The whole Tiago-esque problems reported in MTGO seem to have calmed down. There have been clarifications, communications and an apology from the magicthegathering.com's Limited Info writer.
There was a lot of heated debated. Nary a dozen posts but hundreds even thousands of replies in total. Basically it boiled into 3 groups: "I dont care about jaywalking - its not like DCI paper tournaments", "Its wrong - its a crime/problem/violation and people should stop.", "MTGO doesnt have the ability to patrol these violations so who cares?".
In the end Optimus Worth (Wotc_Worth), Brand Manager for MTGO at Wizards of the Coast, stepped in and dealt with the writer, the issue and the community. Thank you for doing that.
In this whole big debate - it got heated and ugly. A few folks, previously friendly, were tartishly rude when I drew a Law and Order line in the sand stating it was 100% wrong and bad for folks to encourage "cheating/breaking/bending rules".
Bottom line - the rudeness of some, the cavalier ignoring of basic rules of others and such have burned me out a bit.
I stopped playing again. I stopped posting mostly. I will stop by once a week. There are some real life issues as well (mainly dental and such) so its a good thing. Like Tobold, I am drawn back to WOW. If I don't like a Horde breaking the law - I can smite them down. In MTGO - too many smug sharks/shark guilds think its OK "Anything Goes".
I may return - depends on how I feel.
Integrity and being true to oneself is something you shouldn't tread upon lightly. No belief system, no respect for rules or honesty and well - people stop spending time with you. And the ones that do hang around - well vultures hang around the dying and decrepit all the time.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Integrity meltdown at MTGO...
It appears that over the 5 years of MTGO - a few have violated the Terms of Service in MTGO. When you login to MTGO - before signing in -- you have to Accept the TOS. In the TOS there are a variety of legal issues addressed. A simple one is - do not share your account.
Now its hard, if not impossible, to properly regulate and police people using their own accounts. WOTC even had a paid writer (a British pro with the initials QM) on magicthegathering.com actually admit to taking over a friend's draft in MTGO. Its a TOS violation. Against the rules.
Seems as if there are 3-5 threads AFIRE with this issue on the MTGO general boards.
KUDOS TO WORTH AND GAMERZERO FOR INVESTIGATING - but the fires are burning.
There is no integrity or trust left in MTGO at this time. Too many users I thought I could trust now think cheating or "breaking the current rules" or "breaking an unenforceable rule" is pretty darned ok.
Well its not.
MTGO is a trading card game. Its the online version of MTG. Richard Garfield, a mathematician, invented or co-invented it. He was very proud of its rules structure and following the rules are important. If a rule needs to be changed or modified - thats fine - but until then its there for a reason.
Drafts, Leagues and Premier events in MTGO cost real money. Prizes are awarded and can be sold/traded eventually for REAL MONEY. When REAL MONEY is on the line - TRUST and INTEGRITY are important.
Some really dont care, dont see the point or just enjoy Winning at All costs.
This is costing MTGO a lot of trust now.
MTGO is basically unable to host PRO level events because of this and the lack of DCI enforcement.
Its a Casual place like a Virtual Bar to hang out with friends, play some casual gaming but do not put any serious money into it - people cheat and get away with it.
Now its hard, if not impossible, to properly regulate and police people using their own accounts. WOTC even had a paid writer (a British pro with the initials QM) on magicthegathering.com actually admit to taking over a friend's draft in MTGO. Its a TOS violation. Against the rules.
Seems as if there are 3-5 threads AFIRE with this issue on the MTGO general boards.
KUDOS TO WORTH AND GAMERZERO FOR INVESTIGATING - but the fires are burning.
There is no integrity or trust left in MTGO at this time. Too many users I thought I could trust now think cheating or "breaking the current rules" or "breaking an unenforceable rule" is pretty darned ok.
Well its not.
MTGO is a trading card game. Its the online version of MTG. Richard Garfield, a mathematician, invented or co-invented it. He was very proud of its rules structure and following the rules are important. If a rule needs to be changed or modified - thats fine - but until then its there for a reason.
Drafts, Leagues and Premier events in MTGO cost real money. Prizes are awarded and can be sold/traded eventually for REAL MONEY. When REAL MONEY is on the line - TRUST and INTEGRITY are important.
Some really dont care, dont see the point or just enjoy Winning at All costs.
This is costing MTGO a lot of trust now.
MTGO is basically unable to host PRO level events because of this and the lack of DCI enforcement.
Its a Casual place like a Virtual Bar to hang out with friends, play some casual gaming but do not put any serious money into it - people cheat and get away with it.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Our first FNMO/Friday Night Magic Online went...
..pretty good. We had a few dozen folks visit /fnmo throughout the day. Dragonmage65 hosted the earlier trivia events which went well (hourly trivia related to Magic/MTGO/WOTC).
Later when I logged in at 4:55 PM Pacific - we got 4 rounds of Magic related trivia and prizes (thank you MirrorMage for your donations!) and then I hosted a Paupers 2hg Classic with a twist (only Cranial Plating was restricted, rares/uncs banned, artifact lands no restrictions).
We had 7 players so I joined in. Two tables for round one and the 2nd round had the winning team from each table face off.
It went well, people had fun and we're going to do more next week (6/22/2007) in /join FNMO.
Hope to see you there
Later when I logged in at 4:55 PM Pacific - we got 4 rounds of Magic related trivia and prizes (thank you MirrorMage for your donations!) and then I hosted a Paupers 2hg Classic with a twist (only Cranial Plating was restricted, rares/uncs banned, artifact lands no restrictions).
We had 7 players so I joined in. Two tables for round one and the 2nd round had the winning team from each table face off.
It went well, people had fun and we're going to do more next week (6/22/2007) in /join FNMO.
Hope to see you there
Thursday, June 14, 2007
If you are new to MTGO - a few suggestions
I constantly see the following:
And here is what I recommend:
Actually with the 9.99 you get as a coupon - you can get started in MTGO - in PDC.
What's PDC? Thats Pauper Deck Challenge, 100% commons gaming.
You could take your 9.99 coupon and buy 9 Event Tickets (we call them TIX in MTGO). Thats the MTGO world currency.
Use the event tickets and buy bulk commons, uncommons, rares from traders/sellers/etc:
Bulk commons run about 128 per tix.
Bulk uncommons run 20-32 per tix.
Bulk rares run 3-6 per tix.
Chase cards (Terminate, Eternal Witness, Wrath of God as examples) cost more. Check websites for values .
Getting into MTGO via commons gives you an inexpensive way to test the waters.
If you need some help with commons or land see me in game (tharionwind) and we'll help you get started.
Welcome to MTGO!
"I'm new to Magic Online, but I've played paper Magic for a while...
..Once I have the software installed, and when/if I shell out the $9.99, how should I get started?"
..Once I have the software installed, and when/if I shell out the $9.99, how should I get started?"
And here is what I recommend:
Actually with the 9.99 you get as a coupon - you can get started in MTGO - in PDC.
What's PDC? Thats Pauper Deck Challenge, 100% commons gaming.
You could take your 9.99 coupon and buy 9 Event Tickets (we call them TIX in MTGO). Thats the MTGO world currency.
Use the event tickets and buy bulk commons, uncommons, rares from traders/sellers/etc:
Bulk commons run about 128 per tix.
Bulk uncommons run 20-32 per tix.
Bulk rares run 3-6 per tix.
Chase cards (Terminate, Eternal Witness, Wrath of God as examples) cost more. Check websites for values .
Getting into MTGO via commons gives you an inexpensive way to test the waters.
If you need some help with commons or land see me in game (tharionwind) and we'll help you get started.
Welcome to MTGO!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
MTGO survived Future Sight release events.
...With only one major crash and some lag occasionally. There are some good commons in the set and for the block PDC looks to be gaining some interesting tech.
I participated in one FUT release league event - went 1-4. So goes my rust - I needed some WD40 to clear it out. The league games got me back into tech and building decks.
I look forward to 10th coming out and will be posting some stuff as I find out if any chase commons are in the base 10th set (sometimes, rarely, sorry for the pun).
Serious concerns about whats going on in MTGO - but overall things were decent during the release events.
I participated in one FUT release league event - went 1-4. So goes my rust - I needed some WD40 to clear it out. The league games got me back into tech and building decks.
I look forward to 10th coming out and will be posting some stuff as I find out if any chase commons are in the base 10th set (sometimes, rarely, sorry for the pun).
Serious concerns about whats going on in MTGO - but overall things were decent during the release events.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Concerns on V3
MTGO live is currrently at version 2.x. There is a new version of MTGO coming out called V3.
I have concerns how the user interface, chatting, chat rooms and gameplay/card viewability is handled.
I think they are going to release it live without fixing some core concerns. My only hope is that:
A) They consolidate both the 2.x live and V3.x beta teams together for more resources on one project.
B) With the added resources they work and ramp up fixes/updates each week fixing as much as possible.
C) That we do not lose a signifcant portion of the MTGO userbase during this change.
D) That MTGO/WOTC communicates things well during this painful change/growth process.
I have concerns how the user interface, chatting, chat rooms and gameplay/card viewability is handled.
I think they are going to release it live without fixing some core concerns. My only hope is that:
A) They consolidate both the 2.x live and V3.x beta teams together for more resources on one project.
B) With the added resources they work and ramp up fixes/updates each week fixing as much as possible.
C) That we do not lose a signifcant portion of the MTGO userbase during this change.
D) That MTGO/WOTC communicates things well during this painful change/growth process.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The low risk/high reward of PDC
MTGO is a very fun game. Can be amazing to play with people from around the world. We're on V2.5 and sometimes it crashes when there are too many people on (ie when there are over 3000 on at any one time).
They have a v3 beta and you can check the boards for info on that. Its ok - I'm not happy on the UI but if its stable - thats a start.
I digress though - even with these problems MTGO can be fun and you *DO* meet people from around the world. Especially in PDC - great people to play with. Getting/collecting 4x commons (for you don't need more than 4 of any non-basic-land in MTGO to build decks) in MTGO is a lot less than going for rares and uncommons - esp high powered decks.
Casual and tournament fun in PDC gives you so much more "bang for the buck" also because most of the PDC tournaments (if not all) are free: They are Player Run Events. Rarely will you see a charge for a PDC tournament/event.
They have a v3 beta and you can check the boards for info on that. Its ok - I'm not happy on the UI but if its stable - thats a start.
I digress though - even with these problems MTGO can be fun and you *DO* meet people from around the world. Especially in PDC - great people to play with. Getting/collecting 4x commons (for you don't need more than 4 of any non-basic-land in MTGO to build decks) in MTGO is a lot less than going for rares and uncommons - esp high powered decks.
Casual and tournament fun in PDC gives you so much more "bang for the buck" also because most of the PDC tournaments (if not all) are free: They are Player Run Events. Rarely will you see a charge for a PDC tournament/event.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A note of sadness
My heart and prayers are in Virgina this week. To mourn the loss of life that occurred at Virginia Tech. God bless to all the families out there at this time.
Kinda takes the wind out of my pdc thoughts at this moment in time.
Kinda takes the wind out of my pdc thoughts at this moment in time.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Commons and Cost..
Seems to be a recurring issue in the realm of PDC: Cost of certain commons.
While we always have had cost issues with OOP (out of print) IPA commons such as Terminate - we've seen some cost escalations with the "Snow Land" commons of the Cold Snap set.
SpikeBoyM was clear to point out that the tech is very narrow as most snowlanded decks in PDC involve Skred and can easily be substituted out.
However this leaves the continued problem of certain very powerful IPA and to a lesser extent OTJ commons that are hard to replace.
As new sets have come out over the last few years and more continue to add to the "base of commons that PDC draws from" - hopefully the powerful cards can be substituted for a lower cost.
Some have the budget to buy whatever commons they want for whatever decks. Others may have limited budgets.
PDC was created to make gaming in MTGO more accessible and so far with all the events we have it seems to be working.
While we always have had cost issues with OOP (out of print) IPA commons such as Terminate - we've seen some cost escalations with the "Snow Land" commons of the Cold Snap set.
SpikeBoyM was clear to point out that the tech is very narrow as most snowlanded decks in PDC involve Skred and can easily be substituted out.
However this leaves the continued problem of certain very powerful IPA and to a lesser extent OTJ commons that are hard to replace.
As new sets have come out over the last few years and more continue to add to the "base of commons that PDC draws from" - hopefully the powerful cards can be substituted for a lower cost.
Some have the budget to buy whatever commons they want for whatever decks. Others may have limited budgets.
PDC was created to make gaming in MTGO more accessible and so far with all the events we have it seems to be working.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Funcommonality
Over at the MTGO boards there was a bit of mischief during April Fools day. Had something to do with f in everything - threads, replies, psuedonames etc.
My contribution, silly as it was, to promote Funcommons, Funcommonality and Funcommon Deck Challenge. Was that silly - yes? Necessary - No. But perhaps we can build around this and bring some "funcommonness" to the game we love even more.
PS: Was at Albion, California this last few days. One word: Beautiful.
My contribution, silly as it was, to promote Funcommons, Funcommonality and Funcommon Deck Challenge. Was that silly - yes? Necessary - No. But perhaps we can build around this and bring some "funcommonness" to the game we love even more.
PS: Was at Albion, California this last few days. One word: Beautiful.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
The depth of posts at MTGO boards
I have to say that the intelligent conversations, debates and detailed arguments (sometimes strongly tet-a-tet) really keep bringing me back to MTGO. The forums have a casual area (Tranquil Thicket), a general area for MTGO-related posts (MTGO General), a sub-forum for Player Run Events (such as PDC 100% commons gaming) and other forums for card strategies, clans, forums for help/card trading/selling etc.
We have what I would say are some of the most passion posters of intelligence around. Truly the threads become detailed white papers of analysis. This is the sort of "Rubiks Cube" looking at issues that makes me happy. No stone gets left unturned.
While its not perfect - compared to some other online communities - it clearly shines above.
We have what I would say are some of the most passion posters of intelligence around. Truly the threads become detailed white papers of analysis. This is the sort of "Rubiks Cube" looking at issues that makes me happy. No stone gets left unturned.
While its not perfect - compared to some other online communities - it clearly shines above.
Welcome to Tharionwind's PDC blog
Welcome to my Paupers Deck Challenge blog. Its amazing whats happened over the last nearly 5 years of MTGO being live *and* 3.5 years of PDC gaming. MTGO is 24x7 Magic the gathering gaming online created/ran by Wizards of the Coast (www.wizards.com)
PDC aka Paupers Deck Challenge is 100% commons gaming. Similiar to Peasant Magic but uncommons (and zero rares).
The original article on the PDC phenomenon is located here (from Wizards MTGO Into the Aether Column):
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/jm67
There are a few great sites for PDC information:
MTGO main boards:
http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=142
Pauper Magic:
www.paupermagic.com
Princes of Pauper:
http://magic.jwc4.com/blog/index.html
Two great chat rooms within MTGO itself: (in MTGO at a text prompt use the /join xxx (xxx being name of the player made chatroom you wish to join).
/join pdc (where Paupers come to play against others in their 100% commons gaming)
and as well
/join bbs (members of the MTGO boards community - very helpful folk)
More mistful tidings to come!
PDC aka Paupers Deck Challenge is 100% commons gaming. Similiar to Peasant Magic but uncommons (and zero rares).
The original article on the PDC phenomenon is located here (from Wizards MTGO Into the Aether Column):
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/jm67
There are a few great sites for PDC information:
MTGO main boards:
http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=142
Pauper Magic:
www.paupermagic.com
Princes of Pauper:
http://magic.jwc4.com/blog/index.html
Two great chat rooms within MTGO itself: (in MTGO at a text prompt use the /join xxx (xxx being name of the player made chatroom you wish to join).
/join pdc (where Paupers come to play against others in their 100% commons gaming)
and as well
/join bbs (members of the MTGO boards community - very helpful folk)
More mistful tidings to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)