Myth information
June 20th 2008 04:55
Change is in the air. Come September, Shards of Alara hits the shelves, heralding a new era of smaller sets, smaller pre-releases, and – most controversial of all – a new rarity level. It’s going to be called “Mythic,” and there will be one in about every eight boosters.
Sarkhan’s game text has not yet been released. They only gave us this image to demonstrate the expansion symbol color for Mythic. Too bad; he looks like an interesting guy.
The official announcement mentioned in passing that the next year’s marketing campaign will have a large focus on acquisition – in this case, finding new players. Indeed, the changes seem geared almost entirely towards newer players; smaller sets are easier to keep track of for tournament purposes, and pre-releases with 600 or more people, 85% of whom are tournament sharks or traders, can be very intimidating as an introduction to the scene. Mythic cards may end up being more expensive than the average rare, but they certainly make you feel special when you open one in a booster.
Acquisition is a well-known type of strategy that many brands and products have used, not just as start-ups but periodically throughout their lifetimes. It is grounded in market research and marketing theory, unlike the virulent objections that surfaced immediately on the internet message boards. “They’re telling the established players to take a hike!” “They’re dumbing down the sets!” “Only Yu-Gi-Oh! has more than three rarities!”
(Actually, as a footnote, every game other than Magic has at least four rarity classifications, and some of them – notably Yu-Gi-Oh!, World of Warcraft, and the Pokemon TCG – have sales figures rivaling that of Magic. The announcement mentioned the fourth rarity in passing as an “industry standard,” but there are meanings of “industry standard” other than “copying Yu-Gi-Oh”. Seat belts are an industry standard feature, shared between all car manufacturers. Those are beneficial, right?)
Hasbro’s market research has shown that the average player only sticks with Magic for two years. This happens to be the same length as a Standard “season” (each set is part of the Standard format for two years after its release), but it is not an artifact of Wizards’ management or the game itself. People do it of their own accord, and not because they hate the new product offerings. Two years is close to the time it takes to finish high school and go to college, often in a different town. Two years is close to the time it takes to finish college and get an exciting (or boring) office job, often in a different town. A lot of things can happen in two years, and Magic is often the thing there’s no more room for.
Marketing strategy is a complicated and diverse field. One way, evidently favored by the Magic-playing internet, is to get your existing customers to buy more of your products. Magic does make use of this, but it usually takes the form of reprints, reuse of old game mechanics, and once in a while an entire set whose theme is nostalgia (Time Spiral). The problem with straight reprints is that you don’t necessarily have to buy the new ones – an older version of a card is considered to be the same as a newer version for the purposes of format legality. This method has inherent limits with Magic. Since a card is never really obsolete as long as you can put it in a deck and lasts forever unless you sell it, trade it, or rip it up to make sure it’s a real card, it’s often a one-time gain for the company, especially if the buyer is interested in older tournament formats or no tournaments at all (and thus is unaffected by the set rotation schedule). As a result, the existing customers may slow down or drop out entirely as soon as they decide they have enough cards, which may come as late as ten years after they started or as soon as they complete one deck. For the average player (remember him from above?), that point comes about two years in. After that time, the best marketing campaign in the world couldn’t get him to buy more cards.
(Where is it effective and appropriate? If your product is something like Windows or Norton AntiVirus, you make use of this strategy by releasing upgrades and new versions periodically, which will make your users’ computers run better when they install them. If you’re Nike or KillerSpin, you branch out into products that go with your existing lines, so that your fans are able and motivated to wear Nike or KillerSpin shirts while playing with their Nike soccer balls and KillerSpin rackets.)
Conversely, there are many advantages to Wizards adopting the opposite strategy: find a large number of new customers, each of whom buys at least a small amount of your products. You are guaranteed at least one sale per customer, and if that sale is a relatively expensive product like the various set theme decks or the Fat Pack, you have an almost instant profit. If some of them go on to become regular customers who get DCI numbers, attend tournaments, and buy their own booster boxes, so more the better. If not, the company has moved its product, and the customer is happy (usually).
Is this ideal for the long-term customer, particularly the one with hardened, entrenched opinions about what Wizards “should” do? Not always, though I do think some players need to learn to be more flexible and more open to new things. But is it good for Wizards of the Coast? All signs point to yes. And if it’s good for Wizards of the Coast, it’s good for Magic. And if it’s good for Magic, it’s good for everyone who is a true fan of Magic, and for whom the focus is on the game, the art, the backstories, or whatever else – and not on themselves and how important they want to be.
Sarkhan’s game text has not yet been released. They only gave us this image to demonstrate the expansion symbol color for Mythic. Too bad; he looks like an interesting guy.
The official announcement mentioned in passing that the next year’s marketing campaign will have a large focus on acquisition – in this case, finding new players. Indeed, the changes seem geared almost entirely towards newer players; smaller sets are easier to keep track of for tournament purposes, and pre-releases with 600 or more people, 85% of whom are tournament sharks or traders, can be very intimidating as an introduction to the scene. Mythic cards may end up being more expensive than the average rare, but they certainly make you feel special when you open one in a booster.
Acquisition is a well-known type of strategy that many brands and products have used, not just as start-ups but periodically throughout their lifetimes. It is grounded in market research and marketing theory, unlike the virulent objections that surfaced immediately on the internet message boards. “They’re telling the established players to take a hike!” “They’re dumbing down the sets!” “Only Yu-Gi-Oh! has more than three rarities!”
(Actually, as a footnote, every game other than Magic has at least four rarity classifications, and some of them – notably Yu-Gi-Oh!, World of Warcraft, and the Pokemon TCG – have sales figures rivaling that of Magic. The announcement mentioned the fourth rarity in passing as an “industry standard,” but there are meanings of “industry standard” other than “copying Yu-Gi-Oh”. Seat belts are an industry standard feature, shared between all car manufacturers. Those are beneficial, right?)
Hasbro’s market research has shown that the average player only sticks with Magic for two years. This happens to be the same length as a Standard “season” (each set is part of the Standard format for two years after its release), but it is not an artifact of Wizards’ management or the game itself. People do it of their own accord, and not because they hate the new product offerings. Two years is close to the time it takes to finish high school and go to college, often in a different town. Two years is close to the time it takes to finish college and get an exciting (or boring) office job, often in a different town. A lot of things can happen in two years, and Magic is often the thing there’s no more room for.
Marketing strategy is a complicated and diverse field. One way, evidently favored by the Magic-playing internet, is to get your existing customers to buy more of your products. Magic does make use of this, but it usually takes the form of reprints, reuse of old game mechanics, and once in a while an entire set whose theme is nostalgia (Time Spiral). The problem with straight reprints is that you don’t necessarily have to buy the new ones – an older version of a card is considered to be the same as a newer version for the purposes of format legality. This method has inherent limits with Magic. Since a card is never really obsolete as long as you can put it in a deck and lasts forever unless you sell it, trade it, or rip it up to make sure it’s a real card, it’s often a one-time gain for the company, especially if the buyer is interested in older tournament formats or no tournaments at all (and thus is unaffected by the set rotation schedule). As a result, the existing customers may slow down or drop out entirely as soon as they decide they have enough cards, which may come as late as ten years after they started or as soon as they complete one deck. For the average player (remember him from above?), that point comes about two years in. After that time, the best marketing campaign in the world couldn’t get him to buy more cards.
(Where is it effective and appropriate? If your product is something like Windows or Norton AntiVirus, you make use of this strategy by releasing upgrades and new versions periodically, which will make your users’ computers run better when they install them. If you’re Nike or KillerSpin, you branch out into products that go with your existing lines, so that your fans are able and motivated to wear Nike or KillerSpin shirts while playing with their Nike soccer balls and KillerSpin rackets.)
Conversely, there are many advantages to Wizards adopting the opposite strategy: find a large number of new customers, each of whom buys at least a small amount of your products. You are guaranteed at least one sale per customer, and if that sale is a relatively expensive product like the various set theme decks or the Fat Pack, you have an almost instant profit. If some of them go on to become regular customers who get DCI numbers, attend tournaments, and buy their own booster boxes, so more the better. If not, the company has moved its product, and the customer is happy (usually).
Is this ideal for the long-term customer, particularly the one with hardened, entrenched opinions about what Wizards “should” do? Not always, though I do think some players need to learn to be more flexible and more open to new things. But is it good for Wizards of the Coast? All signs point to yes. And if it’s good for Wizards of the Coast, it’s good for Magic. And if it’s good for Magic, it’s good for everyone who is a true fan of Magic, and for whom the focus is on the game, the art, the backstories, or whatever else – and not on themselves and how important they want to be.
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