Oh hey I have experience with this. Essentially this is the Riot Games business model.
You agree to a EULA and TOS that essentially states that you don't own anything, and you only have access to the digital content that you receive.
These two binding documents also have ironclad frameworks that give the company full discretion over your account data & access to their game, which is also active at their discretion and they can terminate accounts for any reason at any time. They're also essentially immune to lawsuits.
Not only that, the main reason for this is that once everyone is online, they won't need foundries or anything like that to actually output product, they don't need distributors, they don't need anything like that for much of the game. What that means is that instead of selling essentially nothing to people for *****loads more than it costs to produce, they'll be switching to *actually* selling *nothing* but access to lines of code.
[quote from="Fully Loaded Shaman »" url="/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/822919-the-supposed-death-of-card-single-sales-at-local?comment=11"]This decision was probably based on an assumption that In-Person Play and Events at Local Game Stores (LGSs) will NEVER be what it once was before COVID-19, so they're taking extra precaution by forcing players to play online exclusively because they don't like the idea of players continuing to play Paper Magic In-Person at their Local Game Store (LGS) for public health reasons. It apparently puts the company in a bad light so it's easier for them to isolate more players for a less desirable MTG experience while trying to reduce the risk of getting sued for potential damages looking out for their own bottom line of course.
Even Bushiroad players and game stores in other countries made playing in person consistently accessible with no reports of covid spread to speak of because they followed guidelines before and after vaccinations. Wizards could encourage IPP with just a few suggestions and people could return to stores.
There's no reason it would never return to normal ROFL
You agree to a EULA and TOS that essentially states that you don't own anything, and you only have access to the digital content that you receive.
These two binding documents also have ironclad frameworks that give the company full discretion over your account data & access to their game, which is also active at their discretion and they can terminate accounts for any reason at any time. They're also essentially immune to lawsuits.
Not only that, the main reason for this is that once everyone is online, they won't need foundries or anything like that to actually output product, they don't need distributors, they don't need anything like that for much of the game. What that means is that instead of selling essentially nothing to people for *****loads more than it costs to produce, they'll be switching to *actually* selling *nothing* but access to lines of code.
Even Bushiroad players and game stores in other countries made playing in person consistently accessible with no reports of covid spread to speak of because they followed guidelines before and after vaccinations. Wizards could encourage IPP with just a few suggestions and people could return to stores.
There's no reason it would never return to normal ROFL
tl;dr hasbro sucks dude