Impacts of COVID-19 on Paper Magic

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

forgot to say. One of the difficulties covid is doing to my mtg hobby is cannot order anything. Because the post office is closed, even if it arrives here in my country I cannot get it. In fact, got two orders currently trapped there.

right now, my scg cart is so full of goodies that I want to order. But it would just end up stuck at the post office the same as two previous orders.... got to patiently wait for this calamity to pass.....
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
toctheyounger
Posts: 3984
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Post by toctheyounger » 4 years ago

Card Slinger J wrote:
4 years ago
Let me ask you a question about a hypothetical scenario and I'm being serious. Say you were someone who doesn't know what Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games are and you just recently heard about Magic: the Gathering in 2020 even though there's more gaming options to choose from nowadays compared to how few there were when MTG first made it's debut in 1993. What would you do? Would you pick up a Starter Deck, go to your LGS, and learn how to play or would you move onto a different hobby being fully aware of the actual LGS environment?
Right now? I'd stay the f*ck home, do some research and wait for this to pass. MtG as a card game is still superior to any of it's current competition such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy, Hearthstone etc in terms of complexity and strategy, so it's worth the wait.
Card Slinger J wrote:
4 years ago
What If you had the chance to start all over again? It's always about risk vs. reward. Say you lost your Paper Magic collection in a natural disaster / global crisis or someone managed to steal it from you without your consent. Is the risk to go through it all again really worth the reward? How much of a mental toll would it take to recoup the losses made? These are the types of questions MTG players don't ask themselves enough of these days. Don't get the wrong idea I'm not trying to poke fun at Tolarian Community College on YouTube when he goes about saying, "Many Magic players ask the question..." I figured it'd be good food for thought.
As someone who doesn't have insurance for their collection or the money to recoup losses, I've asked this question of myself before. Sadly, I would probably leave the game behind. There's no way I could spare the money, especially with my firstborn arriving in less than a month now. I've put myself in the situation of leaving the game behind before, and returned to it (I missed some of the best sets for value though - Urza's block through OG Zendikar/New Phyrexia, a lot of which stings for deckbuilding today). Part of how I play the game is NOT to build beyond my means, though, so I think whatever I would do would bear that in mind.
Malazan Decks of the Fallen
| Shadowthrone/Lazav | Raest/Yidris | T'iam / The Ur-Dragon |

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 4 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
4 years ago
Right now? I'd stay the f*ck home, do some research and wait for this to pass. MtG as a card game is still superior to any of it's current competition such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy, Hearthstone etc in terms of complexity and strategy, so it's worth the wait.
What I should've asked you earlier was what would you have done differently had the COVID-19 Pandemic never occurred? I do feel as though MTG has made it hard for it's competition to thrive solely because of how crowded the market for Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games are, not so much in regards to superiority. The problem I see here is that it's increasingly difficult for the LGS to continuously support multiple Secondary Markets for various Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games all at once.

It's not about whether or not If your game can stand the test of time when it's dependent on how innovative it is. What does it offer that hasn't already been done before in the past? Is it innovative enough? It's hard to answer that without increasing the learning curve. That's why we see so many discontinued Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games because they either stuck to the simplistic learning curve of being too similar to MTG, gets power creeped into oblivion, or is poorly marketed and advertised.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
Krishnath
Mechanical Dragon
Posts: 3565
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: A cave somewhere in Scandinavia

Post by Krishnath » 4 years ago

Card Slinger J wrote:
4 years ago
It's not about whether or not If your game can stand the test of time when it's dependent on how innovative it is. What does it offer that hasn't already been done before in the past? Is it innovative enough? It's hard to answer that without increasing the learning curve. That's why we see so many discontinued Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games because they either stuck to the simplistic learning curve of being too similar to MTG, gets power creeped into oblivion, or is poorly marketed and advertised.
The thing is that MTG is incredibly innovative, and it always has been. There is not a (noncore) standard legal set that goes by where we aren't introduced to a new mechanic, and even in sets such as the core sets, existing mechanics are often explored in new and exciting ways. There is a reason why MTG is the most popular TCG out there by a wide margin, and it isn't its age.
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.

Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.

The Commander Legacy Project, Come say hello and give your thoughts.

Like to read? Love books and want to recommend one to your fellow forum users? Go here.

User avatar
toctheyounger
Posts: 3984
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Post by toctheyounger » 4 years ago

Card Slinger J wrote:
4 years ago
What I should've asked you earlier was what would you have done differently had the COVID-19 Pandemic never occurred? I do feel as though MTG has made it hard for it's competition to thrive solely because of how crowded the market for Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games are, not so much in regards to superiority. The problem I see here is that it's increasingly difficult for the LGS to continuously support multiple Secondary Markets for various Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games all at once.

It's not about whether or not If your game can stand the test of time when it's dependent on how innovative it is. What does it offer that hasn't already been done before in the past? Is it innovative enough? It's hard to answer that without increasing the learning curve. That's why we see so many discontinued Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games because they either stuck to the simplistic learning curve of being too similar to MTG, gets power creeped into oblivion, or is poorly marketed and advertised.
They have, and I think that's probably part of why we see such a blistering pace for releases these days. It's honestly at least a little exhausting, for me. I try to cherry pick the bits and pieces from each set that I want and leave it there, because my finances can't keep up. That's beside the point though, I'm sure the point is WOTC keeping their content at the forefront of the TCG marketplace. As far as which TCG's die or thrive, I think there's a few factors there.

At the grassroots level, I think the LGS owner has a relative part to play in this, in terms of what they're physically able to stock, what they can financially afford to stock, and what their perceive as being attractive to their clientele. My LGS is very much MtG dominated, but there's still some Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy and Keyforge to varying degrees. As far as LGS owners go, I think mine is quite astute and reading his clientele and devoting his time according to what sells. Really, it's what every owner ought to do, it's sink or swim stuff really.

At the marketing level, it's a very crowded marketplace, even just considering the top 3 of MtG, Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Newcomers really need to carve a niche without retreading old ground and provide something new that the other competitors don't, and I think MtG has made that VERY hard. Every new set they're treading relatively new ground - they're not stupid, they know what we want and when to give it to us, as well having relativey ample resources to continue to do so. So competing against that is like a grassroots lawyer going up against a corporate lawfirm; you're pushing sh*t uphill with a toothbrush.

Ultimately if CoVid had never happened I'd do the same thing I do now - pick the pieces I want and play the game the way I want to when I can. These days I write more than I play by a long long way, which is a shame, but it's not the end of the world, that's life. I think in terms of survival though WotC is doing quite well. They're offering goodwill to their client base by offering LGSes ways to survive this with Arena codes and such, and they're doing everything they can to keep their content out there - which in an isolation environment is quite clever really, people need something to keep cabin fever away, so why not let it be MtG? They're flexible enough to keep their brand on people's minds, so I think they'll come out of this just fine, even if they do take a loss in the next little while as a brand.
Malazan Decks of the Fallen
| Shadowthrone/Lazav | Raest/Yidris | T'iam / The Ur-Dragon |

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 4 years ago

I've probably already mentioned this before here on MTGNexus, but there's a local Comic Book Shop that doubles as an LGS that I've been going to for 18 years and I'm very concerned with how the current state of the Comic Book Industry will affect sales there. Worst case scenario I think they'll have to shift their business model towards indie comics and/or manga given the toxic monopolies Marvel and DC have created for themselves. Except there's just one problem, with Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. shutdown for the foreseeable future the local Comic Book Shop in my area that doubles as an LGS won't be able to get any new comics to sell to customers so they'll have to rely on their MTG inventory to stay afloat. The one thing saving it is arguably EDH / Commander despite players being quarantined.

Having to rely on MTG when your comics can't even sell due to incompetence from Marvel and DC already sounds like a financial structure waiting to fail. They do have other comic brands such as Dark Horse, IDW, Image, as well as graphic novels outside of Marvel and DC If I'm not mistaken. I also have a link to their eBay store If anyone wants to check it out and perhaps donate money to the cause. That's how I've been supporting my local game store these last couple weeks (one of them at least) is by buying $10-20 MTG singles through their eBay store. They did manage to survive the 2008 Financial Crisis and I'd really hate to see them go out of business permanently due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. I guess it's really a somber reminder that you don't run a local game store just to provide play space for players when eventually you're going to need money to retire on.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
toctheyounger
Posts: 3984
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Post by toctheyounger » 4 years ago

Card Slinger J wrote:
4 years ago
I've probably already mentioned this before here on MTGNexus, but there's a local Comic Book Shop that doubles as an LGS that I've been going to for 18 years and I'm very concerned with how the current state of the Comic Book Industry will affect sales there. Worst case scenario I think they'll have to shift their business model towards indie comics and/or manga given the toxic monopolies Marvel and DC have created for themselves. Except there's just one problem, with Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. shutdown for the foreseeable future the local Comic Book Shop in my area that doubles as an LGS won't be able to get any new comics to sell to customers so they'll have to rely on their MTG inventory to stay afloat. The one thing saving it is arguably EDH / Commander despite players being quarantined.

Having to rely on MTG when your comics can't even sell due to incompetence from Marvel and DC already sounds like a financial structure waiting to fail. They do have other comic brands such as Dark Horse, IDW, Image, as well as graphic novels outside of Marvel and DC If I'm not mistaken. I also have a link to their eBay store If anyone wants to check it out and perhaps donate money to the cause. That's how I've been supporting my local game store these last couple weeks (one of them at least) is by buying $10-20 MTG singles through their eBay store. They did manage to survive the 2008 Financial Crisis and I'd really hate to see them go out of business permanently due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. I guess it's really a somber reminder that you don't run a local game store just to provide play space for players when eventually you're going to need money to retire on.
Yeah, I think it's probably a pitfall of the industry to be honest; you get into it with a storefront wanting to spend more time around your hobby and quickly find out that you need to be prepared for it to be a profession and potentially not your dream job after all. You really do need to be so organised to keep a roof above your head as an LGS owner, global pandemic or not.

I guess we're lucky here in NZ that our government is doing everything it can to make sure businesses stay afloat. I've heard it's pretty rough in the states, and commodity businesses like game stores must be doing it pretty tough right now. My LGS'es are both going ok on online sales at present, so hopefully that keeps them going for now. Really depends how long this lasts, and what sort of lease arrangements they have. I'd hope for rent holidays, but you never know.
Malazan Decks of the Fallen
| Shadowthrone/Lazav | Raest/Yidris | T'iam / The Ur-Dragon |

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 4 years ago

toctheyounger wrote:
4 years ago
Yeah, I think it's probably a pitfall of the industry to be honest; you get into it with a storefront wanting to spend more time around your hobby and quickly find out that you need to be prepared for it to be a profession and potentially not your dream job after all. You really do need to be so organised to keep a roof above your head as an LGS owner, global pandemic or not.
I think LGS owners are coming to the harsh reality that having overhead costs more compared to going Digital only where they end up saving more money to pay for rent which ends up sacrificing play space for people who want to enjoy playing Paper Magic. Spending $200-300+ on decks you only end up playing 2 days a week given you work 5 days a week paycheck to paycheck may seem like it's worth the reward at first due to the experience but in reality it really isn't when other things in life come first.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

after some rules discussion with people in mtgsalvation about "companion". Now, I really want a single copy of Kaheera, the orphanguard for my deck, But still can't order from scg, I hope this quarantine ends soon.
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 4 years ago

The Fluff wrote:
4 years ago
after some rules discussion with people in mtgsalvation about "companion". Now, I really want a single copy of Kaheera, the orphanguard for my deck, But still can't order from scg, I hope this quarantine ends soon.
Does your LGS have an online presence? If not I'd order from eBay or TCGPlayer. TCGPlayer is good since they ACTUALLY support LGSs not like it matters much anymore even though they unionized. I absolutely refuse to support Amazon unless I'm in a dire situation though.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

Our local store? None, as far as I know. Well, and the only reason I cannot order from scg is... if they send the package, I can't go out of the house to claim it at the post office. Have to wait for covid to end before order anything again. Now, I just put all things I want and can afford to the online shopping cart. :)
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
Drusus
Posts: 56
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Drusus » 4 years ago

I know several states in the americas have basically issued a "only essentials" for stores. So certain stores LGS's would have to stay shut and take a hit. I feel that even if a LGS survives this whole ordeal its going to be set back very far. Some more than others that it would be just better off to just close down.

As for online stores, the LGS's I frequent do have one but its very out of date.

User avatar
Rumpy5897
Tuner of Jank
Posts: 1854
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Rumpy5897 » 4 years ago

You could try getting in touch with a particular LGS and working something out. I've been dealing with my main vendor via PayPal sidestepping magiccardmarket for years and it's all been fine. Especially in these times - if you want to give people money, they'll figure out a way to take it.
 
EDH Primers (click me!)
Deck is Kill Club
Show
Hide

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 4 years ago

So this just happened:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/20 ... uties-say/

Tampa Bay Times wrote:
PINELLAS PARK — Kitchen Table Games is a place where gamers can build their decks for tabletop card games like Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball Super Card Game and test their skills against other gamers.

But it's not an essential business allowed to operate under the "safer-at-home" order, which is why deputies said they arrested the owner on Thursday.

Galen Trent Wood, 36, has run Kitchen Table Games at 9600 66th St. N since 2014. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said that it has received multiple complaints since April 3 that the store was still open despite being considered a non-essential business restricted from operating under lockdown orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Deputies said they visited the store five times earlier this month, found it was open and watched employees interact with customers. They issued warnings, deputies said, but each time Wood argued with them. The store told customers via its Facebook page that it would be closed for browsing, but still open to sell items via curbside pick-up or via mail delivery.

When Wood refused to close his business on Thursday, deputies said he was arrested on misdemeanor charges of operating a non-essential business and traveling to operate a non-essential business.

The Sheriff's Office could not be reached for comment late Thursday. Wood was booked into the Pinellas County jail at about 7:30 p.m. and soon freed after posting $500 bail.

This is what Galen Wood said on his LGSs Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/kitchentablegames/

Galen Wood wrote:
Thank you for all your support! It has been overwhelming, calls from around the country expressing support. We all have a duty to make sure that we remain a country of Laws, of the people, with government that respects the constitution and officers that enforce the law, not try to make new ones. It's your duty to say NO when officers are not respecting the Law of our country.

I didn't do anything special or set out to be a martyr. I just asked them to provide a court order or even an interpretation saying why, and after them repeatedly saying they would get a court order, and never saying it was criminal, they arrested me and charged me with a misdemeanor! We cannot allow this to become the norm in the United States of America! Stand up for your rights which are God-given, not granted by the Constitution but enshrined there so we never forget.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

he was warned at least 5 times. Should have listened.
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 4 years ago

So unless quarantine laws are different in each state / province, ALL Local Game Store (LGS) owners are already breaking the law just for operating non-essential businesses. In other words they're not legally allowed to sell their products to customers with an online presence via e-commerce, mail deliveries, and curb-side pickup be damned. If they can't stay in business because the "stay at home" order tells them not to then they literally have no choice but to liquidate everything they have because they're no longer able to sell.

Then the question becomes how are they going to liquidate their inventory If they're not even allowed to physically enter their store? The product HAS to go somewhere. It can't just be sitting around collecting dust while they wait until they can open shop again just to pay off small business loans / rent they can't even owe to their landlord only for them to go bankrupt permanently. Since the U.S. Government can't even help fund these businesses with the loans necessary to pay off their landlord they're already screwed either way.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

JoeyB11223
Posts: 52
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by JoeyB11223 » 4 years ago

"Thank you for all your support! It has been overwhelming, calls from around the country expressing support. We all have a duty to make sure that we remain a country of Laws, of the people, with government that respects the constitution and officers that enforce the law, not try to make new ones. It's your duty to say NO when officers are not respecting the Law of our country."

I'm not a resident of the USA so not sure how things work over there, but is he just being awkward/incorrect when suggesting new laws cannot be made? Or is it he believes this lack of freedom of movement etc goes against the constitution? I would have thought the President/Government has put in emergency legislation to allow officers to enforce the closure of non-essential businesses? Or have they not and that's his issue? In the UK the government has enacted emergency powers/legislation, albeit originally it was to last 2 years which seemed very police state, the opposition has forced them to review it after 6 months. I do fear though this will be an excuse to increase their powers to arbitrarily curtail freedoms/rights though.

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 3 years ago

The way I see it is that it has more to do with the constitutionality of the "stay at home" order and how it infringes on peoples civil liberties and freedoms. I don't know how this is interpreted in other countries' constitutions though I do know that no country in the history of the world was built on a society based around self-isolation unless you count totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany during World War II or modern day North Korea. China has already become an Orwellian State that serves as a blueprint for what democracies across the world should never become or succumb toward yet they were the ones who spread COVID-19 while killing off the whistle blower who tried to warn the world ahead of time.
warning issued for trolling, please refrain from blaming this disease on Chine/Chinese people. I do not want any racist or anything that can eb deemed as racism on this site-Motley-
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
Rumpy5897
Tuner of Jank
Posts: 1854
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Rumpy5897 » 3 years ago

Card Slinger J wrote:
3 years ago
The way I see it is that it has more to do with the constitutionality of the "stay at home" order and how it infringes on peoples civil liberties and freedoms. I don't know how this is interpreted in other countries' constitutions though I do know that no country in the history of the world was built on a society based around self-isolation unless you count totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany during World War II or modern day North Korea. China has already become an Orwellian State that serves as a blueprint for what democracies across the world should never become or succumb toward yet they were the ones who spread COVID-19 while killing off the whistle blower who tried to warn the world ahead of time.
"Image"

Shut it down.
 
EDH Primers (click me!)
Deck is Kill Club
Show
Hide

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 3 years ago

at this point, I would only go out of our house to buy basic needs like vitamins and foods.

And as much as possible, I keep distance from others. Don't want to end up like this guy.

Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

User avatar
SquirrelToken
Posts: 219
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Kjeldor

Post by SquirrelToken » 3 years ago

Drusus wrote:
4 years ago
I know several states in the americas have basically issued a "only essentials" for stores. So certain stores LGS's would have to stay shut and take a hit. I feel that even if a LGS survives this whole ordeal its going to be set back very far. Some more than others that it would be just better off to just close down.

As for online stores, the LGS's I frequent do have one but its very out of date.
My LGS owner started a Discord. We can all chat with each other while waiting for this to blow over. He's also offering to deliver any orders that anyone places, either online or just by phoning in. We have a 'stay-at-home' order, not 'shelter-in-place', so he can just drive around and drop packages off at people's doorsteps. His store is closed in that none of us can go there, but he's taken it online pretty well. He's even doing miniature painting contests, to try to drum up interest in something that people will be doing at home with time on their hands.

User avatar
motleyslayer
Posts: 1127
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Contact:

Post by motleyslayer » 3 years ago

Please keep this thread on topic of how Covid is relating to MtG/LGSs. Racist/Xenophobic posts will not be topic, neither will posts attempting to link Covid to China/Chinese people. I will be closely watching this thread from now on and will not tolerate any more posts against the rules-Motleyslayer

User avatar
Card Slinger J
Nope Not Today
Posts: 384
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Card Slinger J » 3 years ago

Look I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused all of you.

Wasn't trying to come off being racist or xenophobic towards Chinese citizens when I was mainly criticizing their government. Regardless of what people say on the internet I'm not as bad of a person in real life as they make me out to be. I just think we're all stressed out due to the current situation. I should've been doing something more productive than sit around and complain about a situation we have no control over.

A part of us wants to go back to social gatherings while at the same time we got to face facts and adjust our lives to this new reality we've been thrust onto. As much as I love Paper Magic I was only playing two days a week but at least I got to enjoy the social aspect at my LGS while it lasted. With all the money I've put into this gaming hobby I'm starting to wonder If it was really worth it as selfish as that may seem. I know I'm not welcome on this forum any longer.
"Salvation is for those who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who have lived through it."

- Ralph Smart

User avatar
Rumpy5897
Tuner of Jank
Posts: 1854
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Rumpy5897 » 3 years ago

It's okay. These are trying and unprecedented times for all of us. I went from "this is just a stronger flu, why all the fuss", to repeatedly clogging up the EDH off-topic chat with panic about plundered shops, to relative calmness as the lockdown started bringing in results. You're flailing about in a different way than me, one that is slightly tangential to this picture I've had crop up on my Facebook wall yesterday.

"Image"

As silly as it sounds, the trouble with the virus is not the threat to any one individual. For example, if I get it, I'm 99.99% likely to not die according to current estimates. The mortality is likely overestimated due to asymptomatic carriers and mild cases vanishing into the system and going undetected. However, this is an entirely new virus, with people currently having no immunity to it and there being no vaccine. It spreads like wildfire through the population if given the chance to, and I'll be okay if I get it, but if I gallivant around and pass it to someone else, who passes it to someone else, who gets unlucky and dies, then that's bad. This is all the more problematic because the virus is demonstrably contagious before symptoms appear.

The real trouble with the virus is the overload of the healthcare system. Some people will get unlucky and require hospitalisation. If the virus spreads unchecked, those cases will vastly outnumber the capacity of existing infrastructure and personnel, treatment won't be provided efficiently, and more people will die. People who could have survived if the ICU wasn't as crowded with other cases. Making this realisation, along with internalising just how frantically this thing spreads, took me out of the "woke" just-a-flu camp. You also get various knock-on effects of the situation on other serious conditions, but this is beyond the scope of these musings.

So what do we do? If you're an Asian country that went through SARS or MERS, you are aware of a lot of the stuff that comes with the territory and quickly deploy advanced measures. If you're not, then by contrast you flail around in the dark and encounter all the problems those countries had the comfort of figuring out during comparably milder outbreaks. Ultimately it ends in a lockdown as a historically proven way of stopping disease transmission. This is something busted out for very dire straits only, and apparently doesn't work super well in our current crazed capitalistic world from an economy perspective. It's not just the local game store that's in the doodoo over this. The UK handled the situation surprisingly humanely with its furlough, but most other places seem to be dropping the ball. If anything, this is an opportunity to ponder sweeping changes to the system like universal basic income. Observe smog-free Los Angeles panoramas, clean waters in Venice, and reflect upon consumerism. But that's for another story.

All in all, it's important to remember the nature of the threat of the virus, and why such crazy measures had to be put in place. I've found the entirety of this thread to be misdirected lashing out, but hopefully some of this ramble helped you look at things from a broader perspective. This is not a regime built on isolation. Human lives are at stake, and we must play the waiting game until a vaccine is deployed. We likely won't be in a hard lockdown for however long that takes, but expect some restrictions to slow spread. Here's a pretty good explanation of the subject by Angela Merkel:

 
EDH Primers (click me!)
Deck is Kill Club
Show
Hide

User avatar
The Fluff
Le fou, c'est moi
Posts: 2398
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Location: Gradius Home World
Contact:

Post by The Fluff » 3 years ago

However, this is an entirely new virus, with people currently having no immunity to it and there being no vaccine. It spreads like wildfire through the population if given the chance to, and I'll be okay if I get it, but if I gallivant around and pass it to someone else, who passes it to someone else, who gets unlucky and dies, then that's bad. This is all the more problematic because the virus is demonstrably contagious before symptoms appear.
that's what makes this thing scary. And I would agree that it is not fatal for everyone. However, 2 people approximately a kilometer from my house died, they were an old couple. And we were also informed by a nurse that my mom knows that about 10 people die each day in a hospital where she works, a macabre scene where the hospital hallway is lined up with the dead. This virus instills the fear factor easily, espescially with deaths happened so near.

Anyway, the only things I buy from the grocery are apples and oranges. I wash the apples on the sink before eating, and the oranges I wash them carefully as well before peeling, because someone infected might have touched them before I did. Have been doing it for more than a month, so far I'm still alive. Eating fresh fruit makes me feel strong. :)

Literally stopped buying bread from a nearby bakery, because they are handled manually with tongs, I don't know if the person packing them is infected and have breathed on the bread, and obviously I can't wash the bread. :<
Image
AnimEVO 2020 - EFZ Tournament (english commentary) // Clearing 4 domain with Qiqi
want to play a uw control deck in modern, but don't have Jace or snapcaster? please come visit us at the Emeria thread

Locked Previous topicNext topic

Return to “General Discussion”