Subject: Re: People who play for fun... Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 12:36:01 -0400 From: "Charles McCormick" To: CC: Cathy, I read your email that was posted to the Dojo this month, and found it resonated a chord in me. I hope this helps provide additional insight: I've been playing for about 4 years off and on now and I've played with everything from the Weissman T1 "Deck" with millstones to "commons booster draft" pickup games. When you said "I'd offer them the mono red playtest deck... Almost nobody wanted to play [against me]." and found it puzzling you recanted what has happens to me over and over. I call it player spooge. It takes many forms, like new players, poor (or low budget), or just poor deck constructors (aka Loser-Happy "Theme" Maniacs). You play "Tourney deck #208" against spooge - they're dead. You offer to give them one of your decks - their insulted. You offer playing advice, deckbuilding advice (however good natured) and they get the impression that you're egotistical or "know it all". If I may offer three approaches to spooge.... 1. Smile, be kind and considerate, and then pound the spooge into the table with infinite win recursion. This usually will provide a few good hours of gleeful enjoyment - sort of like watching the Godzilla movie. This will usually discourage them from ever playing again or turn them into Magic addicts that begin buying hundreds of dollars a month in cards to be more prepared to compete. 2. Be elitist. Only play strict T2 players, and avoid spooge at all costs (after all, they will only pull you down and give you bad gaming experience, right?) This one, I personally don't do, but met plenty that are and seem happy enough. 3. Spooge the spooge. This can easily be done by either bundling a throw together deck from deckbuilding scraps or having a theme or commons deck to play with them. It can be very frustrating to play at first, but my feeling is that a game is only really enjoyable if everyone's having fun - and that includes the OTHER player too. Relax, play magic, and let the games expand into socializing like Magic was originally intended for. I try to keep a spooge deck with me as a starter to help "set the tempo" of play when meeting a stranger, then pull out the big guns if competition is what they crave. I hope you find this helpful. Shoot me an email if you have any thoughts or comments to my home account: cmccormick@unforgettable.com. Best Regards Charles McCormick G.A.B. Silver Team