It's kinda worked with Warhammer decks locally. Most nerds have dabbled in Magic at some point, so the Warhammer decks were enough to get many folks to relapse.I guess I don't understand the stated logic behind the cross themed stuff. "hey, yeh, you like transformers? here's like 20 cards, aren't they nifty? Oh, now you're in the door, <slams down 30 years of rules and umpteen million cards> now rule 1.1.1.a.1.a Play begins when..... hey, where are you going?"
Printing cards that look like transformers, or my little pony, or trolls, or stranger things, earns you only a couple of pack purchases. It doesn't create the next generation of obsessed fan, esport wanabe, or whale. Trying to drive continued growth off of only small one time sales *is* a business model, but it sure isn't what got Magic *to* this anniversary.
Put ABU on Arena, watch heads explode.Instead of working their way backwards to catch up with Pioneer / Modern on Arena, they should put in some of the really classic sets. How many old nerds would download Arena for the first time if they heard that there was Rathe cycle draft / sealed? Or similar?
Put ABU on Arena, watch heads explode.
Apparently, it's a lot of hard work to implement a set in Arena. Since their goal is mostly the standard format (which forces players to constantly churn new sets, hence buy packs for a lot of them), implementing old sets isn't considered worth it.It's been the thing that I've been waiting for since Arena was announced. WoW Classic was a mega success, people still show up to play the new EverQuest TLP, retro gaming and collecting is big, where is the Magic the Gathering relaunch? Put out Alpha, let people fuck around with it for a couple of months, release Arabian Nights. There's so much gameplay that almost no one got to experience just sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
Apparently, it's a lot of hard work to implement a set in Arena. Since their goal is mostly the standard format (which forces players to constantly churn new sets, hence buy packs for a lot of them), implementing old sets isn't considered worth it.
There is still the issue of art licensing too. A lot of the original art was licensed on a per-print basis, so you might still have to pay some of the original artist again if you want to reuse the original card art.
Imo needs to be either Rath cycle or Urza cycle to begin with if we are going for nostalgia sets. They're way more balanced gameplay wise than the other 90s era sets. Great happy medium.Put ABU on Arena, watch heads explode.
Imo needs to be either Rath cycle or Urza cycle to begin with if we are going for nostalgia sets. They're way more balanced gameplay wise than the other 90s era sets. Great happy medium.
Now THAT would have been like Hasbro printing free moneyThe time to do an Arena Alpha launch was the 30 year anniversary. Yes we did thousand dollar proxy reprints BUT we also added Alpha to Arena with limited and constructed support as part of the celebration.
The problem is that ABU is a fucking awful limited format. People try to draft it and it's no fun.Put ABU on Arena, watch heads explode.