Subject: NOSTALGIA: An Addendum
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 10:20:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: Michael Granaas <mgranaas@usd.edu>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

 Austin Shapiro makes many interesting points about the nostalgia of
Magic.  As a relative newbie (I started a couple of months before the
release of Tempest), I can only listen to stories of the "good old days"
before Ice Ages.  But I have already seen some changes in my own attitudes
that could be described as nostalgia.

I remember vividly opening those first few packs of Mirage and Alliances
that I had bought.  Oh the charm, mystery, and magic of it all.  Every
pack had something absolutely brand new for me.  The artwork was an
integal part of my early fascination, and trying to make sense out of all
the card text was overwhelming.

Then I started to play--Wow, talk about overwhelming.  I read strategy
articles here and there, read the rule book, and tried to keep everything
straight.  Upkeep costs, special abilities, enchantments, instants, and
all of that.  This is really a fairly complex game.

Along with the strategy articles, there were plenty lamenting the loss of
the good old days.  The fun was gone.  Seemed like everyone was getting
out of Magic because it wasn't fun anymore.  And I didn't get it, I was
still mystified by the game and the cards.

Recently I've noticed that there has been a change in my attitude.  I
still like the game and trying to figure out how the new cards might work
in a deck.  But that magical, mysterious aura that was there with those
first few packs of cards is gone forever and at times it makes me think
that the fun has gone out of the game.  And, to the extent that the
mystery was part of the fun, it is.  Fortunately I enjoy strategy card and
board games, and even with the mystery gone Magic provides a strategy
environment  that can keep me busy for some time to come.

If the newness and mystery of the game was what attracted you in the
first place, it is possible that the fun has gone out of the game and you
truly long for the "good old days" when every pack you opened had a
mystery or potential suprise.  After all, such newness can only last so
long.  While the new releases offer some truly new cards, how excited can
you truly get by yet another white or green weenie critter, or another red
direct damage spell?  Once the mystery is gone the strategy of the game
has to hold your attention, or you will get board and give up the game.

Now, before I get a thousand flames, I am only addressing one aspect of
the game: nostalgia.  If you have a lack of opportunity to play, or you
find the thousands of extra cards you have collected to be a buden, that
is a different issue entirely.

Michael Granaas

mgranaas@usd.edu