f13.net

v3 launching on the 28th of next month. Barring any further delays.

As previously trailed, v3 will not include leagues (at least at launch) so leagues from here out will be shortened to accomodate the switch off.

Multiplayer is also confirmed as not in v3 at launch. Rredemption will not be available either.

Mtgo v2 will be switched off 7 days before v3 launches (so 21st Jan).


More:
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=968497

HOW CAN IT NOT HAVE MULTIPLAYER? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? I THOUGHT IT WAS A FUNNY JOKE UNTIL I READ THE BLOG AND THEN MY CAPS LOCK KEY TURNED A BRIGHT BLUE.

SERIOUSLY.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

No team play, FFA, or 2HG.

1v1 is not considered multiplayer.

That is... bullshit.

Go go crystal ball! These guys don't even understand the concept of a countdown. Amazing.

no leagues?

WTF?

Indeed.

It is hard to imagine what you would now tell a new player to do with their first few mtgo dollars?

PEs? Hardly, new players rarely want to play for five hours straight, and most couldn't construct a sealed deck in the limited time given for deck construction.

Drafts? Come on, $12 for an hour's play if you lose the first match.



PS. Drafting is Nix Tix from 8pm this evening (Zulu time) until the new year. Lorwyn is... not great for drafting... imo this is one of the few formats where sealed is more fun, but nix tix makes everything more fun.

Still waiting for a real alternative for MTGO.  Anything on the horizon?  I tried allot of online collectible game with much better software but none of them have the same depth and player base.  Most don't have league or draft, some have draft but no one is playing...

Y, can't believe this is a nut that nobody else can crack.

This one died before it barely even got off the ground (http://lotronline.decipher.com/)…

They (Decipher) had a Star Trek game that was also online but it didn't grab me either… …and I 'm not sure if it's still active…

Go go crystal ball! These guys don't even understand the concept of a countdown. Amazing.

Heh, I accidentally edited the post above where I made the original statement. Oops

MTGO is dead to me now. Like Steam.

I'm pretty sure my collection is worth something in the thousands now (go go foil Rith and starting early!) but yeah, wow, I'm scared to even redownload the client now. 

Incompetence at this scale is amazing.

Disagree. I opened six packs yesterday and thought red/black could draft very well for Lorwyn. Maybe I'm wrong.


Edit: Tense.

I just find that pretty extreme tribal decks can come out of the draft so it feels more about falling to the right archetype, and hoping you luck out with pick 1 on packs 2 and 3, plus there are too many uber bombs - particularly the PWers and some of the incarnations.

I agree.

There really is so much synergy in tribes that a lucky few picks in the right archetype turns mediocre-to-bad tribal cards into bombs.  It's tough to lose when your picks 12-15 are likely to give you very solid cards.  Not counting the actual bombs,  that basically say "win this game" like PWers, Vigor, etc.

Basically Lor throws away the accepted draft strategies of drafting removal or stall, efficient or evasive creatures, and a couple finishers or unsolvable threats.

Again, I think not. In a draft, I'd take a weenie deck over a PW. I think that I could beat you as long as you didn't have that really uber PW from Lorwyn. I pulled the white one -- he's not so bad.

I constructed a red/black goblin/faerie/changling deck that held its own pretty well against the pre-construct white weenie from Lorwyn (which i think is pretty damn strong) out of six packs.

I dunno. The only busted draft I ever entered was a tempest draft. Yeah.He was playing blue, and it hurt when I was one turn to win.  :awesome_for_real:

I played in City Champs last saturday (not on MTGO) and drafted an almost mono-black weenie-ish deck that pretty much dominated all day until I lost in the final match by getting mana screwed games 1 and 2.  :heartbreak:

The highlights of the deck were -

3x Peppersmoke
3x Nightshade Stinger
3x Dreamspoiler Witches
3x Thieving Spirte
1x Profane Command
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Eyeblights Ending
1x Cairin Wanderer
1x Makeshift Mannequin
1x Mournwhelk

So,  got curious about my collection.  Used MTGO brain here (http://cards.mtgnews.com/TUser?MC=PMOE) and got:

To buy these would cost $5,928.83
You could sell them for $730.48

Scary.

Profane Command and Thieving Sprite are great. I want to find a good use for the B - Discard your hand card.

One with Nothing actually saw some play in sideboards when it was standard legal.  It was a good response to the "Owling Mine" decks,  which did damage to you based on your hand size (using Howling Mine and bounce to keep your hand full).

Nods. I own a few Howling Mines. You put that deck together in a draft? Goddamn son! I didn't read that to begin with.

The next 19 days will be at least another 29 days long.

New launch date : 15th Feb.

Clock is running again, and v2 disappears next week unless there is yet another delay.


The last leagues will start on saturday, after that no more leagues in v2 or v3 until and unless wotc can be bothered to program them in v3.

Is there any indication this is affect cards sales?  Seems like a monumently fuckup of NGE proportions.

It's hard to tell on card sales, but online populations and secondary market prices have dropped since the v2 server started crashing more days than not, redemption was made unaffordable, and since life for sales bots (the only practical way to trade as it is) has been made awkward because wotc regularly have to apply the 1 connection per ip rule to stop the server burning through the floor. I'm not sure the v3 fiasco is having any noticable effect over all the rest of the noise.

MODO is different from standard subscription style services.

As long as the cardboard game stays healthy,  and MODO supplements and doesn't cannibalize it, Wizards could drop MODO service for months and make a recovery.  The fact that Extended and Standard Constructed are playable gives people a chance to deck test easily as practice.  That type of player is always going to need to own the Constructed playable cards.

Leagues and Drafts being out of commission/difficult hurts,  but it's not a mortal blow.

Is there any support for old school sets? I quit playing 15 years ago. Played a bit during beta and a bit after release, but don't know shit about any of the newer sets or mechanics.

Also- anyone know if there is still a market for actual physical cards?

Old sets are slowly being released online, but they're less popular than any of the more recent sets, making the online card pool a lot smaller. 

Basically they're there but more expensive to get. 

And yes, your old physical cards are worth money, possibly quite a bit.  Although the media has long since lost interest with it, Magic is still growing every year.   

Put it this way: Back when I played during Urza's, an advertised booster draft at a local card shop would garner about eight people.

Last booster draft I went to for Lorwyn had 40.  :drill:

Um.  Beta and release of MTGO,  or the cardboard game?

The two big formats for MTG (as a whole, online and cardboard) are:

A. Constructed -- You play decks of 60+ cards,  15 cards on sideboard, that you have built from your collection. 

  1. Standard (Type 2):  The latest few sets and "core" set released.  Usually cards released in the last 1-2 years.  Presently,  this is 10th Edition, Timespiral block, and Lorwyn block.  The most casual friendly of the "serious" Constructed formats,  since this is recently released cards.

  2. Extended: Goes back a few more years, usually between 4-7 years.  Right now,  everything back to Invasion block is Extended legal (7th Ed, Invasion, Odysee, Onslaught, 8th, Mirrodin, Kamigawa, 9th, Ravnica, 10th, Timespiral, Lorwyn).  More power intensive then Standard.  Games are quicker and less forgiving,  with some decks able to win turns 3-5 regularly.

  3. Legacy (Basically Type 1.5):  All cards printed,  minus the extremely broken stuff.  Very power intensive. 

  4. Vintage (Type 1): Everything.  Turn 1 wins not uncommon.

  5. Block: This is Constructed using one "Block" of cards.  A Block is made of of the 3 sets in that specific storyline/setting.  Less power intensive than Standard.

B. Limited -- These are events where you build a 40+ card deck from a small card pool,  usually based around a Block,  from boosters or tournament decks given at the event.

  1. Draft:  You sit at tables of 8,  each person has 3 booster packs.  Open a pack,   pick a card,  pass the remaining cards along.  You receive 14 cards from the person passing to you.  Repeat until you've drafted all cards from that pack.  Open the next pack.  You alternate which direction you pass/receive cards from.  Emphasis on deck construction, knowledge of the cards/set being drafted, drafting ability (reading what colors people next to you are in based on cards received), and play ability.

  2. Sealed:  You get a Tournament pack and two boosters.  Open them,  build a deck from the cards.  More luck dependent then Draft.
  ______________________________

Basically,  Old School stuff isn't used unless it's reprinted.  The Old School formats are expensive (need certain cards, in high demand) and have a degenerate level of power.

On MTGO,  Leagues are basically ongoing Sealed tournaments.  Great way for a noob to get started,  since you just need to shell out for some cards and then can play as much as you want as long as the League goes on.



Y-E-S.

For the Alpha-Beta-Unlimited sets,  these cards can be worth huge amounts of money.  Moxen and Black Lotus,  Power Nine can go for hundreds or thousands of dollars.  Hell,  Beta or Alpha Islands can go for a couple bucks a piece.

After Unlimited,  not nearly as much money in it.  Dual lands from Revised,  a few other cards, are worth a fair amount but not crazy.

In "modern" sets, there will usually be a few chase cards per set that will top out at $15-20 a card.  Tarmagoyf,  a rare from Future Sight,  is going for $35ish a pop now.


Cardboard Magic has been a top 5 CCG since its release.  Sometimes,  it'll slide down a few ranks to new CCGs (like Pokemon, or Yugioh) but has had amazing staying power.  Some of the best play design and mechanics,  combined with good attention to short and long-term playablility. 

Wizards does a pretty good job of supporting the Tournament scene.  DCI rewards is a good program,  giving out high quality foil cards based on number of events attended (for example,  foil textless Damnation is a current reward card.  The Friday Night Magic and Arena programs are low-intensity tournaments where Wizards kicks in foil reprints of good cards as prizes.  Good support and prizes for the "big" events like Grand Prix and Pro Tour Qualifiers.

Ignore Johny, no market for those old beta cards at all, I'll PM you my address and you can mail them to me to dispose of.  :oh_i_see:

Btw, v3 has been delayed again.

 :uhrr:

The countdown clock has now been abandoned.

And there is no prospect of launch for at least a few weeks.

Leagues are being turned back on in v2 because it is expected that they can run more complete leagues before the switch off (still no sign of them in v3).

Morningtide launch : 3rd March. In V2.

Thanks for the info, folks. I have been meaning to catalog all my old cards for years now...maybe soon is the time to do it. IIRC my rarest card is a Green Mox, but I have a few other lesser rares as well. These were all collected at or before Arabian Nights came out, so I am not sure which category they would fall under.

Mmmm.  Mox Emerald = $500 bill.

You should have a fair amount of medium value cards.  Even many sucky Arabian Nights/Unlimited/Beta cards have high nostalgia values.

I like the card browser on www.anycraze.com for checking values.  Anycraze is pretty popular,  so tends to have less wild price swings and phantom card prices (card listed at a low price,  but there are never any in stock).

You can set the anycraze browser to list all cards at a certain rarity,  in a certain set/block, in alphabetacal order to quickly go through your cards.  I.E.  Set for "Unlimited, Rares"

WHY WON'T THEY JUST THROW PILES OF MONEY AT THIS GAME. GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH IT'S FUCKING KILLING ME.

Somewhat related -

Wizards also pulled standard and 2HG states/champs for 2008. (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15448.html)

I suspect that at some level someone at wizards thinks a very successful MTGO would kill their paper business.

It's also been clear for years that the people in charge of the digital division have no idea WTF they are doing. That's the real problem. V3 is years late and what is Randy Buehler doing? Going to tournaments so he can record quicktime movies of his match commentary.

They just don't get it, totally clueless. It would be like putting my mom in charge of creating portable MP3 players.

Looks like the countdown clock is being removed entirely.

Too bad Duke Nuke'Em Forever exists. Otherwise this could be the worst game development disaster of all time.

It really is too bad. No MMOG could hold a candle to the soul sucking, account draining potential of MTGO done right. I don't know how you can fuck up selling digital crack, but somehow they've done it.

The saddest part is that an MMOG is actually complicated; a card game isn't. The amount of time and effort it has taken them to produce *what* they have produced is truly astonishing. It's like taking a decade to build a shitty doghouse.

To be fair, the rules engine is more complicated than a MMOG rules system. Of course, they are just copying and pasting that for v3, so it doesn't really explain why it is taking so goddamn long to make a simple UI.