However -
I think some of the criticism directed at Wizards is misplaced, or at least ill informed. Part of what’s going on here, is that Wizards doesn’t want Historic to dominate Arena as a format. They have stated quite plainly that they want Standard (which may include Brawl) to be the primary format for Arena. And for good reason. If no one’s interested in Standard, then it’s much harder for them to sell cards. This all applies to tabletop Magic as well. Wizards wants Magic to stay profitable, and their biggest profits come from the sales of new cards, primarily - and by orders of magnitude the largest by volume - through the sales of booster boxes. Those sales are driven in part by drafting, but also from people opening product to get the Rares and Mythics which are needed to build competitive Standard decks. It’s part of why scarcity is built into the foundation of the game.
Here’s the rub - If you love Magic, you want this too, whether you realize it or not.
Wizards employs hundreds of people to make Magic. It costs money to design cards, commission artwork, write stories, playtest formats, advertise, translate, provide customer support, manage the various departments, and all the other things which go into creating Magic and running a company the size of Wizards of the Coast. There’s also printing and distribution costs for paper products. It’s an enormous undertaking. So Wizards needs to recoup those costs, and make a profit. And that is primarily done through the sales of booster boxes.
If Magic fails to make money, then it will go away. That’s the law of the capitalist jungle. It can’t just break even, it needs to turn a profit. Personally, I don’t want Magic to go away. I think it’s the best game that’s ever been made, and it’s a huge part of my life. Most of the very best friends in my life, I found through Magic. Playing on Arena is something my wife and I share. I have a substantial collection of paper cards. I enjoy playing almost every format. I write a Magic blog, for fuck’s sake. I want Wizards to make money off this game, because that means I’ll still have a game to play, five, ten or twenty years from now. I hope to be seeing new sets come out of Magic for the rest of my life. I look forward to being on my deathbead, feeling disappointed that I’m never going to see the next set they’ve just announced. OK, that’s a little dramatic, but you get my point.
So Standard needs to stay healthy, and it needs to be one of the largest formats in terms of event attendance. Arena needs to be primarily a Standard platform, because that’s a part of how Standard will stay relevant in tabletop. New cards need to have some value to them, or boxes won’t sell. Who’s going to drop $100 on a new booster box if there’s no card in there worth more than $1? No one. It’s why I accept scarcity as a necessary part of the system, and why I accept Wizard’s focus on Standard play. Because that’s a big part of what drives card sales, which is what keeps Wizards in business, which keeps me getting new Magic cards.
In a Utopian world, we could have people just doing the creative exercise of designing games with no thought of profits, and that would be sweet, but it’s not reality. For some reason, “profit” has become a dirty word. But there’s nothing untoward about turning a profit when you’ve put time and effort into something like game design. In the end Wizards making money is good for all of us who love this game, and want to keep playing.
To be very clear, I’m not saying that Wizards is above criticism. I’m not looking to excuse greedy, or poorly thought out actions on Wizards’ part. I think that some of their “premium” offerings of late have been ill conceived and ill executed. I wouldn’t give them carte blanche to act in any way they wanted, and not call them out when they’ve overstepped the line. Which is why I am willing to say that I think the 2x Wildcard redemption for Historic cards is bullshit. But criticizing them for prioritizing the relevance of Standard is just self-defeating, if you want Magic to continue as a game.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to me ramble.
I’m Tweeting now @23rdPlayable. I’m also occasionally streaming on Twitch as 23rdPlayable. And, as always, you can find me on Facebook in the MTG Arena Players group, where I’m a mod.
Have fun, Play on, and Be kind to one another.
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