From:	Hahns Shin Hahns_Shin@*******.com
Subject:	[OT] Magic: the Gathering (was Shadowrun, the collection)
Date:	Mon, 26 Jun 2000 12:11:33 -0500

> alternate cover is on the rulebook than getting into character (remember
> Magic: The Gathering? I loved that game, when you never knew what killer
> card you'd get, or who would have the best deck that week. Then the craze
> caught on, and there were stacks of people with the entire collection and
> all of the expansion sets, each more overpowered than the last, and small
> time play-for-the-fun-of-it people like me couldn't get a decent game. My
> Magic cards are at the bottom of a box somewhere now). Then we would have
Hey, I resemble that! :-) As a local Magic guru, I have put in my two cents.
I didn't like where M:tG was going at first, out of the realm of gamers into
the mainstream. I quit for a few years. Then I came back, and was pleasantly
surprised. Now that the mainstream is Pokemon, the M:tG environment is very
professional, not unlike chess (I'm a 1207 rated player in Chess, if anyone
wants to play). I enjoy it more as a professional game, although I still
enjoy playing it casually. True, this cuts many casual gamers out of the
picture, but has professional chess stopped all casual chess play? Certainly
not.

> masses of very cheap sourcebooks, but they are likely to be crap anyway,
> less proper players since the good ones all moved on to something else in
> annoyance, and a lot less role playing game companies.
I thought that was the point of White Wolf. <ducks to avoid punches from
Technomancers, Werewolves, and Vampires> Just kidding... Seriously, this is
why I'm glad SR never became megapopular. Notice that there has only been 2
console games for it? As opposed to Battletech (FASA's REAL cash cow that
funds our SR books) and DnD, both of which had TV shows, a HUGE assortment
of games, even action figures and comic books. Although I can't say I'm
totally satisfied with the quality of SR books now (they used to be SO
cool...), the SR universe still thrives. SR has remained a solid system, and
will probably continue to be the RPG of choice around here.

Hahns