[Off-Topic] Community Chat Thread

[yeti1069]

Tales of Middle Earth, was mostly a homerun for me. It's my favorite IP (I shudder typing that in reference to Tolkien's work, but such is our world)

What is this sentence trying to say? You like lotr, but wish you didn't because you have some reservations about Tolkien as a person? Or am I just dense?

That I hate the idea of Middle Earth being an "IP," that it's so commercialized now--a vehicle for selling toys, trinkets, and games.

[Dunadain]

Tales of Middle Earth, was mostly a homerun for me. It's my favorite IP (I shudder typing that in reference to Tolkien's work, but such is our world)

What is this sentence trying to say? You like lotr, but wish you didn't because you have some reservations about Tolkien as a person? Or am I just dense?

That I hate the idea of Middle Earth being an "IP," that it's so commercialized now--a vehicle for selling toys, trinkets, and games.

Ah, I see, I was just being dense, thanks!

[Hermes_]

I like the UB, don't mind it one bit *hides from angry mob* but then I don't have a "gotta catch'em all" mentality nor do i feel that MTG is some sort of (for lack of a better term) sacred cow for me, it's don't like it don't buy. You buy them, you play them I don't mind it either.

[Hermes_]

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/6/23822 ... ng-pokemon

Thieves stole $300,000 in gaming trading cards at Gen Con 2023

and no it wasn't someone's power 9 playset either

[toctheyounger]

It's really funny that the TWD stuff sticks out as crappily executed for both of us, lol

Yeah it's not even really the cards themselves. Although I find it a weird IP to choose first off the bat, I assume from what I'm told the cards are true to theme. It was more the way they introduced them, blunt as could be and extremely proprietary, pay to play and nothing else. Pretty rough. And the follow up from the WotC team was really, really cringe. It was basically a crash course in gaslighting your fanbase for not being happy with your product.

All that said I think it's one of the few times the community has managed to influence WotC for the better. The way they're managing these moving forward is much more appropriate and considerate. Whether you like UB or not I think in general the delivery has improved considerably.

[ISBPathfinder]

I feel kind of bad that I ordered TWD stuff but in the end I am a sucker for white and tribal and Rick looked really nice for that. I really wish we could go back to 4 magic products a year with maybe a yearly special product just for a single set of commander decks. Those were the days.

[toctheyounger]

I feel kind of bad that I ordered TWD stuff but in the end I am a sucker for white and tribal and Rick looked really nice for that. I really wish we could go back to 4 magic products a year with maybe a yearly special product just for a single set of commander decks. Those were the days.

It's really a lot. There's just no way to savor the themes when they're coming so thick and fast. We're never going to, now, but I too miss it.

[RxPhantom]

We took my daughter to see the new TMNT movie, and it was pretty awesome. She's into the turtles just like I was when I was young. She's six. There were some points where I thought it may have been too intense for her, but she was good. Even with the mild profanity and

SPOILER

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body horror

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[TheAmericanSpirit]

I feel kind of bad that I ordered TWD stuff but in the end I am a sucker for white and tribal and Rick looked really nice for that. I really wish we could go back to 4 magic products a year with maybe a yearly special product just for a single set of commander decks. Those were the days.

I miss the Block structure. You can't enjoy a set if you're there for a blink and then onto the next.

[Lifeless]

Real talk the MTG release schedule has done more damage to my enjoyment of the game than any other factor.

[toctheyounger]

Real talk the MTG release schedule has done more damage to my enjoyment of the game than any other factor.

While I still love this game I wholly agree. Part of that is the subtext that because we enjoy the game Hasbro can keep feeding us more until our wallets are bereft of hope and coin. It's hard not to be cynical about a corporate entity, but it's also never been more starkly apparent that they're just force feeding us as much as we can possibly handle until they find the optimal level at which player exhaustion is as low as it can be while still maintaining maximal profits.

I still love the game but it's gross to see it so pushed for profits. It's somehow become less sacrosanct and pure than what I remember as a teenager. Maybe that's the cynicism and bleak outlook of a middle aged Gen X'er though.

[duducrash]

The one UB I hate is TWD, because of it's distribution. I think it's against not very much gathering of magic to have regions locked out of its releases. Some releases are not my thing, but I don't care much, money and time are things I have a limited ammount of and I will not spend any of mine on stuff I don't care much about with so much stuff that I already want. learning not to care about every release and chase card has helped me stay healthy with mtg. I'm in no hush to finish anything.


I want to see turtles, but I also want to see the new slam dunk movie. Slam Dunk rocks and I feel cinemas wont carry it arround for long. I don't know much about the movie, but I think it's about the last game, right? and reading that last game was amazing, one of my favourite comics experiences ever.


in the past few years I had some crazt work-life scenarios, I had like 2 months of vacation avaliable when I was let go of my previous job, and even though I got paid, I never got the actual vacation, since I started taking jobs right after layoff and a few months later got hired to a full time position, and while I had some weekend trips, I haven't had actual time off since the ol 'rona days, and I'll be honest with you, they weren't exactly relaxing. Now, I booked a trip to Rio de Janeiro to see Tayrlor swift Eras tour concert with my fiance and have booked a place to stay a couple days longer. super excited about that.

[yeti1069]

I feel kind of bad that I ordered TWD stuff but in the end I am a sucker for white and tribal and Rick looked really nice for that. I really wish we could go back to 4 magic products a year with maybe a yearly special product just for a single set of commander decks. Those were the days.

I refuse to so much as look at any Secret Lairs, as I find them to be a really obnoxious product line.

I miss the Block structure. You can't enjoy a set if you're there for a blink and then onto the next.

Yeah. MaRo wrote that they abandoned the block because they noticed interest waned as they got to the latter sets in the block. I felt like the issue was the smaller size of the 2nd and 3rd sets, along with the way most blocks "evolved" their themes and mechanics always made the final set feel less interesting than the first. If sets had the same level of complexity and development across each set, I don't think that would have been the case.

Real talk the MTG release schedule has done more damage to my enjoyment of the game than any other factor.

Yup.

[pokken]

I feel like there's just too much reprinting sets at this point. They reprint zetalpa into the ground but keep fierce guardianship scarce. Just like, figure it out. You need to print more copies of the stuff people want. You should be able to order as many of any card as you want for a flat rate - $1 commons, $5 uncommon, $10 rares and $20 mythics. 50% more for foils and $100% for chase foils.

Do periodic price adjustments. Whatever.

Cards that don't get bought are rarer, which drives the price up until people buy them. Or they don't because they're trash. Less landfill.

I'm so %$#%$#% tired of $80 mythics in standard sets because there's only four good cards. And don't get me going on the price fixing.

[Dunadain]

I'm conflicted on the new TMNT, I liked the design, but the movie felt a little too crowded, and all the turtles felt like caricatures, Leo is the only turtle who has any really character arc, and the arc is literally bad leader → good leader (and also he's down bad for April). As a casual TMNT fan (I've read a decent number of comics, the tv show, both live actions reboots, and now this one), I'm honestly kind of unsure what TMNT is supposed to be, and I think the writers are as well. Everytime they reboot the series everything is so different. Obviously, you expect a franchise to change when it gets rebooted, but I feel you know what you're getting into when you sit down to watch a spider-man movie. Not so with TMNT.

[duducrash]

. You should be able to order as many of any card as you want for a flat rate - $1 commons, $5 uncommon, $10 rares and $20 mythics. 50% more for foils and $100% for chase foils.

I feel this is expensive, no?

I had never thought about how overall cards being trash pushes some cards over the top, yes powerlevel is up but yes there is so much bad stuff arround it's crazy how some mythics that don't even see that much play have crazy high values. See The Meathook Massacre or even rares like Ledger Shredder both standouts for weak sets... they should up the average power level or make less bombs?

I feel like all or nearly all premium sets should have snow-covered basics. I don't think it would make the EV of sets higher, but would make them accessible... and they are basics, they shouldn't be hard to get

[pokken]

. You should be able to order as many of any card as you want for a flat rate - $1 commons, $5 uncommon, $10 rares and $20 mythics. 50% more for foils and $100% for chase foils.

I feel this is expensive, no?

I had never thought about how overall cards being trash pushes some cards over the top, yes powerlevel is up but yes there is so much bad stuff arround it's crazy how some mythics that don't even see that much play have crazy high values. See The Meathook Massacre or even rares like Ledger Shredder both standouts for weak sets... they should up the average power level or make less bombs?

I feel like all or nearly all premium sets should have snow-covered basics. I don't think it would make the EV of sets higher, but would make them accessible... and they are basics, they shouldn't be hard to get

Yeah maybe it is? I just threw some numbers out. If ya think about it that'd make a typical high end commander deck run somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 or so which is about half what it is now. But there is obviously gotta be more nuance to my knee jerk plan lol.

Presumably all the cards already out there that are above this price would converge toward whatever the direct price is (based on demand)

Also, you could continue to sell packs. It'd just make it so the cards in packs are priced waaaaaay differently. If the max value of a card is $40 or so, the value has to be more distributed I think (it essentially forces a particular average EV on the set?). The mythics people buy direct to make up for shortfalls drop to the direct price and the mythics with fewer copies should rise.

So your average pack value comes up but your peak is pack value goes way down. At least in theory? Lol. I'm no economist

[Dunharrow]

Block structure had to go. There was always a bad set. People always got bored and barely wanted to draft.
That's why they started making third sets that were drafted alone, and the awesome Khans block where things really changed around. They were trying to find a solution.

I thought the idea to change standard rotation was a great idea, but people hated the effect on their wallets. Too many rotations made people sad.
But it was better gameplay and made the 3rd set of a block more important to standard.

I think the current set-up for the 4 standard sets every year is probably best. they lose some of the fun of staying on a plane longer... and they can do it when it makes sense now. But now they are not forced to stay on a plane for a full year. Like, what did people do if they hated a plane? Just skip the year? It sucked.

There are definitely too many products. FOMO is an issue and magic players need to be more assertive and stop buying precons and reprint sets. I feel like the number of products per year will drop a little, but not by much.

Pricing is also insane now.

[Dunadain]

Y'all need to stop talking about mtg in the off-topic thread! /hj

[Guardman]

Y'all need to stop talking about mtg in the off-topic thread! /hj

[Hermes_]

I booted up skyrim and forgot which house my children are in

[duducrash]

I mentioned on work im going to see the eras tour and someone is trying to buy the tickets from me. Holy crap whats going on with that secondary market

[TheAmericanSpirit]

I mentioned on work im going to see the eras tour and someone is trying to buy the tickets from me. Holy crap whats going on with that secondary market

Ticketmaster is price-gouging the living daylights out of it, nothing new.

[Hermes_]

I mentioned on work im going to see the eras tour and someone is trying to buy the tickets from me. Holy crap whats going on with that secondary market

and you thought the mtg secondary market was bad lol

[toctheyounger]

Apropos of nothing, I was looking at Eldraine 2 spoilers today, and it occurred to me that Ashiok is the Freddie Krueger of MtG from a lore perspective. Which probably makes Garruk, Apex Predator Jason Voorhees.

I'm sure there's more parallels between horror tropes and planeswalkers.