Magic: The Gathering keeps rolling on. Magic (MTG) is a collectible card game that I used to play a lot in high school. I haven’t played much in years since because it is expensive! It doesn’t really matter how much the cards cost, any cost is too much. Money for cardboard? No thanks.
The MTG ruleset is extremely nuanced and works very well compared to most other card games, and the fact that it’s still around says something about just how well it works. There have been goofups in the past years, however, as Wizards of the Coast attempted (and continues to attempt) to spice the game up and try new things in order to both attract new players and keep older players interested, and most of these goofups have to do with one thing: new mechanics. They keep adding more and more and more with each set, and they keep getting more and more bland. It’s basically the same thing that has happened with video games in the past decade or so: in order to keep making more and more money, you have to pump out more and more games, and as you concentrate on quantity, quality suffers.
If I ever begin playing again, I’ll be playing online (for free), and I’ll be playing as a designer. I want to create my own cards and sets of cards, my own worlds, etc. etc. I want the experience of creating, instead of having it always done for me, which not only applies to MTG, but also to life in general. It’s why I generally dislike watching sports, playing video games, eating processed food, etc. etc. I would rather have the experience of playing (or making up) sports, coding video games, and cooking.
