So, a parting gift from my time spent at the Diamond/Alliance trade show this week. I was speaking with someone from WotC who definitely has inside knowledge about upcoming sets (and I'd be happy to let a mod know who, but he was nice and I don't want to get him in trouble by outing him publicly if he said anything he shouldn't have), and I asked him if he'd confirm any of the information people had deduced from looking at trademark registrations. Of course, he said no, but he also added (with a devious grin, no less) "for the record, though, we ARE aware that people are using trademark registrations to figure out advance information about upcoming sets." To this, I responded, "so the return to Mirrodin that sprung up out of nowhere isn't really happening?" And he gave sort of a bashful "I'm not saying anything" sort of look, and said "the great thing about those records is that they don't give anybody any other information when they look them up."
Think about it: never before have we ever had the names of an entire block registered all at once, and never so early either. I honestly think it's pretty unlikely that Mirrodin Pure, Scars of Mirrodin, and New Phyrexia are anything more than red herrings. Wizards is trying to throw us off the trail. That being said, it's possible that the new trademark registration that popped up in the last day or so is the real name for Lights, since the timing makes more sense, and since it appeared alone, like every other expansion always has.
Just food for thought. Don't take any trademark registrations for granted. Some are likely being registered just to keep the real information secret. And for the record, I'm not confirming that Lights, Camera, Action isn't a return to Mirrodin. I'm just letting people know what I found out, so that it isn't considered confirmed information that it is a return to Mirrodin, either.
Though I'm dubious about Dark Ascension. The Dark Sun is going to be next year's DND setting, IIRC. The Dark Ascension is a pretty mutable Fantasy type of title, and can be applied to many things.
Though a full-blown DND/Magic Crossover would be cool. Plotwise.
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Underling Ethu's 263rd report read simply "Yes, my lord.Overwhelmingly, my lord." This marked the end of the Mirran-Phyrexian War.
I'd frankly be fairly irked if this is the case. I've been looking forward to the Mirrodin revisit for a wide variety of reasons (fondness of artifacts, hope for a Karn, Planeswalker card, "New Phyrexia", hope for revisits of other planes like Ravnica, etc.), and having Lights be something other than Scars of Mirrodin would be a huge letdown.
This is just as easily read as an admittance that SoM is the next block. I don't see how this even suggests it's a red herring. "We know our trademarks give people hints about the names of upcoming sets, but that's the only hint you are getting." Heck just think of some of the ridiculous speculation the name "Zendikar" spawned.
I'd frankly be fairly irked if this is the case. I've been looking forward to the Mirrodin revisit for a wide variety of reasons (fondness of artifacts, hope for a Karn, Planeswalker card, "New Phyrexia", hope for revisits of other planes like Ravnica, etc.), and having Lights be something other than Scars of Mirrodin would be a huge letdown.
Without trying to be insulting cus I hope its not taken that way, but to be fair thats sort of like a kid being depressed at the lack of McDonalds for dinner just cus his parents happened to be talking about McDonalds in the car on the way home. Noone important ever actually said that a return to mirrodin would be the basis for the next block.
That said I do really WANT to go back to mirrodin again. though I doubt they'd reprint any of the old school planeswalkers as new walkers like bolas simply because it detracts from the all powerful evil background guy since they know him sort of too well already.
Look at me! I can bold words and use CAPSLOCK to emphasize my point! Hopefully I can trick people into ignoring that I completely have no evidence in my post to back up my claims if I make it look fancy enough.
Without trying to be insulting cus I hope its not taken that way, but to be fair thats sort of like a kid being depressed at the lack of McDonalds for dinner just cus his parents happened to be talking about McDonalds in the car on the way home. Noone important ever actually said that a return to mirrodin would be the basis for the next block.
You're right: it is like the kid being upset because his parents decided to not get McDonald's after all, but the fact of the matter is that the parents should know better than to muse out loud about that sort of thing. If they kept quiet on it, then stopping by McDonald's would be a pleasant surprise for the kid if they did go and it would have been a non-issue if they didn't.
It's one thing to be kept in the dark (as in being dependent on WotC for information about the game on their terms), but it's another thing entirely to be actively led to false conclusions because of decoy information, and I would hope that WotC is smart enough to know that making customers feel deceived is an altogether bad idea.
A trademark registration requires a sworn statement that they have a bona fide intention to use the mark. They can't file "red herring" trademarks, it would be illegal. (IANAL, see here.)
Think about it: never before have we ever had the names of an entire block registered all at once, and never so early either. I honestly think it's pretty unlikely that Mirrodin Pure, Scars of Mirrodin, and New Phyrexia are anything more than red herrings.
I think you've got that precisely backwards, actually.
Trademark registrations are not to be taken lightly. It's costly to do, and requires an actual intent to "use the mark in interstate commerce," which in turn requires you to produce within a set period of time evidence of said use (along with renewal fees every six months until you actually produce said proof). It's not the sort of thing which is worth spending money and valuable legal time producing simply to serve as a "red herring," especially since any legitimate info you have will still wind up having to go through the same process.
Similarly, what's the point in giving people false news about something like this that is obviously so explosive and desirable -- a return to the setting of Magic's best-selling set, combined with a return of its most popular villain? What effect can that produce except disappointment when it doesn't come to pass, and how is that helpful to WotC's marketing goals? Remember, WotC loves that sites exist to discuss upcoming products, just not that they leak cards before the prerelease.
(Also, one has to take into account the story we heard elsewhere of Aaron Forsythe responding to "what about New Phyrexia" with a laugh and "that's not for a while.")
No, I think it's much more likely that the correct interpretation of that statement is that WotC is aware that we're spying on their trademark registrations, that they don't have a great option for filing those trademarks without us seeing them, and so they chose to register the three together at the same time, and early, knowing that we'd see them, understood what they meant, and get started hyping up the block early -- all with complete plausible deniability about giving out the information.
That strikes me as a far more sensible strategy -- getting started hyping a block that's actually coming out, rather than just punking the Rumor Mill for no particular reason.
"the great thing about those records is that they don't give anybody any other information when they look them up."
This, especially, strengthens my belief. What a perfect way to give people a tiny shred of info that (as we have seen) they'll go crazy over and dissect for months, but which they can't possibly find out anything more about until WotC wants them to.
Thanks for reporting your information, though. This is very useful to hear.
I think you've got that precisely backwards, actually.
Trademark registrations are not to be taken lightly. It's costly to do, and requires an actual intent to "use the mark in interstate commerce," which in turn requires you to produce within a set period of time evidence of said use (along with renewal fees every six months until you actually produce said proof). It's not the sort of thing which is worth spending money and valuable legal time producing simply to serve as a "red herring," especially since any legitimate info you have will still wind up having to go through the same process.
Similarly, what's the point in giving people false news about something like this that is obviously so explosive and desirable -- a return to the setting of Magic's best-selling set, combined with a return of its most popular villain? What effect can that produce except disappointment when it doesn't come to pass, and how is that helpful to WotC's marketing goals? Remember, WotC loves that sites exist to discuss upcoming products, just not that they leak cards before the prerelease.
(Also, one has to take into account the story we heard elsewhere of Aaron Forsythe responding to "what about New Phyrexia" with a laugh and "that's not for a while.")
No, I think it's much more likely that the correct interpretation of that statement is that WotC is aware that we're spying on their trademark registrations, that they don't have a great option for filing those trademarks without us seeing them, and so they chose to register the three together at the same time, and early, knowing that we'd see them, understood what they meant, and get started hyping up the block early -- all with complete plausible deniability about giving out the information.
That strikes me as a far more sensible strategy -- getting started hyping a block that's actually coming out, rather than just punking the Rumor Mill for no particular reason.
This, especially, strengthens my belief. What a perfect way to give people a tiny shred of info that (as we have seen) they'll go crazy over and dissect for months, but which they can't possibly find out anything more about until WotC wants them to.
Thanks for reporting your information, though. This is very useful to hear.
What he said.
I wasn't there, of course, but the OP's description of events sounds more like confirmation than denial. Saying they are aware of us monitoring their copyrights actually makes it more likely that they registered all the names together so early just to get us excited and talking about it. Which would be a mission accomplished, by the way.
Think about it: never before have we ever had the names of an entire block registered all at once, and never so early either. I honestly think it's pretty unlikely that Mirrodin Pure, Scars of Mirrodin, and New Phyrexia are anything more than red herrings. Wizards is trying to throw us off the trail. That being said, it's possible that the new trademark registration that popped up in the last day or so is the real name for Lights, since the timing makes more sense, and since it appeared alone, like every other expansion always has.
Just food for thought. Don't take any trademark registrations for granted. Some are likely being registered just to keep the real information secret. And for the record, I'm not confirming that Lights, Camera, Action isn't a return to Mirrodin. I'm just letting people know what I found out, so that it isn't considered confirmed information that it is a return to Mirrodin, either.
Though I'm dubious about Dark Ascension. The Dark Sun is going to be next year's DND setting, IIRC. The Dark Ascension is a pretty mutable Fantasy type of title, and can be applied to many things.
Though a full-blown DND/Magic Crossover would be cool. Plotwise.
Without trying to be insulting cus I hope its not taken that way, but to be fair thats sort of like a kid being depressed at the lack of McDonalds for dinner just cus his parents happened to be talking about McDonalds in the car on the way home. Noone important ever actually said that a return to mirrodin would be the basis for the next block.
That said I do really WANT to go back to mirrodin again. though I doubt they'd reprint any of the old school planeswalkers as new walkers like bolas simply because it detracts from the all powerful evil background guy since they know him sort of too well already.
Spend money on worthless trademarks, fostering hype for products you won't ever deliver on. Then,
SPRING IT ON EM!
Hehe, remember that set you were all excited about? We're giving you something completely different!
...
Yeah I believe that. WotC hopefully is more rational than that...
:symw::symr: Boros Bushwhacker T2 :symu::symb::symg: Vial Affinity Legacy
MTGO: :symu::symw: U/W Control Block Vamps Block Vamps T2
You're right: it is like the kid being upset because his parents decided to not get McDonald's after all, but the fact of the matter is that the parents should know better than to muse out loud about that sort of thing. If they kept quiet on it, then stopping by McDonald's would be a pleasant surprise for the kid if they did go and it would have been a non-issue if they didn't.
It's one thing to be kept in the dark (as in being dependent on WotC for information about the game on their terms), but it's another thing entirely to be actively led to false conclusions because of decoy information, and I would hope that WotC is smart enough to know that making customers feel deceived is an altogether bad idea.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
- Main Cube
- No Brains, All Feelings Cube
I think you've got that precisely backwards, actually.
Trademark registrations are not to be taken lightly. It's costly to do, and requires an actual intent to "use the mark in interstate commerce," which in turn requires you to produce within a set period of time evidence of said use (along with renewal fees every six months until you actually produce said proof). It's not the sort of thing which is worth spending money and valuable legal time producing simply to serve as a "red herring," especially since any legitimate info you have will still wind up having to go through the same process.
Similarly, what's the point in giving people false news about something like this that is obviously so explosive and desirable -- a return to the setting of Magic's best-selling set, combined with a return of its most popular villain? What effect can that produce except disappointment when it doesn't come to pass, and how is that helpful to WotC's marketing goals? Remember, WotC loves that sites exist to discuss upcoming products, just not that they leak cards before the prerelease.
(Also, one has to take into account the story we heard elsewhere of Aaron Forsythe responding to "what about New Phyrexia" with a laugh and "that's not for a while.")
No, I think it's much more likely that the correct interpretation of that statement is that WotC is aware that we're spying on their trademark registrations, that they don't have a great option for filing those trademarks without us seeing them, and so they chose to register the three together at the same time, and early, knowing that we'd see them, understood what they meant, and get started hyping up the block early -- all with complete plausible deniability about giving out the information.
That strikes me as a far more sensible strategy -- getting started hyping a block that's actually coming out, rather than just punking the Rumor Mill for no particular reason.
This, especially, strengthens my belief. What a perfect way to give people a tiny shred of info that (as we have seen) they'll go crazy over and dissect for months, but which they can't possibly find out anything more about until WotC wants them to.
Thanks for reporting your information, though. This is very useful to hear.
What he said.
I wasn't there, of course, but the OP's description of events sounds more like confirmation than denial. Saying they are aware of us monitoring their copyrights actually makes it more likely that they registered all the names together so early just to get us excited and talking about it. Which would be a mission accomplished, by the way.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
Thread Closed.
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