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Abstract

a very unfortunate past few years to be a Magic: The Gathering fan, to say the least.There’s a reason I’m a lot more interested in playing Flesh and Blood than Magic: the Gathering right now. A lot of that boils down to the management of the parent company and how their decisions serve to benefit the community of players that supports them.It doesn’t matter if your game is good or how long someone has been playing. If you continually treat your community poorly, they will only tolerate so much before cutting their losses and moving on to the next thing. I just fear WOTC will prioritize this perceived opportunity in NFTs before triaging and mending a community that is fatigued and bleeding.<figure id="ed57"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*Ud6x8ycIWm9fJ-_sC0lgzg.jpeg"><figcaption>Obligatory meme, made in Meme Generator.</figcaption></figure>Quality control of the physical product and necessary playtesting has gone out the door for WOTC. “Premium” foil cards warp into the shape of Pringles, and it has gotten worse. Naturally, foil cards in any game are sensitive to humidity to some degree. But it’s very apparent that the quality of MTG cards has gone down. From the cardstock to the premium foils, WOTC is trying to make the cards cheaper, and cheaper to make, while raising their prices on what they expect consumers to pay.Secret Lair is a predatory cash grab that devalues the local game stores that support the community network of the game AND the players who choose to hold onto highly sought-after cards with high value. Full stop.Strixhaven: School of Mages, the latest set from Magic, feels like WOTC realized they needed to sound the alarm and have some pull the emergency reset lever to drop the power level in standard. Each set prior to Strixhaven all the way down through War of the Spark has shipped with something absolutely game-breaking in at least one format that ended up getting banned. We haven’t seen such egregious, game-breaking cards released in such close proximity since the days of CawBlade in the Zendikar and Mirrodin Besieged block a DECADE ago.I’ve written a lot about <a href="https://superjumpmagazine.com/proof-of-stake-could-be-the-next-big-thing-in-gaming-7142e93eabdd">NFTs for SuperJump too</a>. They’re coming to gaming and since my wildly popular primer on NFTs and some potential applications, we’ve seen a lot of new implementation and announcements around new types of collectible NFTs centered on games. It’s a bit of a gold rush and feels akin t

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o the early days of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency when traditional institutions started taking notice. Now, everyone wants a piece of the NFT pie and there is a lot of fear of missing out.Spoiler alert, NFTs aren’t going away anytime soon.<figure id="1d1c"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*i8SygI4JTeuEC1vxUcA6RA.jpeg"><figcaption>Image source: Wizards of the coast.</figcaption></figure><h2 id="69b4">Why people don’t want to buy M:TG NFTs</h2>From the NBA to individual content creators, NFTs are taking the world by storm. It was only a matter of time until Wizards of the Coast took notice. I just fear WOTC will prioritize this perceived opportunity in NFTs before triaging and mending a community that is fatigued and bleeding.I am an early adopter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Outside of the noise and insane markets for NFTs right now, I do see value in the technology in its ability to fundamentally transform experiences for businesses and consumers. I mention that as a preface to my next statement so you understand where I am coming from.I am THE ideal customer for Magic: the Gathering NFTs. They may as well take my picture and put it on the whiteboard when the marketing department works to understand what their ideal customer profile looks like.I understand the technology behind NFTs and am an early adopter of it. I am a fan of Magic: The Gathering and like to purchase premium products for the game from time to time. But guess what? I’m not buying MTG NFTs and there is a 0% chance I am the only one in the MTG community that feels that way right now.<figure id="9c4e"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*pjoxD2QnPJsEjvN0j1JLJg.jpeg"><figcaption>Source: Kaggle.</figcaption></figure>As cool as they may be, I will not be supporting WOTC by purchasing any Magic: the Gathering NFTs the company pumps out. That is until I feel like WOTC is listening to their community of players and working to address the numerous concerns and wrongs that have been inflicted on us.Address the issues and mend the community first, then sell some really cool Magic: the Gathering NFTs. If and when that happens, I’ll be first in line to buy them.What do you think about Magic: the Gathering NFTs? Let me know in the comments below! Did you enjoy this content? Support my writing directly on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/DrewJCordell?fan_landing=true">Patreon</a> and get some awesome patron-exclusive benefits.</article></body>

No, We Don’t Want to Buy Your Magic: the Gathering NFTs

Wizards of the Coast must ditch the NFT idea and focus on quality control and mending the community

Hasbro has announced their intent to explore selling NFTs related to some of their franchises including Wizards of the Coast’s (WOTC) Magic: the Gathering. While a specific timeline was not given, it was inevitable that Hasbro would want to explore this space given the success of Magic: Arena — the latest digital offering of the popular card game.

Professor Onyx. Image source: Wizards of the Coast.

WOTC has already proven to themselves and their investors that they can drive revenue and growth of Magic: the Gathering through digital offerings. Why wouldn’t they want to explore NFTs as a mechanism to do even more of those two things?

Not sure what the hell an NFT is? I’ve got you covered. Read this.

“NFTs are a real opportunity for us.” As you know, we have so many brands that really operate on multiple demographic levels; whether it’s Transformers, whether it’s Magic and the D&D brand, and brands like G.I. Joe. We have a team that is leading our effort out of the west coast. We have our arms around this and see multiple opportunities on the NFT side, and you’ll hear more about that as we move forward. But we are actively developing our opportunities here, and we do see it as substantial.” — Brian Goldner, CEO of Hasbro in an interview with Polygon.

As I’ve noted in one of my Recent Flesh and Blood TCG articles, I haven’t been a fan of a lot of the decisions WOTC/Hasbro has made in the past few years as they appear to be more motivated by greed and less motivated by what is good for the community of players who have supported the game for a quarter-century. I haven’t been around MTG quite that long, but I’ve been playing Magic: the Gathering for over a decade now, so it isn’t the first time I’m living through dark days in franchise history.

It has been a very unfortunate past few years to be a Magic: The Gathering fan, to say the least.

There’s a reason I’m a lot more interested in playing Flesh and Blood than Magic: the Gathering right now. A lot of that boils down to the management of the parent company and how their decisions serve to benefit the community of players that supports them.

It doesn’t matter if your game is good or how long someone has been playing. If you continually treat your community poorly, they will only tolerate so much before cutting their losses and moving on to the next thing. I just fear WOTC will prioritize this perceived opportunity in NFTs before triaging and mending a community that is fatigued and bleeding.

Obligatory meme, made in Meme Generator.

Quality control of the physical product and necessary playtesting has gone out the door for WOTC. “Premium” foil cards warp into the shape of Pringles, and it has gotten worse. Naturally, foil cards in any game are sensitive to humidity to some degree. But it’s very apparent that the quality of MTG cards has gone down. From the cardstock to the premium foils, WOTC is trying to make the cards cheaper, and cheaper to make, while raising their prices on what they expect consumers to pay.

Secret Lair is a predatory cash grab that devalues the local game stores that support the community network of the game AND the players who choose to hold onto highly sought-after cards with high value. Full stop.

Strixhaven: School of Mages, the latest set from Magic, feels like WOTC realized they needed to sound the alarm and have some pull the emergency reset lever to drop the power level in standard. Each set prior to Strixhaven all the way down through War of the Spark has shipped with something absolutely game-breaking in at least one format that ended up getting banned. We haven’t seen such egregious, game-breaking cards released in such close proximity since the days of CawBlade in the Zendikar and Mirrodin Besieged block a DECADE ago.

I’ve written a lot about NFTs for SuperJump too. They’re coming to gaming and since my wildly popular primer on NFTs and some potential applications, we’ve seen a lot of new implementation and announcements around new types of collectible NFTs centered on games. It’s a bit of a gold rush and feels akin to the early days of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency when traditional institutions started taking notice. Now, everyone wants a piece of the NFT pie and there is a lot of fear of missing out.

Spoiler alert, NFTs aren’t going away anytime soon.

Why people don’t want to buy M:TG NFTs

From the NBA to individual content creators, NFTs are taking the world by storm. It was only a matter of time until Wizards of the Coast took notice. I just fear WOTC will prioritize this perceived opportunity in NFTs before triaging and mending a community that is fatigued and bleeding.

I am an early adopter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Outside of the noise and insane markets for NFTs right now, I do see value in the technology in its ability to fundamentally transform experiences for businesses and consumers. I mention that as a preface to my next statement so you understand where I am coming from.

I am THE ideal customer for Magic: the Gathering NFTs. They may as well take my picture and put it on the whiteboard when the marketing department works to understand what their ideal customer profile looks like.

I understand the technology behind NFTs and am an early adopter of it. I am a fan of Magic: The Gathering and like to purchase premium products for the game from time to time. But guess what? I’m not buying MTG NFTs and there is a 0% chance I am the only one in the MTG community that feels that way right now.

As cool as they may be, I will not be supporting WOTC by purchasing any Magic: the Gathering NFTs the company pumps out. That is until I feel like WOTC is listening to their community of players and working to address the numerous concerns and wrongs that have been inflicted on us.

Address the issues and mend the community first, then sell some really cool Magic: the Gathering NFTs. If and when that happens, I’ll be first in line to buy them.

What do you think about Magic: the Gathering NFTs? Let me know in the comments below! Did you enjoy this content? Support my writing directly on Patreon and get some awesome patron-exclusive benefits.