Good evening, Mark! This is a response to your question earlier today, about what those of us who feel you aren't listening/being dismissive would like to hear. To give some context for my perspective: I played Magic for ~15 years before UB and followed Blogatog regularly, so I was here for all of the early conversations about it. What always frustrated me the most was when you (and others) would attempt to equate disliking UB with disliking some specific game mechanic (e.g. mill, counter spells) or some genre (e.g. horror), or when you would bring up an esoteric example such as Arabian Nights to show how "Magic has always done this." These responses very often came across as disingenuous / intentionally missing the point - or worse, trying to dismiss and diminish the asker's feelings. I recall at one point you used the example of "squirrels fighting Emrakul" as though that were somehow the same thing as Magic incorporating a dozen, legally distinct IPs. I deeply appreciate how open and active you are with the community, and I (and many people, I expect) look up to you, so it's not my intention to be negative, but your entire discourse on UB during that era left a very bad taste in my mouth and made me feel that you were very willfully trying to misunderstand/dismiss people's concerns, or for lack of a better term, "gaslight" the community. If that is not the case, it would mean a lot for me to hear something akin to the following: "I recognize that the game has fundamentally changed in a way that it hasn't before, and that this change may mean you are no longer interested in playing. I do not believe it's as simple as a mechanical or genre preference, and I'm not trying to pretend that it is, or to make it seem like you're in the wrong for feeling the way you do. Your concern is valid." I apologize for the long message, but I know it's a sensitive and persistent topic, so I wanted to try to explain my thoughts accurately. I hope you have a great rest of your day!
I have a podcast episode coming up in a couple weeks called “The Dark Night of the Soul”. In it, I talk about my own personal story where the will of the players shifted the game to a place that wasn’t how I personally saw the game. (For those unaware, this was about the rise of Commander in the game).
Magic has played a pivotal role in my life. My job, my relationship, many of my friends - all happened through this game. Saying it’s a core part of my identity is an understatement.
And I really had to face some demons when coming to grips with the game shifting from where I personally wanted it to be.
What fundamentally got me through was digging down deep and acknowledging what was most important to me about the game. Magic has been this amazing force of good in my life. It has transformed it in so many positive ways.
I really want it to be able to do that for others. And to do so, it has to meet them where they need the game to be. I had to take a critical eye and examine what Commander was doing to the game.
It was making Magic accessible in a new way. It was creating positive experiences, forging new relationships, and adding a more casual element which I had always wanted to see be part of the game. (It’s why I’ve always been so passionate about Un-sets.)
I compared it to how properties change with the times. The stories I read in my childhood are very different than the stories told today. The world changes and pop culture changes with it.
I totally understand that some shifts will leave certain people behind. Maybe the thing you love is changing in ways that you aren’t able to come to terms with.
The whole point of my podcast was to stress that I do not take this lightly. The expression “dark night of the soul” literally talks about a crisis of faith.
Because I’m the person who tries to explain why we do things, I tend to focus on why the shift is happening. I need to spend more time being sympathetic to those having trouble with the latest shift. Me personally coming to terms with Commander took years.
So to all of you with your own dark night of the soul, I really do understand your pain. Magic’s flux is one its greatest assets, but watching it shift its focus away from what drew you into the game is hard.
There really are only three paths forward.
1) Accept the change and learn to see what others love about the new path.
2) Find like-minded people and make a bubble that lets you keep playing the game in the way you love.
None of those is inherently easy.
I understand there’s a desire for a fourth path.
4) Change the game back to the way it used to be.
This just isn’t the way the game or the world works. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it’s just not going back in.
Whether you like or dislike Universe Beyond, it has fundamentally changed the nature of what the game is. It’s taking the game to a whole new level, in both scope and awareness, much like Commander forever changed how people saw and interacted with the game.
I hope many of you that are struggling can find your way on path 1) or 2). I’m here to try and help you do that. A big part of what got me through my dark night of the soul was better understanding why Commander did the things it did. I had to truly see the joy it created.
And if some of you take path 3), I totally understand. I hope to encourage the other paths, but I have to be open to you doing what works best for you.
I need to stop arguing with players about path 4). It’s not a real path, and me constantly focusing on why it’s not a path just has us recycling arguments no one is going to win.
This is all to say I don’t in any way want to diminish the real anguish I’m hearing. Magic’s constant change has its upside, but the downside is real. I’m sympathetic to your pain, and I’m sorry that for some of you it’s been so difficult.
For those of you that would like to take path 1), I’m here to help you better understand why much of the audience likes the new change.
For those of you that want to take path 2), I hope to help enable you to better find each other, and encourage taking action.
For those that choose path 3), I want to stress how much I have enjoyed your interactions over the years and will miss you.
I hope this post gives a better framing of this issue.
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