HengeWolf, personally I have no problems with the reserved list. The cards on it are either too powerful in which case they belong to the reserved list (my view, we discussed this) or they are ... still easy to get. Come on, Child of Gaea? Basically, cards from the reserved list, that is, cards that are NOT Type II, are easy to get, BECAUSE everybody plays Type II and limited. There are exceptions of course but still.
By Henge Wolf (Wolf) on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 12:44 pm: It gets back to opponents. Since everyone's playing Type2 and limited, that means I won't ever see a Child of Gaea on my opponents side, and 3/4ths of the people I play with will complain when I use it. There's a reason you can buy it for $1, no one uses it and (basically) there's an unspoken "Type2 rule" that no one's ALLOWED to use it. I don't have a personally groomed-to-my-taste playgroup in which I can make my own sets and formats, and in all liklihood the odds are more in favor of me just quitting (again), than that ever happening. So when I waltz down to the store and play against someone's Type2 deck, they sneer when I win "Your deck's not legal", and they sneer when I lost "I beat your illegal deck." Then I serve them a serious beating with Dragon-Troll, but it somehow feels empty. I can't even get anyone to play anything other than draft anymore, and I refuse to spend $12 to draft cards I don't want against guys who've been doing it 3 times a week since the format came out.
I still hate the reserved list, because it dictates what cards can be reprinted arbitrarily, and therefore directs the sheep that are most magic players to NOT EVER play with (or against) so many cool cards. I can buy CE dual lands for $8, and that means I own them in Black Border. That's great for me, but who else will have them? If I really want to, I can go to a friend's house and run off my 'fixed' Pine Barrens from the CCGMaker, but again . . . who's going to play against me without a sneering "your deck's not legal". I have the cards I want, that's not even an issue. I did have to BUY most of them though, because no one has old stuff to trade anymore. It's the fact that when something goes out of Type2, it is shunned by 95% of the magic community. When they put a cap on 95% of the cards that are taken OOP (and they only cap the rares, yet another arbitrary decision), they are basically telling me that I can't ever hope to see most of those cards again.
I used Child of Gaea as an example because it's basically a dead card. In a few more years people won't even know what it is. I'll NEVER see a foil version, or a version with alternate art. NEVER, NO MATTER WHAT. Insert your favorite card on the reserved list into this statement (not that Child is my favorite or anything).
So basically, although I own all the power cards I really want to own, and most of the 'non-power' old cards I really want to own, that doesn't help me one bit when I can't get a decent game with any of it. I'm building an extended Spiritmonger deck just so I can play more than 1 game before random tourney guy decides I'm not worth the time since he'll never see my deck at the tournament anyway.
Right now, I'm basically through with magic. I still like it (I guess), I'm still building my monger deck, and I still waste copious amounts of time writing about it. But, I really don't play it anymore. I haven't played a game in at least 2-3 weeks. The way I see it, they aren't printing the kinds of cards I want to see, I mean I literally am about to quit because I don't want to play a game in which a card like a dual land is considered too good. I can't support a company that makes those kind of decisions. They have constantly loused up this game for years, they've warped newer players to fit the 'new' magic, and you know what, I'm an outsider. I don't want to waste money on 'draft'. I don't want to spend $200 on Type2 just so I can't trade half those cards away next year. It's better to buy original duals than Type2 rares because their value will be more stable, but to me it's just stupid in principal to have a popular series of cards that define a format yet ARE NOT IN PRINT. I want to play extended, but for longer than that one week when they have the PTQ. I want to play Type1, but I'd also like to play it casually, and no one does that EVER. Casual play has basically been reduced to playing with the 12 year olds who don't even know what they're doing. How many good friends of mine still play? Zero. I don't know how many more times Wizards, and Magic in general, needs to kick me in the testicles before I just quit . . . but right now I'm feeling mighty nauseous. I spend a lot more energy on this game trying to make it something more enjoyable, but I seriously question whether it's even worth it.
This is not a personal attack on anyone, I'm just . . . reassessing why I even bother with the game. All these discussions I've been involved in really are colored by how magic is in my area. I swear, if I wasn't 51% collector I wouldn't bother. If I didn't think the cards looked good, that is I really like the (older) art and graphic design, I'd have no use for this game at all. It's cool because of it's presentation, and even that isn't too cool anymore. I don't get wrapped up in the rules, I get wrapped up in the art and the concepts. I like moxes because I like the idea of mana-gems. I don't like diamonds because they're not good; I've tried using them stylistically but they don't help me win at all. Not only do cards like diamonds NOT help me win, they are usually a wasted slot period, and the army of netdeckers are more than willing to exploit anything suboptimal you might bring to the table. I wouldn't own a Lotus if I didn't like the coloration of the artwork. I like dual lands because they have better names and they count as basic land types. They are better than painlands, but I like them at least 60% based on style, and 40% based on power. Magic has always been more than the sum of it's parts for me, but the more I think about it, the more I do not see myself being involved in this game at all in 5 years.
-HengeWolf
And BTW, if you read this website, you're probably not the magic "sheep" I was talking about. 
We're mostly progressives here, aren't we?
By Puschkin, Defiant Vanguard Against The Phyrexian Invasion (Puschkin) on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 01:08 pm: Well, probably you should move! It is disgusting how many people out there refuse to play anything but Type Screw and Draft but I know no single place where it is so bad like in your area! It is hard to find someone to play Type I, even for casual, that´s right. But it´s no problem to play extended games, pro tour or not. And there are many players who just don´t care about formats.
Maybe your local card shop is the wrong place to look for players. card shops tend to be Type II and limited-infested, nothing unusual cause the owner makes money out of it. Try to find new players at larger tournamnets, on conventions, via online databases.
BTW, my playgroup isn´t sculped to my taste yet. I try hard but every new expansion screws my attempts! Last month I had to endure several Haunting Echoes decks and next month I have to handle various stupid Radiate nonsense !
The card sets I made will probably never see play, I just do this for myself.
Sigh, I wish you lived here, You would fit perfecly in our group and I believe that you would have the fun of your life!
By Rico Jones, Elfman Extraordinaire (Rico) on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 01:56 pm: Puschkin: Man I thought Radiate was fantastic. Where else can you pull off some extremely retarded nonsense like that.
Hengewolf: It'd be funny if someone from Wizards read this site and decided that they'd reprint Child of Gaea just to tick you off. Sadly I also find myself with a serious lack of opponents. I'm trying to get some neighborhood kids to come over and play with my brother once a week or so. My hope is that I can eventually cultivate them into long-term players instead of one of the many 6-8th graders that I see pick up the game and drop it six months later.
My above comment was directed at Gzeiger btw.
-Rico
By H on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 02:50 pm: I ditto HengeWolf.
I have no reason to go to the card shop. Ever. All the old/T1 cards are overpriced. ($15-$18 is insane for a played Dual) And there's no one to play with.
We have three guys who come in randomly and test their latest 50% proxy netdecks. Then there's a 12 year old who came in once and asked for Frozen Shades, and a mildly retarded guy who's real nice, but simply is not a challenging player.
Even at the college, I've found only three people to play with, two of which only played one time and with my cards. The third was simply too irritating to be around.
So I still pick up random cards at times, and build a deck a week for the monthly weekend I go home from college and play my one consistant magic buddy (and his painintheass Spiritmonger deck).
Aside from that, I've no reason to be involvedd in Magic at all. No thanks to WizCo, of course.
By Henge Wolf (Wolf) on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 11:28 pm: Yeah, the worst part is that I actually have TWO card stores close by, and they are both almost identical in terms of what I wrote above. Then again, they have many of the same regulars. Magic for these people is just not the magic I play, and that's not an exaggeration.
It's funny you should mention moving, Pusckin. I do plan to move out of here eventually, because part of what's wrong with magic around here is also kind of typical of the area I live in. But that's nothing to talk about . . .
Rico: I play with my younger brother and his friends sometimes. Unfortunately most of them are either terminal 'new players' or the '6 months and out' types. It's weird, but a lot of kids I've met think they know the game well, when they don't. Some of them will even argue against sound strategy, which is kind of funny. Everyone once in awhile one of them will 'graduate' into a terminal netdecker, it's like there's no middle ground with players today. They go from knowing nothing, to copying all the latest fads with very little creative input. Weird . . .
I have studying to do, so I can't make this another marathon typing session.
-HengeWolf
By Rico Jones, Elfman Extraordinaire (Rico) on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 11:38 am: Pity, I was looking forward to one.
My brother happens to be the funniest almost twelve year old I know so playing with him is almost always entertaining. Around here he coined the terms 'Emperor Cockadile' and 'Rishadan Pornshop'. Not bad for a then eleven year old.
Though the over-all play level tends to be on the lower side we play with the 'Racist Deck', the 'Mexican Deck' (red, white, and green all foil like the Mexican flag), and the 'African Deck' (using many of the cards from Mirage) to make things interesting. Our games get funnier as the night wears on. Oh ya, my brother made a 'KKK' card and is in the process of making a 'Black Panther' card.
-Rico is reminiscing on Magic games past
By Rico Jones, Elfman Extraordinaire (Rico) on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 11:39 am: Btw we aren't racist or anything. We merely find racists funny. Gotta clear that up.
By Puschkin, Defiant Vanguard Against The Phyrexian Invasion (Puschkin) on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 01:20 pm: What does the "racist" deck do? Torbo-Engineered Plague?
HengeWolf is moving? Actually I am looking for someone who rents one room of my flat ...
By Rico Jones, Elfman Extraordinaire (Rico) on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 07:58 pm: Naw, it just has all the cards that say stuff like Black Night, Light of Day, etc. Anything that affects black or white stuff.
By Henge Wolf (Wolf) on Tuesday, February 05, 2002 - 08:27 pm: Puschkin, is that an offer? Don't you live in Germany? I noticed in the spoiler you sent that it had German notations . . . Incidentally one of my friends is over there right now "studying abroad", probably playing magic as we speak, with some kid shouting "Meine Eichornchen!"
Rico, if you want a racist card, you need the Legends rare Invoke Prejudice. It's even got KKK guys in the picture. Seriously.
-HengeWolf
*** HengeWolf does not in any way endorse racism. In fact, he sees it as a way for useless people to try to define some way in which they can be superior. 'Gee, I've got an IQ of 65 and I work at McDonalds, but at least I'm melanin recessive.'
Having said that, I'm not politically correct, so as far as I'm concerned anything and everything is fair game to make fun of. A 'racist' magic deck . . . it's just silly.
By Rico Jones, Elfman Extraordinaire (Rico) on Tuesday, February 05, 2002 - 10:34 pm: Yup pretty much. Gotta enjoy yourself somehow though. I am proud to say that my family derives great enjoyment from all things whitetrash, especially mullets. That being said, you haven't seen a mullet until you've seen a Meximullet. They're fairly prominent in the Los Angeles area. For an idea of what I'm talking about go to www.mulletsgalore.com. It's a fantastic sight.
-Rico's brother even owns a book about mullets
By INTERNET POLICE! on Wednesday, February 06, 2002 - 01:08 am: It's 'site', not 'sight'.
By Elrohir (Elrohir) on Wednesday, February 06, 2002 - 01:13 am: Well, technically he could have been referring to the appearance of so many mullets and how they appealed to him. In that case, it *would* be a "fantastic sight." More than likely though, he was referring to the quality of the site rather than its contents, in which case you are correct, the term needed is "site." :D
By Puschkin, Defiant Vanguard Against The Phyrexian Invasion (Puschkin) on Wednesday, February 06, 2002 - 06:13 am: Wolf:
Yes, yes and it is spelled Eichhörnchen" (squirrel). I live in Elmshorn, that´s 30km away from Hamburg.
By Rico Jones, Elfman Extraordinaire (Rico) on Wednesday, February 06, 2002 - 04:04 pm: Argghh. I continue to mispell things. And that was one of the mistakes the guy I corrected made. Sad, sad stuff.
-Ashamed Rico is kicking himself in the ass
By Puschkin, Defiant Vanguard Against The Phyrexian Invasion (Puschkin) on Wednesday, February 06, 2002 - 05:30 pm: I wanna see that!
Later, I learned to bait the blue mage, or destroy his land, or at the very least wait until he's tapped out. I really think that if I'd come fresh into the game in it's current state, I'd probably find it boring. There is something about 7th that is just . . . dull. Even though it's better than 6th, and maybe even 5th, it's just . . . weak. Kind of like Portal with artifacts and enchantments.