Subject: Re: Nostalgia Revolution
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 23:45:21 -0700
From: "Thomas J. Wallis" <thomaswallis@earthlink.net>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Heyheyhey (in the immortal words of Fat Albert),

        This whole Nostalgia Revolution bit really gets me in the heart. I've
played Magic for around 4 years (sometime between Revised and Fallen
Emp), and just have to say I agree with just about everyone who has put
in their $0.02. But, before I get into that, here's what I have to say:
1. Magic isn't as fun as it used to be. There's really no discussion
here. Way back when Sea Serpent was a good card and there was no such
thing as T2, I was in 5th grade, and used to play a bunch of other 5th
graders at recess. I had a 140 card deck (made up of every card that I
owned at the time). Then, the first step in my evolution began: I met
people who played competitively. Which brings me to my next point...
2. Once you start to play competativly, there's no turning back. When
Dan at CoffeSpoons (the coffe shop where I first played competativly,
around about Ice Age) turned my 140 card rainbow deck into a 60 card GBW
deck, I started beating a lot of people. Then I got a Shivan Dragon (and
I remember thinking, Hey! This card's the best one ever made!) and
switched to RBW. My name became synonomus with beatdown at school. Other
players came from nowhere to ask me strategy questions. I even placed
3rd at a CoffeSpoons tourney (the only one, they went out of business
soon after), and got an Area for my troubles. That was the real catalyst
in my transformation from "Scrub in it for fun" to "Advanced Gamer".
3. You can't go back. WotC may be taking a lot of heat for a non-tourney
legal set (Unglued-duh!), but I think that this could help anyone who
thinks like me to return to the Fun-Loving Scrub days. And, if you ever
want to have fun, do an Unglued booster draft. I sat around playing some
friends with my draft deck for about 5-6 hours that day.
4. I still play Magic. I've been called a hypocrate many times over, but
I still think that, for all its faluts, Magic is a decent card game. But
there are some serious flaws in the DCIs system. Like, for instance,...
>Errata. A card should only be errated if the wording is horribly screwed up,(ie White Ward, because it would destroy itself), not to make it less powerful (ie Verdant Force. I know this is a bad example since it go errated back, but its the best that I could think of).



        Anyway, the bottom line really is this: When you open your first pack
of Magic cards, there's a certain air of mystery about them. Some of
this comes from not having the foggiest idea of what the cards do, but
most of it comes from the fact that this is a new concept to you, and
its filled with potential and capabilites. But wheter its Magic cards,
Baseball cards, Pogo Sticks, Moth-Eaten Cardigans, or whatever it is
that you collect, the excitement slowly drains out of it after time. But
Hey, there's a plethora of CCGs out there, and a Starter Deck is all you
really need to start playing!
-Adam Wallis
All comments/responses/hate mail sould be sent to:
particlewalris@hotmail.com