A similar situation happened once with Foil FNM Crystalline Slivers. I don't recall all the details because it's been a while, but essentially a number were stolen on the way to distribution so Wizards decided not to release them. The few that were on the market (several hundred?) had a high value.
They eventually did release much of the leftover stock several years later (as special tournament giveaways/prizes I think?).
Interesting... I hadn't thought about that. GenCon is indeed huge, but it's never been a huge mecca for Magic players in recent years. In fact, it used to be the first big art reveal for the big fall set before PAX became a bigger deal. FFG has bigger booths than WOTC these last few years. But whether that had more to do with the CEO of FFG getting his brag on, or Hasbro stepping back their funding... who knows.
WOTC is probably following through on a growing trend they've seen in recent years.
The vast majority of people who buy paper Magic do not aspire to the pro level. They are content to be competitive players in their local community, or are held back because they are no longer able to justify the time and expense of traveling to play in critical tournaments.
This apparently leaves Wizards free to make changes to the top levels of competition whose primary purpose, and primary effect, is to cut costs.
I do think however that removing the significance of Nationals is a mistake. A lot of amateur players do aim for Nats because it is a chance for them to represent their country. It should not be a ratings dead-end, nor should it be removed.
I'd like to see what happens with this over the next year, along with the pro level changes.
It's going to be interesting to see what the balance sheets of stores look like after a year of this.
My guess is that small stores will take a hit, large stores will profit, and trading/competition for card sales will suffer a bit as large PTQs and regional-size events become single-vendor venues.
I have to say, all this use of drugs sounds wrong to me.
Back then when I was fat, and while losing weight, I talked to a lot of guys like me,
and nobody took any drugs.
Some had been to the doctor and said similar stuff "sad, don´t know that to do with life, everything is "
But the doctors basically told them that this is because of the weight and the effects this has on our social life and personal wellbeing.
No doctor even thought about prescribing drugs,
and here, "take the drug"
I mean, come on, if one is super heavy, he has a bunch of problems, so of course one is depressed, but drugs against the depression is just treating the symptoms,
the weight is the core problem that has to be treated.
Chicken-and-egg problem. Being overweight can destroy your self-image and social motivation, as well as make you easily fatigued and tired all the time. But getting that way is a process that takes years of overeating that's often triggered by, and sustained by, emotional problems. And this is why when the doctor finds symptoms of depression and anxiety, they should be treated. Not just with drugs, but with cognitive behavioural therapy to identify attitudes and situations which aren't helping, and learn to cope with them.
@sirpsychosexy,
How do you define often?
There are a handful of vegetables that have to be processed within 2-3 days, but we go shopping once a week and that works without any problem and the vegetables (those we don´t have in the garden ourselves) are enough till we go shopping next. Also, whats the problem, to go to the next store during lunchbreak to buy a bunch of X?
The most importants stuff, potatoes, rice, peas, carrots can be stored for weeks or months (potatoes and carrots only if one has a cool basement),
I would buy corn in tin cans, and always have a store of concentrated tomatoes, which are just as fine as normal ones.
If I come home late, I often just make some quick pasta, throw it in a pan, ad a spoon of cooking water (secret tip,) ad some concentrated tomatos, grab some basil, salt, pepper, whatever I have the taste for, let it simmer for 2-3 minutes, and put it on a plate.
Depending on where you live, and your social status, you may not have access to these things. In many American cities you have to have a car to access a supermarket which stocks fresh fruits and vegetables. Otherwise you are left with the convenience store which usually stocks only packaged foods like frozen pizza and frankfurters, cookies, cakes, chips, etc. If you don't have a car, and you don't have many friends, you can expect to walk up to an hour each way to get to the grocery store. Ergo, subsisting on a diet largely made up of fast food, frozen pizza, soda, and frankfurters.
@the pumpkinking
You will have to say no to things, but thats life.
This I can get behind 100%. Accept that sometimes you will feel cravings, and hunger, and be uncomfortable and have to spend some willpower to stick to your lifestyle commitments. That said, changing your habits doesn't occur in a vacuum. You have to have "fuel" to maintain these commitments. Have long-term goals that fill you with hope and yet are realistic enough that you can actually see progress.
I look forward to seeing this get resolved, because it seems like high cost of Spanish language product has been a problem for as long as I can remember.
Now if they can also arrange to have the cards translated properly it might make Spanish and Portuguese Magic product preferred again on price AND quality. I think it's fun sometimes to play with Portuguese Stoic Rebuttals that don't actually do anything, but there are a lot of people who facepalm whenever a new set comes out because the sheer number of major errors and goofs make the cards almost unplayable.
My friend and I came up with this idea around the time they announced MODO. We thought it might work if wizards found a way to put a barcode on every card. One that was invisible, so it wouldn't affect the aesthetics of paper Magic. And would be very difficult to counterfeit.
I guess the problem still exists. You make people buy a scanner for this and someone will find a way to hack the scanner or fool it into thinking you have 4x of a card you own none or 1 of.
I guess the other thing is, why play paper Magic sitting in front of the computer when you could just go outside and play with real people? I would rather go play with real people and socialize than sit in front of an OCR barcode reader, swiping my cards and still having to dea with a computer.
Avatars are just good ways to instantly recognize a particular poster.
I must say tho that your avatar does make people snap judge you on a subconscious level. it's human nature. If you don't think you can handle someone dismissing your opinion in serious debate or discussion based on a preconception they have about your pic, don't use an avatar that presents you as someone who withdraws from reality a bit too much.
MTG characters, video game sprites, anime, or furry avatars get that reaction from a lot of people.
Pick something that shows you have hobbies and a life outside of magic and other games. Music, sports, athletics, writing, photography, places you've been - people are curious about your ava and ask you about it.
Lot of tech companies breaking ground in the southeast US. Rent's cheap, food's cheap, gas is high but it's high everywhere (and you absolutely must have a car). The tech sector needs support workers and you can get training for some of the things you need to do.
It's warm and there's fishing.
There's new manufacturing opening up in places in the deep South. You will be competing with a lot of older workers from the rust belt.
Every job I've had has sucked in some way. I just abhore the concept of working for someone else.
Hallelujah.
Not everybody has a unique marketable talent, skill, or idea that they can go solo with. But if you do, mise well because hell is other people. My worst job was one of my best paying, but the management style was insufferable, even traumatic.
BTW vacin, the 'special needs' folks in line at the store who want things boxed up just so, are on food stamps because they have crippling OCD or autistic spectrum disorders, not because they are spoiled brats and just want to make your minimumwage life hard.
They can't work because they can't deal with even the small level of ambiguity that comes from someone else bagging their groceries.
Yeah, it does make your life harder. But you are lucky and they are not. You can walk into any shop and have a satisfactory interaction with just about any clerk. They bring their own difficulties wherever they go, everyone they interact with is a threat.
So be nice, take their money, and keep being nice to them and taking their money. Their life is ☺☺☺☺ and they know it. Your being nice makes their life a little less ☺☺☺☺ and that's Doing the Right Thing.
Oh and raise your hand if you've worked a minimum-wage range crappy customer service job where your performance of a wide variety of tasks was timed and monitored to the second. You get let go if your transactions per minute drops below like the 90th percentile for efficiency. I hear negative consequences and rigid, heavily regimented work environments are great management techniques. [/sarcasm]
James A. Michener thinks the guy's name was possibly Oogruk and that he used the lost Beringian approach. On foot. In the snow. Uphill both ways. With six kids and fourteen dogs.
I say it's Mighty Dog. Or maybe Disa the Restless.
or, you could find a lot of laundry rooms. Seriously. I do share your concern that for every psychopath we catch, there are 2 or 3 or 5 or 20 going undetected. But I don't think basement room configuration is even a major determinant of predatory psychopathy.
The key to balancing privacy and safety/security is in "rightsizing" our communities.
The best community is one in which a person is generally recognized as a member and a citizen, but has enough degrees of space between himself and his neighbours that he can enjoy a relatively private and personal existence. Most of his neighbours can vouch for his character, having grown up with him and gone to school with him, but they are not privy to whether he likes to be on top or on the bottom in the bedroom, or whether he has warts (unless they're visible).
Sociology studies show the optimal size for such a community is about 1,000 - 10,000 people. So, a small town.
For people who are misfits or have a greater need for privacy, a bigger community might be better, but only because that community is so large, the people in it do not adequately form social bonds. Apathy results. But it is not true acceptance. Nor is apathy protective of security and human safety. The general public of a big city are apathetic towards both the nerdy kid and the basement strangler.
Being ignored or tolerated is arguably better than being singled out, gossiped about, and persecuted. But what's needed here is not just apathy or tolerance, instead a better sensitivity towards people who are different in benign ways, and a greater vigilance against behaviour which could cause real harm.
Instead of picking on the loners who play D&D in their basements, they should be looking at the guy who seems friendly and has a very conventional, family-oriented life but whose attitudes and behaviours around vulnerable populations suggest he's got something to hide.
Setessa is kind of like Sitia (Seteia) in Crete. Or a mashup of Seteia, and Edessa in Macedonia.
They eventually did release much of the leftover stock several years later (as special tournament giveaways/prizes I think?).
WOTC is probably following through on a growing trend they've seen in recent years.
The vast majority of people who buy paper Magic do not aspire to the pro level. They are content to be competitive players in their local community, or are held back because they are no longer able to justify the time and expense of traveling to play in critical tournaments.
This apparently leaves Wizards free to make changes to the top levels of competition whose primary purpose, and primary effect, is to cut costs.
I do think however that removing the significance of Nationals is a mistake. A lot of amateur players do aim for Nats because it is a chance for them to represent their country. It should not be a ratings dead-end, nor should it be removed.
It's going to be interesting to see what the balance sheets of stores look like after a year of this.
My guess is that small stores will take a hit, large stores will profit, and trading/competition for card sales will suffer a bit as large PTQs and regional-size events become single-vendor venues.
Chicken-and-egg problem. Being overweight can destroy your self-image and social motivation, as well as make you easily fatigued and tired all the time. But getting that way is a process that takes years of overeating that's often triggered by, and sustained by, emotional problems. And this is why when the doctor finds symptoms of depression and anxiety, they should be treated. Not just with drugs, but with cognitive behavioural therapy to identify attitudes and situations which aren't helping, and learn to cope with them.
Depending on where you live, and your social status, you may not have access to these things. In many American cities you have to have a car to access a supermarket which stocks fresh fruits and vegetables. Otherwise you are left with the convenience store which usually stocks only packaged foods like frozen pizza and frankfurters, cookies, cakes, chips, etc. If you don't have a car, and you don't have many friends, you can expect to walk up to an hour each way to get to the grocery store. Ergo, subsisting on a diet largely made up of fast food, frozen pizza, soda, and frankfurters.
This I can get behind 100%. Accept that sometimes you will feel cravings, and hunger, and be uncomfortable and have to spend some willpower to stick to your lifestyle commitments. That said, changing your habits doesn't occur in a vacuum. You have to have "fuel" to maintain these commitments. Have long-term goals that fill you with hope and yet are realistic enough that you can actually see progress.
Now if they can also arrange to have the cards translated properly it might make Spanish and Portuguese Magic product preferred again on price AND quality. I think it's fun sometimes to play with Portuguese Stoic Rebuttals that don't actually do anything, but there are a lot of people who facepalm whenever a new set comes out because the sheer number of major errors and goofs make the cards almost unplayable.
I guess the problem still exists. You make people buy a scanner for this and someone will find a way to hack the scanner or fool it into thinking you have 4x of a card you own none or 1 of.
I guess the other thing is, why play paper Magic sitting in front of the computer when you could just go outside and play with real people? I would rather go play with real people and socialize than sit in front of an OCR barcode reader, swiping my cards and still having to dea with a computer.
I must say tho that your avatar does make people snap judge you on a subconscious level. it's human nature. If you don't think you can handle someone dismissing your opinion in serious debate or discussion based on a preconception they have about your pic, don't use an avatar that presents you as someone who withdraws from reality a bit too much.
MTG characters, video game sprites, anime, or furry avatars get that reaction from a lot of people.
Pick something that shows you have hobbies and a life outside of magic and other games. Music, sports, athletics, writing, photography, places you've been - people are curious about your ava and ask you about it.
ok those Hierarchs are really tight. I love 4-Seasons playsets
Speaking of themed playsets, anyone seen fourhorsemen recently? He did some really cool armageddon themed things too
It's warm and there's fishing.
There's new manufacturing opening up in places in the deep South. You will be competing with a lot of older workers from the rust belt.
Hallelujah.
Not everybody has a unique marketable talent, skill, or idea that they can go solo with. But if you do, mise well because hell is other people. My worst job was one of my best paying, but the management style was insufferable, even traumatic.
BTW vacin, the 'special needs' folks in line at the store who want things boxed up just so, are on food stamps because they have crippling OCD or autistic spectrum disorders, not because they are spoiled brats and just want to make your minimumwage life hard.
They can't work because they can't deal with even the small level of ambiguity that comes from someone else bagging their groceries.
Yeah, it does make your life harder. But you are lucky and they are not. You can walk into any shop and have a satisfactory interaction with just about any clerk. They bring their own difficulties wherever they go, everyone they interact with is a threat.
So be nice, take their money, and keep being nice to them and taking their money. Their life is ☺☺☺☺ and they know it. Your being nice makes their life a little less ☺☺☺☺ and that's Doing the Right Thing.
Oh and raise your hand if you've worked a minimum-wage range crappy customer service job where your performance of a wide variety of tasks was timed and monitored to the second. You get let go if your transactions per minute drops below like the 90th percentile for efficiency. I hear negative consequences and rigid, heavily regimented work environments are great management techniques. [/sarcasm]
Some say Leif Ericsson, some say Saint Brendan.
James A. Michener thinks the guy's name was possibly Oogruk and that he used the lost Beringian approach. On foot. In the snow. Uphill both ways. With six kids and fourteen dogs.
I say it's Mighty Dog. Or maybe Disa the Restless.
This is a joke post, by the way.
The key to balancing privacy and safety/security is in "rightsizing" our communities.
The best community is one in which a person is generally recognized as a member and a citizen, but has enough degrees of space between himself and his neighbours that he can enjoy a relatively private and personal existence. Most of his neighbours can vouch for his character, having grown up with him and gone to school with him, but they are not privy to whether he likes to be on top or on the bottom in the bedroom, or whether he has warts (unless they're visible).
Sociology studies show the optimal size for such a community is about 1,000 - 10,000 people. So, a small town.
For people who are misfits or have a greater need for privacy, a bigger community might be better, but only because that community is so large, the people in it do not adequately form social bonds. Apathy results. But it is not true acceptance. Nor is apathy protective of security and human safety. The general public of a big city are apathetic towards both the nerdy kid and the basement strangler.
Being ignored or tolerated is arguably better than being singled out, gossiped about, and persecuted. But what's needed here is not just apathy or tolerance, instead a better sensitivity towards people who are different in benign ways, and a greater vigilance against behaviour which could cause real harm.
Instead of picking on the loners who play D&D in their basements, they should be looking at the guy who seems friendly and has a very conventional, family-oriented life but whose attitudes and behaviours around vulnerable populations suggest he's got something to hide.