We recently interviewed Mark Rosewater himself for our Magic blog MUDRC ("Sage" in Czech). There might be a couple of interesting things to read from him.
That's only been for the past 3 years, with Scars and RTR.
Yeah, but Wizards is starting to embrace formula a little too much.
Figuring out what works and doing it is a very good thing indeed.
But relying too much on doing just a variation of what you did before stifles creativity and leads to stagnation. Players can get bored with the predictable and repetitive, etc.
Yeah, but Wizards is starting to embrace formula a little too much.
Figuring out what works and doing it is a very good thing indeed.
But relying too much on doing just a variation of what you did before stifles creativity and leads to stagnation. Players can get bored with the predictable and repetitive, etc.
True, however if it is a cycle of new plane and then return to an older plane. It could work so that it would be somewhat unpredictable as to where we would revisit. After the "Friends" block, if it is a revisiting of a known plane, could you honestly predict which it would be?
It also allows Wizards to possible take some of the old mechanic polish them up some more and/or expand upon them.
I would have actually enjoyed this article if the majority of the information wasn't also available on his blog. :/
Well,as the author of the interview, I can tell you that not everybody reads MaRo's blog, not even here on MTGS. And there are not many questions you can ask that MaRo haven't answered yet and still make the interview feel complete for a newcomer reader who just heard about him.;-)
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Yeah, but Wizards is starting to embrace formula a little too much.
Figuring out what works and doing it is a very good thing indeed.
But relying too much on doing just a variation of what you did before stifles creativity and leads to stagnation. Players can get bored with the predictable and repetitive, etc.
1: a Pattern and a Formula are different things
2: Inistrad and RTR were both record breaking Blocks, and the game appears to be getting more creative not less
3: MARO did not say that they were going to use any specific pattern, just that they would keep players guessing
I think they will keep doing this and try to find new ways to be innovative in the way they present their sets.
Indeed. It's pretty rich to argue that Wizards has been LESS creative when comparing the craziness of ZEN block, SOM block, and INN block to, say, INV block, ODY block, and ONS block. Those may have been "the good old days" in some notion of power level or greater relevance of spells vs. creatures, but this has nothing to do with innovation, which was simply at a lower level. What has changed with regards to this is player expectations.
I agree with this. From Time Spiral and onwards we havent had a block that was very ''straightforward''. TS had the timeshifted cards and future border cards, Shadowmoor/Lorwyn had this 2-mini block thing going on, and Alara had the full-multicolour set. That last one was more of a gimmick that didnt really improve the quality, so lets call that a low. From that point on we've had the first big-small-big, the whole secret Mirrodin Pure/NPH thing, the Innistrad-DKA-Avacyn Restored structure with Helvaults and all, and now the double big-small structure of DGM with probably the most experimental prereleases so far.
I think they will keep doing this and try to find new ways to be innovative in the way they present their sets.
I really agree with you about the experimental prereleases. Even when I wasn't playing magic for a 4 year period, I still kept up with the game and found myself at a few prereleases a year with friends that still played. And what happened with the guild aspect of the RTR and GTC pre-releases was probably the coolest/fairest/most fun thing they have done in a long time, and I've been around since Odyssey block. I wish they could find a way to do something like that for every pre-release. I really liked how you could choose what colors you played (for the most part), and because the guild packs had the same sort of uncommons/rares depending on the guild you chose, it was a lot more balanced than normal sealed where it really depends on what you pull. Perhaps in the future they could have more specialized packs for pre-release events.
I had never heard of this stairwell concept MaRo had going: I like it.
Yeah, that actually explains a lot, and I'm a bit relieved to see that this idea has been implemented in the design of magic. Though I like this idea, in all reality, and all things considered, it actually isn't entirely true. There is inevitably power creep in the game as a whole. Of course, things like black lotus won't ever occur again, but creatures have gotten increasingly more powerful, and even some particular spells have slightly increased in potency.
Yeah, that actually explains a lot, and I'm a bit relieved to see that this idea has been implemented in the design of magic. Though I like this idea, in all reality, and all things considered, it actually isn't entirely true. There is inevitably power creep in the game as a whole. Of course, things like black lotus won't ever occur again, but creatures have gotten increasingly more powerful, and even some particular spells have slightly increased in potency.
The problem with the "Escher's Stairwell" philosophy is that it ends up causing power creep in older formats that retain a large number of sets (they will have all the increased power cards without being forced to use the decreased power cards). That said, a lot of those formats already have cards that are essentially the strongest they will ever be (Tarmogoyf, Confidant, etc).
Yeah, that actually explains a lot, and I'm a bit relieved to see that this idea has been implemented in the design of magic. Though I like this idea, in all reality, and all things considered, it actually isn't entirely true. There is inevitably power creep in the game as a whole. Of course, things like black lotus won't ever occur again, but creatures have gotten increasingly more powerful, and even some particular spells have slightly increased in potency.
Creatures have gotten increasingly powerful because a decision was made that MtG could stand to have creatures be more of a factor so I don't think that creatures becoming more powerful is "power creep" when it is by design.
Gatecrash seems like a good argument against power creep: MaRo was the lead designer and plenty of people are complaining about how less powerful it is than RtR (at face value I'd be inclined to agree but things change) and may be indicative of things to come.
The problem with the "Escher's Stairwell" philosophy is that it ends up causing power creep in older formats that retain a large number of sets (they will have all the increased power cards without being forced to use the decreased power cards). That said, a lot of those formats already have cards that are essentially the strongest they will ever be (Tarmogoyf, Confidant, etc).
In the Eternal formats, power creep is inevitable because it's only a matter of time before they just print something that is better than what is already available. The only way there wouldn't be power creep is if they printed stuff that was always worse than what was already out there and the format would never change.
But in Standard, I like the idea because it means you can't always approach the format in the same way. In this version of standard because of how effective the removal is, stuff with haste or comes into play and leaves play effects are a lot better.
Yeah, that actually explains a lot, and I'm a bit relieved to see that this idea has been implemented in the design of magic. Though I like this idea, in all reality, and all things considered, it actually isn't entirely true. There is inevitably power creep in the game as a whole. Of course, things like black lotus won't ever occur again, but creatures have gotten increasingly more powerful, and even some particular spells have slightly increased in potency.
One of the few, good things, about Magic is that older spells with newer spells can become powerful rather than useless. It's the synergy that keeps some value going.
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Yeah, but Wizards is starting to embrace formula a little too much.
Figuring out what works and doing it is a very good thing indeed.
But relying too much on doing just a variation of what you did before stifles creativity and leads to stagnation. Players can get bored with the predictable and repetitive, etc.
Doing it twice isn't a formula. A third time? Then you've got it
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always one new plane, then a return to an old one, rinse and repeat.
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That's only been for the past 3 years, with Scars and RTR.
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Yeah, but Wizards is starting to embrace formula a little too much.
Figuring out what works and doing it is a very good thing indeed.
But relying too much on doing just a variation of what you did before stifles creativity and leads to stagnation. Players can get bored with the predictable and repetitive, etc.
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True, however if it is a cycle of new plane and then return to an older plane. It could work so that it would be somewhat unpredictable as to where we would revisit. After the "Friends" block, if it is a revisiting of a known plane, could you honestly predict which it would be?
It also allows Wizards to possible take some of the old mechanic polish them up some more and/or expand upon them.
Well,as the author of the interview, I can tell you that not everybody reads MaRo's blog, not even here on MTGS. And there are not many questions you can ask that MaRo haven't answered yet and still make the interview feel complete for a newcomer reader who just heard about him.;-)
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
1: a Pattern and a Formula are different things
2: Inistrad and RTR were both record breaking Blocks, and the game appears to be getting more creative not less
3: MARO did not say that they were going to use any specific pattern, just that they would keep players guessing
Indeed. It's pretty rich to argue that Wizards has been LESS creative when comparing the craziness of ZEN block, SOM block, and INN block to, say, INV block, ODY block, and ONS block. Those may have been "the good old days" in some notion of power level or greater relevance of spells vs. creatures, but this has nothing to do with innovation, which was simply at a lower level. What has changed with regards to this is player expectations.
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I really agree with you about the experimental prereleases. Even when I wasn't playing magic for a 4 year period, I still kept up with the game and found myself at a few prereleases a year with friends that still played. And what happened with the guild aspect of the RTR and GTC pre-releases was probably the coolest/fairest/most fun thing they have done in a long time, and I've been around since Odyssey block. I wish they could find a way to do something like that for every pre-release. I really liked how you could choose what colors you played (for the most part), and because the guild packs had the same sort of uncommons/rares depending on the guild you chose, it was a lot more balanced than normal sealed where it really depends on what you pull. Perhaps in the future they could have more specialized packs for pre-release events.
Yeah, that actually explains a lot, and I'm a bit relieved to see that this idea has been implemented in the design of magic. Though I like this idea, in all reality, and all things considered, it actually isn't entirely true. There is inevitably power creep in the game as a whole. Of course, things like black lotus won't ever occur again, but creatures have gotten increasingly more powerful, and even some particular spells have slightly increased in potency.
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The problem with the "Escher's Stairwell" philosophy is that it ends up causing power creep in older formats that retain a large number of sets (they will have all the increased power cards without being forced to use the decreased power cards). That said, a lot of those formats already have cards that are essentially the strongest they will ever be (Tarmogoyf, Confidant, etc).
Creatures have gotten increasingly powerful because a decision was made that MtG could stand to have creatures be more of a factor so I don't think that creatures becoming more powerful is "power creep" when it is by design.
Gatecrash seems like a good argument against power creep: MaRo was the lead designer and plenty of people are complaining about how less powerful it is than RtR (at face value I'd be inclined to agree but things change) and may be indicative of things to come.
In the Eternal formats, power creep is inevitable because it's only a matter of time before they just print something that is better than what is already available. The only way there wouldn't be power creep is if they printed stuff that was always worse than what was already out there and the format would never change.
But in Standard, I like the idea because it means you can't always approach the format in the same way. In this version of standard because of how effective the removal is, stuff with haste or comes into play and leaves play effects are a lot better.
One of the few, good things, about Magic is that older spells with newer spells can become powerful rather than useless. It's the synergy that keeps some value going.
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
Doing it twice isn't a formula. A third time? Then you've got it
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