Found myself really liking this one even though the vocabulary was very flashy and unnecessary it seemed (Perhaps this was intentional due to the similar contents of the story itself?). Then again I love animals so I probably got some inner satisfaction from the excrutiating pain, fear and death that was wrought on those who tortured the animals, even if they were fictional.
Anyone else like this story? What did you like or dislike about it? More importantly, it seems that Vivien has a tie to Nicol Bolas (who destroyed her plane of Skalla), how do you think she will fit into future stories? Will she become part of the main story arc and help the Planeswalkers? I hope so. We'll find out soon enough.
I did think it was weird this story didnt get its own thread since the core19 story will always be remembered as the one about nicol bolas.
Well, it's probably for the best that we all forget about it, because unless she ends up being a villain WotC is going to retcon it to make her more sympathetic after the overwhelmingly negative reaction to her charcter
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Was there such an overwhelmingly negative reaction? Most people critisized the writing style and others didn't like her as a "hero". If she was intended as a villain, or at least antagonist, it should be fine.
I mean, she did kill a child. I'm not sure she was quite concepted as a relatable hero character from the start. The only redeemable thing we know about her is that she opposes Bolas, and honestly even his minions oppose him, so she isn't the paragon of virtue in this regard.
I actually didn't mind the writing style, I thought it fit the setting well. My main issue with the story was that it both portrayed Vivian in what I would consider to be a very unheroic light, yet at the same time seemed to consider her a fully heroic character, with the narrative apparently endorsing her actions.
Was there such an overwhelmingly negative reaction? Most people critisized the writing style and others didn't like her as a "hero". If she was intended as a villain, or at least antagonist, it should be fine.
I mean, she did kill a child. I'm not sure she was quite concepted as a relatable hero character from the start. The only redeemable thing we know about her is that she opposes Bolas, and honestly even his minions oppose him, so she isn't the paragon of virtue in this regard.
hence my writing " unless she ends up being a villain "
If this was an unconventional introduction to a villain, I'll upgrade my assessment of the story to "OK", falling just short of actually being good because its not at all clear that she IS intended to be a villain. Part of the problem being that its told entirely from her perspective, which is a double edged sword, as most villains don't consider themselves as such.
In any case, the reaction to her as a potential hero was overwhelmingly negative in the thread. The positive, or at least optimistic responses, were nearly all in regards to her possibly being a villain (my own reactions were along those lines). It basically boiled down to "Hate her as a hero, but would like her as a villain" (excluding the hatred for the writing style, of course, though I personally thought the overwrought style fit the setting). If WotC really is planning on her being a Mono G villain, then they are off to a decent start and just need to make that more clear moving forward, especially in marketing. If they were trying to set her up as a hero, they'll need to do some real retcons to make it work after this intro.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Was there such an overwhelmingly negative reaction? Most people critisized the writing style and others didn't like her as a "hero". If she was intended as a villain, or at least antagonist, it should be fine.
I mean, she did kill a child. I'm not sure she was quite concepted as a relatable hero character from the start. The only redeemable thing we know about her is that she opposes Bolas, and honestly even his minions oppose him, so she isn't the paragon of virtue in this regard.
hence my writing " unless she ends up being a villain "
I actually didn't mind the writing style, I thought it fit the setting well. My main issue with the story was that it both portrayed Vivian in what I would consider to be a very unheroic light, yet at the same time seemed to consider her a fully heroic character, with the narrative apparently endorsing her actions.
My thoughts precisely. Furthermore I think the writing style neatly mirrored how she perceived her environment. The overuse of fancy words was deliberately annoying, because she herself was annoyed by all the social artificiality around her.
I actually didn't mind the writing style, I thought it fit the setting well. My main issue with the story was that it both portrayed Vivian in what I would consider to be a very unheroic light, yet at the same time seemed to consider her a fully heroic character, with the narrative apparently endorsing her actions.
There is also the choice of setting, Ixalan was entirely the wrong place to do this story. They had already shot themselves in the foot by screwing up the portrayal of the "Shades of Grey" when it came to the vampires, and this doubled down on that.
Anyone else like this story? What did you like or dislike about it? More importantly, it seems that Vivien has a tie to Nicol Bolas (who destroyed her plane of Skalla), how do you think she will fit into future stories? Will she become part of the main story arc and help the Planeswalkers? I hope so. We'll find out soon enough.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
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Well, it's probably for the best that we all forget about it, because unless she ends up being a villain WotC is going to retcon it to make her more sympathetic after the overwhelmingly negative reaction to her charcter
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I mean, she did kill a child. I'm not sure she was quite concepted as a relatable hero character from the start. The only redeemable thing we know about her is that she opposes Bolas, and honestly even his minions oppose him, so she isn't the paragon of virtue in this regard.
hence my writing " unless she ends up being a villain "
If this was an unconventional introduction to a villain, I'll upgrade my assessment of the story to "OK", falling just short of actually being good because its not at all clear that she IS intended to be a villain. Part of the problem being that its told entirely from her perspective, which is a double edged sword, as most villains don't consider themselves as such.
In any case, the reaction to her as a potential hero was overwhelmingly negative in the thread. The positive, or at least optimistic responses, were nearly all in regards to her possibly being a villain (my own reactions were along those lines). It basically boiled down to "Hate her as a hero, but would like her as a villain" (excluding the hatred for the writing style, of course, though I personally thought the overwrought style fit the setting). If WotC really is planning on her being a Mono G villain, then they are off to a decent start and just need to make that more clear moving forward, especially in marketing. If they were trying to set her up as a hero, they'll need to do some real retcons to make it work after this intro.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Ah, must have missed that. My apologies.
My thoughts precisely. Furthermore I think the writing style neatly mirrored how she perceived her environment. The overuse of fancy words was deliberately annoying, because she herself was annoyed by all the social artificiality around her.
There is also the choice of setting, Ixalan was entirely the wrong place to do this story. They had already shot themselves in the foot by screwing up the portrayal of the "Shades of Grey" when it came to the vampires, and this doubled down on that.
They should have had her in Mercadia.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan