The long ladder
September 11th 2011 02:42
This town deserves a better class of criminals.
-- from The Dark Knight, 2008
According to the new Planeswalker Points system, I’m in the rank named “Guildmage.” I think that’s a little overstated, frankly, considering that it’s based on playing in events and I haven’t been to a tournament in almost two years. I even got an e-mail a few months ago informing me that my DCI number was no longer considered active. Even more than the old system, Planeswalker Points rewards grinding harder than the lead-up to the Lunar Subterrane in Final Fantasy IV, and as such, I’m surprised I have an entry at all. And yet, I’ve already heard from people who feel they, or someone else, is ranked too low.
Here’s the thing about the Planeswalker Points levels and titles: they don’t do anything other than show how many points you have. They don’t give you extra story updates like Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ multiplayer ranks. They don’t give you special promotional cards like the old Magic Player Rewards system. All they do is let you show off to your friends, enemies, and people at FNM you don’t even know. And the fact that pro players are already complaining that you can win a Grand Prix and be ranked lower than people who’ve never even placed is just proof that this was the point all along.
We already know well that many Spike-type players put in exorbitant and disproportionate hours of practice and testing to get to where they are. We’ve been subjected to countless lectures about how they do it for the love of the game and the thrill of winning. Oh, and the lure of $100,000 or so in prize money at Worlds (how does Wizards of the Coast have money for that but not for the Player Rewards program?). Apparently that was all a lie. Love of the game and thrill of winning don’t come into it, can’t come into it, when you spend 40 hours a week testing. That’s not play: it’s work. Most Spikes never even get within a continent of the Pro Tour. But a rating, or a title? That’s based on math. You can’t argue with math. But in this new math, the gap isn't going to be as big, and they might end up being the same rank as - gasp! - non-professionals!
You’d think I’d be happy to see so many competitive players, including pros, so unhappy. The problem is that it’s not just their problem: anyone who goes to FNM and anyone who even knows a Pro Tour Qualifier grinder is more than familiar with some of the most over-the-top boasting and arrogance this side of Jersey Shore. The new system doesn’t do anything about this – in fact, it panders to it, by rewarding the local big men on campus for playing in as many events as they can as fast as they can and making it so they no longer lose points for dropping a match to “inferior” players. If this is the best they can come up with after public conversations about how to incentivize fun, I’ll race you to the repack department.
-- from The Dark Knight, 2008
According to the new Planeswalker Points system, I’m in the rank named “Guildmage.” I think that’s a little overstated, frankly, considering that it’s based on playing in events and I haven’t been to a tournament in almost two years. I even got an e-mail a few months ago informing me that my DCI number was no longer considered active. Even more than the old system, Planeswalker Points rewards grinding harder than the lead-up to the Lunar Subterrane in Final Fantasy IV, and as such, I’m surprised I have an entry at all. And yet, I’ve already heard from people who feel they, or someone else, is ranked too low.
Here’s the thing about the Planeswalker Points levels and titles: they don’t do anything other than show how many points you have. They don’t give you extra story updates like Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ multiplayer ranks. They don’t give you special promotional cards like the old Magic Player Rewards system. All they do is let you show off to your friends, enemies, and people at FNM you don’t even know. And the fact that pro players are already complaining that you can win a Grand Prix and be ranked lower than people who’ve never even placed is just proof that this was the point all along.
We already know well that many Spike-type players put in exorbitant and disproportionate hours of practice and testing to get to where they are. We’ve been subjected to countless lectures about how they do it for the love of the game and the thrill of winning. Oh, and the lure of $100,000 or so in prize money at Worlds (how does Wizards of the Coast have money for that but not for the Player Rewards program?). Apparently that was all a lie. Love of the game and thrill of winning don’t come into it, can’t come into it, when you spend 40 hours a week testing. That’s not play: it’s work. Most Spikes never even get within a continent of the Pro Tour. But a rating, or a title? That’s based on math. You can’t argue with math. But in this new math, the gap isn't going to be as big, and they might end up being the same rank as - gasp! - non-professionals!
You’d think I’d be happy to see so many competitive players, including pros, so unhappy. The problem is that it’s not just their problem: anyone who goes to FNM and anyone who even knows a Pro Tour Qualifier grinder is more than familiar with some of the most over-the-top boasting and arrogance this side of Jersey Shore. The new system doesn’t do anything about this – in fact, it panders to it, by rewarding the local big men on campus for playing in as many events as they can as fast as they can and making it so they no longer lose points for dropping a match to “inferior” players. If this is the best they can come up with after public conversations about how to incentivize fun, I’ll race you to the repack department.
| 27 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
