The company's game
January 2nd 2011 03:44
“Choice. The problem is choice.”
-- Neo, in The Matrix Reloaded
What was the first thing you thought of when they announced that the final set in the second Mirrodin block was “either Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia”? Since the page on the other end of that link strongly implies that the outcome has not yet been decided, you probably thought of some kind of participatory promotion, like in the “Death in the Family” storyline in Batman comics or the Marvel vs. DC crossover in 1996. That would be logical.
But on December 9th, Mark Rosewater tweeted:
“Let me clear this up: The winner was decided by us when we designed the block. The players do *not* influence who wins.”
So why, Mark, did you do the thing with the affiliated decks at Scars of Mirrodin game day? Why do you have affiliated boosters printed for the Mirrodin Besieged pre-release? Why did you set up parallel minisites for each point of view the new Mirrodin storyline? Why did you make recruiting videos and put them on YouTube? Why did you ask all those famous players at the World Championships which side they were on?
Why did you go out of your way to make players feel like they were participating in the story when in reality the outcome is predetermined? Why did you break the Dungeons and Dragons GM’s primary rule of making people feel their actions matter? And why, oh why did you risk the kind of backlash you get when people realize that their freedom is only an illusion?
-- Neo, in The Matrix Reloaded
What was the first thing you thought of when they announced that the final set in the second Mirrodin block was “either Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia”? Since the page on the other end of that link strongly implies that the outcome has not yet been decided, you probably thought of some kind of participatory promotion, like in the “Death in the Family” storyline in Batman comics or the Marvel vs. DC crossover in 1996. That would be logical.
But on December 9th, Mark Rosewater tweeted:
“Let me clear this up: The winner was decided by us when we designed the block. The players do *not* influence who wins.”
So why, Mark, did you do the thing with the affiliated decks at Scars of Mirrodin game day? Why do you have affiliated boosters printed for the Mirrodin Besieged pre-release? Why did you set up parallel minisites for each point of view the new Mirrodin storyline? Why did you make recruiting videos and put them on YouTube? Why did you ask all those famous players at the World Championships which side they were on?
Why did you go out of your way to make players feel like they were participating in the story when in reality the outcome is predetermined? Why did you break the Dungeons and Dragons GM’s primary rule of making people feel their actions matter? And why, oh why did you risk the kind of backlash you get when people realize that their freedom is only an illusion?
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