Turing's ghost
June 26th 2011 00:55
Dreams are tempting because one is so powerful in them. Dreams are dangerous because that power is a lie.
-- Flavor text of Stream of Unconsciousness, from Morningtide
If the living card game may one day be a threat to Magic’s concept, Duels of the Planeswalkers may one day be a threat to its social aspect, to the extent that the game still has one. Compared to the physical card game, Duels has a number of advantages (easy deck management, not taking up space on a table or in a box) and disadvantages (no physical collectible cards, limited ability to customize decks). But one factor stands out above all the others.
To be sure, the AI is good at Magic – nowhere near the level that a human could attain, but good – but it is almost a perfect opponent in terms of interaction. It knows the rules. It never asks for takebacks four turns after an event. It never tries to bribe you to concede the game. It never sneers at you for getting a lucky draw or flips the table when it gets an unlucky one. It never calls you a scrub for having “subpar” cards in your deck.
I believe Duels of the Planeswalkers could never truly replace physical Magic cards – it’s not collectible, there are a finite number of decks, and they’re nowhere near as modular (you can’t add a card to a deck that isn’t one of its designated unlockables). But I feel like some people are going to be tempted to try, and not just if it really does turn out that future DLC has cards from Innistrad; the people I’ve personally seen crying at pre-release events could fill a college auditorium.
-- Flavor text of Stream of Unconsciousness, from Morningtide
If the living card game may one day be a threat to Magic’s concept, Duels of the Planeswalkers may one day be a threat to its social aspect, to the extent that the game still has one. Compared to the physical card game, Duels has a number of advantages (easy deck management, not taking up space on a table or in a box) and disadvantages (no physical collectible cards, limited ability to customize decks). But one factor stands out above all the others.
To be sure, the AI is good at Magic – nowhere near the level that a human could attain, but good – but it is almost a perfect opponent in terms of interaction. It knows the rules. It never asks for takebacks four turns after an event. It never tries to bribe you to concede the game. It never sneers at you for getting a lucky draw or flips the table when it gets an unlucky one. It never calls you a scrub for having “subpar” cards in your deck.
I believe Duels of the Planeswalkers could never truly replace physical Magic cards – it’s not collectible, there are a finite number of decks, and they’re nowhere near as modular (you can’t add a card to a deck that isn’t one of its designated unlockables). But I feel like some people are going to be tempted to try, and not just if it really does turn out that future DLC has cards from Innistrad; the people I’ve personally seen crying at pre-release events could fill a college auditorium.
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