Magic Online Review

[Spiderman]

I got the latest issue of Computer Gaming World and they had a pretty funny, scathing review. Read it here

What I was surprised about was how the graphics looked pretty blocky (I'm not sure you can see them in the online review but in the mag, it was awful).

There was also a sidebar in the mag about how hard it was for a newbie to get into the game, along the lines of SeFRo's article. It's not online (as far as I can tell) so I'll try to post it tomorrow.

 

[BigBlue]

That is one of the funniest damn things I've ever seen.

Magic from a PC gamer point of view.

Makes me feel like a complete nit (of course I've not spent a dime on MtGO, so there is some salvation). The work that was done was incredible porting the card game to the PC, but it really will only appeal to a section of Magic players. I don't think it'll appeal to anyone else.

It would be interesting if they made it more like say . . . Yu-Gi-Oh, bear with me . . . Where you played cards, and virtual creatures came into existence and did battle with one another (strictly with stats mind you, I wouldn't pervert the game into randomness).

Oh well, at least the game does beep at you when your serra cuts down a shivan with a giant growth (though it would be cooler to see an animation).

 

[EricBess]

Of course, "card" animation would probably mean that each new expansion would be release for online once all the animation was programmed in addition to the game rules. That would be a delay of several months at least

 

[rkoelsch]

Really makes you wonder when a guy lambastes a game then admits to being hooked on it. It really points out that MTGO is aimed at lapsed players or remote players, not pc gamers.

 

[Spiderman]

I think he was just saying that although he played Magic and it does a good job on the computer, the game could have been much better from a visual and "action" point of view (i.e. an actual attack "sequence" with creatures rather than simply tapping them. Kind of like another game which I'll remember tomorrow when I bring in my mag to write up that other thing I mentioned).

 

[rkoelsch]

sort of like battle chess. I don't think it needs it but what do I know.

 

[Spiderman]

I think it might have been something like Ethereal Lords. Once I know the name, I'll see if I can dig it up online.

People who already play Magic won't mind the lack of "action", but I guess new people might think it's kinda sparse

 

[Spiderman]

A Newbie's Perspective

Being a complete and utter newbie in the world of collectible card games like Magic, I was exactly the sort of casual gamer Wizards of the Coast was looking to rope in with their low box price. My experience? I floundered beyond belief when I tried to figure out how to play this game. The tutorial, while it hints at the strategy involved, doesn't expose you to anything useful except the procedure for laying down the cards. When I was in a real game, the only way for me to figure out how to use my cards was for someone else to beat the crap out of me using those same cards. Figuring out which cards to buy was an even worse nightmare. The online storefront offered no direction at all toward what might be helpful for a new player, no instructions, no nothing. Even more maddening? One of the virtual booseter packs that I wanted to buy was "out of stock". How?!? It doesn't even exist!

In a recent CGW interview with Wizards' senior marketing manager Kyle Murray, he claimed the developers were creating a system that would make it easy for new players to become part of community. Well, Kyle should make a visit to the practice room and watch all the people struggling through this nightmarish system. Were it not for the free credits towards cards and the helpfulness of my coworkers, I would never have ventured past the box purchase.

-Dana Jongwaard

 

[EricBess]

Originally posted by rkoelsch
Really makes you wonder when a guy lambastes a game then admits to being hooked on it. It really points out that MTGO is aimed at lapsed players or remote players, not pc gamers.

Spidey commented that what he might have meant was that it could have been visually better and so forth. Personally, I think he was just doing his job with the artical and doing it well.

Keep in mind, his job as a reviewer is to review games so that people can determine which games they would like to purchase. Computer gamers who already play Magic know what they are getting into. Computer gamers who don't play magic may want to check it out if the review is good.

Bottom line is, a typical computer gamer will want to buy something like Warcraft 3, not Magic. Because Magic online is not flashy, has no timing interactions, is not action packed.

Remember, that's his target audience, not us. He does go on to say that WotC never intended the game to be for that audience and if you are in the audience that WotC intended the game for, well, the interface could have been better, but welcome to your game, you will be pleased.

I think he did a great job of reviewing the game subjectively.

 

[rkoelsch]

I am so hooked on this game. This has revived my interest in Magic. I always joined sealed deck leagues. this morning I opened my booster for the second week of the league. it was great. If Magic was alive in Toledo, this probably wouldn't hold as much appeal but sad to say there is next to no magic community here.