Community

Jan 15, 2013 -- 9:15AM, Wizards_Sean wrote:

What you're proposing has been discussed by players before and is a regular topic especially for Duels players that have a history with Magic the Gathering. That just isn't what the Duels experience is meant to be... at least for the time being. For those who want to experience the full range of cards that Magic has to offer, there are two options (as DistilledPoison said) - 1) Play paper MtG or 2) Create a Magic Online account.

What about for the people who want more than what Duels offers, but don't want to experience the full range of cards that Magic has to offer?

An analogy I've used before: DotP is similar to a paper magic intro deck, which is fine for casual play with friends around the kitchen table.
MTGO is like the full catalogue, which can be very intimidating for inexperienced players, and very expensive for anyone. To say nothing about the issues many people take with its interface.

But, where is the digital-space equivalent of buying a handful of event decks and playing them semi-competitively at FNM?
DotP certainly doesn't offer this. MTGO can offer this if you know how to get it, but it doesn't offer the smoother, more visually-appealing interface of DotP.

There's room for a middle ground that offers an extended DotP-style experience, and many people who aren't interested in MTGO but would be willing to pay a premium for such an experience.


It just seems very strange to me that Wizards is completly ignoring this potential market because of some absurd belief that everyone should be satisfied with either Duels or MTGO, when there are clearly people asking - frequently - for something that's more than one but less than the other.

Jan 15, 2013 -- 9:36AM, puzzledmint wrote:

It just seems very strange to me that Wizards is completly ignoring this potential market because of some absurd belief that everyone should be satisfied with either Duels or MTGO, when there are clearly people asking - frequently - for something that's more than one but less than the other.

I think there's more to it than just that.  On one hand you have a customer base who sees cards like Pernicious Deed and wants to play decks with cards like that, but doesn't want to pay $25 for 1 card.  On the other hand you have a company who indirectly profits from cards like Pernicious Deed and doesn't just want to "give away" those cards in a program that they can be used without discretion.

Imagine if you could build your own deck and Natural Order ($30) a Child of Alara ($3) and then search for a Progenitous ($20).  Now that's about as flashy a play you could make.  Wipe every permanent off the board at once, followed by a 10/10 Protection from Everything.  How many people are going to actually dole out the money to make a deck where that's possible?  That deck would be in the $300-400 range.  Even if Wizards of the Coast doesn't directly profit from the sale of individual cards on the secondary market, you know they made a killing in Booster Pack sales so that someone could get those cards to sell you in the first place.  Why would they cut off that profit line by giving us everything we want in a $15 game?

Jan 15, 2013 -- 10:24AM, Splattercat wrote:

mbarrassed that I haven't hit this point myself in all the times I've tried to answer this question.

Nicely done Sixty.

Thank you.  I just wanted to make a statement that might finally put this discussion to rest.  Maybe we should bookmark this and just redirect people to it in the future.


The autocard just tipped me off to something.  The play I described above doesn't work with the old wording of Natural Order.  I'm glad they erratad it.