If the desire is for people to judge that have passion for the game, and the desire to simply be a judge, they have the Rule Advisor tier. It costs $0.
As for the get woke, go broke argument... Well, there's this that leapt out at me:
But yeah when I'm selling a $3 booster pack and making less than .50 on the transaction
You're not going broke for being woke, you're going broke because you're losing money selling booster packs for $3. If the neon-haired girlfriend in your example dropped MTG from that store because of that, she did the store owner a favor. Their margins clearly sucked.
This is not much different than any other certification programs for other careers. Take for example Massage Therapy (mostly because I am familiar with it). There are two companies that provide certifications and insurance that several states require to practice. You have to pay for the membership it doesn’t get you a job, but helps to advance your career. If you think of this program in that same manor, this is a very good thing for the judging industry.
This is honestly a much better way to get WotC (or other game companies) to pay their judges instead of just hoping they'll do it. It should also reduce any sort of favoritism or "Old Boys' Club" type of thing that might exist (not saying there is, I don't know enough about the current judge program to say one way or the other.) like it exists/existed in other games' judging programs.
To my understanding, judges will not be paid by this program. They have to pay fees (100$/year at L1, 200$/year at L2 and so forth) and they are only rewarded with foil promos. It is still up to the tournament organizer to pay their judges, and sometimes the pay is next to nothing. This doesn't really look like an improvement to me, at least at first glance.
And as I understand it, the current program is mostly L1s at the LGS level, with little opportunity to advance further because there aren't enough L2s to properly mentor them. Am I wrong? This might, hopefully, change that.
I'm not saying the judges will be paid by the program. Sorry if I implied that somehow. But a system like this should lead to alternative ways to improve your skills and become more valuable to your LGS or the judge program as a whole. Could lead to your LGS paying you for your time, at the very least.
Besat part, there will be yearly dues starting at $100 and going up from there.
This is honestly a much better way to get WotC (or other game companies) to pay their judges instead of just hoping they'll do it. It should also reduce any sort of favoritism or "Old Boys' Club" type of thing that might exist (not saying there is, I don't know enough about the current judge program to say one way or the other.) like it exists/existed in other games' judging programs.
I especially like that it won't just be WotC, currently they're trying to get Asmodee and Keyforge into this as well. That might lead to X-Wing and Destiny being included, and other companies getting on board as well, some of which could use a real judge program.
Regardless, it's not the "nightmare" that certain alarmists out there are painting it to be. This type of thing works for companies, and if you want an actual path towards judging becoming a career, this is better than just taking a bunch of online tests and hoping someone is around to train you further.
Per Gavin Verhey on twitter, the Yuriko will be foil with the original art, and the Chalice is Seb McKinnon's art. Pool is by Peter Mohrbacher. Both of those are from MTGO. Mentor is Anastasia Ovchinnikova, with completely new art, I believe.
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As for the get woke, go broke argument... Well, there's this that leapt out at me:
You're not going broke for being woke, you're going broke because you're losing money selling booster packs for $3. If the neon-haired girlfriend in your example dropped MTG from that store because of that, she did the store owner a favor. Their margins clearly sucked.
That's how I'm seeing it.
And as I understand it, the current program is mostly L1s at the LGS level, with little opportunity to advance further because there aren't enough L2s to properly mentor them. Am I wrong? This might, hopefully, change that.
I'm not saying the judges will be paid by the program. Sorry if I implied that somehow. But a system like this should lead to alternative ways to improve your skills and become more valuable to your LGS or the judge program as a whole. Could lead to your LGS paying you for your time, at the very least.
This is honestly a much better way to get WotC (or other game companies) to pay their judges instead of just hoping they'll do it. It should also reduce any sort of favoritism or "Old Boys' Club" type of thing that might exist (not saying there is, I don't know enough about the current judge program to say one way or the other.) like it exists/existed in other games' judging programs.
I especially like that it won't just be WotC, currently they're trying to get Asmodee and Keyforge into this as well. That might lead to X-Wing and Destiny being included, and other companies getting on board as well, some of which could use a real judge program.
Regardless, it's not the "nightmare" that certain alarmists out there are painting it to be. This type of thing works for companies, and if you want an actual path towards judging becoming a career, this is better than just taking a bunch of online tests and hoping someone is around to train you further.