Thursday, July 16, 2009

M10 a Magic: the Gathering revival?

I have never been a huge Magic: the gathering fan. at most I am a very casual player. I have never been able to wrap my head around Collectable card games. . . never been able to make this card work with that card. . . never been able to deck build. . . I'm just not good at it. I do keep up with it though, just so I can know what is going on in that side of fandom.

Wizards is releasing the newest core set (called Magic 2010 or M10) tomorrow, and strangely I am excited about it. You see its the theme that is pulling me in. It feels like magic felt years ago. I don't feel so lost in the years and years of meta plot, they have striped it and went back to its roots so to speak. It feels like a fantasy card game about wizards casting spells at each other. I'm actually excited about it.

Another thing Wizards has done is considerably change the rules in an attempt to defeat bloat, and make the game more accessible to new or casual players. I think this is a step in the right direction.

Interestingly this is not the first time Wizards has taken this approach to one of its flag ship products. Just over a year ago Wizards of the coast released Dungeons and dragons 4th edition. It was a major upgrade, and while players are still debating if it was necessary or if it was actually an improvement, it made an impact on the market. At the same time there was a decision made to scale back their setting centric products (still in D&D) and strip away 30 years of meta plot from them to make them more approachable. It seems that this is the chosen thought process at wizards of the coast at the moment, and I think it may actually be a viable business plan.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Fandom in a different time of my life

Usually when I refer to fandom I am meaning "Nerd Culture". . . Star Wars. . . Doctor Who . . . etc. . . But when I was younger - I'm talking about 10 years ago- I was more into subcultures than fandom. I was into the music scene. I listened to music played music. . . I think it was safe to say I breathed music. . . If I didn't have my tunes I was useless. I wore a chain on my wallet, and like my music loud.

Now I don't understand. I think I was making a statement. Maybe I've just gotten old. I think that's a just thought. Today I saw a girl walking through campus she was in the scene (not the scene I was in mind you but a scene none the less. . . I could tell. She was against the status quo just like I was. . . She wore bright red puffy converse style converse that screamed look at me. Now I appriciate this, like I said this was me 10 years ago and I've become a fudy dud (yes I did just say that) I'm cool with that, I have nothing left to prove I feel I've paid my dues to the rebels of the world.

Now that said, I still like to walk to my own drummers beat. I still have ways to show my oddness I just don't desire to do it in such obvious ways. I try to make my fandoms speak for me. :)

Now that I've said that I would like to say that I had a great time when I was younger. It was great fun listening to music and playing in the bands I played it. . . not to mention the friends I made and still have. I regret nothing but it is funny to think of myself then. . . sometimes I miss it.