Subject: An Open Letter 0612 Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1998 23:50:12 +0100 From: Laurence Parsons To: sophist@grid.wizards.com CC: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Rob (& the Dojo), There has been a lot of chat about what should be in the Duelist, but no-one has yet put forward an opinion with which I completely concur, so here's my penny-worth. I'm a Brit (so the Magic environment is more sparse than in the US). I have a Duelist subscription, and have had for a while. I read the Dojo. I don't enter many tournaments (Married, kids, other calls on time). I do play socially at least once/twice every week. I buy a moderate number of cards, since starting around the Ice Age. That's my background. I have to say that I agree with the statement that the Duelist can not compete with the Dojo. It never will, due to the obvious timing considerations, nor should it try. Some people have claimed it to be a strategy magazine, but I believe that it is much wider than that. It is the WOTC house magazine. Looking back over the past few issues, there has been a very wide variety of articles, covering more than just strategy, more than just Magic and even more than just WOTC products. I've read every single article and enjoyed most. I like the fiction and the backstory, it helps pad out the card sets and makes the cards more interesting for me. I like the humour and the puzzles. I like reading about L5R or Star Trek as I want to know what else is happening with similar games. In fact, the one set of articles I sometimes skip are the tournament reports. I've usually already read what I want from the Dojo. I also have to disagree with the person who said that the vast majority of Magic players have Internet access. Maybe in your circles, but not in mine. So I'm happy for the Duelist to keep printing tournament reports because I know it is the only source of this information for many people. One of the main problems with this survey is that it is being conducted over the net. Worse still, it is being conducted on the Dojo, not the WOTC site. This limits the views expressed to those of the Dojo readers. This audience, I suspect, is primarily tournament (perhaps competitive is a better word) players, whether PTQ, Nationals or just local shop. Social players don't tend to read the Dojo. I'm an exception, and there are bound to be others. However this is just one part of the Magic scene, and the Duelist needs to cater for all. One quote from you, Rob, worried me : >Maybe I chose not to be on the Pro-Tour for personal reasons, but I have >always been a competitive Magic player -- and you know what? I couldn't >care less if a card was called Nekrataal or Black 12 or Top Litigator. I >just want to know what effect it has in the game. I don't collect, I >don't follow the backstory (who the fuck is Gerrard anyway and why should >I care about him?), and I don't read Magic fiction. I play the game, I >write about the game, and I think about the game. So believe me -- I know >exactly where the majority of you are coming from. If WOTC started printing cards called Black 12, I would stop buying. Magic is more than just an intellectual sport, it is a fun game. All the paraphanalia around it helps to give it depth and flavour. Some of us enjoy that just as much (if not more) than by winning by casting Red 23. I assume that you wrote that paragraph just to provoke a reaction. If you really don't care about who is Gerrard, then perhaps you're in the wrong job. >So, here's a question: What can we do that the Dojo or Mindripper can't do >better? In terms of keeping on top of the metagame/environment, we are >just not going to be competitive with the Internet. So what is our >strength as a publication? What would make you want to subscribe to The >Duelist despite getting all your tournament-related information off the >Net? I hope I've answered that in this (rather long-winded) post. Thanks for reading Laurence