Magic: the Gathering

[Urchin]

Are there any Magic: the Gathering players here?

I am a DCI Level 2 Judge Trainer, I've judged 2 Pro Tours (San Diego in 2007, and Charleston in 2006) and 2 Grand Prixs (Columbus in 2007, and Detroit 2003), as well as many Regionals and States in the Ohio and Michigan.

I'll be judging PT Hollywood this May and GP Indianapolis this June. Anyone going to be there?

[Nadir]

I am a non-player who is very interested in it. From my very limited experience, I know how to play the game. I keep up with all the news, and love reading Magic-related columns. (Someone should sneak Mark Rosewater in here as he's so interested in MBTI.) Why am I a non-player? That's because I live in Turkey and we don't have many cards around here, or, at least, I don't know of many places which sell them, and cards also arrive sort of late. I'm sure Shadowmoor will arrive in mid-June or something. Same goes for players -- very scant number of them.

I might be starting Magic Online next year when I'll hopefully be starting university. Perhaps they will have lessened the existing issues with v3 by then.

And before you entertain any idle thoughts, yes, I read your occasional column as well.

[Jennifer]

I don't really play, haven't thought about it for years.

But I was there when the game came out. I remember my RPG gaming group annoying me because single people living off minimum wage would save up their money, come to session, and just open pack after pack of cards... doh.

I jumped in the next year, after the wave, just to get an idea of the basic rules and because I liked some of the art. I tend to dabble that way just to get my feet wet.

Then I watched all the other card companies try to capitalize on Wizards' success... and then they bought out TSR.

I guess that was a waste of a post, but I'm contributing in the only way I can.

My kids do play Pokemon, still, and I helped them buy all their initial base decks and build them.

[spirilis]

I got a whole group of friends who are hardcore into this game... including one dude who's just sick (not sure if he's played in any major competitions, but he's on par with another guy I know who has)

I personally stay away from it, too much stuff to keep track of... I'm not a big fan of group competition games

[Hexis]

I used to be really really big into it, but it soon became an expensive and addicting hobbie that I had to put a stop to. Then Ravnica came out and I just had to get back into it, I played with a group of guys around my neighborhood at our local game store. But soon the store started losing bussiness and people from the original group soon stoped playing and then it all just fell apart from their. I would probably still be in it if it wasnt for the fact that no one I know (and like as well) play. And the closest place to play other than someones house is like 40 mins away.

But im very interested in the newest set and would love to make a Tree Warrior deck.

[Nocap]

Hell yes. But it's expensive as hell so not a lot. And no one I know except my cousin likes it so it's not worth all the money.

What's involved in judging the tournaments?

[Geoff]

It's very cheap if you play on line or via the computer using the old magic the gathering microprose game (can find it for free fairly easily on an abandonware site) then update it with the latest fan made manalink stuff. Great way to kill an hour with a deck that costs you nothing. The computer AI is a tad weak, but it's good fun all the same.

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by Nocapszy

What's involved in judging the tournaments?

Judging tournaments means knowing the rules in great detail, knowing the philosophical policies of the DCI, and learning to organize/carry out tasks well. It's hard work, but I love it.

Originally Posted by Nadir

I might be starting Magic Online next year when I'll hopefully be starting university. Perhaps they will have lessened the existing issues with v3 by then.

My boyfriend works for WotC programming Magic Online. They're working quite hard on it, but it's a pretty massive overhaul. Once they get it going, though, the servers won't crash all the time anymore (in theory).

Originally Posted by Nadir

Someone should sneak Mark Rosewater in here as he's so interested in MBTI.

That would be awesome if MaRo ended up here. WotC employees recently got evaluated with the MBTI as a corporate tool. I've been gathering data through the boyfriend on the WotC employees I know. It's a pretty interesting sample. I'll post more about it when I have more data.

Originally Posted by Nadir

And before you entertain any idle thoughts, yes, I read your occasional column as well.

Thanks for reading. It's a lot of fun to write and the other writers are very cool. Eli is a good friend of mine.

[Nadir]

Originally Posted by Urchin

That would be awesome if MaRo ended up here. WotC employees recently got evaluated with the MBTI as a corporate tool. I've been gathering data through the boyfriend on the WotC employees I know. It's a pretty interesting sample. I'll post more about it when I have more data.

In his column "Making Magic" MaRo occasionally talks about his intuition and how he's off the scales with it. That coupled with his mentioning of "shower moments" and "stumbling upon ideas/answers" seems to point towards a Ni preference -- and combined with his general loud and energetic demeanor during interviews, podcasts, etc I'd hazard a guess that he's ENFJ , but with a rather slightly expressed I/E preference. Of course there's also the matter of his ego which he owns up to...

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by Nadir

In his column "Making Magic" MaRo occasionally talks about his intuition and how he's off the scales with it. That coupled with his mentioning of "shower moments" and "stumbling upon ideas/answers" seems to point towards a Ni preference -- and combined with his general loud and energetic demeanor during interviews, podcasts, etc I'd hazard a guess that he's ENFJ , but with a rather slightly expressed I/E preference. Of course there's also the matter of his ego which he owns up to...

My predictions as far as WotC employees go are that Digital Gaming will see a strong T preference, R&D will see a strong N preference, Organized Play might have a J preference, and Customer Service might have an E bias (at least compared to the rest of the company, anyway).

I know maybe two R&D people, most of the DG people, maybe two Customer Service people, and a handful of the OP people.