We've only seen about 20% of it (and not even many of the rares) We know more about XLN at this point than we know about HOU. I'm sure they are saving the set-defining stuff for later.
That said, from what we've seen so far I have to agree with you. Moderately excited by the red zombies - potentially Mardu Zombies will be a thing in a near future unless they skip Zombies in XLN the way they did with KLD.
Yep, I'm not holding my breath. If they are trying to "WOW" us with this rollout they are doing a piss poor job. Only card I have any interest in spoiled from HOU so far is Crucible of Worlds on a stick. I'm coming from the competitive Modern player angle but there is nothing here that would even get me remotely interested in Standard, nothing.
If you didn't watch the last 45 minutes of the stream and missed the HOU special preview event at Vegas, watch it later. It's the most spectacular, but unintentional, comedy in MTG history. Everything from the production to the concept to the clueless extras to the audience reaction is gold.
The HOU previews themselves weren't Modern playable. Closest was a 3WWW sweeper that removes all nonland permanents and costs 3 less if there are 10+ nonland permanents in play.
Do you have a link?
Save yourself the time and don't bother. Or as an alternative to the experience, find the nearest trash filled dumpster and watch the flies and vermin eat it. Probably a better use of anyones time.
I agree it looks like another weakest set since homelands set, Lol. It looks like they are powering way down. I'll be sticking with the modern format.
This is why I buy into the 'Wizards leaked this on purpose'. They know the set won't sell well to the competitive crowd and that it'll mostly be the Timmies excited by Pirates/Dinosaurs. Now if the set sells poorly they can blame it on this leak - not their own fault!
Remember also that XLN is the start of a 'new' Standard. Chances are the next 3 blocks will also be powered down to keep them similar - a flip from the OP Kaladesh era. Once Kaladesh rotates out I expect the entire Standard to look like what we see here in terms of mana costs.
It makes sense for wizards to be the leaker. I don't know if standard will ever be an excited place for older Competitive players going forward.
From the absolute pile of crap that I've seen spoiled from HOU in the last couple of days, your statement may be the understatement of the decade.
I may have to give Lilijuana a higher than 1% intentional leak chance. I have NO interest in the rubbish that has been spoiled for HOU. It seems like Fallen Empires level of crap. I usually buy myself a fat pack at release, I'll be saving my money this go around. Someone should report Wizards to the EPA for printing and releasing toxic garbage like this to the public.
I keep seeing two factions screaming one or the other as an obvious truth but I need someone to state the case. Personally, I see Magic as the McDonald's of Gaming (Similar to WH40k) - you can walk into any city in the world and get a game in.
So, is Magic dying or more popular than ever? What the hell is going on?
A company can be successful in spite of itself if you get my meaning. The thing is you advance/adapt and get better or you go the way of businesses like Sears, Montgomery Ward, K-Mart, JCPenney, Woolworth, Plymouth, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Mercury, MySpace, AoL or countless other multi-million/billion dollar businesses that have fallen by the wayside. Good is never good enough.
I really want the second hand market and online retailers to choke on that. Buying our cards for less than half and selling them at outrageous prices. For WotC: They are owned by a big corporation, they will recover. Cut the drama.
That is how capitalism works. I'm not a fan of price gouging but the solution my friend is easy. Find a different buyer or seller that gives you better prices or don't buy the product secondhand period. Don't just complain about it, let your money do the talking. I buy from who treats me fairly and screw the rest. Give it a shot.
There is a reason WOTC spends millions of dollars on their marketing department and it is the same reason all big companies do which is that it is because marketing is an absolutely crucial part of whether a product will succeed or not. I would not be surprised if the marketing and public relations department over at WotC is considerably larger than that of the entire creative department.
The way WotC trickles out spoilers, times the release of their stories, crafts their teasers and trailers etc. are all part of a multi-million dollar marketing campaign that countless man hours of research and implementation have gone into. The reason WotC is willing to sink millions of dollars into this marketing strategy is because it is a key part of promoting, hyping and selling their product. To suggest that having almost every hype generating and future meta defining card in a set spoiled two sets ahead of time won't have an impact on their bottom line is very silly. I am not a marketing expert nor do I work of WotC so calculating the exact details of the coming financial impact is beyond me but one thing is certain which is it has completely derailed their entire multi-million dollar marketing strategy for the next half a year.
With a company like MTG the intellectual property is the product. We will see most of the rare and mythic cards from Ixilan available to play on various third party MTG software proxies probably within a week or two. Half of that sets meta will be solved before a single card even hits the market. It's similiar to a movie in this respect. If a blurry incomplete copy of a movie is leaked months before it is released in theaters it's ticket sales are decimated. Sure watching that crappy blurry version is nothing like getting to see it glorious Imax 3d, but it will completely gut the hype regardless. Ixilan will literally be old news before it even hits the shelves. MTG is a huge game world wide. It's sales are upwards of 300 million dollars a year, so if the leak costs them even just a few percentage points of their sales for the set then the hit will be in the millions of dollars. Talking to a buddy of mine who is a marketing major he thinks the losses will likely be considerably higher than that.
It's a shame. MTG has been limping along for a while now. The last thing it needed was a huge kick in the teeth while it was trying to get back on its feet again.
Bravo. This should be turned into a sticky and be required reading before posting in the thread. Well thought out and well put.
I will also reiterate that I think Wizards is mired in its same old slow methodical way of rollout that needs to change as well. This stuff will continue to happen until they figure that out. But after reading some of those comments on that glass ceiling site from Wizards employees, it looks like management is entrenched in a culture of status quo. I don't see change, I don't think there is a lot of listening going on. I love this game. Wizards and Hasbro need to get their ***** together. Then we all benefit.
If you respect property rights i dont know what you are doing in a leak debate. Banning modern from competitive scene, doing a creepy standar but the leak is the problem right? At least players know now if its worth to pay or not.
BTW Property rights have EVERYTHING to do with a leak debate.
Would you be okay if I stole something from you? Simple question, yes or no. That's all I need to know. Give me a one word answer, yes or no and I will drop the line of questioning. Just one word answer to the question, yes or no?
What does that even mean? The questions that wants to limite the answer talks by itself. Im saying that YOU respect the copyright, not in general. If you dont like leaks or you think that seeing a leak is invade property right, then YOU should quit.
Your question dont make any sence. You are saying that they are stealing something, they are leaking, not stealing. I will be ok for example if you take a picture of my entire deck or if you post it, but not if you take it. The question should be, would you be ok if i show something from you?
It is a simple yes or no question. Would you like it if I stole something from you? Leaks ARE theft if they are done in a certain manner by outside sources without express permission of the owner. So my question stands can you answer ONE SIMPLE LITTLE QUESTION.
Would you like it if I stole ANYTHING from you that was YOURS? Shut me up and answer yes or no. That easy.
And watching the results of a crime/leak are just like people viewing the results of any other crime say like vandalism. If I look at spray painted vandalized property it doesn't make me guilty of anything. I'm fine with people seeing the results of leaks but people need to understand that it could indeed be the results a legitimate crime. There are such things as property and property rights regardless if some people think they are anarchists or whatever. I like to know who respects those things and who doesn't. I can deal with people who do and won't with those who don't.
But back to the question. Would you like it if I stole any property of yours?
Yes im. I got no problem if you steal whatever from me. What are you gonna do?
Easy wasn't it. You are okay if I steal any property from you. Wonder if that would stand up in a court of law. Just for the record I am against anyone stealing anything of my own possession of mine. If you stole from me there would be repercussions.
But if I ever meet you or see your property, you are 100% okay if I take it correct? Just want to be clear and I'll shut up.
It seems to me that the people that are hit by this are the retailers selling singles. There was a lot of noise when the accusations that someone had the full list of Eternal Masters reprints came out. Now, the accuser eventually backed down, but since Magic cards are a totally unregulated market, I wouldn't be at all surprised if big retailers were getting information ahead of time. Either in small ways - youtube channels of the retailers getting cards to preview - through to big ways - why not give your buddy there a heads up when you know a big reprint is coming or a new mechanic that'll change the meta in a potentially profitable way? It seems like, if we follow the money, that's the group that's most affected by… not even the leaks but by the absence of them until two weeks out.
Ah, now we are getting closer. Good analytical skills.
Slow-drip method of card reveals isn't working. It's time to adapt to the current age of social media WotC, or this will just continue happening.
I am in 100% agreement with your statement. And these leaks are a perfect example of that frustration. I'm not condoning the leaks, but Wizards does a good job of burying their heads in the sand.
And others are with me...how much stock do you own in Hasbro, bro?
ZERO. I'm not on one side or the other but I do respect property rights. Always have and always will. Would you be upset if I stole something from you? If in this instance it means I side with Hasbro/Wizards so be it. If they try to blame it on us again like before I'll be against them. Its not always so black and white like you may be thinking. There is a lot of gray in the world.
If you respect property rights i dont know what you are doing in a leak debate. Banning modern from competitive scene, doing a creepy standar but the leak is the problem right? At least players know now if its worth to pay or not.
BTW Property rights have EVERYTHING to do with a leak debate.
Would you be okay if I stole something from you? Simple question, yes or no. That's all I need to know. Give me a one word answer, yes or no and I will drop the line of questioning. Just one word answer to the question, yes or no?
What does that even mean? The questions that wants to limite the answer talks by itself. Im saying that YOU respect the copyright, not in general. If you dont like leaks or you think that seeing a leak is invade property right, then YOU should quit.
Your question dont make any sence. You are saying that they are stealing something, they are leaking, not stealing. I will be ok for example if you take a picture of my entire deck or if you post it, but not if you take it. The question should be, would you be ok if i show something from you?
It is a simple yes or no question. Would you like it if I stole something from you? Leaks ARE theft if they are done in a certain manner by outside sources without express permission of the owner. So my question stands can you answer ONE SIMPLE LITTLE QUESTION.
Would you like it if I stole ANYTHING from you that was YOURS? Shut me up and answer yes or no. That easy.
And watching the results of a crime/leak are just like people viewing the results of any other crime say like vandalism. If I look at spray painted vandalized property it doesn't make me guilty of anything. I'm fine with people seeing the results of leaks but people need to understand that it could indeed be the results a legitimate crime. There are such things as property and property rights regardless if some people think they are anarchists or whatever. I like to know who respects those things and who doesn't. I can deal with people who do and won't with those who don't.
But back to the question. Would you like it if I stole any property of yours?
And others are with me...how much stock do you own in Hasbro, bro?
ZERO. I'm not on one side or the other but I do respect property rights. Always have and always will. Would you be upset if I stole something from you? If in this instance it means I side with Hasbro/Wizards so be it. If they try to blame it on us again like before I'll be against them. Its not always so black and white like you may be thinking. There is a lot of gray in the world.
If you respect property rights i dont know what you are doing in a leak debate. Banning modern from competitive scene, doing a creepy standar but the leak is the problem right? At least players know now if its worth to pay or not.
BTW Property rights have EVERYTHING to do with a leak debate.
Would you be okay if I stole something from you? Simple question, yes or no. That's all I need to know. Give me a one word answer, yes or no and I will drop the line of questioning. Just one word answer to the question, yes or no?
And others are with me...how much stock do you own in Hasbro, bro?
ZERO. I'm not on one side or the other but I do respect property rights. Always have and always will. Would you be upset if I stole something from you? If in this instance it means I side with Hasbro/Wizards so be it. If they try to blame it on us again like before I'll be against them. Its not always so black and white like you may be thinking. There is a lot of gray in the world.
I know there is gray, do you? You are the one who will not open your mind to the possibility that this was a self-leak by WotC for the purpose of driving up hype and discussion, or for other reasons. You dismiss this out of hand despite how I have articulated to you that it might be the case, and despite the fact that I have encouraged you and others to go read up on guerrilla marketing in the modern era. I, on the other hand, have acknowledged the possibility of theft being involved. You sound like a shill for a $4+ billion revenue mega-corporation that has been accused of some unsavory labor practices over the years, so I'm glad to hear that you are not.
Look your opinion is a possibility. But knowing what I know and how things actually work I'd give you a 1% chance or less at being correct. I know exactly what guerrilla marketing is, this isn't it. We will know soon I'd say. I don't work for Wizards/Hasbro and all my comments are my own opinion, nothing more. But I will call bull***** on BOTH sides when I see it. We will have to leave it at that.
If I took pictures of your tax forms, driver's license, social security cards, credit cards, banking forms and information and posted them up on the internet for all to see it is 100% legal and above the board as long as I am not compensated.
May I come over to your house tonight?
Interesting point, however did you know that if your a public servant, all the information on income and taxes are public domain? For example it is perfectly legal for you to know the President's income and tax information.
2ndly it is legal for you to post them, as long as you did not sign a contract that states you would not. One of the things about working in a bank or any business is they make you sign a contract that not only protects the company but the consumers of the company as well. Also my driver license information, including penalty points are online to view, you simply require my license number. If I posted that information online, lets say a cloud system and someone "cracked" into my cloud and released that information. The only crime they committed would be that of "cracking", follows under trespassing and theft, the taking of an object on private domain. Taking a photo of a product is not property theft as those cards are to be released later as a product. No different than walking into IKEA and taking photos of it's latest Hurdal or Kullen models. Information is only illegal to hand out if it is classified. My tax forms, license, social or bank forms are not classified. They are private because I and any business I have dealt with choose to keep them private.
I notice you did not give me permission to come over.
What if you did and I decided to take a few pictures of you and or your spouse in the shower? Just wanting to share some pictures of the beautiful human form, nothing more. Not looking for compensation or anything other than "art". Legal? Ooh, cool some passwords written down on a piece of paper. I like numbers and paper. Just want to share some nice numbers I like and paper that looks nice, nothing more. Cool with that?
Do I have permission from you?
Point is more than likely this person had permission to be where this sheet was. They did not have permission (probably through a NDA) to take images of the product. This is property theft with intent to harm Wizards in my book. If I were on a jury it would be my conclusion.
This is theft IF it was stolen from a printing press. If this was not stolen from any press but simply a picture of a sheet that was either at the work station or being evaluated for defects than this is legal. There is nothing illegal about taking a photo of something in America, only how you took the photo or what you plan to do with said photo.
For example taking photos in an art gallery, cinema or museum are usually prohibited but not illegal. They can't take you to court for taking photos but they can ask you to leave. If you don't then they can take you to court for trespass. However they can take you to court without asking you to leave if you intend to sell said photo.
Btw if anyone brings up movie laws, those are an entirely different animal which is handled by a very different system.
So in conclusion as long as this image poster did not steal the sheet from the printing press or attempt to sell the image, this is 100% legal.
And again all he has done is give the consumer (You and Me) a better understanding of the product that we may choose to invest in if we choose to. If we decide (like me) that the rares look piss awful, then choose not to invest in Ixalan, that is not the fault of the image poster but the R&D team who worked on the product. A good example would be car commercials, back when I was a kid a car commercial was filled with facts about the car, it's features, it's numbers but now they are just music videos with cars doing unbelievable things. Now it is harder to invest in a car because the only numbers you have to use are either online or in the broacher you have to read. I would much rather prefer to see an entire "God Book" a month before release to decided how many booster boxes I want to buy. No one was happy with Born of the Gamble when it came out and many people lost money, same with Dark Ascension. Buying magic shouldn't be a gamble but something to invest in to have fun. I don't think the average consumer likes buying the randomness of magic sets. Boosterboxs are already random enough we don't need to gamble on whether the set will be good or bad too.
Again, to play Devil's Advocate.
If I took pictures of your tax forms, driver's license, social security cards, credit cards, banking forms and information and posted them up on the internet for all to see it is 100% legal and above the board as long as I am not compensated.
May I come over to your house tonight?
You can take the pictures of those items. However, if you use the information for something criminal. Posting them online has the potential to make you accessory to whatever criminal act occured with that information. However, that depends on how you posted them online. If it was accident like you upload your entire picture folder because you don't know how to use your computer. You might have a defense. If you posted online and "said, I hope you enjoy free money" or just posting them could be determined to have malicious intent. Making you an accessory to whatever crime occurred.
Who determines "malicious intent"? A judge or jury I would expect correct. What if I just like the pretty numbers and fonts and want to share them with the world? Nothing malicious there, just want to share beautiful Helvetica or Comic Sans. So if I post a picture of my dog online and someone murders a Priest because he/she said the dog picture made him/her do it, I may be accessory to the crime right?
Point is there is intent in this leak case. It just isn't a "gee look at this world."
And others are with me...how much stock do you own in Hasbro, bro?
ZERO. I'm not on one side or the other but I do respect property rights. Always have and always will. Would you be upset if I stole something from you? If in this instance it means I side with Hasbro/Wizards so be it. If they try to blame it on us again like before I'll be against them. Its not always so black and white like you may be thinking. There is a lot of gray in the world.
Yep, I'm not holding my breath. If they are trying to "WOW" us with this rollout they are doing a piss poor job. Only card I have any interest in spoiled from HOU so far is Crucible of Worlds on a stick. I'm coming from the competitive Modern player angle but there is nothing here that would even get me remotely interested in Standard, nothing.
Save yourself the time and don't bother. Or as an alternative to the experience, find the nearest trash filled dumpster and watch the flies and vermin eat it. Probably a better use of anyones time.
From the absolute pile of crap that I've seen spoiled from HOU in the last couple of days, your statement may be the understatement of the decade.
I may have to give Lilijuana a higher than 1% intentional leak chance. I have NO interest in the rubbish that has been spoiled for HOU. It seems like Fallen Empires level of crap. I usually buy myself a fat pack at release, I'll be saving my money this go around. Someone should report Wizards to the EPA for printing and releasing toxic garbage like this to the public.
A company can be successful in spite of itself if you get my meaning. The thing is you advance/adapt and get better or you go the way of businesses like Sears, Montgomery Ward, K-Mart, JCPenney, Woolworth, Plymouth, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Mercury, MySpace, AoL or countless other multi-million/billion dollar businesses that have fallen by the wayside. Good is never good enough.
That is how capitalism works. I'm not a fan of price gouging but the solution my friend is easy. Find a different buyer or seller that gives you better prices or don't buy the product secondhand period. Don't just complain about it, let your money do the talking. I buy from who treats me fairly and screw the rest. Give it a shot.
Bravo.
I will also reiterate that I think Wizards is mired in its same old slow methodical way of rollout that needs to change as well. This stuff will continue to happen until they figure that out. But after reading some of those comments on that glass ceiling site from Wizards employees, it looks like management is entrenched in a culture of status quo. I don't see change, I don't think there is a lot of listening going on. I love this game. Wizards and Hasbro need to get their ***** together. Then we all benefit.
Easy wasn't it. You are okay if I steal any property from you. Wonder if that would stand up in a court of law. Just for the record I am against anyone stealing anything of my own possession of mine. If you stole from me there would be repercussions.
But if I ever meet you or see your property, you are 100% okay if I take it correct? Just want to be clear and I'll shut up.
Ah, now we are getting closer. Good analytical skills.
I am in 100% agreement with your statement. And these leaks are a perfect example of that frustration. I'm not condoning the leaks, but Wizards does a good job of burying their heads in the sand.
It is a simple yes or no question. Would you like it if I stole something from you? Leaks ARE theft if they are done in a certain manner by outside sources without express permission of the owner. So my question stands can you answer ONE SIMPLE LITTLE QUESTION.
Would you like it if I stole ANYTHING from you that was YOURS? Shut me up and answer yes or no. That easy.
And watching the results of a crime/leak are just like people viewing the results of any other crime say like vandalism. If I look at spray painted vandalized property it doesn't make me guilty of anything. I'm fine with people seeing the results of leaks but people need to understand that it could indeed be the results a legitimate crime. There are such things as property and property rights regardless if some people think they are anarchists or whatever. I like to know who respects those things and who doesn't. I can deal with people who do and won't with those who don't.
But back to the question. Would you like it if I stole any property of yours?
Thank you. Trial gets into culpability. Fines mean harm was done. Thank you for responding.
BTW Property rights have EVERYTHING to do with a leak debate.
Would you be okay if I stole something from you? Simple question, yes or no. That's all I need to know. Give me a one word answer, yes or no and I will drop the line of questioning. Just one word answer to the question, yes or no?
Look your opinion is a possibility. But knowing what I know and how things actually work I'd give you a 1% chance or less at being correct. I know exactly what guerrilla marketing is, this isn't it. We will know soon I'd say. I don't work for Wizards/Hasbro and all my comments are my own opinion, nothing more. But I will call bull***** on BOTH sides when I see it. We will have to leave it at that.
I notice you did not give me permission to come over.
What if you did and I decided to take a few pictures of you and or your spouse in the shower? Just wanting to share some pictures of the beautiful human form, nothing more. Not looking for compensation or anything other than "art". Legal? Ooh, cool some passwords written down on a piece of paper. I like numbers and paper. Just want to share some nice numbers I like and paper that looks nice, nothing more. Cool with that?
Do I have permission from you?
Point is more than likely this person had permission to be where this sheet was. They did not have permission (probably through a NDA) to take images of the product. This is property theft with intent to harm Wizards in my book. If I were on a jury it would be my conclusion.
Who determines "malicious intent"? A judge or jury I would expect correct. What if I just like the pretty numbers and fonts and want to share them with the world? Nothing malicious there, just want to share beautiful Helvetica or Comic Sans. So if I post a picture of my dog online and someone murders a Priest because he/she said the dog picture made him/her do it, I may be accessory to the crime right?
Point is there is intent in this leak case. It just isn't a "gee look at this world."
ZERO. I'm not on one side or the other but I do respect property rights. Always have and always will. Would you be upset if I stole something from you? If in this instance it means I side with Hasbro/Wizards so be it. If they try to blame it on us again like before I'll be against them. Its not always so black and white like you may be thinking. There is a lot of gray in the world.