This is wrong in at least two ways.

Magic is a TCG. Removing the trade aspects of the game (i.e., keeping the store open forever, removing the secondary market) would go against its foundations, and would change Magic into something else. It would badly hurt the limited part of the game, which thrives on singles sales to constructed players. The lottery aspect of cracking boosters, while using the contents for some really intense gaming experience, is the biggest draw I ever experienced in a game.

I can't really argue that Magic is cheap, it's a really expensive hobby. But the online version is a LOT cheaper, both for Standard and Eternal play. So I can't really understand your statement about MTGO being insanely expensive to buy into later. If you compare it to paper, it's a bargain. Sure, expensive in absolute terms, but that is a feature o the game, not of MTGO. And the relative cheapness comes from the feature you propose to remove, the extremely fluid online secondary market.

And I'm almost sure the digital side is already competing with the paper side quite efectively. But then, I might be biased here, since I belong to the exact demographic MTGO is aimed at. For me, there is simply no competition. Paper is a thing of the past. Missed triggers, not being sure about a creature's power/toughness, energy counts, life count following, cheating ... all gone (well, there are some new ways of cheating involving friends).

I think Wizos are aiming for a coexistence between the two versions, with online aimed at the competitive amateurs and middle-aged professionals pressed for time, and paper at friendly home play, and high-level competition.

Does MTGO keep selling packs of sets perpetually? I know that some sets are limited releases, but I'm not sure about all of them. Also, I understand that old sets come back periodically, but I'm not sure how often.

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When I played it I think they did not.

I thought some more about what you wrote, and now it seems to me that you were in fact complaining about how expensive the game is in general, not about MTGO in particular. Well, somebody has to pay for all the designers, programmers, artists, story writers, PR and management types that all put a ton of effort into making this game enjoyable.

I would argue that the parts of the game that make it, for me, the best game ever, just can't be done cheaply. I tried Heartstone. It was ugly and boring. Gameplay was totally trivial. I know some people do not agree, but for me, there is simply no competition.

I've only recently come to realize how much the settings of the game, i.e., the fantasy worlds and flavor, contribute to the whole game experience. I still disdain the actual story articles on the mothership, but the finely worked out environment is a real addition to the enjoyment of the game. And the depth of gameplay is just unbeleivable. Not so much in constructed, but for casual play and Limited. And this takes money. You can't do it for free. TANSTAAFL.

It is unfortunate that this makes Magic into a game that relatively few people can afford.

The problem with the free-to-play online version, in addition to the as-is paper version, is that it would cut too deply into the profit margins of the company. I don't want to guess whether it would make the continued excellence of the game impossible, but it is the nature of capitalism not to give up on existing profits. So, I guess I agree with your assessment that such a thing can never happen.

MtG is an idea, and all ideas are naturally free because they can be replicated for free.




(If someone ain't got the message, there's a thing called proxies.)

Magic is not that expensive of a hobby. It's cheaper than Golf, or Skiing.

To be fair, a lot of people can't afford golf or skiing either.

But for this to work, somebody else has to pay for the work the creators gave into the creation of ideas you are going to replicate for free. (I'm talking here about the finished, enjoyable product, not the raw, unrealized idea. Many people, some of them on this forum, can create a set. But to maintain and perpetuate the whole system is a completely different proposition.)

Also, ideas are not free. In other contexts, replicating other people's ideas can be actionable, unless you acknowledge intellectual property rights and/or pay royalties. (But proxying up your home games is fine.)