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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 11:42AM
#1
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This thread is for discussion of this week's Taste the Magic, which goes live Wednesday morning on magicthegathering.com.
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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 9:52PM
#2
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Who puts out this publication exactly? Who are these interplanar publishers who have sent planeswalking field reporters to explore a world's geopolitical landscape and test all the hotel mattresses?[/quote]
Damn, what an awesome plot hook! :D
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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 10:11PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Apr 15, 2006
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Wait a minute, the books are focusing on Jace and Chandra? Sounds like another product announced not too long ago ... Perhaps we're to assume that the Duel Deck will be considered canon? If the books are going to focus on them as the mains, they'll likely end up fighting at some point ...
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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 10:45PM
#4
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- BCP5 Worldbuilding Lead
- I'll take Dreamblade for 200, Alex
Date Joined:
Sep 22, 2002
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Do we expect Chandra Nalaar to be packing a copy of the Planeswalker's Guide to Alara as she's jetting around the multiverse? I'm... not sure. The harder I think about it, the weirder it sounds, so I'd advise you not to think about it too hard. Who puts out this publication exactly? Who are these interplanar publishers who have sent planeswalking field reporters to explore a world's geopolitical landscape and test all the hotel mattresses?[/quote]
Why, the Dark Cabal Infinite ![](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?name="Look At Me, I'm the DCI"&type=card) , of course. You know, that elite, secretive cadre of wizened planeswalkers and dreamers that make themselves seen only where large numbers of planeswalkers gather in order to regulate dangerous magics and keep the multiverse from tearing itself apart at the seams.
Or perhaps it's Ford Prefect. One way or the other.
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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 10:50PM
#5
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To address the article: I greatly enjoyed this article, Doug, especially the first few paragraphs, before you got into the specifics of Shadowmoor; it's put into words something that I've been thinking about and trying to articulate for a while now. I've known, intuitively, that the five-color system makes for a far more dynamic system than even-numbered arrangements, but I've never been able to express it quite this eloquently. Kudos! To address the letter, and unanswered questions: Thank you very much for answering those questions for us, Doug. I'm very happy indeed to learn that these books will be done in-voice; I'm certain that that will result in a far more engaging and entertaining view of the plane than the out-of-voice would have, and with this news I am greatly looking forward to purchasing these Guides, pocketbook permitting. I'd still like to know about the Fat Packs, though, and I'm sure I'm not alone. It occured to me as I was reading the letter this week that you might not be able to answer properly and thus might not be the right person to ask, as I'm not certain that the content of the Fat Packs are entirely your province--in fact, the more I actually think about it the more I doubt it. But if you could ask somebody to perhaps address the issue of the Fat Packs, perhaps in an Arcana or an Ask Wizards or even on the boards themselves, there's a number of people both on these boards and elsewhere that would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. (In case you need it, the major questions most of us have regarding the Fat Packs are the ones asked here--numbers 1 through 5, though we'd also appreciate answers for 6 and 7 if possible as well.) Once again, thank you. 
And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary
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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 10:56PM
#6
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- BCP5 Worldbuilding Lead
- I'll take Dreamblade for 200, Alex
Date Joined:
Sep 22, 2002
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I greatly enjoyed this article, Doug, especially the first few paragraphs, before you got into the specifics of Shadowmoor; it's put into words something that I've been thinking about and trying to articulate for a while now. I've known, intuitively, that the five-color system makes for a far more dynamic system than even-numbered arrangements, but I've never been able to express it quite this eloquently. Kudos!
It's worth noting, of course, that it seems most collectible games have four divisions instead of five, though that could just be my limited experience talking. Perhaps the smaller print runs these games tend to have make it difficult for them to fill out more than four, even though an odd number is preferable. Three is just too few to produce interesting deck combinations, and seven is far too many to flesh out. (On that note, didn't Pokemon have six?)
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5 years ago ::
Jun 10, 2008 - 11:22PM
#7
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It's worth noting, of course, that it seems most collectible games have four divisions instead of five, though that could just be my limited experience talking. Perhaps the smaller print runs these games tend to have make it difficult for them to fill out more than four, even though an odd number is preferable. Three is just too few to produce interesting deck combinations, and seven is far too many to flesh out. (On that note, didn't Pokemon have six?)
The TCG originally had six, yes, not counting colorless, which didn't have its own basic energy: fire, grass, water, fighting, psychic, and electric. Dark and Steel were added later, IIRC, though I haven't kept up with the game. The RPG, of course, had 15 (plus dark and steel later).
Pokemon, however, didn't flesh out anything like a formal color wheel, per se--all non-Pokemon cards were essentially colorless, and individual orientation was determined by the RPG more than by the needs of the game. Neopets came closer to doing what Magic did, with a six-pack of its own: Dark, Light, Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Although that system, too, was created before the TCG was created, and the TCG had to bend to suit.
And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary
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5 years ago ::
Jun 11, 2008 - 1:25AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Jun 11, 2004
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Who are these interplanar publishers who have sent planeswalking field reporters to explore a world's geopolitical landscape and test all the hotel mattresses?
I think it's pretty clear. Ford Prefect, is so disillusioned by the fact that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is no longer marketed to the actual hitchhiker demographic by it's current publisher Infinidim Enterprises, that he suffers an acute genre inversion as a result.
Finding himself trapped in a new idiom, and seeing a void that he's uniquely qualified to fill, he begins to write the Plainswalkers' Guides to occupy his time.
[Edit: Upon posting, I see that he's already been mentioned upthread. It's what I get for skimming the other posts, and posting when I've just woken up.]
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5 years ago ::
Jun 11, 2008 - 1:38AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Dec 18, 2007
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I'd really love to see that color wheel turned into a playmat.
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5 years ago ::
Jun 11, 2008 - 3:07AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jun 14, 2006
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To address the article:
I'd still like to know about the Fat Packs, though, and I'm sure I'm not alone. It occured to me as I was reading the letter this week that you might not be able to answer properly and thus might not be the right person to ask, as I'm not certain that the content of the Fat Packs are entirely your province--in fact, the more I actually think about it the more I doubt it. But if you could ask somebody to perhaps address the issue of the Fat Packs, perhaps in an Arcana or an Ask Wizards or even on the boards themselves, there's a number of people both on these boards and elsewhere that would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
(In case you need it, the major questions most of us have regarding the Fat Packs are the ones asked here--numbers 1 through 5, though we'd also appreciate answers for 6 and 7 if possible as well.)
Once again, thank you.
Seconded. I also wrote Doug about this, and got no answer. I work at a game store, and I know that the only reason anyone(including myself) buys Fat Packs, is for the books.
Also, I don't know if anyone other than me has thought of this, if the Fat Packs don't have the books, how will people get them? I'm not sure if my store is willing to carry novels outside of Fat Packs. My Magic players will have to look elsewhere for the books (hurting my store). I wonder if Magic novel sales from bookstores compare at all to Fat Pack sales.
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