Closed circle
March 29th 2011 23:59
Ain't nothin' changed. All the promises you made, before you got elected - they ain't come true.
-- Tupac Shakur, "Letter to the President"
So, everyone thinks they know what the new competitive format is going to be (and that there’s going to be one at all – many people, including me, were very, very wrong about the Reserved List). Everyone also knows what the fairest and/or most fun card pool is going to be. Everyone knows what’s going to be the best alternative to Legacy and its unattainable staples.
Everyone is missing the point that chronological cutoffs are only half the problem (if that). No matter what the rules of the format are – whether that format is Standard, Vintage, block constructed, commons-only, or Australian-style singleton – the fundamental problems of competitive play remain: using only about 10% of the available cards, no room for creativity, and the inevitable degeneration to a room full of players hurling overpowered creatures and spells at each other until something gives.
While the availability of old cards is a significant barrier to entering formats like Legacy and a source of player dissatisfaction, these fundamental problems are a significant barrier to enjoyment and a far greater source of dissatisfaction, especially to players who previously abandoned another format expecting things to be different. The alternative to one competitive form of play is not and can never be a different form of competitive play. They can create a hundred new formats if they want, but until casual players and collectors have a place in the online discourse, we are doomed to keep going around in the same ever-narrowing circles for ever.
-- Tupac Shakur, "Letter to the President"
So, everyone thinks they know what the new competitive format is going to be (and that there’s going to be one at all – many people, including me, were very, very wrong about the Reserved List). Everyone also knows what the fairest and/or most fun card pool is going to be. Everyone knows what’s going to be the best alternative to Legacy and its unattainable staples.
Everyone is missing the point that chronological cutoffs are only half the problem (if that). No matter what the rules of the format are – whether that format is Standard, Vintage, block constructed, commons-only, or Australian-style singleton – the fundamental problems of competitive play remain: using only about 10% of the available cards, no room for creativity, and the inevitable degeneration to a room full of players hurling overpowered creatures and spells at each other until something gives.
While the availability of old cards is a significant barrier to entering formats like Legacy and a source of player dissatisfaction, these fundamental problems are a significant barrier to enjoyment and a far greater source of dissatisfaction, especially to players who previously abandoned another format expecting things to be different. The alternative to one competitive form of play is not and can never be a different form of competitive play. They can create a hundred new formats if they want, but until casual players and collectors have a place in the online discourse, we are doomed to keep going around in the same ever-narrowing circles for ever.
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