Wow awesome. I hope Wizards keeps this up. I can't wait for some more awesome FNM giveaways they could try.
1. Foil Advertising cards
2. Blank foil cards (front and back)
3. Foil date stamped Punch-out cards.
4. Mythic foiled promo date stamped Players Rules Card
5. The 3 of spades
6. An old Polaroid photo of your Uncle Jim's tube sock
I actually have an Uncle Jim... this was very funny!
And I wish your suggestions sounded a bit less outlandish than they would have a month ago.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
I have never seen a company that seems to hate their regular customers as much as Wizards/Hasbro. Every decision lately seems geared to New or future players at the expense of their older loyal regulars.
I have never seen a company that seems to hate their regular customers as much as Wizards/Hasbro. Every decision lately seems geared to New or future players at the expense of their older loyal regulars.
Kinda like drug dealers
Maybe there's more than just ink in the cardboard. I know I get a little gitty when holding fresh cards. Lol.
...They're putting their core to the backburner to try and support newcomers and casuals...The vets, the core, are the ones who will play year after year, buy into each and every set released, including supplemental products, yet Wizards is throwing them to the side as if they don't matter.
Wizards seems to be so focused on trying to please everyone that they'll end up pleasing no one. Worst of all, they have this arrogance about their core, that they'll continue to play no matter what. And this the same with regards to all the other SJW tactics they've been pulling. The core is most important. Period. Throw away your core, you have nothing. Make any changes that have a clear negative effect on your core, like this, and you lose your core, the people who will spend hundreds or even thousands on your products ever year.
It's like this entire post came out of my own mouth. You nailed almost every reason why I still play Magic (When I have the chance), but I don't buy Magic anymore. I used to buy every Fat Pack, every Deckbuilders Toolkit, I read some of the books, I collect old ass strategy guides from the early days. I've been playing Fallen Empires, and not only that, the lore and themes of Fallen Empires is what made me love the game.
I look behind me, and I see Fat Pack boxes from Time Spiral through Oath of the Gatewatch (minus Coldsnap and Dragons of Tarkir). Ravinca gift boxes slapped full of cards. But what does this all mean to me now? It means I need to clean my office and get rid of this *****, because I don't care anymore, for exactly the reasons you detailed. They've absolutely alienated long time players, at least all the ones I know.
I have no idea why these companies keep piling on the SJW tactics, because it's a losing move every single time. Colleges enrollment tanks. Target stock prices fell. Uber hired Eric Holder and made this shift, and now they're in trouble despite how they grew. Mass Effect Andromeda was a laughing stock. How, how have these people not realized these two simple, key facts about this: A) It alienates your customer base, and B) SJW's don't buy the ***** they ***** about in the first place. They are not your customers and never will be.
But no, let's keep making sets more bland, let's take away things like Magic Player Rewards, let's continue to push Standard Showdown like it's Roman Reigns, let's lessen rewards on MTGO because it's totally not already a disaster, and now let's give out double sided tokens instead of cool promo cards with alt art.
I swear it's like Eddie Lampert is running the show. Wait, no, he's smart enough to be running a massive real estate con.
So no, WotC, I'm not buying your crap anymore after 23 years. Last thing I bought was the Aether Revolt prerelease, and that was only because it was my local comic book store's first event and I wanted to support the shop. And you know what? He hasn't done another one since. It wasn't worth it to a store owner to run an event. How ****ed up is that?
I don't know though. Playing Devil's advocate I will say keeping Spikes out of FNM is a reason to consider Standard. Sick of promo sharks too. But I am so engrained into EDH that this really isn't my place to comment.
thats an aspect that makes sense and i can understand, i really can. as someone who sometimes has stopped going to events because of tryhards that have to win every week instead of just brewing and having fun, yeah, that might be a legit idea.
that said... it doesn't work.
those spikes that show up every week, they drive the tournament. they may scare away inexperienced people, or frustrated people, but they also show up every week consistently and without them the tournament doesn't fire because the majority of everyone else is very hit or miss and sporadic.
so, maybe its time we take a hard look a what we're getting as consumers honestly.
if a tournament needs incentives in the form of promos to entice people to show up, and in removing those chase promos (or just making those promos more even regardless of who wins), if that kind of change hurts attendance (we don't know for sure yet), maybe... just maybe... the contents of a pack are what we really need to look at.
when packs aren't enough, even when winning, to make people show up to participate, when they need additional incentives, maybe our design team is failing us.
there was a time, not even that long ago, where the cost of entry and the chance of getting packs, with the chance of getting certain cards from those packs, was enough to get a decent turn out. so when, and why, did that stop?
I don`t even get it. People that want foil tokens are social justice warriors? Or are WotC SJWs for taking away the regular promos? What the heck are you talking about?
I have to say that as much as I disagree with replacing promo cards with tokens, I think some reactions in this thread are wildly exaggerated. If your reaction is "I will stop playing FNMs now", I have a hard time believing that you aren`t just trying to protest as loudly as you can. We go to FNMs to play Magic for four hours. The $1-2 promo is in most cases just a nice little added bonus. It sucks that it`s worse now, but there`s no way this change will ever influence whether I go to an FNM or not.
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When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Someone may have already said this but here is my thought.
I think WotC is slowing and subtlety trying to kill paper standard. Their largest cost is probably producing thousands upon thousands of booster boxes. So if they kill paper standard, they can produce less product, yet still have the same profit margin compared to costs, but less work. Then they only need to make a fraction of standard sets and supplemental products for paper form. They will ride on the negligible costs of maintaining MTGO.
Producing less physical product could also mean quicker set turn around and release, thus more products per year and even larger profits. These past few years the amount of product each year has been increasing quickly, and they have seen record profits because of it. Commander decks and master sets are way larger margins than boosters.
A single commander product is exactly one sheet 11x11 of 121 cards, usually a little less. So three commander decks is 3 sheets full of reprint and little R&D and some new art for about 105 MSRP.
Where a booster box is roughly 4.5 sheets worth of material for about the same MSRP. That is 50% increase in materials for the same product. and this is not counting the additional packaging.
A masters set is only 24 packs, roughly 3 sheets of material, but msrp is 200.
You can get 2 of the set theme decks off a single sheet, which puts them at about the same cost as a commander deck.
So, in the end Supplemental products have vastly larger profit margins than standard sets in paper form. I would completely believe if in two years they say something about more standard sets a year, but less product produced.
Double-sided cards are more expensive to print maybe this is a way for wizards to justify investing in double-sided printers.
Actually, tokens are made on cheap paper, not the same paper they use for actual cards. It's a safe bet to assume foil double sided tokens cost them less than foil single side cards.
Someone may have already said this but here is my thought.
I think WotC is slowing and subtlety trying to kill paper standard. Their largest cost is probably producing thousands upon thousands of booster boxes. So if they kill paper standard, they can produce less product, yet still have the same profit margin compared to costs, but less work. Then they only need to make a fraction of standard sets and supplemental products for paper form. They will ride on the negligible costs of maintaining MTGO.
Producing less physical product could also mean quicker set turn around and release, thus more products per year and even larger profits. These past few years the amount of product each year has been increasing quickly, and they have seen record profits because of it. Commander decks and master sets are way larger margins than boosters.
A single commander product is exactly one sheet 11x11 of 121 cards, usually a little less. So three commander decks is 3 sheets full of reprint and little R&D and some new art for about 105 MSRP.
Where a booster box is roughly 4.5 sheets worth of material for about the same MSRP. That is 50% increase in materials for the same product. and this is not counting the additional packaging.
A masters set is only 24 packs, roughly 3 sheets of material, but msrp is 200.
You can get 2 of the set theme decks off a single sheet, which puts them at about the same cost as a commander deck.
So, in the end Supplemental products have vastly larger profit margins than standard sets in paper form. I would completely believe if in two years they say something about more standard sets a year, but less product produced.
Manufacturing playing cards isn't anywhere close to $45 or whatever they're selling wholesale. Most expenses are in R&D. Standard and limited area also their bread and butter. It allows them to grow as a company and continue creating. It's also what helps the LGSs the most. In this day and age with e-commerce, it's crucial to support LGSs so they can continue being a place where people can play sanctioned tournaments. I think that's why they have so many supplemental products, especially FTV, so extra cash can be put in the pockets of LGSs.
But with the recent major decline in cardstock quality, perhaps they're trying to cut corners there.
The whole idea of FNM is to play the game with others who showed up with a friendly competitive mindset to hone your skills for a GP or a more serious tourney event. You play for the experience and to have fun, getting a promo card should not be the sole reason you are going out to your local game store. Unfortunately many of you are spoiled rotten and think you should be given something no matter what just because you play the game. It is honestly really sad, you think you are automatically "owed" a reward from WotC for attending an FNM rather than just playing for fun or practice. Hate to sound like a grandpa here, but back in the late 90's you would play for simply the thrill of winning, seeing the regulars of the local game store, trading to get some new cool cards, and then maybe walking away with $20 store credit, and the prize wasn't the main motivation. That was it, no shiny promo card, just hanging out with groups of gamers all showing up to play the friggin game. The "OMG WOTC IS THE WORST COMPANY EVUR WORST STUPIDEST IDEA THEYVE EVER DONE NEVER PLAYING MTG AGAIN" typical hyperbole comments here only reflect the state of selfishness and self-entitlement with this generation of MtG players. Sucks.
The whole idea of FNM is to play the game with others who showed up with a friendly competitive mindset to hone your skills for a GP or a more serious tourney event. You play for the experience and to have fun, getting a promo card should not be the sole reason you are going out to your local game store. Unfortunately many of you are spoiled rotten and think you should be given something no matter what just because you play the game. It is honestly really sad, you think you are automatically "owed" a reward from WotC for attending an FNM rather than just playing for fun or practice. Hate to sound like a grandpa here, but back in the late 90's you would play for simply the thrill of winning, seeing the regulars of the local game store, trading to get some new cool cards, and then maybe walking away with $20 store credit, and the prize wasn't the main motivation. That was it, no shiny promo card, just hanging out with groups of gamers all showing up to play the friggin game. The "OMG WOTC IS THE WORST COMPANY EVUR WORST STUPIDEST IDEA THEYVE EVER DONE NEVER PLAYING MTG AGAIN" typical hyperbole comments here only reflect the state of selfishness and self-entitlement with this generation of MtG players. Sucks.
Back in the early 2000s the FNM promos weren't complete junk and there were WotC stores. Why bother attending a tournament if the payout is crap? Or rather why support a company who keeps screwing up constantly and citing 'data' that has been detrimental to the game for the past several years ? I bet most people can practice or playtest for a tournament for free with friends. So there has to be an incentive to spend a Friday night at a gaming store.
This said, IF changing te FNM prom ointo a 2-sided foil token helps to get rid of netdecking-pro-wannabe-tryhards then it is all for the better.
I agree here. The downside is not getting new art for good cards. But at the same time, attendance going up contingent on that isn't attracting the right crowd. If people are going to invest in standard it's not going to be in order to play against promo sharks. There's Yugioh for trash like that.
The whole idea of FNM is to play the game with others who showed up with a friendly competitive mindset to hone your skills for a GP or a more serious tourney event. You play for the experience and to have fun, getting a promo card should not be the sole reason you are going out to your local game store. Unfortunately many of you are spoiled rotten and think you should be given something no matter what just because you play the game. It is honestly really sad, you think you are automatically "owed" a reward from WotC for attending an FNM rather than just playing for fun or practice. Hate to sound like a grandpa here, but back in the late 90's you would play for simply the thrill of winning, seeing the regulars of the local game store, trading to get some new cool cards, and then maybe walking away with $20 store credit, and the prize wasn't the main motivation. That was it, no shiny promo card, just hanging out with groups of gamers all showing up to play the friggin game. The "OMG WOTC IS THE WORST COMPANY EVUR WORST STUPIDEST IDEA THEYVE EVER DONE NEVER PLAYING MTG AGAIN" typical hyperbole comments here only reflect the state of selfishness and self-entitlement with this generation of MtG players. Sucks.
Back in the early 2000s the FNM promos weren't complete junk and there were WotC stores. Why bother attending a tournament if the payout is crap? Or rather why support a company who keeps screwing up constantly and citing 'data' that has been detrimental to the game for the past several years ? I bet most people can practice or playtest for a tournament for free with friends. So there has to be an incentive to spend a Friday night at a gaming store.
I agree with what @Stormscape Master said.
Yeah, sure, you attend a FNM to "hone your skills"...but you could just hone your skills on your kitchen table. Not everybody is interested in GPs and other big turnaments. Some are just looking for a semicompetitive environment to have fun and win something- in this case, a nice COLLECTIBLE promo...because, you know what? Magic is a COLLECTIBLE card game. So, excuse me if I don't buy the "you should come to FNM just because" argument. I'm no kid and have been playing the game for many years but I find these changes outrageous!
Cheers!
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GBR May the Jund'ish side of the Force be with you! GBR
I always enjoy the Prof's videos. He looks at the issues of the game very fairly and doesn't scream or get too hot in his words. He has a very smart way of looking at things and can really explain his stance and points well.
He has a lot of good points in this video and certainly shows that what Wizards is saying doesn't quite make full sense and that this recent decision is puzzling, to say the least.
The whole idea of FNM is to play the game with others who showed up with a friendly competitive mindset to hone your skills for a GP or a more serious tourney event. You play for the experience and to have fun, getting a promo card should not be the sole reason you are going out to your local game store. Unfortunately many of you are spoiled rotten and think you should be given something no matter what just because you play the game. It is honestly really sad, you think you are automatically "owed" a reward from WotC for attending an FNM rather than just playing for fun or practice. Hate to sound like a grandpa here, but back in the late 90's you would play for simply the thrill of winning, seeing the regulars of the local game store, trading to get some new cool cards, and then maybe walking away with $20 store credit, and the prize wasn't the main motivation. That was it, no shiny promo card, just hanging out with groups of gamers all showing up to play the friggin game. The "OMG WOTC IS THE WORST COMPANY EVUR WORST STUPIDEST IDEA THEYVE EVER DONE NEVER PLAYING MTG AGAIN" typical hyperbole comments here only reflect the state of selfishness and self-entitlement with this generation of MtG players. Sucks.
The problem here is that this is yet again another decision from WotC to take away prizes and incentives. This isn't the first time they've done this and when you add how they want to separate players is one of their strangest decisions in some time. What's the point of splitting players up like that? Do they think a token will keep the beginners coming forever? What about Showdowns and keeping longterm players?
Why does Wizards say they have data but don't show it? Why do they say that players kept going for promos and yet their example of Aether Hub says not many more came? Why is it they only referenced one month rather than 3-12 months?
This is more than just "they are taking away my shinies" and those "hyperboles" you mentioned, but this being yet another strange decision in a long line of them. They have to be willing to make changes for the better and so far they haven't done much yet, and lots of those changes we won't see until next year. When they finally showed they could be listening they do this incredibly odd maneuver that makes no sense to what looks to be the majority of players. Then when they say they are listening say that they "have numbers and data" that proves what they are doing is right, but won't release it, making us take their words at face value when they don't have much there right now.
This said, IF changing te FNM prom ointo a 2-sided foil token helps to get rid of netdecking-pro-wannabe-tryhards then it is all for the better.
Oh no, someone else likes the game in a different way and is using a tournament to test the deck they want to play with and get enjoyment out of it. Why would it be a good thing if less players showed up?
Did people really put T1 decks together and go to FNMs to farm promos for profit though? I just don`t believe that.
They definitely do that, but that's their decision and theirs nothing wrong with doing that. My LGS is fairly competitive and plenty of T1 decks run around, and I find nothing wrong with that. Being competitive is fine and bringing the best deck you can isn't a bad thing. Wanting to win isn't a bad thing.
Um, you actually can't hone your skills on a kitchen table, or online, or any other way. Nothing can replace the mental pressure of having to perform well in a competitive environment with you know, actual groups of people in person. Also as I stated before, the incentive shouldn't be a friggin shiny promo card, the incentive should be to play the game and have fun doing that, regardless of the value of the reward. I truly wonder if some of you play this game at all, no trolling. When I go to a GP or low end tourney event, I expect nothing but a good time for playing. Much like gambling, I don't go play poker and expect someone to give me $20 just for showing up. The reward incentive in such a low level event such as FNM should be if you got better at your game, and then if you won a cool shiny card in the meantime then that is great as well.
Um, you actually can't hone your skills on a kitchen table, or online, or any other way. Nothing can replace the mental pressure of having to perform well in a competitive environment with you know, actual groups of people in person. Also as I stated before, the incentive shouldn't be a friggin shiny promo card, the incentive should be to play the game and have fun doing that, regardless of the value of the reward. I truly wonder if some of you play this game at all, no trolling. When I go to a GP or low end tourney event, I expect nothing but a good time for playing. Much like gambling, I don't go play poker and expect someone to give me $20 just for showing up. The reward incentive in such a low level event such as FNM should be if you got better at your game, and then if you won a cool shiny card in the meantime then that is great as well.
What mental pressure? There's 0 pressure in an FNM or really most tournaments. You can easily hone your skills on a table or online if your play group is decent. Why spend money and time at a gaming store when I can spend that time with friends/other players outside the store in a more comfortable setting at 0 cost unless hosting? 3-5 hours spent at a buddy's house or apartment playing is much more enticing than being at a gaming store for that same time frame.
I don`t even get it. People that want foil tokens are social justice warriors? Or are WotC SJWs for taking away the regular promos? What the heck are you talking about?
Way to conflate two wholly separate things going on at WotC. Here's your participation prize.
Um, you actually can't hone your skills on a kitchen table, or online, or any other way. Nothing can replace the mental pressure of having to perform well in a competitive environment with you know, actual groups of people in person. Also as I stated before, the incentive shouldn't be a friggin shiny promo card, the incentive should be to play the game and have fun doing that, regardless of the value of the reward. I truly wonder if some of you play this game at all, no trolling. When I go to a GP or low end tourney event, I expect nothing but a good time for playing. Much like gambling, I don't go play poker and expect someone to give me $20 just for showing up. The reward incentive in such a low level event such as FNM should be if you got better at your game, and then if you won a cool shiny card in the meantime then that is great as well.
What mental pressure? There's 0 pressure in an FNM or really most tournaments. You can easily hone your skills on a table or online if your play group is decent. Why spend money and time at a gaming store when I can spend that time with friends/other players outside the store in a more comfortable setting at 0 cost unless hosting? 3-5 hours spent at a buddy's house or apartment playing is much more enticing than being at a gaming store for that same time frame.
Agreed. Also, lolz at the idea that FNM has pressure. This isn't the damn Yugioh anime where our lives hang in the balance of the results of a card game.
I don't play standard. That should be okay, yet WOTC really wants me to play standard. I bought a lot of standard blue cards from Amonkhet...I dunno the format doesn't appeal to me.
Um, you actually can't hone your skills on a kitchen table, or online, or any other way. Nothing can replace the mental pressure of having to perform well in a competitive environment with you know, actual groups of people in person. Also as I stated before, the incentive shouldn't be a friggin shiny promo card, the incentive should be to play the game and have fun doing that, regardless of the value of the reward. I truly wonder if some of you play this game at all, no trolling. When I go to a GP or low end tourney event, I expect nothing but a good time for playing. Much like gambling, I don't go play poker and expect someone to give me $20 just for showing up. The reward incentive in such a low level event such as FNM should be if you got better at your game, and then if you won a cool shiny card in the meantime then that is great as well.
What mental pressure? There's 0 pressure in an FNM or really most tournaments. You can easily hone your skills on a table or online if your play group is decent. Why spend money and time at a gaming store when I can spend that time with friends/other players outside the store in a more comfortable setting at 0 cost unless hosting? 3-5 hours spent at a buddy's house or apartment playing is much more enticing than being at a gaming store for that same time frame.
Game stores are vastly different. At some of them you won't experience much difference in deck quality or player skill at an FNM than, say, a RPTQ, while other game stores have a lot softer competition. I'm a 2-2/3-1 player at my LGS and I didn't realize what a high level my store meta was at until I went out of town a few times and crushed it because they were a lot less spiky at those places. So please don't say that FNMs in general hold such and such skill level and the kitchen table holds such and such skill level when both places can vary vastly. I do agree that your playgroup can be better suited for competitive training. It depends on your store and your group.
And to pile on to the anecdotal evidence, I never heard of anyone in person that went to get the promo, except for during those Path/Serum Visions months a while back. In my experience the promos are met with a shrug and a smile. Shame to bring a 17 year tradition to an end, but I really don't think the attendance will go down, most of the cards are less than a buck anyway, which is nothing compared to the regular payout.
Um, you actually can't hone your skills on a kitchen table, or online, or any other way.
Speak for yourself. I work on aspects of my game every time I sit down to play.
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I actually have an Uncle Jim... this was very funny!
And I wish your suggestions sounded a bit less outlandish than they would have a month ago.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Kinda like drug dealers
It's like this entire post came out of my own mouth. You nailed almost every reason why I still play Magic (When I have the chance), but I don't buy Magic anymore. I used to buy every Fat Pack, every Deckbuilders Toolkit, I read some of the books, I collect old ass strategy guides from the early days. I've been playing Fallen Empires, and not only that, the lore and themes of Fallen Empires is what made me love the game.
I look behind me, and I see Fat Pack boxes from Time Spiral through Oath of the Gatewatch (minus Coldsnap and Dragons of Tarkir). Ravinca gift boxes slapped full of cards. But what does this all mean to me now? It means I need to clean my office and get rid of this *****, because I don't care anymore, for exactly the reasons you detailed. They've absolutely alienated long time players, at least all the ones I know.
I have no idea why these companies keep piling on the SJW tactics, because it's a losing move every single time. Colleges enrollment tanks. Target stock prices fell. Uber hired Eric Holder and made this shift, and now they're in trouble despite how they grew. Mass Effect Andromeda was a laughing stock. How, how have these people not realized these two simple, key facts about this: A) It alienates your customer base, and B) SJW's don't buy the ***** they ***** about in the first place. They are not your customers and never will be.
But no, let's keep making sets more bland, let's take away things like Magic Player Rewards, let's continue to push Standard Showdown like it's Roman Reigns, let's lessen rewards on MTGO because it's totally not already a disaster, and now let's give out double sided tokens instead of cool promo cards with alt art.
I swear it's like Eddie Lampert is running the show. Wait, no, he's smart enough to be running a massive real estate con.
So no, WotC, I'm not buying your crap anymore after 23 years. Last thing I bought was the Aether Revolt prerelease, and that was only because it was my local comic book store's first event and I wanted to support the shop. And you know what? He hasn't done another one since. It wasn't worth it to a store owner to run an event. How ****ed up is that?
Spirits
thats an aspect that makes sense and i can understand, i really can. as someone who sometimes has stopped going to events because of tryhards that have to win every week instead of just brewing and having fun, yeah, that might be a legit idea.
that said... it doesn't work.
those spikes that show up every week, they drive the tournament. they may scare away inexperienced people, or frustrated people, but they also show up every week consistently and without them the tournament doesn't fire because the majority of everyone else is very hit or miss and sporadic.
so, maybe its time we take a hard look a what we're getting as consumers honestly.
if a tournament needs incentives in the form of promos to entice people to show up, and in removing those chase promos (or just making those promos more even regardless of who wins), if that kind of change hurts attendance (we don't know for sure yet), maybe... just maybe... the contents of a pack are what we really need to look at.
when packs aren't enough, even when winning, to make people show up to participate, when they need additional incentives, maybe our design team is failing us.
there was a time, not even that long ago, where the cost of entry and the chance of getting packs, with the chance of getting certain cards from those packs, was enough to get a decent turn out. so when, and why, did that stop?
thats probably the bigger issue here.
I have to say that as much as I disagree with replacing promo cards with tokens, I think some reactions in this thread are wildly exaggerated. If your reaction is "I will stop playing FNMs now", I have a hard time believing that you aren`t just trying to protest as loudly as you can. We go to FNMs to play Magic for four hours. The $1-2 promo is in most cases just a nice little added bonus. It sucks that it`s worse now, but there`s no way this change will ever influence whether I go to an FNM or not.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
I think WotC is slowing and subtlety trying to kill paper standard. Their largest cost is probably producing thousands upon thousands of booster boxes. So if they kill paper standard, they can produce less product, yet still have the same profit margin compared to costs, but less work. Then they only need to make a fraction of standard sets and supplemental products for paper form. They will ride on the negligible costs of maintaining MTGO.
Producing less physical product could also mean quicker set turn around and release, thus more products per year and even larger profits. These past few years the amount of product each year has been increasing quickly, and they have seen record profits because of it. Commander decks and master sets are way larger margins than boosters.
A single commander product is exactly one sheet 11x11 of 121 cards, usually a little less. So three commander decks is 3 sheets full of reprint and little R&D and some new art for about 105 MSRP.
Where a booster box is roughly 4.5 sheets worth of material for about the same MSRP. That is 50% increase in materials for the same product. and this is not counting the additional packaging.
A masters set is only 24 packs, roughly 3 sheets of material, but msrp is 200.
You can get 2 of the set theme decks off a single sheet, which puts them at about the same cost as a commander deck.
So, in the end Supplemental products have vastly larger profit margins than standard sets in paper form. I would completely believe if in two years they say something about more standard sets a year, but less product produced.
Actually, tokens are made on cheap paper, not the same paper they use for actual cards. It's a safe bet to assume foil double sided tokens cost them less than foil single side cards.
Manufacturing playing cards isn't anywhere close to $45 or whatever they're selling wholesale. Most expenses are in R&D. Standard and limited area also their bread and butter. It allows them to grow as a company and continue creating. It's also what helps the LGSs the most. In this day and age with e-commerce, it's crucial to support LGSs so they can continue being a place where people can play sanctioned tournaments. I think that's why they have so many supplemental products, especially FTV, so extra cash can be put in the pockets of LGSs.
But with the recent major decline in cardstock quality, perhaps they're trying to cut corners there.
I did see your emphasis on if, and I do agree that more brewy, less sharky standard FNMs would be nice.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Back in the early 2000s the FNM promos weren't complete junk and there were WotC stores. Why bother attending a tournament if the payout is crap? Or rather why support a company who keeps screwing up constantly and citing 'data' that has been detrimental to the game for the past several years ? I bet most people can practice or playtest for a tournament for free with friends. So there has to be an incentive to spend a Friday night at a gaming store.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I agree with what @Stormscape Master said.
Yeah, sure, you attend a FNM to "hone your skills"...but you could just hone your skills on your kitchen table. Not everybody is interested in GPs and other big turnaments. Some are just looking for a semicompetitive environment to have fun and win something- in this case, a nice COLLECTIBLE promo...because, you know what? Magic is a COLLECTIBLE card game. So, excuse me if I don't buy the "you should come to FNM just because" argument. I'm no kid and have been playing the game for many years but I find these changes outrageous!
Cheers!
I always enjoy the Prof's videos. He looks at the issues of the game very fairly and doesn't scream or get too hot in his words. He has a very smart way of looking at things and can really explain his stance and points well.
He has a lot of good points in this video and certainly shows that what Wizards is saying doesn't quite make full sense and that this recent decision is puzzling, to say the least.
The problem here is that this is yet again another decision from WotC to take away prizes and incentives. This isn't the first time they've done this and when you add how they want to separate players is one of their strangest decisions in some time. What's the point of splitting players up like that? Do they think a token will keep the beginners coming forever? What about Showdowns and keeping longterm players?
Why does Wizards say they have data but don't show it? Why do they say that players kept going for promos and yet their example of Aether Hub says not many more came? Why is it they only referenced one month rather than 3-12 months?
This is more than just "they are taking away my shinies" and those "hyperboles" you mentioned, but this being yet another strange decision in a long line of them. They have to be willing to make changes for the better and so far they haven't done much yet, and lots of those changes we won't see until next year. When they finally showed they could be listening they do this incredibly odd maneuver that makes no sense to what looks to be the majority of players. Then when they say they are listening say that they "have numbers and data" that proves what they are doing is right, but won't release it, making us take their words at face value when they don't have much there right now.
Oh no, someone else likes the game in a different way and is using a tournament to test the deck they want to play with and get enjoyment out of it. Why would it be a good thing if less players showed up?
They definitely do that, but that's their decision and theirs nothing wrong with doing that. My LGS is fairly competitive and plenty of T1 decks run around, and I find nothing wrong with that. Being competitive is fine and bringing the best deck you can isn't a bad thing. Wanting to win isn't a bad thing.
What mental pressure? There's 0 pressure in an FNM or really most tournaments. You can easily hone your skills on a table or online if your play group is decent. Why spend money and time at a gaming store when I can spend that time with friends/other players outside the store in a more comfortable setting at 0 cost unless hosting? 3-5 hours spent at a buddy's house or apartment playing is much more enticing than being at a gaming store for that same time frame.
Way to conflate two wholly separate things going on at WotC. Here's your participation prize.
Agreed. Also, lolz at the idea that FNM has pressure. This isn't the damn Yugioh anime where our lives hang in the balance of the results of a card game.
I don't play standard. That should be okay, yet WOTC really wants me to play standard. I bought a lot of standard blue cards from Amonkhet...I dunno the format doesn't appeal to me.
And to pile on to the anecdotal evidence, I never heard of anyone in person that went to get the promo, except for during those Path/Serum Visions months a while back. In my experience the promos are met with a shrug and a smile. Shame to bring a 17 year tradition to an end, but I really don't think the attendance will go down, most of the cards are less than a buck anyway, which is nothing compared to the regular payout.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Man, imagine if WotC got smart and offered him a job related to these kinds of changes.
Speak for yourself. I work on aspects of my game every time I sit down to play.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
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Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."