General [TLA/TLE] [UB] Avatar: The Last Airbender

[MilesOfficial]

Bloomburrow felt really like normal fantasy to me... because I read a lot of Redwall as a child. "The characters are talking animals that do human stuff" is basically free as far as my suspension of disbelief is concerned.

I also read a lot of Redwall as a child, but if I'm at a bookstore asking for fantasy and they give me a book where every character is a talking animal, I'm going to feel like I'm getting punked. I dunno, it seems just as discordant for Magic as oops all detectives to me, but it's not that big of an issue compared to so many other things.

As much as I thought Bloomburrow was fine, I would prefer my fantasy games to look like this:

 

[ravnic]

I am not trying to keep people from playing Magic. I am trying to make people vote with their wallet. Proxy so Wizards learn the hard way that the existing fans don’t like children’s anime shows.

But they do like these. And they do vote with their wallets. You just don't like how they vote and you're in denial about that.

 

[ravnic]

Moving swiftly onwards... I actually had something I wanted to ask folks about. Do you have some kind of threshold of card quantity you aim to reach for a new mechanic that you want to include in your cubes? Or are you happy to have a one-off use if it's otherwise a good fit? The question feels particularly relevant for Avatar with its four bending mechanics that are unlikely to see any usage outside of these two sets. Like, maybe you really like Firebending Student and Foggy Swamp Visions but don't really see including any other Firebending or Waterbending cards. Is it worth the extra comprehension complexity?

I'd say that depends on the card. Firebending Student reads simple even if you spell out the bending ability. If a card is otherwise clean and easily comprehensible, it could just be "the mechanic X card", like Honored Hydra is in my cube the one embalm card, but that's fine because it's just a french vanilla.

Of course, reminder texts are key for cubes. I only allow non-evergreen mechanics with reminder text or in some cases if there are like eight other cards with that mechanic in the (core) cube.

 

[Brad]

Bloomburrow felt really like normal fantasy to me... because I read a lot of Redwall as a child. "The characters are talking animals that do human stuff" is basically free as far as my suspension of disbelief is concerned.

For sure and I wish they'd adapted TLA ideas into a Kamigawa set just like they didn't do Redwall UB (yet).

 

[Velrun]

But they do like these. And they do vote with their wallets. You just don't like how they vote and you're in denial about that.

Oh you’re continuing!

Okay let’s do this.

You are talking about the new players that Wizards have brought in with this soulless move. The enfranchised players HATE and I mean loath the UB. They have almost all left the game or are now playing Premodern because that format is known for taking Wizards of the Coast out of the equation.

And if you turn your back on the players who gave you everything you have... then you are the villain, no? Same goes for everyone who supports this Walder Frey behavior.

Can someone summarize for us what has been happening in the storyline the last few sets? Let’s just take these last sets as examples:

- Avatar, the Last Airbender
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Arena Anthology 4
- Arena Anthology 3
- Arena Anthology 2
- Arena Anthology 1
- Edge of Eternities
- Alchemy Edge of Eternities
- Edge of Eternities Commander
- Final Fantasy
- Final Fantasy
- Pioneer Anthology 1

That’s the last 12 released sets since Dragonstorm. What’s going on in the lore these days?

 

[ravnic]

The enfranchised players HATE and I mean loath the UB. They have almost all left the game or are now playing Premodern

I know dozens of enfranchised players, some who love UB, some who don't, but I have yet to hear from one who left the game since. You are, again, making a generalized statement that does not represent reality. Even the data supports this, as MaRo revealed that even among the most enfranchised players, a majority likes UB.

And if you turn your back on the players who gave you everything you have... then you are the villain, no?

No. You are a company trying to sell a card game. They don't owe these players anything, if we are honest. When you bought a booster box of Invasion you don't get the moral right to have a say in future decsions, you just get a booster box of Invasion.

If you don't like UB don't buy it but stop this pathetic talk please. Vote with your wallet against some multi billion companies that are responsible for actual evil like destroying the environment or commiting animal cruelty or such. It's funny but also tiring to always read your posts where you act like you are Sophie Scholl fighting the Nazis, just because you don't want to have Gandalf in your card game lol.

 

[Velrun]

Oh you continue. Let’s continue then.

I have yet to hear from one who left the game since.

This is called Projection Bias

It is a bias because it should be discarded. Everyone I know have stopped playing Magic except Premodern (which is Magic without WotC) because of Universes Beyond. This is also projection bias.

Trustworthy sources of store owners conclude that 40 % of existing fan base have stopped coming to local game stores since the introduction of UB. And the number is even higher if you compare to pre Covid which is a more fair comparison since you’ll otherwise give UB the advantage of the natural Covid dip. According to Wizards the number is only 9 % but I don’t know where they get that number from. They haven’t been trustworthy lately.

If you don't like UB don't buy it but stop this pathetic talk please. Vote with your wallet against some multi billion companies that are responsible for actual evil like destroying the environment or commiting animal cruelty or such. It's funny but also tiring to always read your posts where you act like you are Sophie Scholl fighting the Nazis, just because you don't want to have Gandalf in your card game lol.

No I don’t think I will. And you can simply ignore my messages if you think I am just some random guy on the internet with a loud mouth.

It isn’t pathetic just because you people say so. You can laugh all you want but I am strictly telling the objective truth. You might feel the need to take me down because I sound cocky when I am right but that doesn’t make me wrong. I have seen this before. I have been on the other side. Listen and learn. You might want to live your life with your eyes closed. I have experience enough to share it with you.

Wizards have tried to change their player base, this much we know to be truth with 100 % certainty. When they had their annual ordinary board meeting and decided to five double their annual revenue it was easy to understand what they meant. Funny thing is, of course, that they have actually lost 37 % profit since 2023 comparison due to Universes Beyond. We are still locked in for 5 additional years with UB.

And please don’t put words into my mouth again again again. I haven’t mentioned the nazis.

That should finally settle the matter. Move along if you still have nothing intelligent to add and only want to call me pathetic.

Someone can of course still comment all their knowledge about what has happened in the lore or storyline since Dragonstorm. I have fallen off and cannot see almost any story through the last 12 sets. You guys want to fill us in?