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My apologies if I missed the recent thread on this subject. I didn't see it. This is regarding the previews about the new Magic Online interface. For example, see here:

www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/18254_T...

Honestly, "3.5" looks like an improvement, but I don't really care that much about there being a red zone, an in-interface notepad, or how it uses arrows to show targetting. Mostly what I want now is a UI that runs smoothly, as well as soom GOOD new UI features like an auto-sell feature, or a quick count of how many cards you have of a specific name in trades, etc.

It seems to me that WotC largely misses the point with Magic Online. Yes, the current interface is a problem, but a large part of the problem is that it's slow and buggy, and that it lacks a lot of really useful features. I am glad that they're helping the UI get out of the way, but I see no evidence that they've really been working on the other stuff. MTGO in Silverlight or Flash is probably going to be slower than MTGO 3, unless their programmers are much better than they were when they made MTGO 3.

With WotC's track record in this area, I am not getting my hopes up or expecting much. Honestly, I would not be surprised if the new MTGO is even worse than MTGO 3.

Nov 6, 2009 -- 1:24PM, Alweth wrote:

My apologies if I missed the recent thread on this subject. I didn't see it. This is regarding the previews about the new Magic Online interface. For example, see here:

www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/18254_T...

Honestly, "3.5" looks like an improvement, but I don't really care that much about there being a red zone, an in-interface notepad, or how it uses arrows to show targetting. Mostly what I want now is a UI that runs smoothly, as well as soom GOOD new UI features like an auto-sell feature, or a quick count of how many cards you have of a specific name in trades, etc.

It seems to me that WotC largely misses the point with Magic Online. Yes, the current interface is a problem, but a large part of the problem is that it's slow and buggy, and that it lacks a lot of really useful features. I am glad that they're helping the UI get out of the way, but I see no evidence that they've really been working on the other stuff. MTGO in Silverlight or Flash is probably going to be slower than MTGO 3, unless their programmers are much better than they were when they made MTGO 3.

With WotC's track record in this area, I am not getting my hopes up or expecting much. Honestly, I would not be surprised if the new MTGO is even worse than MTGO 3.

I'm sorry, but as it stands right now, I have to strongly disagree with your assessment.  The UI redesign looks about 50 forms of awesome.

Of course, the original UI for 3.0 looked awesome as well, and we know how well THAT turned out.....

That being said, I have no reason to not like the direction they're currently taking.  It only took them just south of a decade, but it finally looks like they're heading in the right direction.

Looks good in 1 vs 1.  How bout that Multiplayer room?

i may be totally wrong in this so correct me utterly if i am wrong. but i have always felt that a program - like mtgo - run on my PC was more secure than something run within a web browser. is that not true? howsecure would an browser-based game clint really be? and what kind of security measures are wotc taking to ensure a lack of cheating, that we dont get hacked, and that our collections are secure?

It stores one bit of information: Whatever key the server uses to authenticate that the person connecting is still me. It also gathers the password and passes it to the server in some fashion.

Putting the client in a browser does open a few more avenues to account hacking: Attacking a browser vulnerability that allows a random web page to add a plugin that steals authentication information, for example. Now, such an attack would be rather sophisticated, requiring a vulnerable browser, a visit to a compromised page, and writing a plugin that intercepts the information.

So while it does open a few avenues for fraud, the decrease in actual security should be negligible.