The new look of magic

[Anonymous]

Everyone in the magic threads about the new look of 8th edition keep talking about the removal of the border. What are you guys talking about? The border is still there.  The problem is that it is a white border on a white background so it is hard to see (check the little black dots that mark where the corners of the border are).  Check the other scans on magicthegathering.com's other articles, you'll see that white-bordered cards there look as though they don't have borders either.

   Personally, I don't think the new layout will be THAT different. It's still magic as we know it, with a slightly different style.  Yes, I think it is unnecessary to change it, but Wizards is trying to get more people to play, and is that such a bad thing?  And as for these cards looking terrible in our T1 decks, I think it will be like using a white-bordered card with a black-bordered card.  It doesn't look great, but it's not that bad either.

   I think people saying that they will never buy another card because of the new look are out of their minds.  Putting color on the expansion symbol to denote rarity and changing summon elf to creature - elf were all cosmetic changes that were met with disdain at first and were gradually accepted (even liked).  I think the new look will take the same route as these.  

   Also, I would like to know why people believe that wizards is ruining magic.  The game is healthier than ever before.  I would like peoples opinions on how it is going downhill.

[upinthe]

Wizards is ruining magic because they have manipulated the game in such a way so that it appeals mostly to kids. Actually, I think the whole fantasy gaming genre is following magic as well. Kids are to big of a potential profit for these companies to ignore, so they overextend to include them.

Its to bad, because its the older people have the most money. That means for every old timer who used to dish out tons of cash on their favorite game that quits, they gotta get three new kids to start. Its a vicious cycle, so the games slowly get more and more juvenile.

[Anonymous]

Anyone remember L5R (Legend of the Five Rings)? That game went through a similiar facelift when it was purchased by WotC, which resulted in a huge upheaval for the game. My local card shop used to run sanctioned tournements (sometimes even storyline tournies) every month or so, but after the card faces changed (I'm talking about the changes in Honor Bound, not the back of the card changing for Gold), many people stopped buying cards and the store stopped supporting these events, and eventually stopped carrying the game altogether. Now, you can't even find L5R cards in my state. I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but WotC should know better than to spring something like this on its loyal gamers. I don't think Magic is any grave danger, because it's such an established force in the gaming market, but it's still frustrating and upsetting to see it come to this.
I think the new look is far superior for Magic Online, because it's so pronounced, and easier to read on a moniter, but it really changes the aesthetic in an entirely negative way (for me at least). It's too bad they couldn't just use the change for M:Online, and leave the physical cards alone.
I think the worst part is the changing of the artifacts from brown to white. This is EXACTLY like what they did to L5R, when they made both Scorpion and Ronin personalities both the same color, and nearly indistinguishable. Thankfully, they eventually made the Scorpion cards more redish, so it was easier to tell them apart. I hope they can at least correct this mistake, because it is gonna be a pain in the arse in limited, especially when sets/cards are new.

*sigh*

At least now I'll finally be motivated to get all the older cards that are missing from my collection.

[Anonymous]

Aside from changing the fact to make it easier to learn and play, how have they made it more appealing to kids?  The more people that play magic (and spend money on it), the more the game will continue to grow.  If they spend all of their time making the people that already play happy, the company will not make enough money and magic itself will die.  Richard Garfield made the game, he gave the original designs his approval, and he is giving the new design his approval.  It's his game, he is the reason that we are even able to play this game.  If he wants to change it, I'm not going to complain or try to alter his decisions.

And as for wizards not having T1 players in mind when designing cards, they just design cards.  A lot of cards that have been printed recently have been used.  Look at the wishes and incarnations from judgement.  I'm sick of people complaining about how no T1 cards are being made.  For a card to be a powerhouse in type 1, it would have to be B-R-O-K-E-N.  Check the article in the articles section of this web site (props to Zherbus for offering us the chance to have a great - my favorite - magic web site devoted mainly to T1).  Don't get me wrong, T1 is all I play, but cards from recent expansions ARE being used.  Look at all the Reanimator fans drooling over the new Akroma.

I'm getting off topic, so back to the new card faces.  I can understand the outrage everyone is having over this.  I do not like it (nor do I dislike it) all that much myself.  But I feel that people refusing to buy new cards because they look a LITTLE different is going a bit too extreme.  You guys can boycott if you want, but I will definitely spend more money on magic - including new sets - in the future.

[Anonymous]

Can a registered user please post on the threads about this in the community forum that there IS STILL A WHITE BORDER AROUND THE BASE SETS AND THERE WILL BE BLACK BORDERS AROUND THE EXPANSION SETS![/u]

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I think we as humans are generally resistant to sudden change.  A lot of T1 players have been in the game for awhile and are accustomed to M:TG looking a specific way.  Therefore, it is only natural that we are taken aback by such a radical departure from the norm.  Personally, I wouldn't be against minor changes to the card design.  Wizards probably should have started small and gradually worked its way towards a new design.

Also, the new look reminds myself and a number of my friends of the Yu-Gi-Oh game cards.  I think there is some Magic vs. Yugi sentiment going on right now especially here in NC.

My initial feelings towards the new card design have been largely negative.  Will that keep me from buying new M:TG product?  Not in and of itself.  If a set has cards that I like and believe I can use in a deck, then I will buy from the set.

[Anonymous]

its interesting that you brought up the yugioh look, i was talking to my friends the other day about this, and i think the reason they changed the look was to trying to get yugioh players to switch to magic, since at the moment, its magics biggest threat.  i guess by making the look the same, they can get kids in with a feel that they can easily take up magic, because it looks so much like yugioh, its all a marketing ploy says i.

[Anonymous]

True. It probably is trying to get YGO players into MTG. It sort of surprises me that WotC didnt learn from Pokemon (The "Fad game" It brought here) That YGO would die out soon.

[Anonymous]

Considering Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon (which were/are incredibly successful) both drew from a younger audience, WotC is probably trying to tap into that demographic. Actually, a lot of things they've been doing since the Tempest block signal such a move (addition of foils, recognizable characters, rarity colors, puns/jokes in flavor text and set numbering). It only makes sense; consider how popular/profitable magic would be if little tykes were buying it up like they do with Yu-Gi-Oh or how they did with P'mon? It would be like when Toys R Us and KB Toys sold cards, around the time of Fallen Empires. Those shrewd capitalists  

[Matt The Great]

It's not the black/white borders that they cut away. It's the colored borders between the art and the black/white borders. And between the art and the text box, where once was color now are large gray boxes. This is our complaint (and if it's not, it should be).

[Anonymous]

Despite the large player base, Magic is going downhill.  Everything produced by WoTC has gone downhill since they were bought by Hasbro.  In the quest for profit, the design team has simplified the game far too much.  I am not talking about the minor cosmetic changes, or even the 8th Edition redisign.  I am talking about an ongoing shift in the quality of the game.  The quality of the flavor text has decreased, focusing more on jokes than deeper quotes/thoughts/etc. Driven by profit and player pressure, the time between set releases is incredibly short, leading to endless reprints and poorly thought-out set designs.  More recently, the creature-based theme seems designed to attract young players.  These are all noteable changes, but as a Type One player, my response is "Why should we care?"
   First of all, how many T1 players are going to buy 8th/Newer Sets anyway?  Unless R&D comes up with a new Morphling, the redisign will barely be noticeable.  WoTC is looking for another Pokemon, and we all know we can't change that.  Sure I'm angry, but I was angry when they changed "Summon" to "Creature-."  I still play second edition AD&D.  Wizards can do whatever they want to the cards.  They don't force people to play with them.

[Anonymous]

Since there has been so much talk about the future 8th Edition changes, I might as well add in my two cents. I have been playing this game for a very long time and as mentioned I do remember buying cards at Kay-B toy's but with the recent success of Pokemon(well, kinda recent) and Yu-Gi-Oh this should almost be expected. I work in a store that sells YGO cards and little weiner kids come in like drones and have their parents buy them pack after pack of cards even if they are in japanese and they don't know one picture from the other. This is money for the company and Wizards wants to soak up every dollar in every market they can.

At the store I play at, when i showed the owner the proposed changes, he as well as everyone else started the chorus of "I quit this game" and "I'm selling off all my cards". I too have thought about it but i haven't bought a pack of cards in a long time anyways. I wish cards still had that "old" look from alpha/beta and especially AN. The poor wording on cards(Lance), mono,poly and continuous artifacts and the word "tap" on the cards.
Maybe this new look will not last but MTG is certainly going downhill with many people and if little kids buy more packs, theres not much we can do...damn them

[Anonymous]

Well here are my 2 cents. I'm an executive for a retail specialty chain which carries both Magic and Yu-Gi. I vividly remember the Pokemon craze and can see the obvious comparisons between that and Yu-Gi-Oh. WTC is, like my company and every other, in the business of making money. They are not changing Magic to a kids game. If that were to really happen then you would see Nantuko Plush Dolls on every hook in one of my stores. What they are doing is planting the CCG seed in a much younger demographic. They are also combating the ever growing video game market as well. I'll use my local shop as an example. Every Saturday there are Yu-Gi tournaments, and every Saturday the store is overrun by the youngsters. After Yu-Gi there is a T1 tourney, every once in a while you get one or two kids sticking around watching us play...those are the kids that will keep not only MTG alive but Vintage as well. With every new CCG player comes the potential that they will create a new deck archetype, etc. We should be willing to help the "newbies" (I'm still one myself) in order to create a broader more competitive field.

As far as the new card layout is concerned, I am too new too the game to really be that attached. The look is definitly a nod to the other CCG's but from what I understand will make the foils MUCH better. I guess one can only think of MTG much like D&D, they have changed D&D 3 times now...and it's still as popular as it ever was.

A newbie's perspective.

-GoblinJoe