I've yet to figure out why fellow Magic players bid the prices of cards on ebay so high. I can't tell you how many times I see a card driven well above the Buy It Now prices being offered. Today, I saw a playset of cards I was interested sell for $22.00 (shipping cost included). Needless to say, I really wanted those cards. I looked in the Buy It Now section and found a playset of the exact same cards (same set) in mint condition. The cost to me? $10.95 (shipping cost included). I just don't get it. It's not limited exclusively to Magic cards either. I regularly see things I'm interested in sold for well over the available Buy It Now prices. I don't know... Maybe people just get caught up in the moment of trying to outbid the other guy? I know it happens in "real life" auctions. Perhaps the same trend occurs on ebay. Me? I always scour the Buy It Now prices and know exactly what I can buy a set for. I'm always looking for a deal.
One thing I would point out is that packs from Alpha-Fallen Empires had different packaging, it was a very light plastic wrap and the cards inside could have been easily moved around and viewed (since you could see through the plastic, if you looked hard enough at least). 4th Edition and Ice Age (if I'm remembering correctly... Could have been Alliances) was where cards started being packaged with the foil packaging. Honestly, though, I'd say that if you want to buy someone Magic cards (particularly older stuff) you'd be best off to just buy them the cards versus spending a bunch of money on old packs and cracking them open to find a dollar bin rare.
I agree that our current tax rate is VERY LOW. The reason we (the US) have such a huge deficit is twofold: 1. Our taxes are too low and 2. Our spending is out of control. Sure, no one wants to raise taxes, but I believe it is ethical and moral to at least fund the government you want to have. Republicans say they want small government (rhetoric and reality are completely different here) yet they don't even want to offer a tax rate to fund that government. Democrats believe in funding government, but they get in office and the government grows so dramatically that they don't wind up funding it. It's all a joke, really.
All that being said, the only taxes that I believe should be lowered are the so-called "sin" taxes (ie higher taxes for cigarettes, alcohol, sweets). Is smoking healthy? No, everyone knows that, but I believe it is hypocritical to raise taxes on these things to try to dissuade people from using. Either move to outlaw these "sins" or tax them just like everything else.
Also, to the person who proposed a 10% tax for people making less than 100K a year and 20% for people making more than 100K, that plan sure would suck for a family making 105,000 a year. Under your plan, they'd wind up making $5,000 less a year, due to the tax penalty, than a family making $100,000 a year. Bad plan.
Also, while I'm not an overly religious person, outright taxing religious organizations wouldn't be a good thing because so many churches and such offer so many free and reduced cost programs to the communities they are in. Latch-key programs, house AA programs and other programs for recovery and support, after school programs, open gyms, homeless outreach, donations to the poor, reduced rate child care, Angel Food ministries, helping to rebuild devastated areas, and so many other things that churches do with the donations from members and you actually want to tax that? TV evangelists and such have given many people a bad view of organized religion. Most churches and such operate on shoestring budgets, do charitable work for their communities and the world, and have underpaid staff and countless volunteers... And you want to tax that? Give me a break.
The majority market is casuals who want something short, want it easy, and don't want to have to search for anything. They want all the info given to them up front because looking for info might be boring. In fact, they need a magical compass in most games to point them in the right direction.
They want regenerating health even when the story can't support such a concept because looking for health and managing health is boring to these ADD effected customers. They want piles and piles of ammo, because tactically managing your weapons is boring and not fun. Oh, and guns can't have recoil, that's definitely no fun.
Don't forget the explosions. Everybody knows that the more explosions the game has, the better it is. This can also be applied to swear words.The more the better.
Oh, and if a game has more than a paragraph of text reading, it's a garbage game. Everyone knows that reading is an boring activity best left for school.
The game must save itself in one slot so that if you get a corrupted save you are screwed because saving is boring and they might forget. It needs to be constant killing or the game is boring. The only thing difficulty should change is how many hit points it takes to kill you or an enemy.
Eye candy is all important. Mustn't take away any eye candy to improve AI, animations or level design and lastly they don't care what it costs because they haven't a clue what a good game is so they can judge the valus of the product they are slavingly purchasing.
Eh.... I've been playing video games for 20 some odd years now, nearly 30 if you want to count the Atari. I've owned many systems and played computer games as well. It seems to me that you are complaining exclusively about modern shooters. I've got an XBox 360 and sure they put out a lot of shooters, but I've also got a Wii and they have a load of games that are completely not what you are describing.
I really think that you are being very narrow in the games you describe. The gaming market has a lot of variety right now. Plus, you can own a multitude of retro systems. I also think that the "dumb games" you describe can be used to describe a lot of games of yesteryear.
I believe everyone that thinks the OP is talking about goldfishing has really misread his post. If I read this correctly, I'm thinking you actually have two decks out and are literally playing them against each other, operating as you would if you were playing in a tournament, making all appropriate plays and decisions. I do this quite a bit myself. It is a great way to learn how decks matchup against one another. It isn't goldfishing, it is playtesting.
My vote for best life gain card of all-time is a tossup between Wall of Reverence and Baneslayer Angel, I gained a ton of life between those two for 15 months or so in my Warp World deck. I ran 4 BSAs mainboard and 4 Walls in the side. My Warp World was really vulnerable to aggro and the BSAs gave me a chance pre-board. Post-board, I'd bring in the Walls and just gain ridiculous life. Dropping a Wall or two always spelled the end for Red Deck Wins.
Oh wow. My sympathies are completely with the OP, I'm a former Warp World player too. I've tried a few decks in the new Standard and am completely bored out of my mind. This Ob Nixilis-Genesis Wave deck? I will definitely have to give it a try! It is right up a Warp World player's alley and the beautiful thing is that I already own all of the cards for it! Nice! Just glancing at the deck builds, I suspect it has a lot of the same problems and weaknesses that Warp World did, but the fun factor looks through the roof! This thread may very well have saved my Standard life for the next 11 months. I have a reason to go to FNM again! Thanks!
I have a few Disturbed albums. The Sickness, Believe, and 10,000 Fists. I thought the Sickness was a really great album, it was clearly one of the best nu-metal albums of that particular era. It had some really catchy songs that were hard not to sing along with. As far as what is and what is not "popular" on the radio currently, I honestly cannot say as I've listened to very little radio (at least of the musical variety) during the past decade. Most of the bands I enjoy I've loved for years and years and they have a reputation with me, I'll buy all their albums. Other bands I read about, hear referenced,or maybe hear a sampling of hear or there and I'll get into them.
I think it is kind of funny how people like to attack different forms of music that don't fit into their particular description of what "good music" is. I recently read an interview with Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir where all the internet "haters" of his band were discussed a bit. You know what? I like Dimmu Borgir and have for years, I celebrate their entire catalog. If someone else doesn't like them, fine, it doesn't bother me. The only thing I wonder then is... Why listen? Why even bother to complain? I mean, no one is forcing anyone to listen to anything.
My local newspapers website had a poll this week wondering if people were sick of the Christmas music on the radio. I voted no, but 67% of the people voted that they were sick of it and it was too early for Christmas music. The funny thing is there is only one station in my radio area currently playing Christmas music. You have who knows how many others stations playing just about anything you could want and you have to complain about the one station playing Christmas music? If you don't like it, don't listen.
I've been a HUGE Danzig/Misfits/Samhain/Power and Fury Orchestra fan for decades. Of course, I prefer Glenn Danzig's music the most, but I have enjoyed Jerry Only's Misfits work as well. I always think it is bizarre how so many Danzig camp fans complain on end about how Jerry has "cheapened" and exploited the Misfits name and legacy. If anything, I argue, Jerry has actually helped to spread the music and get more people into it. For those Danzig fans who complain endlessly about Jerry, I wonder, why even listen to it? There are a lot of bands I don't like. I'm not going to complain about them, I just won't listen. I like the bands I like and I'll support them. If I give a band a try and don't like them, I probably won't listen to them again, but I'm not going to complain about them on a message board.
And, in closing, I'd like to add that internet discussions on the Nazi's usually (always?) descend into excercises in the absurd because many people can't seem to discuss them or anything about them in any reasonable way as was evidenced here by someone taking the fact that celebrity A and B collect Nazi stuff and running with that into the whole genocide argument and completely losing any sense of logic and reason and being completely overcome with emotion. People like that can't be talked to in any reasonable way.
You know, I think this thread demonstrates exactly why I've come to loathe Standard so much. I've long advocated for organized block play, sanctioned by WOTC in which players would play cards from a given block for a month or three until "rotation" happened and on to the next block. Also, a rise of more and more variant formats (Sanctioned, preferably) that would put so many of these good cards to use again. I can't tell you how much I miss dropping Hellkite Overlord and Spiritmonger (just two examples) on Friday nights. There isn't a single card in Standard presently that emotionally moves me the way those classics did and still do.
Eh... I "un-friended" facebook about 6 months ago. It was fun for a while, getting in contact with long lost friends, but after a while (for me) it just started to seem empty. Logging on everyday to check up on the statuses of people that I hadn't seen in years and such. Like I said, it was fun for a while, but after a bit I just came to realize that I'd much rather get on with living my life versus reading about the lives of others and posting all the details of my life. I also came to be concerned with privacy, not exclusively the fear of identity theft, but just at how voyeuristic we have become as a society.
I like the old cards where the art was very simple. If you played in 1993-1997 or so you know what I mean. When I think of magic card art I think of stuff like word of command or sol ring. There is something old and magical about these cards, and I just don't feel the same about modern cards. They are too flashy. I was pretty upset when the changed the card style in 8th edition as well. With that said, The original Magic artist are legends for me, and their artwork is special, and really defines the game to me and that is why I am a vintage fanatic.
Mark tedin
Christopher rush
mark poole
Dan Frazier
Doug Shuler
Jesper Myrfors
rob alexander
etc.
Rock on man, I feel the same way. I liked the iconic, amazing look of those older arts. Mark Tedin, Doug Shuler, even Jesper was great. All the artists you named kick ass!
Looks like we are all of the same mind, here! I trust me, I know exactly what you mean when you say that "there is something old and magical about these cards". I get it. Though I finally came to accept the new card facing (I did quit playing for 4 years once Mirrodin/8th Edition hit, largely because of the new card facing), I still prefer the old cards.
Of course, alternate art cards are still made for various reasons (ie pre-releases, FNM foils), but I wonder what ever happened to alternate art cards being part of the actual sets (Hymn to Tourach being but one example of a card with multiple artworks in a single set)? Does anyone know when and why this was discontinued? Has Wizards ever made an official statement about this? I played in the early days of Magic and have quit and come back a few times. I know the early sets (just about all) had different releases of a number of cards, but then at some point it seems to have just ceased to be. I imagine it is cheaper to commission and print just a single version of a card, so that is an obvious factor. Just something that crossed my mind today.
Melissa Benson (Shivan Dragon, Lord of Atlantis, Nightmare), Douglas Shuler (Force of Nature), Mark Tedin (Juzam Djinn), Dan Frazier (Mahamoti Djinn, the Moxen) and Anson Mattocks (Serendib Efreet, Serendib Djinn, Two Headed Giant of Foryis) are some of my favorites. Justin Sweet (Hellkite Overlord) and Jim Murray (Godsire) are two more modern artists I like.
My feelings on Obama, the Democrats, the Republicans, the Tea Party, and Fox News.
Obama- Have I agreed with everything he has done? No, absolutely not, but I think (all things considered) he's made a lot of good moves. The economy is improving. A lot of people don't see it and it is a slow improvement, but it is getting better. Going back to TARP, the bailouts, and all those things that got the Tea Party radicalized (Bush having just as much to do with those things as Obama), I honestly wonder what would have happened to the US (and world) economy had the Federal Government not acted? Would the US auto industry have gone out of business? Would unemployment be 25 or 30 percent instead of 10? One thing I've been looking at and listening to lately is the words and thoughts of people who were around when the Great Depression happened, I've been reading the thoughts of elderly investors and economists who are not radicalized left or right but are pretty centrist and moderate. I think without TARP, the bailouts, and such things would be much worse. I'd also like to point out that John Boehner himself stood on the floor of Congress and pleaded with his fellow Congressmen and women to pass these Bills... Until he flipflopped his position and decided these things were bad. My biggest problem with Obama and the Democrats is what has happened with the Federal deficit. Sure, a lot of that is tied to the bailouts, but the budget needs to be balanced and deficits need to be controlled. All in all, if the elections were held today, I would vote to re-elect Obama. If anyone is wondering, this past Tuesday I voted for 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans, and 2 Libertarians on my ballot.
The Democratic Party- Most of what I have written about Obama ties into the Democratic Party as well. The big problem the Democrats have and will continue to have with a large segment of the American people is on God, Guns, Gay Rights, and Abortion. Personally, I have mixed feelings on the place of Religion within Government (while I agree with the notion of "freedom of religion", I also acknowledge that a person's religion will likely influence their choices and decisions, congressman are no different. I also have no problem with the United States viewing things like Christmas as National Holidays that also happen to be religious, having "In God We Trust" on the dollar, having Nativity scenes on public land, etc). On Guns, I 100% support the rights of individuals to own guns and ammo and be armed to protect themselves, their families, and their community. The 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with hunting and that is something a lot of Democrats don't seem to understand. Gay rights (and other "social issues") are tough ones. Does our society not have a right to say we accept these things and do not accept these things? Social issues are very tough, sure I want to say "I support freedom", but I also support the rights of the majority, of states, communities, etc to say "We do not accept this" and set up socially accepted norms, mores, and values. Social issues are also very easily to manipulate and get people stirred up. Abortion is a really tough issue. Really tough. While I do not support abortion on demand and believe it is a barbaric practice and believe the government has a right to protect the unborn, I also see the flip side of the argument when it comes to abortion in the case of rape, incest, and serious health concerns (both for the mother and unborn child). Another tough one. I don't get as radicalized on abortion as most pro-life right wingers, but I also am no willing to be as decensitized to the issue as most pro-choicers seem to be.
The Republicans- Have largely shown themselves to be without new ideas. They talk about cutting taxes but never show how they will fund government. The (case in point, John Boehner from earlier and John McCain's flip flopping on immigration and the border fence) flip flop on issues when it is convenient for them and then go out of their way to say they have been consistent on the issues and their opponents (see John Kerry in 2004) are flip floppers. Is the Obama administration perfect? Again, no, but I'm much more happy with the Obama admin than I was the Bush admin, and it seems that is what the GOP wants to return to.
The Tea Party- From what I can see, the majority of Tea Party candidates don't offer any real solutions to any problems. Sure, they stand up for their ideology, but there is a big difference in having an ideology and actually coming up with practical solutions once they are in office. Also, where are the intellectual Tea Partiers? Do they have any? Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, and the rest of them don't seem to have any deeply thought out beliefs and practical solutions to anything. It is easy for these people to get up and talk about the Constitution, "the way things were" , and all of these emotionally moving and intellectually ignorant speeches. It's much harder to actually govern (Sarah Palin seemed to have learned this from her short time as Alaska's governor, yes?) and lead. Also, the stances they help to cultivate (Obama, the Kenyan, for example) and violent imagery (Obama as Hitler) that they do nothing to stop is unhealthy, unproductive, and too far out for any serious person to take.
Fox News- They pass themselves off as a "News network" when in reality they offer OPINIONS and rhetoric. They lie. They make things up. They are the network to spread Tea Party and far right GOP ideology. No, I'm not saying MSNBC (for example) is innocent. They (MSNBC) clearly have a Democratic leaning, but at least when I'm watching MSNBC I know that (Fox news watchers don't seem to understand that they are pushing a conservative agenda and not news) and MSNBC also balances things out with plenty of conservatives (Buchanan), moderate-conservatives (Scarborough), GOP strategists, GOP politicians, and moderate voices in addition to liberal voices.
All in all, I'm not really happy with the Federal government. I wish that both sides of the coin would stop lying, start telling the Truth, quit campaigning 24/7 365, and start working together (regardless of one's political affiliation) to come up with real world solutions for real world problems.
All that being said, the only taxes that I believe should be lowered are the so-called "sin" taxes (ie higher taxes for cigarettes, alcohol, sweets). Is smoking healthy? No, everyone knows that, but I believe it is hypocritical to raise taxes on these things to try to dissuade people from using. Either move to outlaw these "sins" or tax them just like everything else.
Also, to the person who proposed a 10% tax for people making less than 100K a year and 20% for people making more than 100K, that plan sure would suck for a family making 105,000 a year. Under your plan, they'd wind up making $5,000 less a year, due to the tax penalty, than a family making $100,000 a year. Bad plan.
Also, while I'm not an overly religious person, outright taxing religious organizations wouldn't be a good thing because so many churches and such offer so many free and reduced cost programs to the communities they are in. Latch-key programs, house AA programs and other programs for recovery and support, after school programs, open gyms, homeless outreach, donations to the poor, reduced rate child care, Angel Food ministries, helping to rebuild devastated areas, and so many other things that churches do with the donations from members and you actually want to tax that? TV evangelists and such have given many people a bad view of organized religion. Most churches and such operate on shoestring budgets, do charitable work for their communities and the world, and have underpaid staff and countless volunteers... And you want to tax that? Give me a break.
Eh.... I've been playing video games for 20 some odd years now, nearly 30 if you want to count the Atari. I've owned many systems and played computer games as well. It seems to me that you are complaining exclusively about modern shooters. I've got an XBox 360 and sure they put out a lot of shooters, but I've also got a Wii and they have a load of games that are completely not what you are describing.
I really think that you are being very narrow in the games you describe. The gaming market has a lot of variety right now. Plus, you can own a multitude of retro systems. I also think that the "dumb games" you describe can be used to describe a lot of games of yesteryear.
I think it is kind of funny how people like to attack different forms of music that don't fit into their particular description of what "good music" is. I recently read an interview with Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir where all the internet "haters" of his band were discussed a bit. You know what? I like Dimmu Borgir and have for years, I celebrate their entire catalog. If someone else doesn't like them, fine, it doesn't bother me. The only thing I wonder then is... Why listen? Why even bother to complain? I mean, no one is forcing anyone to listen to anything.
My local newspapers website had a poll this week wondering if people were sick of the Christmas music on the radio. I voted no, but 67% of the people voted that they were sick of it and it was too early for Christmas music. The funny thing is there is only one station in my radio area currently playing Christmas music. You have who knows how many others stations playing just about anything you could want and you have to complain about the one station playing Christmas music? If you don't like it, don't listen.
I've been a HUGE Danzig/Misfits/Samhain/Power and Fury Orchestra fan for decades. Of course, I prefer Glenn Danzig's music the most, but I have enjoyed Jerry Only's Misfits work as well. I always think it is bizarre how so many Danzig camp fans complain on end about how Jerry has "cheapened" and exploited the Misfits name and legacy. If anything, I argue, Jerry has actually helped to spread the music and get more people into it. For those Danzig fans who complain endlessly about Jerry, I wonder, why even listen to it? There are a lot of bands I don't like. I'm not going to complain about them, I just won't listen. I like the bands I like and I'll support them. If I give a band a try and don't like them, I probably won't listen to them again, but I'm not going to complain about them on a message board.
And, in closing, I'd like to add that internet discussions on the Nazi's usually (always?) descend into excercises in the absurd because many people can't seem to discuss them or anything about them in any reasonable way as was evidenced here by someone taking the fact that celebrity A and B collect Nazi stuff and running with that into the whole genocide argument and completely losing any sense of logic and reason and being completely overcome with emotion. People like that can't be talked to in any reasonable way.
Looks like we are all of the same mind, here! I trust me, I know exactly what you mean when you say that "there is something old and magical about these cards". I get it. Though I finally came to accept the new card facing (I did quit playing for 4 years once Mirrodin/8th Edition hit, largely because of the new card facing), I still prefer the old cards.
Boring.
Un-inspiring.
Legacy if more fun.
Casual is more fun.
Too expensive due to rotations.
A real let down.
I really miss Warp World.
I haven't played Standard in a month. I don't have any desire to play it.
Obama- Have I agreed with everything he has done? No, absolutely not, but I think (all things considered) he's made a lot of good moves. The economy is improving. A lot of people don't see it and it is a slow improvement, but it is getting better. Going back to TARP, the bailouts, and all those things that got the Tea Party radicalized (Bush having just as much to do with those things as Obama), I honestly wonder what would have happened to the US (and world) economy had the Federal Government not acted? Would the US auto industry have gone out of business? Would unemployment be 25 or 30 percent instead of 10? One thing I've been looking at and listening to lately is the words and thoughts of people who were around when the Great Depression happened, I've been reading the thoughts of elderly investors and economists who are not radicalized left or right but are pretty centrist and moderate. I think without TARP, the bailouts, and such things would be much worse. I'd also like to point out that John Boehner himself stood on the floor of Congress and pleaded with his fellow Congressmen and women to pass these Bills... Until he flipflopped his position and decided these things were bad. My biggest problem with Obama and the Democrats is what has happened with the Federal deficit. Sure, a lot of that is tied to the bailouts, but the budget needs to be balanced and deficits need to be controlled. All in all, if the elections were held today, I would vote to re-elect Obama. If anyone is wondering, this past Tuesday I voted for 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans, and 2 Libertarians on my ballot.
The Democratic Party- Most of what I have written about Obama ties into the Democratic Party as well. The big problem the Democrats have and will continue to have with a large segment of the American people is on God, Guns, Gay Rights, and Abortion. Personally, I have mixed feelings on the place of Religion within Government (while I agree with the notion of "freedom of religion", I also acknowledge that a person's religion will likely influence their choices and decisions, congressman are no different. I also have no problem with the United States viewing things like Christmas as National Holidays that also happen to be religious, having "In God We Trust" on the dollar, having Nativity scenes on public land, etc). On Guns, I 100% support the rights of individuals to own guns and ammo and be armed to protect themselves, their families, and their community. The 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with hunting and that is something a lot of Democrats don't seem to understand. Gay rights (and other "social issues") are tough ones. Does our society not have a right to say we accept these things and do not accept these things? Social issues are very tough, sure I want to say "I support freedom", but I also support the rights of the majority, of states, communities, etc to say "We do not accept this" and set up socially accepted norms, mores, and values. Social issues are also very easily to manipulate and get people stirred up. Abortion is a really tough issue. Really tough. While I do not support abortion on demand and believe it is a barbaric practice and believe the government has a right to protect the unborn, I also see the flip side of the argument when it comes to abortion in the case of rape, incest, and serious health concerns (both for the mother and unborn child). Another tough one. I don't get as radicalized on abortion as most pro-life right wingers, but I also am no willing to be as decensitized to the issue as most pro-choicers seem to be.
The Republicans- Have largely shown themselves to be without new ideas. They talk about cutting taxes but never show how they will fund government. The (case in point, John Boehner from earlier and John McCain's flip flopping on immigration and the border fence) flip flop on issues when it is convenient for them and then go out of their way to say they have been consistent on the issues and their opponents (see John Kerry in 2004) are flip floppers. Is the Obama administration perfect? Again, no, but I'm much more happy with the Obama admin than I was the Bush admin, and it seems that is what the GOP wants to return to.
The Tea Party- From what I can see, the majority of Tea Party candidates don't offer any real solutions to any problems. Sure, they stand up for their ideology, but there is a big difference in having an ideology and actually coming up with practical solutions once they are in office. Also, where are the intellectual Tea Partiers? Do they have any? Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, and the rest of them don't seem to have any deeply thought out beliefs and practical solutions to anything. It is easy for these people to get up and talk about the Constitution, "the way things were" , and all of these emotionally moving and intellectually ignorant speeches. It's much harder to actually govern (Sarah Palin seemed to have learned this from her short time as Alaska's governor, yes?) and lead. Also, the stances they help to cultivate (Obama, the Kenyan, for example) and violent imagery (Obama as Hitler) that they do nothing to stop is unhealthy, unproductive, and too far out for any serious person to take.
Fox News- They pass themselves off as a "News network" when in reality they offer OPINIONS and rhetoric. They lie. They make things up. They are the network to spread Tea Party and far right GOP ideology. No, I'm not saying MSNBC (for example) is innocent. They (MSNBC) clearly have a Democratic leaning, but at least when I'm watching MSNBC I know that (Fox news watchers don't seem to understand that they are pushing a conservative agenda and not news) and MSNBC also balances things out with plenty of conservatives (Buchanan), moderate-conservatives (Scarborough), GOP strategists, GOP politicians, and moderate voices in addition to liberal voices.
All in all, I'm not really happy with the Federal government. I wish that both sides of the coin would stop lying, start telling the Truth, quit campaigning 24/7 365, and start working together (regardless of one's political affiliation) to come up with real world solutions for real world problems.