Kelzam wrote: ↑3 years ago
*shrug* I'll be enjoying my Negan and Glenn decks and Rick is going right into Mardu Humans. I liked the cards, I like TWD, the vast majority of the "problems" touted are blown out of proportion or are being massively misrepresented by a lot of people that assume their echo chamber speaks for Everyone™, who heed every opportunity possible to be mad at Wizards over even the most superfluous reasons.
Right? People who don't like what you personally like don't have genuine opinions or concerns, they're just haters, and you are not in any way biased because you personally like this IP.
Meanwhile, I have only seen these played once on mtgo, where they were easier to access than irl. Like the data says, these sold well but mostly to people who don't play much magic. The echo chamber isn't nexus, its the player base. What the data shows is a trend that has existed for some time now, a significant disconnect between the enfranchised players that make up the core of magics customer base and the peripheral players who individually don't buy as much product or play as much magic but outnumber the core players. Magic relies on both these groups about equally, and both of these groups have different wants and needs, with some overlap. Secret Lairs have some overlap here, as both peripheral players and core players are attracted to swag, and the secret Lairs have often used themes that have broad appeal among peripheral players and non players who might be drawn in by theme alone (cute cats! Girl Power!) and core players who might purchase a secret lair even if the theme doesn't appeal to them because of the cards themselves, and especially the core players who also dig the theme. TWD appeals mostly to peripherals drawn in by the theme and those core players who are also big TWD fans and who aren't turned off by the issues surrounding the release and black border design. The fact remains that the Godzilla skins did the exact same thing that the TWD secret lair does, appeal to peripheral players and non players that really like Godzilla as well as core players that really like Godzilla, without turning off core players who weren't into Godzilla or creating any issues with black border outside IPs. The skins model is a great compromise position that takes nothing away from the intended audience while addressing the concerns of everyone else, and already existed and was already proven successful. And with a secret lair focused on legendary creatures, it would have been incredibly easy to do this, as the 'real' versions could be dropped in commander or brawl precons over a year or two, with the name not really mattering and flavor done to order.
Magic is a game that relies heavily on a minority of their customers for revenue. They've done well expanding their reach to peripheral players and even non players, and often have found ways of doing so that also appeal to many or most core players or at least don't antagonize the core players. TWD drop failed at the latter. When something like this happens, WotC earns criticism. WotC loses nothing by addressing these concerns, and in doing so they don't even have to change their focus, they can still make these kinds of products aimed primarily at peripheral and non players without alienating core players. When your business model relies on both groups, it's the smart thing to do.