Subject: Online Strategy Tools (was: Has the Dojo become useless?)
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 20:28:44 -0500
From: Gilles Dignard <gdignard@TRANQUILITY.COM>
To: MTG-STRATEGY-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM

Len Blado <lblado@SNET.NET> started the ball rolling when he wrote:
<snip>
>  Problem Numero Five-o: There's nothing to replace it as yet.

A quick backgrounder:

Quite a few years ago, I began collecting deck descriptions of outstanding
decks I had seen. They came from here, VOICES-L (dating me, I realize),
tournaments I attended, and from private email correspondence. I wrote a
database to keep them organized. I wrote some software to have the database
spit out a web site with a listing of those decks. As people found out
about the Library, more and more unsolicited decks came my way. Constantly.

As volumes increased, things rapidly outgrew my ability to stay on top of
anything resembling quality control. Ran out of time and couldn't keep up
with the decks which were now being submitted in ever-increasing volume by
email.

Under the basic thesis of "if you can't beat them, join them", I made some
changes to the way the Library worked so that it became more of a vanity
press thing rather than a respository of useful ideas. So be it.

I rewrote the software and put it on-line so that people could add their
own decks. Since the database itself was now online, at the same time I
added a MTG-deck specific search engine to wade through the ever increasing
number of submitted decks. As time as passed, I've tweaked it, and kept the
data inside it up to date, etc. but without the time for much additional
development.

And now back to the future:

Where is this going? Well, the Library is (long) overdue for a return
visit, and there are tons of ideas that I've had, and others that I've
received as suggestions.

One of the things I'd like to do is bring the Library back to its
long-forgotten roots - a respository of interesting and useful deck
descriptions. A place where different deck theories can be examined and
compared. Not just somewhere to go to copy the latest deck fad (something
that always bugged me about what the Library eventually became and, later,
what the Dojo did too) but rather somewhere to go when you need that last
little piece of killer tech for the deck you're working on down in your
laboratory.

Now, I'm making an explicit distinction between the data on the Library and
the Library software itself. Since information is now posted to the Library
with no editorial oversight whatsoever, (to be kind) the vast bulk of it is
of dubious value at the very best. I believe, though, that the Library is a
potentially more useful tool were it to contain data from sources more
reliable than just "anybody" who has the time to post. Also, let me make it
clear that I'm not talking about doing away with the Library, but rather
having an additional (perhaps semi-private or by-invitation-only) version
for better, higher quality, and more strategic purposes and discussions.
Or, like MTG-STRAT, open to anyone, but only useful to those who actually
spend serious time considering options and subtle deck content points.

What does the Library currently do that's potentially useful towards this
task? It's very easy to enter decks into it. You can either type it in (or
cut and paste a description from somewhere) or upload a Microprose file.
Other file format uploads could fairly easily be supported. You can also
download decks in MPS format (again something that could be expanded) no
matter how the deck was entered. The Library knows everything there is to
know about DCI formats and does all calculations automatically and again,
those capabilities could by extended (it used to support the experimental
point system, for example). It has a pretty good search engine where you
can enter a wide variety of specifications to narrow the search of the
types of decks you're looking for. Again, if something about the deck is
quantifyable, the search engine could be expanded to support that.

I'm not sure what form this ur-Library might take, or what additional
capabilities would be needed to reach a form that would make it a useful
tool for the types of strategic purposes being discussed. Add facilities
for requests for comments or specific kinds of help with replies integrated
into the deck presentation? A deck version history? A catalogue of decks of
importance or of historical interest? Something else? A catalogue of
combos? The ability to write up ideas or articles with the deck listing as
an on-line referencable content?

A common thread to the replies to Len's post implied that many/most of the
people replying wanted something that (a) was on-topic and (b) was kept
current. The best way I can think of is if a largish number of
knowledgeable people each contributing a little content.

What content, though? In what format?

I wouldn't be entirely surprised to learn that this mailing list itself is
a pretty good approximation of the ideal tool for the purpose. Easy to use,
all the software already exists, etc. The one thing that it not great at is
a coherent search mechanism for past discussions or references. A text
search is (a) often imprecise, with many false-positives and
false-negatives and (b) requires that you keep all the past MTG-STRATEGY
mailings. Is there something in the Library's capabilities that could be
adapted to such a historical / research purpose? I'm open to suggestions
and ideas.

- Gilles