Synopsis: Just a place to hide standardized answers to some of the more esoteric and controversial questions we see posted. Such as booster boxes, proxies, monthly fees, starting out...
Feel free to use any part of this.
Links to standardized answers are in the second post of this thread.
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Current Issue: up for grabs...
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I'm going to build up a stock of answers to cut and paste for my use for silly questions that seem to pop up every few months.
I started this as a joke in 06, however this time I want to build up a reserve of serious answers.
Feel free to help out, comment, use this in any way want. I will be asking for a lot of input, I want to make these answers as idiot proof as possible.
Nitpicking, secondguessing, and freelance editorializing ARE HEAVILY ENCOURAGED!
I'm going to reserve the next few posts for long term use.
If anybody wants to drop any stock answers in here for there own use, feel free.
BentFranklin, hamtastic, some others have some very good stuff. Can I plagiarize / would you care to contribute?
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I think that as a part of each answer, there should be links to two of the best features we have on this board, the FAQ and the State.
Unfortunately (for this purpose only!) the State changes weekly.
Do you think a link to the General Board and then pointing out the FAQ and State at the top of the board would be sufficient?
"Demons Out!" - WWW, 12/20/7, in the V3 Launch Announcement.
the evil team: we put the glee in Gleemax!
"Justin, why did WotC remove the usage numbers from the Server Status Update?" , Me, 6/17/4 "Reading is not tech. Reading comprehension is." MountainProud, 1/2/7 "I'm so tired. Why do I have to carry all this weight? Why did you give me such a heavy gold bar? Damn you!!!", angus426, 3/4/9 "I just applied one of the basic concepts of math: If it's too hard to calculate, don't." Emoticon, 3/9/8 "Ask 10 players to define what casual is and you will get 15 different answers." Shadowchaser, 7/23/7 "We Brits tend not to mince words when discussing the posterior." Crowqueen, 2/27/7 "Childlike enthusiasm isn't tolerated, only jaded cynicism combined with optimistic addiction is allowed." natedawg, 12/19/6 "Why, I remember when my avatar was only 2D, and you actually had to log out to buy product... and to get to the Online Store it was uphill, both ways, in the snow!" tempesteye, 11/7/6 "If you don't have anything nice to say... keep editing your post." WizO_Brak, 9/27/6 "Punctuation is like alchohol, some can use it in moderation, some can't. You may need to visit PA for help." hamtastic, 4/4/6 "No wonder I took up Piracy. Life is just so much simpler looting and plundering." Nathan Dawg Jr III, discussing MOL Mirage economics, 12/7/5 "I do think that no matter what Wizards does, there will still be complaints." AKA Xtofyr, 9/30/5 "Unless your idea of fun is 'Magic: The F4 Button'...", Firecrest, 6/7/5 discussing Casual Play "I'm bitter by default. Don't take it personally." Jason Chorman, 9/10/4 "God, I hate loving this game!" VGishV, 3/4/4, during the Darksteel Release Yoyo "THINK, ppl. THINK" nushae, 3/5/4, during Darksteel Release "How evil can that be?? Can't look, can't touch?? What is that, like the Diet Coke of evil???" Billiac, 9/23/4
"Demons Out!" - WWW, 12/20/7, in the V3 Launch Announcement.
the evil team: we put the glee in Gleemax!
"Justin, why did WotC remove the usage numbers from the Server Status Update?" , Me, 6/17/4 "Reading is not tech. Reading comprehension is." MountainProud, 1/2/7 "I'm so tired. Why do I have to carry all this weight? Why did you give me such a heavy gold bar? Damn you!!!", angus426, 3/4/9 "I just applied one of the basic concepts of math: If it's too hard to calculate, don't." Emoticon, 3/9/8 "Ask 10 players to define what casual is and you will get 15 different answers." Shadowchaser, 7/23/7 "We Brits tend not to mince words when discussing the posterior." Crowqueen, 2/27/7 "Childlike enthusiasm isn't tolerated, only jaded cynicism combined with optimistic addiction is allowed." natedawg, 12/19/6 "Why, I remember when my avatar was only 2D, and you actually had to log out to buy product... and to get to the Online Store it was uphill, both ways, in the snow!" tempesteye, 11/7/6 "If you don't have anything nice to say... keep editing your post." WizO_Brak, 9/27/6 "Punctuation is like alchohol, some can use it in moderation, some can't. You may need to visit PA for help." hamtastic, 4/4/6 "No wonder I took up Piracy. Life is just so much simpler looting and plundering." Nathan Dawg Jr III, discussing MOL Mirage economics, 12/7/5 "I do think that no matter what Wizards does, there will still be complaints." AKA Xtofyr, 9/30/5 "Unless your idea of fun is 'Magic: The F4 Button'...", Firecrest, 6/7/5 discussing Casual Play "I'm bitter by default. Don't take it personally." Jason Chorman, 9/10/4 "God, I hate loving this game!" VGishV, 3/4/4, during the Darksteel Release Yoyo "THINK, ppl. THINK" nushae, 3/5/4, during Darksteel Release "How evil can that be?? Can't look, can't touch?? What is that, like the Diet Coke of evil???" Billiac, 9/23/4
"Demons Out!" - WWW, 12/20/7, in the V3 Launch Announcement.
the evil team: we put the glee in Gleemax!
"Justin, why did WotC remove the usage numbers from the Server Status Update?" , Me, 6/17/4 "Reading is not tech. Reading comprehension is." MountainProud, 1/2/7 "I'm so tired. Why do I have to carry all this weight? Why did you give me such a heavy gold bar? Damn you!!!", angus426, 3/4/9 "I just applied one of the basic concepts of math: If it's too hard to calculate, don't." Emoticon, 3/9/8 "Ask 10 players to define what casual is and you will get 15 different answers." Shadowchaser, 7/23/7 "We Brits tend not to mince words when discussing the posterior." Crowqueen, 2/27/7 "Childlike enthusiasm isn't tolerated, only jaded cynicism combined with optimistic addiction is allowed." natedawg, 12/19/6 "Why, I remember when my avatar was only 2D, and you actually had to log out to buy product... and to get to the Online Store it was uphill, both ways, in the snow!" tempesteye, 11/7/6 "If you don't have anything nice to say... keep editing your post." WizO_Brak, 9/27/6 "Punctuation is like alchohol, some can use it in moderation, some can't. You may need to visit PA for help." hamtastic, 4/4/6 "No wonder I took up Piracy. Life is just so much simpler looting and plundering." Nathan Dawg Jr III, discussing MOL Mirage economics, 12/7/5 "I do think that no matter what Wizards does, there will still be complaints." AKA Xtofyr, 9/30/5 "Unless your idea of fun is 'Magic: The F4 Button'...", Firecrest, 6/7/5 discussing Casual Play "I'm bitter by default. Don't take it personally." Jason Chorman, 9/10/4 "God, I hate loving this game!" VGishV, 3/4/4, during the Darksteel Release Yoyo "THINK, ppl. THINK" nushae, 3/5/4, during Darksteel Release "How evil can that be?? Can't look, can't touch?? What is that, like the Diet Coke of evil???" Billiac, 9/23/4
And I'll take suggestions on which issue we should tackle first. Maybe boxes? How about subscription? Delay of OL release? Full MSRP for DOs?
Obviously something like the shuffler and casual can be referred to the FAQ and the specific threads. So I should annotate those thread links...
"Demons Out!" - WWW, 12/20/7, in the V3 Launch Announcement.
the evil team: we put the glee in Gleemax!
"Justin, why did WotC remove the usage numbers from the Server Status Update?" , Me, 6/17/4 "Reading is not tech. Reading comprehension is." MountainProud, 1/2/7 "I'm so tired. Why do I have to carry all this weight? Why did you give me such a heavy gold bar? Damn you!!!", angus426, 3/4/9 "I just applied one of the basic concepts of math: If it's too hard to calculate, don't." Emoticon, 3/9/8 "Ask 10 players to define what casual is and you will get 15 different answers." Shadowchaser, 7/23/7 "We Brits tend not to mince words when discussing the posterior." Crowqueen, 2/27/7 "Childlike enthusiasm isn't tolerated, only jaded cynicism combined with optimistic addiction is allowed." natedawg, 12/19/6 "Why, I remember when my avatar was only 2D, and you actually had to log out to buy product... and to get to the Online Store it was uphill, both ways, in the snow!" tempesteye, 11/7/6 "If you don't have anything nice to say... keep editing your post." WizO_Brak, 9/27/6 "Punctuation is like alchohol, some can use it in moderation, some can't. You may need to visit PA for help." hamtastic, 4/4/6 "No wonder I took up Piracy. Life is just so much simpler looting and plundering." Nathan Dawg Jr III, discussing MOL Mirage economics, 12/7/5 "I do think that no matter what Wizards does, there will still be complaints." AKA Xtofyr, 9/30/5 "Unless your idea of fun is 'Magic: The F4 Button'...", Firecrest, 6/7/5 discussing Casual Play "I'm bitter by default. Don't take it personally." Jason Chorman, 9/10/4 "God, I hate loving this game!" VGishV, 3/4/4, during the Darksteel Release Yoyo "THINK, ppl. THINK" nushae, 3/5/4, during Darksteel Release "How evil can that be?? Can't look, can't touch?? What is that, like the Diet Coke of evil???" Billiac, 9/23/4
I vote for online boxes. I also think that can go along with MSRP if worded right. I seem to recall most of these posts want boxes as a way to get boosters below MSRP. But I tend to recall things differently some days so take it as you want it.
(Yo!)[sup]tm[/sup]
[Edit]
It might also be nice to have a (relative) non partial comparison between MTGO and Paper. This question does seem to come up and the one answer that everyone seems to love posting is 'MTGO > Paper because MTGO = Paper W/Out pants!'. However, I think it would be beneficial to have a post that clearly outlines the pros and cons of online play.
It might also be nice to have a (relative) non partial comparison between MTGO and Paper. This question does seem to come up and the one answer that everyone seems to love posting is 'MTGO > Paper because MTGO = Paper W/Out pants!'. However, I think it would be beneficial to have a post that clearly outlines the pros and cons of online play.
Seems to me a lot of the work on the MOL v RL has been done, there were some outstanding posts a while back. Heh. EPotM archive ftw, thanks MP!
Now to check the FAQ and STATE.
I think I will use the first post of this thread for work on the current issue. Anybody want to add some more cons?
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Current Issue: MOL vs RL (See Section 1 of the FAQ)
hamtastic]24x7 playing:
You can find pretty much anything you’ wrote:
24x7 playing:
You can find pretty much anything you’re looking for all hours of the day or night. Multiplayer, Drafting, casual, tournaments (during schedules), tourney practice, and leagues.
4 of a card is all you need:
Unlike paper magic, you can have the same set of cards in multiple decks. This makes life, SO much easier when building a deck. Instead of rooting through boxes of cards, or pulling cards out of other decks when building a new deck, they are all in a sort-able, graphical interface.
Cards are safer*:
Assuming you take care with your password (don’t give it out), your cards are safely stored on WotC servers. As opposed to a box of cards that can get spilled on, stolen, flooded, burned, etc… (* I say safer because it takes the user being negligent to lose an online collection, as opposed to random acts of stupidity like being stolen, or your upstairs neighbor flooding their bathroom, causing water damage, etc..)
MTGO handles the “icky” stuff:
Shuffling, +1/+1 et al counters, life totals, card drawing, library searching, etc… are all handled by the code. You don’t have to worry about your opponent drawing an extra card, or illegally manipulating their library, etc…
Constant Market place:
There are bots that run 24x7 for purchasing cards. There are drafters 24x7 dumping extras for their next draft, there is a player run auction for people to quickly buy and sell cards. All these things mean that you can always find a card, for a hefty price sometimes, but they’re always out there.
Comfort:
Which is more comfortable: playing in your home, in nice chair with your entire food collection, bathroom, and quiet (or loud music if you prefer); or driving to a place to play, sitting in some chair barely meant for human use, buying a candy bar or burrito and a 1.00 soda, surrounded by people who usually, (sorry for the large generalization) are lacking in some form of personal hygiene?
Redeemable (except old sets, pre 7th edition):
If you like, when you get 1x of a complete set (one each of every 8th edition card, for example) you can redeem them for physical cards, by just paying for shipping. Sets older than 7th edition do not have this ability however, and you can only take advantage of this for 3 years after the set has gone off sale.
There is also the competition. The best players in the world play on MOL.
A few cons:
MOL is not a particularly satisfying social experience. There are also issues with internet anonymity allowing players to do things they would never do in RL. It can be very expensive, full retail for packs, with no discount.
TongueInCheek Section:
Arterial Death : "MTGO > MTG because MTGO = MTG without pants." TheGoldenVoid : "And with beer. Without pants and with beeer. LOTS of beer." natedawg : "Also MtGO + laptop = don't miss any time for nature call."
"Demons Out!" - WWW, 12/20/7, in the V3 Launch Announcement.
the evil team: we put the glee in Gleemax!
"Justin, why did WotC remove the usage numbers from the Server Status Update?" , Me, 6/17/4 "Reading is not tech. Reading comprehension is." MountainProud, 1/2/7 "I'm so tired. Why do I have to carry all this weight? Why did you give me such a heavy gold bar? Damn you!!!", angus426, 3/4/9 "I just applied one of the basic concepts of math: If it's too hard to calculate, don't." Emoticon, 3/9/8 "Ask 10 players to define what casual is and you will get 15 different answers." Shadowchaser, 7/23/7 "We Brits tend not to mince words when discussing the posterior." Crowqueen, 2/27/7 "Childlike enthusiasm isn't tolerated, only jaded cynicism combined with optimistic addiction is allowed." natedawg, 12/19/6 "Why, I remember when my avatar was only 2D, and you actually had to log out to buy product... and to get to the Online Store it was uphill, both ways, in the snow!" tempesteye, 11/7/6 "If you don't have anything nice to say... keep editing your post." WizO_Brak, 9/27/6 "Punctuation is like alchohol, some can use it in moderation, some can't. You may need to visit PA for help." hamtastic, 4/4/6 "No wonder I took up Piracy. Life is just so much simpler looting and plundering." Nathan Dawg Jr III, discussing MOL Mirage economics, 12/7/5 "I do think that no matter what Wizards does, there will still be complaints." AKA Xtofyr, 9/30/5 "Unless your idea of fun is 'Magic: The F4 Button'...", Firecrest, 6/7/5 discussing Casual Play "I'm bitter by default. Don't take it personally." Jason Chorman, 9/10/4 "God, I hate loving this game!" VGishV, 3/4/4, during the Darksteel Release Yoyo "THINK, ppl. THINK" nushae, 3/5/4, during Darksteel Release "How evil can that be?? Can't look, can't touch?? What is that, like the Diet Coke of evil???" Billiac, 9/23/4
You can't just bring a couple of decks with you while you're heading out somewhere. I've played MTG (paper) while waiting in line, etc... You're limited to whenever you have computer access with MTGO (which is about the same for me...).
Con:
Completely Dependant on WotC. Your cards are only accessible while WotC is. Server downtime, crash, shutdown, you no longer have access to your cards. While many of us can 'cash out' if that happens, there are a lot that can't.
Con: Learning curve of the application. When you're using MSWord and hit the wrong thing you can undo. If you're in MTGO and hit the wrong thing you can theoretically lose hundreds of dollars (Imagine it being a huge qualifier or something).
Con: Collusion/Bribes/Player Validation. Four words: Tiago is that you? I'm writing up an article about some things the MTGO team could implement to make high level events playable, but it's not ready yet...
Con: Easier to spend money. If you're the addictive type, the easy access to cards may not be good for your wallet (TroySpiral is the most recent case I've seen). If you can afford it, that's fine, if not, well, that's bad... mm'kay?
more to come I'm sure...
MTGO SVCL - Ask me for help if you're lost or confused!
Some issues that come up repeatedly (though, infrequently, perhaps)...
Get rid of the intentional draw. Sharks. Adepts are evil. Wizards should give us something for free, because:
A: It would be cool. B: Everyone knows if you give away free stuff you'll make more money in the long term out of customer gratitude. C: Wizards makes so much money they can afford it.
Cheating. Refund policy.
I'm sure there's a lot more. Of the bunch, probably the argument that Wizards should give something away comes up the most frequently. Answering that question in general takes care of a bunch of other questions like proxies, box discounts, etc.
Just some thoughts...
ZXY
I can't spare a moment for the dog faced boy I won't lend another hand to the worm girl of Hanoi Don't deplete my oxygen for the guy who's turning blue But ask me, and I'll do anything for you
