Promotional sets, psychology, and the marketing of planeswalkers
October 30th 2008 03:56
Magic’s new era of marketing, built around planeswalker characters and their adventures, problems, and, in the case of the male ones, hairstyles that are eerily similar to Akira’s, begins next week. That’s when Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra is being released.
It’s only a couple of weeks since Shards of Alara became available in stores. That set was also all new cards, whereas Jace vs. Chandra is only going to have reprints (although a few of them will have new art). “Serious” tournament players most likely already have all of them. They probably have a few of them in foil, or perhaps with the picture defaced by one of their friends who thinks they’re artistic (there’s someone like that in my group – he knows who he is). So is there any good reason to release a set like this now?
To put it bluntly: of course.
Two of the strongest motivating forces in human psychology are the desire for novelty and the desire for consistency. They are also two of the most directly conflicting urges in human psychology, which just goes to show that humans are completely and utterly crazy. Expansion sets cater to Magic players’ desire for novelty; reprinting popular or essential cards in those sets (also, um, the entire Vintage format) caters to their desire for consistency. But by containing reprinted cards with different art and flavor text, Jace vs. Chandra caters to both. Even better, it also appeals to the acquisitive impulse and (where applicable) desire for individuality and decks that look different from anyone else’s. It is in a way the ideal product from Wizards’ point of view, as well as being a lot of fun for players and collectors.
Still, there are a few people out there who ignore or even dismiss promotional sets or cards. It may be because they over-emphasize the “game” part of “collectible card game” and neglect the “collectible” part. Being unique is, to them, less important than tournament play (not even gameplay – tournament rules and administration have only the most tenuous connection to gameplay). Yet one aspect of the game cannot exist without the other, and if it weren’t for people who paid money just for the paintings – or for Jace and Chandra – the prize-hunting shark types would have nothing to play with.
“Some vices miss what is right because they are deficient, others because they are excessive, in feelings or in actions, while virtue finds and chooses the mean.”
-- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
It’s only a couple of weeks since Shards of Alara became available in stores. That set was also all new cards, whereas Jace vs. Chandra is only going to have reprints (although a few of them will have new art). “Serious” tournament players most likely already have all of them. They probably have a few of them in foil, or perhaps with the picture defaced by one of their friends who thinks they’re artistic (there’s someone like that in my group – he knows who he is). So is there any good reason to release a set like this now?
To put it bluntly: of course.
Two of the strongest motivating forces in human psychology are the desire for novelty and the desire for consistency. They are also two of the most directly conflicting urges in human psychology, which just goes to show that humans are completely and utterly crazy. Expansion sets cater to Magic players’ desire for novelty; reprinting popular or essential cards in those sets (also, um, the entire Vintage format) caters to their desire for consistency. But by containing reprinted cards with different art and flavor text, Jace vs. Chandra caters to both. Even better, it also appeals to the acquisitive impulse and (where applicable) desire for individuality and decks that look different from anyone else’s. It is in a way the ideal product from Wizards’ point of view, as well as being a lot of fun for players and collectors.
If you think about it, there's really no reason every planeswalker should cast spells the same exact way. Jace vs. Chandra acknowledges this.
Still, there are a few people out there who ignore or even dismiss promotional sets or cards. It may be because they over-emphasize the “game” part of “collectible card game” and neglect the “collectible” part. Being unique is, to them, less important than tournament play (not even gameplay – tournament rules and administration have only the most tenuous connection to gameplay). Yet one aspect of the game cannot exist without the other, and if it weren’t for people who paid money just for the paintings – or for Jace and Chandra – the prize-hunting shark types would have nothing to play with.
“Some vices miss what is right because they are deficient, others because they are excessive, in feelings or in actions, while virtue finds and chooses the mean.”
-- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
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