when everyone was saying how "NIV IS A COWARD!", and probably still does? Well the neo-walkers are not any better because they have in the past fled if ☺☺☺☺ hits the fan.
Example: Sorin Markov. When he couldn't fix the lock because of a certain elf-walker, he fled and although he had other stuff on the agenda, it was probably safer and less of a threat to Sorin.
Another Example: Elspeth Tirel. When ☺☺☺☺ hit the fan for bant, instead of stay their and try to protect her "home", she fled Alara.
Though back to the scary reading/playing/watching analogy, there are some people who will complete what they are reading/playing/watching even if they had to avert their eyes a few times.
And that is also quite universal. Our original walkers had it just as bad as neowalkers, even if some oldwalkers had more of a possible omnipotence or omnipresence. Most of them were still not keeping an eye on all worlds at all moments. New planeswalkers are the same but with a shorter timespan to work with. Therefore, while it isn't always feasible that they can see a plane progress in a given century, they can still see the aforementioned nezumi gangwars and eventual alliance in maybe 5 or 10 years, for example. They often won't know why because they haven't been around in over half a decade. That alienation is the flaw of most any planeswalker young or old, and in this argument, fictional or real.
We have been imagined as planeswalkers in the context of our game. I do think that perhaps Wizards is writing the novels to make us feel the part and relate with other planeswalkers.
~Lil Kalki
Proud Disciple of the Church of the Wary
If that's the case, they're shooting themselves in the foot, and I hope it comes back to bite them, hard.
Only because its near impossible to tell an entire block's story well in one novel. Ever since they limited the block stories to one book, the quality has fallen significantly. None of these Planeswalker novels would stand up to a decent three-book cycle.
We used to get this in the three book cycles, too. Back when they existed.
And here lies the problem: The Magic storyline has utterly lost its magic. Instead of focusing on making us care about these fantastic realms, their cultures and their people (which has always been the core of MTG, creatively), it is focusing instead on a few select individuals and their world-hopping. Are they really trying to detatch us from their worlds? Then they oughtn't expect us to feel anything if Zendikar gets mowed by Eldrazi or if Mirrodin gets overrun by Phyrexians.
The Mirrans are facing mass extermination? Who are the Mirrans? Why the hell should we care? It's Creative's job to make us care. And they're not doing it.
Aside from Urza, all the old planeswalkers were side-characters. They were wild cards, who stayed back and let the story revolve around mortals, like they should. And Urza spent most of his story on Dominaria. He went to other planes, but he always came back to Dominaria to keep reminding us that this plane is home, and we do care what happens to it. Dominaria never became distant.
I felt more like a Planeswalker when I had a more thorough experience of the worlds. We, the players, are here to experience rich worlds, and submerse ourselves in their cultures and conflicts.... not to hang out with other a few other people "just like us" as they skip around the Multiverse.
They really should go back to a book a set. They kept my interested for the most part back then, but now I have to look online to see what's going on.
Kamigawa Cycle, Invasion, The Thran, The Brothers' War, The Gathering Dark, the first Mirrodin novel, Planar Chaos and Future Sight. And Path of the Planeswalker Graphic Novel.
So, not many. I enjoyed almost all of them, but the graphic novel was all over the place and really didn't feel like much more than a book of awesome art with words over it.
I started reading the Shadowmoor and Eventide books, but was bored with them, so I stopped reading. Sort-of knowing the basic storyline of Phyrexia, when I read The Thran I knew the end result, and even then it blew me away at how well it was written and the slow progression of Yawgmoth's character's revealing.
Suggestions for more books that are "must-reads" and awesome? Cause I've skimmed the recent stuff (Alara-Present) and it hasn't interested me enough past the first half of the book.
Most of the books you mentioned having read are very, very fine examples of good MTG novels.
We've come, I'm afraid, to the absolute dryest and most sparse point in Magic's storytelling since I first picked up the game during Odyssey.
:o...
:confused::confused::confused:
This, plus some of these :mad::mad: pretty much sums up my reactions to the recent storylines.
While the Planeswalker novels are quit enjoyable. The block novel sucks donkey goobers.
Planeswalker this, planeswalkers that. Legendary...?, never to be heard from again.
My sollution, make anthologiea out of the block novels, this helps us see the world through eyes of others, and you can put all those legendary guys that don't pop up in the PW novels (Cromat, Wrexial and Kazuul and their ilk) and see what yust made these guys legenday on their world.
“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.”
—Volrath
[Clan Flamingo]
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When are we going to have a story with more gumption, more mature storylines that involve politics, romance and all that sort of stuff that made the Weatherlight story the epic it was.
The thing I find with the books is that yes, they are handy but if the set's flavour is created properly you don't need a book to tell the story. You were told the story through the flavour text. Pre-Tempest you had a handful of novels that gave you background details that were'd mentioned on the cards.
That is what captured a lot of the enjoyability of playing with the cards back in those days because you really felt as though were the one initiating an Abandon Hope or feeling the power of Sisay's Ring (to some extent). Granted, I read Mercadian Masques and Nemesis and they were relatively well written, but that's when they were part of a large, thought-out storyline with many facets entwined into one eventually.
'buster
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Now, "back in the day" (1998-2004ish), I considered myself a Storyline Guru. We had much fun at MtGNews: theories on the Center of Consciousness (and the nature of the Spark), Karona as a mana matrix through which mana passed and became spells, mapping out the histories of the Elder Dragons, the identity of the Lord of the Wastes, consolidating pre-Revisionist with Revisionist, and, at one point, discussing Phyrexia's shift in biological interests to mechanical ones (or vice versa? I can't find any notes, nor posts, but at some point Gelcur and I dicussed how Gix, near the time of his death, may have argued against the direction the Dark Lord was going in, as to how much metal or biology should be included or compleated; again, I don't recall the details, and they're not easily returning to me).
Of course, I drifted away from Magic (I was always one to collect sets and play casually anyway), including the storyline mid-Kamigawa. I tried to return at Time Spiral, to no avail, and then picked up Agents and went from there. I don't have the time or energy to be upset, and I don't want the pessimism of apathy. So, I take Magic continuity for what it is: entertainment. It's not universal. It doesn't have a message. It's not convoluted politics or gray morality. It's a sword-and-sorcery story. And reading the books are nice. If I want something heavier, I go find another book.