Very exciting times upcoming - visit PDCMAGIC.com

Lots of pauper events and great info at pdcmagic.com! They really have some terrific information and the gatherling player ranking tool is very cool. With Shards coming out soon and ME2 just released - more fun to be had with commons in MTGO.

Long live PDC and lets have fun this fall. I hope to see y'all in MTGO V3 as its been live for over 100 days now.

Rock on!
-tw

Paupers/PDC getting an official nod from Wizards of the Coast

On January 3rd, 2009 - PDC will have a Wizards of the Coast sponsored event in MTGO. This is a tremendous boost for the Pauper/PDC community. After 4.5 years of Pauper gaming within MTGO and over 1,000 Player-Run-Event tournaments - Wizards is stepping up to acknowledge PDC in a serious way.

A Wizards.com column "Into the Aether" did an article on PDC back in 2004 (interviewing me about the first 12-14 weeks in PDC season 1) - its nice to see an official tournament event for PDC.

I'm grateful to many folks - all my friends at pdcmagic.com, all the friends in Common Cause and many - MANY more.

Thank you and I hope this continues to grow!

V3 is alive and Tharionwind is back in MTGO

After 90 days at the new job - things have settled down.

I do like most of V3 - but I am concerned I am missing some cards (having Worth and Wizards CS take a look).

It seems rather stable - but I've heard of some post V3 launch bumps (happens with nearly any massive upgrade to an online app/game).

Hope to see you all there!

Its been two weeks -- at My New Job!

I am glad to report that I am wrapping up my second week at my new job. It turns out that my skillsets and 10+ years in IT are in demand. Smiles indeed.

I didnt have to move, still near Tahoe (I love the Lake!) and near family/friends.

I plan on returning to PDC and MTGO in the near future. For now Im winding down my WOW account (freezing it) as I've been VERY MUCH SO ENJOYING AGE OF CONAN!

:)

Regards to everyone in PDC and MTGO.

Rock on,
Tharionwind

A new day and a new dawn.

In this life we breathe. In the sunshine we warm our blood. In the evenings we share a meal or drink with friends and loved ones.

I am forward looking to the freedom I have now.

I am working with professionals and today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I will return to MTGO and bring to PDC new thoughts and my passionate is not gone - just resting as I work with Real Life and what happened to me on 4/22/08.

If anyone needs an IT project manager, Enterprise Storage Administrator or a Computer Consultant in CA, OR, NEV or otherwise - send me a note.

Tough Times never last - but Tough People Do. Pastor Robert Schuller.

Each strike out brings me one step closer to my next home run. --- Babe Ruth

MTGO V3 is up as of 4/16 and my life changed on 4/21

MTGO v3 is finally here, live, working. It seems nice and we'll see how it goes. Optimus Moses Worth is working hard to get this puppy to full growth.

As a side note - I was laid off yesterday after 8 years with a Fortune 100 IT company. Was a total shock. My performance has always been good - just economics have changed and a few hundred of us techs had to be cut from the payroll. I'm already working on 3 interviews and with two IT contracting companies.

Things change. MTGO v3 comes out. I move to a new job (will be shortly). The road of life is full of potholes - just make sure you dont crash into a sinkhole.

I will be around once again. Long live my friends, family and Pauper Countrymen and women.

Rest in Peace Version 2.x MTGO 9am Today

The last card played. The last shuffled curse. The last lag time out. The last draft, trade and grumbling about values.

Yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of mtgolagdeath, I shall fear no rare nor evil. For thine is the time of the Great Upgrading. From down upon the Hilltop walketh Optimus Moses Worth to tell the masses of the news:

Thou shalt nog lag.
Thou shalt not covet another man's foils.
Thou shalt not put any other MMOs before MTGO V3.
Thou shalt not playeth Leagues nor Multiplayer til deemed appropriate upon Fixeth.
Thou shalt not steal another players fun and glory.
Thou shalt enjoy the newness of something 4 years old.
Thout shalt not ask why God made the Earth and Universe in 6 days and MTGO V3 took over 4 annums.
Thou shalt enjoy the breads of casual play until we deem the wine of drafting is good.
Thou shalt not complain about narrow chatness - for the the Divine Coder deeems it ok.
Thou shalt enjoy thineself within V3 goodness or pull the pin on the prayer grenade.

Be happy or we smite you dead.

Community and what it means to MTGO

MTGO has been around for 5 years, 9 months in live form 1.x or 2.x. Since 6/2002 it has been a strange phenomenon. Digital Objects for trade and sale. Digital objects in games that people "license to use from WOTC/Hasbro" yet in most folks held views they own them.

Its been a rough time since 2003 and the release of 2.x MTGO. MTGO has struggled due to its success with 1.x and also with 1.x flaws in design: hard coding each card's rules and a centralized master server as a bottleneck restricting growth. MTGO's team (post Leaping Lizards) tried to fix some things with 2.0 in 2003 but the crash was so horrid and nasty that they had to roll back. Ever since then 2.x has had its problems and crash/lag instability (past 3,000 or so users online at once).

Flash forward to April 2008. We're nearing the launch of MTGO V3. Its not the prettiest UI (I hate the vertical chat bar) and will launch without Leagues/Multiplayer (unless they fix that at the last minute).

Lets hope with the new 3.x infrastructure (cluster servers, better uniform coding for card rules/cards and expandibility) - we get growth in MTGO again.

What has held us together for the last 5 years of pain? Community. MTGO users on the forums and in MTGO have helped grow the community and keep it cobbled together. Critics and fans of WOTC both help make the MTGO Forums and MTGO itself a better place. I applaud one thing WOTC DOES right: They let us speak our minds on the wizards.com MTGO Forums (within some reason).

Regarding PDCWAR: Rise of Commonaria - we will be launching the Beta 1 Post V3. V3 is so close, I dont want a hangover between the downing of 2.x live and the launch of V3.

More news to come soon on PDC and MTGO!

Morningtide Release events are nearly over...

And MTGO survived. Had single client restrictions (SCR = 1 user account on at one time), alternating days for different events and other speed control mechanisms. Once V3 hits live - we'll have a stronger base system (and not 1 master server for most nongame interactions).

MOR is good to PDC - good ww stuff and other creative fun stuff. Dredge is a dangerous tech in Extended and such. I like Reinforce and Clash for MOR tech. Look forward to More fun stuff with Shadowmoon.

Continued work on PDCWAR: The Rise of Commonaria - we're finalizing the launch of the beta with more info to come.

Happy Easter and God Bless to all!

Its Easter Sunday morning and I write this update from my laptop. MOR has been a pretty decent release on MTGO. And the commons are quite fun (unless you hate ww tech with a passion). It has its own LOTR-lite theme to it and seems to be very interesting.

I hope everyone has a beautiful Easter Sunday and share time with family/friends. I look forward to more PDC fun within MTGO!

The battle for Commonaria begins soon!

The storms of war have been brewing for some time now. The continental shifts because of the Planeswalker Wars have created great turmoil. A decision by five mages (one from each school of magic) ages ago to save part of Dominaria in a protected vale called Commonaria. Shielded by powerful and ancient magic - it was a safe place for common folk, beasts and magics to live in peace. That millenium of peace has come to an end. Cracks in the the protective ward are growing from the ongoing War outside Commonaria. Each village senses the storm ahead and have begun preparations for war.

PDCX, as it has been announced, is Pauper Deck Wars: The Rise of Commonaria (PDCWAR). An upcoming beta launch date for this game will be announced soon.

Happy St Patrick's Day - Go Green PDC :)

Just wanted to wish all my pauper friends, MTGO folks and others that land here a very Happy St Patty's day! Go green and enjoy yourself in a safe and sane way. Build a Green deck today!

We're working more on PDCWARS: Rise of Commonaria (name changed) - building out the map, basic rules and such. Beta to be launched in a few weeks after MOR release is done on MTGO.

I hope to see y'all in the PDC events this week. Lots of good stuff occuring in the PDC PRE scene.

Rock on and may a pot-o-gold land in your lap today.

Peace out
Papa Pauper TW