It's not even on the reserved list though, it got removed from it 20 years ago. They've reused the original art before on a modern border foil (Though with Tedin's signature edited out) for the judge gift program. It's not only cropped but also washed out as hell. It's like they photocopied the art from Revised using a printer that was running out of red toner.
General (M30) M30 Previews / Spoilers
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
landofMordor
Administrator
not gonna get a Guardian Angel to go with it?
...please tell me they didn't crop the arts to make it not work anymore (it looks like it still looks right, just more cropped)
You could be easily be looking at $30 for a Paralyze proxy. I'd like to get my hands on a modern-worded Paralyze, but I don't think I'd pay more than $2 for it.
I think it's likely we just see very low liquidity in singles, and very high prices (higher EV than $999 even), but you can't actually sell the cards for the supposed EV, and you can't buy them lower than that either because everyone who bought did so to sell for more. Until speculators "have" to cut their losses, if that ever happens, the pseudo-cards would just sit unsold.
I would be surprised if this particular card costs $30 given the fact that it's going to be a common and the normal version can be acquired for as low as 8 cents currently. Even the Beta version is "only" $20. I don't think anyone could charge that much for a card no one cares about that isn't even tournament legal if they expect to actually sell it.
Here's the thing... if people are buying them as an investment thing, how many of those packs are actually gonna get cracked? Especially since there's a very good chance that the contents of that pack are worth less than what people paid for them.
It's depressingly likely that people are going to buy these extremely expensive packs and never open them, because they're more valuable unopened.
It's depressingly likely that people are going to buy these extremely expensive packs and never open them, because they're more valuable unopened.
Well, sucks for them in lacking the foresight to avoid spending $1000 on randomized proxies (this still sounds so fucking stupid to me). If people want to be that loose with their money then good luck to them. The product itself can exist for the whales that want it, I'd never entertain the thought of buying these, but I just hate everything surrounding this rollout.
When I think of companies that actually appreciate their fans I think of something like the team at Capcom behind Monster Hunter. When Monster Hunter: World came out in early 2018 it was a massive success, their most ambitious MH game to date, and it sold like gangbusters. For a whole year they continued roll out updates and quests with new monsters and gear and chances to get cool stuff. All for free! And then you had IceBorne, the expansion, come out a year later in Feb. 2019 and that was basically like getting a whole second game with the amount of new stuff you could do. They basically doubled the content with all the new monsters, new weapons, new armor sets you could build, and a ton of different quests to play through. All while giving you new content and updates every month with a new monster or new variant to try out every couple of weeks. And they did this until 2021! FOR FREE! What that team did for MHW is the epitome of fan appreciation; they went above and beyond and it wasn't based on some 20 year milestone or anything. They just appreciated their fans and they returned that support tenfold by continuing to work on and make this game awesome with updates for 3 whole years.
And on the other hand you have WoTC. The audacity to frame the release of THIS product as some sort of "celebration" for fans of the game rather than the blatantly predatory cash grab it actually is is wild to me. The announcement on stream with their smug ass presenters, the ridiculous price point, the shitty renders, the ugly set symbol, the cut off artwork, etc. It's just so tonedeaf and feels fucking sleazy; it's a definite new low for me as a fan of this game. Just how little do they think of their customers? It's just such a bad look for them and yet another in a series of missteps in recent years.
I can't help but think back to that shitty PSA during a stream in 2019 when we first got the taste of this product is not for you. Felt like such a slap in the face just brushing off their customers and fans like that but it turns out it was only the tip of the iceberg. This is still my favorite game and will likely continue to be so for a while, but man is it painful to see all these moves that are wholly unfriendly to their core players and fans that have supported them for decades to this point. And then they just kind of brush it off and go along with whatever in the name of profits and growth. You can definitely pursue that, and you should as a company, but I can't help but feel like there were ways to navigate this growth plan without just trampling over your loyal customers in the name of profit.
Whatever leadership they've got running the show now just doesn't seem to understand that at all and it's a bad sign for the long term prospects of this game.
When I think of companies that actually appreciate their fans I think of something like the team at Capcom behind Monster Hunter. When Monster Hunter: World came out in early 2018 it was a massive success, their most ambitious MH game to date, and it sold like gangbusters. For a whole year they continued roll out updates and quests with new monsters and gear and chances to get cool stuff. All for free! And then you had IceBorne, the expansion, come out a year later in Feb. 2019 and that was basically like getting a whole second game with the amount of new stuff you could do. They basically doubled the content with all the new monsters, new weapons, new armor sets you could build, and a ton of different quests to play through. All while giving you new content and updates every month with a new monster or new variant to try out every couple of weeks. And they did this until 2021! FOR FREE! What that team did for MHW is the epitome of fan appreciation; they went above and beyond and it wasn't based on some 20 year milestone or anything. They just appreciated their fans and they returned that support tenfold by continuing to work on and make this game awesome with updates for 3 whole years.
And on the other hand you have WoTC. The audacity to frame the release of THIS product as some sort of "celebration" for fans of the game rather than the blatantly predatory cash grab it actually is is wild to me. The announcement on stream with their smug ass presenters, the ridiculous price point, the shitty renders, the ugly set symbol, the cut off artwork, etc. It's just so tonedeaf and feels fucking sleazy; it's a definite new low for me as a fan of this game. Just how little do they think of their customers? It's just such a bad look for them and yet another in a series of missteps in recent years.
I can't help but think back to that shitty PSA during a stream in 2019 when we first got the taste of this product is not for you. Felt like such a slap in the face just brushing off their customers and fans like that but it turns out it was only the tip of the iceberg. This is still my favorite game and will likely continue to be so for a while, but man is it painful to see all these moves that are wholly unfriendly to their core players and fans that have supported them for decades to this point. And then they just kind of brush it off and go along with whatever in the name of profits and growth. You can definitely pursue that, and you should as a company, but I can't help but feel like there were ways to navigate this growth plan without just trampling over your loyal customers in the name of profit.
Whatever leadership they've got running the show now just doesn't seem to understand that at all and it's a bad sign for the long term prospects of this game.
I'm reminded of how, back in the day, there were two RPGs that were both published by the same company - CthulhuTech and Eclipse Phase.
The devs for CthulhuTech were always very salty about the fact that Eclipse Phase outsold their game... despite the fact that EP's author literally let you download all of the books for free off of his blog.
The devs for CthulhuTech were always very salty about the fact that Eclipse Phase outsold their game... despite the fact that EP's author literally let you download all of the books for free off of his blog.
To be fair though, Eclipse Phase was also the better game
Which is, if you're familiar with both games, damning with faint praise.
(Eclipse Phase is a game with a great pitch that has crappy mechanics and some pretty bad setting writing. So... most RPGs, really.)
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
How much would you pay for a printer that produced “genuine” magic cards?
I mean.. would I be allowed to sell those genuine Magic cards?
If yes, then I would take a loan for several millions if that’s what it took. If no, probably not much because I would never trade or sell the cards away. Maybe just have my very own perfectly made proxies. You’re out of a job @blacksmithy
$450 max but fortunately they cost less than that
How much do they cost then and where can I get them?
I think Minecraft's free updates are part of what drives further sales for them, though. According to this source (which is roughly equivalent to other information I've found on the topic but this one has the best chart), Minecraft sells about 25 million copies per year, plus or minus around 5 million. If Minecraft stopped updating in 2014, I don't think nearly as many people who have started the game since then would have picked it up and started playing. The updates are almost like the new fall Magic set being released, except the game revenue comes entirely from new players buying a digital product instead of returning players buying a physical product.
I wish Magic was as successful at getting people to pick up the game as Minecraft has been historically. I feel like a lot of the products that have been released in recent years have been trying to capitalize on people already playing the game rather than actually growing the player base. I think part of the problem is that the barrier to learning Magic is significantly greater than in games like Minecraft. Minecraft has relatively simple controls that users can become proficient in using after only a couple of hours of game time. By contrast, Magic has a very complicated rules engine that can take months to fully understand and years to master.
Because Minecraft is so easy to pick up, kids and adults alike can easily enjoy it. Mojang/Microsoft can also make a killing on toys, apparel, and other lifestyle products since parents will buy their Minecraft stuff. They might only spend $26.95 on the game, but they could spend three or four hundred dollars on additional merch. Magic, by contrast, doesn't have easily accessible merch and really has to focus on just selling cards.
Not really sure where I'm going with this other than just wanting an excuse to talk about Minecraft. I don't think Minecraft is that comparable to Magic given how different the gameplay, medium, and respective audiences are. However, I can firmly say Magic would be a better game if it was as popular as Minecraft, if for no other reason than I would have an easier time getting 8 people together to fire Cube night : P
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Which was my point. I also doubt MHW's devs were doing their work as described by shamizy out of the squeaky clean goodness of their little hearts. Would be nice if MTG tried the "caring for the playerbase" approach to capturing sales.
I personally see the last few years of MTG as the exact opposite of how you do: a mad dash to try to find new players to buy their new shinies as opposed to trying to cater to and support enfranchised players.
I don't know if squeaky clean paragon of virtue is how I'd characterize MHW devs or Minecraft devs either, but it's a hell of a lot nicer to be on the receiving end of generosity stemming from rational self-interest rather than naked greed coming from the same.
They're also doing a bit for enfranchised players, but I think it's for the nostalgic, lore-loving people far more than the timespiral-style "mechanics and card pieces" nostalgia or the players who are interested in stable and diverse competitive scenes.
They're also doing a bit for enfranchised players, but I think it's for the nostalgic, lore-loving people far more than the timespiral-style "mechanics and card pieces" nostalgia or the players who are interested in stable and diverse competitive scenes.
Yeah I was using the phrase a tad tongue-in-cheek.
Good, we're on the same page!
I think WOTC was doing this from like 2015-2018 when they were really going hard on lowering the power level and complexity of Standard sets, and only providing reprints established players wanted in what eventually became the bi-yearly(!) Master's sets. This changed after two big releases. First, Dominaria came out and WOTC saw how much
Unfortunately, I think Arena's terrible monetization model is finally catching up to WOTC, and there still aren't many good ways to pick up the game and start learning in paper.
