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Sep 18, 2012 -- 11:53PM, Vektor480 wrote:

However, the new portrait of Azorius somewhat bothers me. As said before, they just seem... alright. They seem just and fair, something that anyone happy with society would have no problem embracing. So, what was the idea? To get more people to like them? I don't know. I liked their previous interpratation a lot, since I tend to like villains much more than the conventional ones.

If you want the evil, obstructive for the sake of it, over-obsessive with details and randomly stubborn side of the Azorius, read Jenna's story The Shadows of Prahv. After Wizards published that, everyone was complaining that the Azorius came across as too nasty, self-absorbed, unfair, useless and pointless. After Wizards published this Part of the Planeswalker's Guide, people are complaining that the Azorius seem too reasonable, excessively fair, only mildly obstructive and insufficiently self-absorbed? You really can't win, can you?

The Azorius comments have me excited for when the Orzhov will appear; they have the potential to be the most thematically fascinating guild, if they're done right.  I also like the bit about how the Azorius, who write the laws, also have a division to prevent the laws from being enforced.  Only White-Blue would think this is reasonable.  (The "k" in Konstructors really annoys me though.)

The Rakdos article was better than I was afraid it would be, but not by much.  They still are only interested in positioning the RB guild as destructive maniacs, which does match the playstyle of those colors, but is a huge shortfall compared to what the color combo should represent philosophically, just as those colors individually have always gotten short shrift.  Absolutely no explanation is given for how a guild, whose modus operandi is for members to intentionally shorten their own lives, fails to go extinct within days .  You could go with the old P.T. Barnum line about what happens every minute, but even on a hugely overpopulated plane, this stretches credibility wire-thin.

What RB should be is the guild of risk, danger, seductive madness - living on the bleeding edge of extinction, taking pleasure in pain, going as close as possible to "too far" without leaving behind the "almost".  The Rakdos's recruiters should ooze sensuality, encourage people to flirt with disaster and stare into the void until it blinks, and preach a philosophy that you're never more alive than when a terrifying brush with death has left your heart beating a mile a minute.  For the goblins and ogres, perhaps, this is wasted words, and you can just wind them up and let them wreak havoc.  But humans should still have a self-preservation instinct and an overwhelmingly powerful fear-response which kicks their adrenaline into high gear; they shouldn't willingly go near a gang of psychopaths who take joy in the use of rusty meathooks, not without some serious incentive.  Obviously this is a PG game and they can't go into much detail about the kind of debauchery that makes a good lure for this kind of crowd, but then even the best sex in the world is not going to convince most people to throw their lives away by hanging with a crowd that would rather kill you than look at you.  The gambling, thrill-seeking, envelope-pushing aspect ought to be enough to create a compelling guild, instead of one that comes out looking like a one-joke routine.

As far as people wondering why anyone would join Rakdos.  In addition to psychopaths and all that jazz, am I the only one who got the vibe a lot of Rakdos members are drug addicts?  I don't know anything about Ravnica's stance on drugs, but I have to imagine that Rakdos is probably the #1 provider of recreational drugs.  And if you look at contemporary society, there are plenty of people who would join Rakdos to 'get their fix'.  Also, depending on the magnitude/effects of the drugs, self-mutilation or letting yourself get sacrificed might have seemed like a good idea at the time...

For a more kid friendly version replace each use of the word 'drug' with 'magic'! 

Sep 19, 2012 -- 9:23AM, Demento_Recraves wrote:

As far as people wondering why anyone would join Rakdos.  In addition to psychopaths and all that jazz, am I the only one who got the vibe a lot of Rakdos members are drug addicts?  I don't know anything about Ravnica's stance on drugs, but I have to imagine that Rakdos is probably the #1 provider of recreational drugs.  And if you look at contemporary society, there are plenty of people who would join Rakdos to 'get their fix'.  Also, depending on the magnitude/effects of the drugs, self-mutilation or letting yourself get sacrificed might have seemed like a good idea at the time...

For a more kid friendly version replace each use of the word 'drug' with 'magic'! 

So yeah, the Cult of Rakdos is the cult of Sex and Drugs - and maybe Rock & Roll. Given that this game is PG-13 they can only hint at sex from afar and to drug use from even further. But think about it: There are tons of drugs that are associated with self mutilation and violence. Now think about the kind of fix you can get from magic enhanced drugs.

"Word is on the street of a new drug named "the limber". The trip is strong, wracking and ecstatic, but the limb you inject it in will rot and fall apart. Still, some people are willing to lose an arm and a leg to get another fix. You can get it from the Wrecking Ball Club for the right price if you know the right guy. I am the right guy."