After spending my first 20 dollars/tickets on cards within the client, I'm planning on spending the last $10 of my initial start up on eBay or in one of the MTGO stores.
My first goal in building a budget MTGO collection is to try and finish as many 4x common playsets as I can. One of the best places to find those pre-built collections is eBay. So with PayPal account in hand, I wandered over to the den of iniquity that is eBay to see what I could get.
One of the best advantages of eBay is that their seller ratings give you some idea of how reliable the different sellers are. Personally, I don't buy from anyone on eBay with a zero or low feedback score, and any account that has just been created or had its name changed in the last month will scare me off as well.
Fortunately most MTG and MTGO sellers on eBay are relatively reputable and have good feedback ratings. So while not as secure as the reputable MTGO web-based stores, the chances of successfully completing an auction are good enough to make it worth your time.
One quick note -- you can get scammed on eBay, but you can protect yourself as well. The best way to protect yourself is through your credit card. Check with your credit card's bank/issuing agent about their policies on returned/fraudulent digital items including the MTGO store itself, along with the differing policies on PayPal and eBay transactions. My credit card will cover me for PayPal charges against my card in the event of an eBay purchase for physical items. However, they won't for digital goods. MTGO product kind of fits in the middle, and the representative I spoke with said that if the seller was listed as a 'Secure Seller' than MTGO goods would be covered. They also said an individual seller would be covered up to $50 on a single purchase. Regardless, checking with your credit card company is a good thing to do before venturing into the wilds of the online marketplace.
Okay, back to eBay. For the purposes of this experiment, my target was the TSP block of cards. I was reasonably certain that I could get one of the 4x common sets in the block for less than the estimated $10-15 dollars I would spend in tickets to get it online. Fortunately, there was one dealer offering just that over the weekend. Since Time Spiral was the big block, I put in a maximum bid of $7.50 for that set and a max bid of $5 on the two smaller sets in the block, Planar Chaos and Future Sight.
I was "in the lead" with all three auctions with only two days left to go. Things were looking good, coming into the last day of the auction. I was winning the Time Spiral auction with a bid of $4.88 and both the other two auctions with bids around $3. To be honest, I thought that was a reasonable price and likely to survive the final 12 hours.
Little did I know.
Actually, I did know that almost every auction on eBay gets the major amount of attention in its last hour. This case was to be no exception. With about 45 minutes to go in the auction, I was outbid on the Planar Chaos set. With about 20 minutes to go, the Time Spiral set was gone too. Shortly there after, the future of my owning a Future Sight common set went poof too.
In the end, the Time Spiral set went for $8.33. That's not bad for 400 commons plus land. The Future Sight set went for $5.50 meaning that the only person to outbid me won the auction. The real shocker was the Planar Chaos set. It went for a whopping $15.51! Who the heck would bid that much (and maybe more) for 240 commons? The answer was that the same guy won all three auctions. So he got a full TSP block playset of commons for $29.34. Maybe it's me, but I'm not telling anyone to spend that much on MTGO right now. But hey, I'm happy he got his set -- and it's still cheaper than some of the 'Buy It Now' prices you see for 4x common sets on eBay.
The good news is since I didn't spend any of my remaining $10 budget on eBay this month -- it's all going to go to one lucky store. Of course, you'll have to check in later this week to find out which store it will be -- because I don't know myself.
All I know is that The Thrifty Djinn is going shopping -- and everyone enjoys shopping for a bargain, right?
Later,
Don!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Alls well that ends well ...
As bad as my last attempt at trading went, the next one went much better.
To be honest, I've been looking at all four routes to build my collection, and the traditional tix-for-cards is still viable. I had the 20 tickets available to trade with the other player, but since that fell through -- I checked the boards in game. There were several good bots up and running, but nothing great, at least not right off the bat.
Then I saw it. The siren song of budget traders everywhere: 64 cards for 1 ticket.
I wasn't expecting a lot to be honest, but I figured what the heck. I could at least get started in building playsets of standard commons. But, much to my happy surprise -- the first scene that greeted me entering trade was a darn near full set of 10th Edition commons. Beyond that, near full playsets of Lorwyn and Morningtide.
I asked the owner if all his cards were available at 64-for-1 and he said, "Sure." I explained to him what my goals were, and he said he was more than happy to help. In fact, he even gave me a couple of extra pulls and some filler at the end to complete my sets. So for 14 tickets, I pretty much have 4x playsets of 10th Ed, Morningtide and Lorwyn. I think I'm short three Incinerates and one Terror, and two Unholy Strengths ... but that's about it.
So, dear Chef Woods -- this Bud's for you. When I start to think there's too many bozos online trading cards, you reminded me that people can still be nice out there.
Since Chef did a great job of setting my up for success -- I still had a few tickets left to trade for uncommons and to pick up those few missing commons. Karn Evil Nine had some great commons and uncommons for sale -- including a lot of Invasion block commons. No Armadillo Cloaks or Terminates, but he did have most of the 2/2 bears like Gaea's Skyfolk and a number of other helpers like Shackles and Quiron Elves. A pair of bots rounded out my other trades, with Natas70 having a lot of bargains in the 16 for 1 bin, and lark_mtg having a good filler selection as well.
As for my last $1o left for this month, and my first monthly $15, I'm looking to the stores and the evil that is eBay. I'd like to finish out my 4x standard commons, and then add some cheap uncommons and rares to build a set of good budget decks. I'm likely to start with a few tribal decks, since I've always been a Merfolk fan, and I love me some some Angels as well. Goblins can be cheap to build as well, except for a couple of the high end rares. Of course, I could go with Slivers, but I don't want to get on too many folk's block lists!
So, I'll be poking at the major MTGO card sites over the next few days and hoping for some luck on eBay. I'll let you all know how it turns out, and hopefully post as CSV file for my first month's efforts pretty soon. I'm actually pretty impressed with how much you can get for very little right now.
Later,
Don!
To be honest, I've been looking at all four routes to build my collection, and the traditional tix-for-cards is still viable. I had the 20 tickets available to trade with the other player, but since that fell through -- I checked the boards in game. There were several good bots up and running, but nothing great, at least not right off the bat.
Then I saw it. The siren song of budget traders everywhere: 64 cards for 1 ticket.
I wasn't expecting a lot to be honest, but I figured what the heck. I could at least get started in building playsets of standard commons. But, much to my happy surprise -- the first scene that greeted me entering trade was a darn near full set of 10th Edition commons. Beyond that, near full playsets of Lorwyn and Morningtide.
I asked the owner if all his cards were available at 64-for-1 and he said, "Sure." I explained to him what my goals were, and he said he was more than happy to help. In fact, he even gave me a couple of extra pulls and some filler at the end to complete my sets. So for 14 tickets, I pretty much have 4x playsets of 10th Ed, Morningtide and Lorwyn. I think I'm short three Incinerates and one Terror, and two Unholy Strengths ... but that's about it.
So, dear Chef Woods -- this Bud's for you. When I start to think there's too many bozos online trading cards, you reminded me that people can still be nice out there.
Since Chef did a great job of setting my up for success -- I still had a few tickets left to trade for uncommons and to pick up those few missing commons. Karn Evil Nine had some great commons and uncommons for sale -- including a lot of Invasion block commons. No Armadillo Cloaks or Terminates, but he did have most of the 2/2 bears like Gaea's Skyfolk and a number of other helpers like Shackles and Quiron Elves. A pair of bots rounded out my other trades, with Natas70 having a lot of bargains in the 16 for 1 bin, and lark_mtg having a good filler selection as well.
As for my last $1o left for this month, and my first monthly $15, I'm looking to the stores and the evil that is eBay. I'd like to finish out my 4x standard commons, and then add some cheap uncommons and rares to build a set of good budget decks. I'm likely to start with a few tribal decks, since I've always been a Merfolk fan, and I love me some some Angels as well. Goblins can be cheap to build as well, except for a couple of the high end rares. Of course, I could go with Slivers, but I don't want to get on too many folk's block lists!
So, I'll be poking at the major MTGO card sites over the next few days and hoping for some luck on eBay. I'll let you all know how it turns out, and hopefully post as CSV file for my first month's efforts pretty soon. I'm actually pretty impressed with how much you can get for very little right now.
Later,
Don!
Sometimes you can't trust people ...
I guess you can file this under, "I saw this coming."
As of this morning, of the four choices in building your collection, no one voted to use the official offline boards. However earlier this week, I did my due diligence and paid them a visit anyway. Once I was over there, I thought I had found a great deal -- someone selling playsets of commons for reasonable prices.
I e-mailed them per their request, and I agreed to buy six full common playsets for 20 tickets. I tried to catch the person online, but they weren't available. I sent a second e-mail, which went unanswered. I should have been wary then -- but I spent the majority of Friday online in MTGO waiting for them to logon.
I checked his board thread this morning, and he said all the sets were gone -- I was lucky I had already sent my e-mail earlier this week -- right?
This morning, I jumped on MTGO and he was logged on into the client -- but surprise, all the sets had been sold -- even the ones he had agreed to sell to me. The story I was told was that supposedly one person had bought 40 of the sets. Sigh, so either I'd been lied to -- or he was impatient, but the end result is likely someone else is simply going to put the sets up on eBay or such just for profit.
I'm going to have to do a bit of research, but I can tell you any entity related to the 'BezelShop' account, Rozbity_Bezel boards account or Hubert Multana is not to be trusted at their word.
Here's this morning's conversation in MTGO:
9:18 AM ThriftyDjinn: Hey!
9:18 AM BezelShop: hi
9:19 AM ThriftyDjinn: You sold all the sets?
9:19 AM BezelShop: yeah, sorry but i couldnt catch
9:19 AM BezelShop: catch u
9:20 AM ThriftyDjinn: Sigh, I was online almost all day yesterday waiting for you to logon
9:20 AM BezelShop: i was only 2-3 hours on-line
9:21 AM BezelShop: and then one guy took 40 sets
9:21 AM ThriftyDjinn: But I e-mailed you like you ased and we had a deal, or so I thought
9:21 AM ThriftyDjinn: asked
BezelShop has left the conversation.
So, at the end of the day -- what did I learn from this? Well, I learned that you can get some really good deals by checking out the official online boards -- but it's definitely a Caveat Emptor environment.
BTW, I let 'BezelShop' know that I posted here and also back on his thread on the official boards -- it will be interesting to see if there's any response. You just have to love a good opportunity for weekend drama, right?
For me though, it means I'm back to the client to find some better trading partners -- and I actually have a few good experiences I'll post about tonight. I just need to get my notes in order!
Later,
Don!
*** Drama Update ***
He did at least answer the post on the boards, here's a cut/paste:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
lol, this guy is funny. here's the situation. he wanted to buy 4x of all and send me an email about that, sure thats true. i anwered him :
"hello sure, not a problem. i will be on-line in about 10 hours, im in
school now. u must catch me on-line (bezelshop)
all x4 is 20 tickets
cya!"
now he is crying, couse he catched me on-line when all the set were sold, couse many people wanted to buy them and were on-line earlier. i did not told that guy, that the sets will be waiting for him forever. i sold over 145 common sets in few days and all my customers were satisfied.
case is over.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I also spoke to him in game afterwards, let's just say that he's not a very friendly or conscientious person. I really do think you can get some good deals out there, but the lesson I learned here was that some of these folks just aren't nice people to deal with.
As of this morning, of the four choices in building your collection, no one voted to use the official offline boards. However earlier this week, I did my due diligence and paid them a visit anyway. Once I was over there, I thought I had found a great deal -- someone selling playsets of commons for reasonable prices.
I e-mailed them per their request, and I agreed to buy six full common playsets for 20 tickets. I tried to catch the person online, but they weren't available. I sent a second e-mail, which went unanswered. I should have been wary then -- but I spent the majority of Friday online in MTGO waiting for them to logon.
I checked his board thread this morning, and he said all the sets were gone -- I was lucky I had already sent my e-mail earlier this week -- right?
This morning, I jumped on MTGO and he was logged on into the client -- but surprise, all the sets had been sold -- even the ones he had agreed to sell to me. The story I was told was that supposedly one person had bought 40 of the sets. Sigh, so either I'd been lied to -- or he was impatient, but the end result is likely someone else is simply going to put the sets up on eBay or such just for profit.
I'm going to have to do a bit of research, but I can tell you any entity related to the 'BezelShop' account, Rozbity_Bezel boards account or Hubert Multana is not to be trusted at their word.
Here's this morning's conversation in MTGO:
9:18 AM ThriftyDjinn: Hey!
9:18 AM BezelShop: hi
9:19 AM ThriftyDjinn: You sold all the sets?
9:19 AM BezelShop: yeah, sorry but i couldnt catch
9:19 AM BezelShop: catch u
9:20 AM ThriftyDjinn: Sigh, I was online almost all day yesterday waiting for you to logon
9:20 AM BezelShop: i was only 2-3 hours on-line
9:21 AM BezelShop: and then one guy took 40 sets
9:21 AM ThriftyDjinn: But I e-mailed you like you ased and we had a deal, or so I thought
9:21 AM ThriftyDjinn: asked
BezelShop has left the conversation.
So, at the end of the day -- what did I learn from this? Well, I learned that you can get some really good deals by checking out the official online boards -- but it's definitely a Caveat Emptor environment.
BTW, I let 'BezelShop' know that I posted here and also back on his thread on the official boards -- it will be interesting to see if there's any response. You just have to love a good opportunity for weekend drama, right?
For me though, it means I'm back to the client to find some better trading partners -- and I actually have a few good experiences I'll post about tonight. I just need to get my notes in order!
Later,
Don!
*** Drama Update ***
He did at least answer the post on the boards, here's a cut/paste:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
lol, this guy is funny. here's the situation. he wanted to buy 4x of all and send me an email about that, sure thats true. i anwered him :
"hello sure, not a problem. i will be on-line in about 10 hours, im in
school now. u must catch me on-line (bezelshop)
all x4 is 20 tickets
cya!"
now he is crying, couse he catched me on-line when all the set were sold, couse many people wanted to buy them and were on-line earlier. i did not told that guy, that the sets will be waiting for him forever. i sold over 145 common sets in few days and all my customers were satisfied.
case is over.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I also spoke to him in game afterwards, let's just say that he's not a very friendly or conscientious person. I really do think you can get some good deals out there, but the lesson I learned here was that some of these folks just aren't nice people to deal with.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The adventure starts here ... sort of
Well, I've made my first purchase in the online store -- redeeming my starter coupon. Sort of. Most of it, anyway.
I was going to go ahead and buy 10 tickets with the $9.99 online coupon, and pay the entire one cent balance with my credit card. Unfortunately, you can't use a coupon in conjunction with your credit card for a purchase right now -- so I had to buy only nine tickets instead of my planned 10.
On the up side, I called the customer support folks and they were both quick and friendly in explaining the issue to me -- and promised that my remaining 99 cents would be available on the coupon for a later purchase once that functionality in the store is addressed.
So now I have my first nine tickets, and I'm starting to look at how to spend the rest of my $20 for this month. Plus, I'm looking ahead to next week when I can spend my first scheduled $15. This is where I'll need your help.
LOOK at the poll to the right. Pick a choice, or post a reply to this blog note. What should I do with my initial seed monies to get the most out of MTGO? My initial thoughts are to simply get the best pool of cards I can to play in the casual room -- since there's not a lot else to do in MTGO right now. With that having been said, there's several different ways to go about getting the most cards for my money.
1. Buy tickets, trade for cards in bulk.
There are a few bots and a few live traders online now, however I don't see any of the 32-for-1 trade bots or any offers in that range in the marketplace. However, I could go over to the ticker and stalk the room for a bit and see who is willing to sell commons and such at a rate of 32-to-1 or better.
2. Check out the local dealers.
I would think since the in game trading functionality is kind of wonky right now, some of the full-time MTGO sites would have sales on their wares that they would normally sell in game through bots and locally-manned accounts. If anyone knows of any of the dealers making bulk sales of commons or such online -- let me know, and I'll a) Check them out, and b) post a link here for others to peruse.
3. The evil that is eBay.
I'm definitely looking at heading over to eBay and seeing what 4x commons sets they have available. I'm reasonably sure I should be able to get a set of 4x standard commons relatively cheaply -- but I'm not so sure that eBay is the cheapest way to do that. However, right now, eBay may well be the most reliable.
4. Online trading posts.
There's an official online trading board over in the official WotC boards. Both paper and digital cards get swapped there, but I'm leery of the process. Of course, any deal that ends in a cards for tickets trade in game is safe -- but I'm thinking many of the posters want an out of game transaction ... that's not near as safe.
There may be more options than those -- please let me know if I'm missing something obvious. I'm not guaranteeing I'll go by the results of the poll -- but I'd really like to start playing on a budget and not just talking it about it so much!
Oh, one final note -- I got a couple of e-mails to my last request for information regarding getting about in v3. Probably the best source of information listed a post on the official boards from tempesteye -- LINK HERE -- that was posted late in beta. I know I learned a lot about the various chat line commands, and the rest of the information still seems to apply to the current build.
As always, please don't hesitate to let me know how I can make The Thrifty Djinn a more useful and enjoyable resource for all your budget MTGO needs.
Thanks,
Don!
I was going to go ahead and buy 10 tickets with the $9.99 online coupon, and pay the entire one cent balance with my credit card. Unfortunately, you can't use a coupon in conjunction with your credit card for a purchase right now -- so I had to buy only nine tickets instead of my planned 10.
On the up side, I called the customer support folks and they were both quick and friendly in explaining the issue to me -- and promised that my remaining 99 cents would be available on the coupon for a later purchase once that functionality in the store is addressed.
So now I have my first nine tickets, and I'm starting to look at how to spend the rest of my $20 for this month. Plus, I'm looking ahead to next week when I can spend my first scheduled $15. This is where I'll need your help.
LOOK at the poll to the right. Pick a choice, or post a reply to this blog note. What should I do with my initial seed monies to get the most out of MTGO? My initial thoughts are to simply get the best pool of cards I can to play in the casual room -- since there's not a lot else to do in MTGO right now. With that having been said, there's several different ways to go about getting the most cards for my money.
1. Buy tickets, trade for cards in bulk.
There are a few bots and a few live traders online now, however I don't see any of the 32-for-1 trade bots or any offers in that range in the marketplace. However, I could go over to the ticker and stalk the room for a bit and see who is willing to sell commons and such at a rate of 32-to-1 or better.
2. Check out the local dealers.
I would think since the in game trading functionality is kind of wonky right now, some of the full-time MTGO sites would have sales on their wares that they would normally sell in game through bots and locally-manned accounts. If anyone knows of any of the dealers making bulk sales of commons or such online -- let me know, and I'll a) Check them out, and b) post a link here for others to peruse.
3. The evil that is eBay.
I'm definitely looking at heading over to eBay and seeing what 4x commons sets they have available. I'm reasonably sure I should be able to get a set of 4x standard commons relatively cheaply -- but I'm not so sure that eBay is the cheapest way to do that. However, right now, eBay may well be the most reliable.
4. Online trading posts.
There's an official online trading board over in the official WotC boards. Both paper and digital cards get swapped there, but I'm leery of the process. Of course, any deal that ends in a cards for tickets trade in game is safe -- but I'm thinking many of the posters want an out of game transaction ... that's not near as safe.
There may be more options than those -- please let me know if I'm missing something obvious. I'm not guaranteeing I'll go by the results of the poll -- but I'd really like to start playing on a budget and not just talking it about it so much!
Oh, one final note -- I got a couple of e-mails to my last request for information regarding getting about in v3. Probably the best source of information listed a post on the official boards from tempesteye -- LINK HERE -- that was posted late in beta. I know I learned a lot about the various chat line commands, and the rest of the information still seems to apply to the current build.
As always, please don't hesitate to let me know how I can make The Thrifty Djinn a more useful and enjoyable resource for all your budget MTGO needs.
Thanks,
Don!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Same old song and dance ...
Nothing really good or bad about the state of v3 over the weekend. It is what it is.
It appears that the general frustration level from the MTGO community is beginning to come down. Not that people are suddenly happy about v3, just that they're beginning to realize that nothing that's said is going to make the program any better right now. The first (of quite a few) patches is due this week -- and a SP1 is likely to be out in a couple of weeks.
The initial fixes are supposed to deal with the problems regarding chat fonts and 'escrow' problems in the client. I think what a lot of people want to see is an end to the 'docking' mechanism that has been universally panned since it was launched. For the life of me, I don't understand how that piece of programming was left in the release client -- it's awkward, not user-friendly and just a sharp jab in the eye visually. Not to mention that the icons for using the 'docking feature' aren't intuitive at all. My son asked what the 'pen tip' icon was, and I had to explain to him the concept of really old writing implements that had to be dipped in ink to function. I think that there could have been a much more descriptive icon for that -- but of course, if the dock goes away, I won't miss that icon's departure at all.
Anyway, I'm still waiting to for a couple of things to get cleared up before I dive into the MTGO pool again. The marketplace is still not very useful, with both the 'bots not being out in force yet -- plus the annoying 'pop to top' bug every time someone posts as new ad -- making it tough to see any of the items past the ones on your initial view screen.
Speaking of which -- has anyone seen a good article or post for teaching players how to navigate around in v3? I'm still having fun playing with the different colors in chat -- but that's a feature that's not highlighted in any official capacity, and I imagine there's a lot of other features in this client that I'm equally unaware of. If you know of a good resource for getting to know the new client, let me know and I'll link to it here.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read the blog -- hopefully we can get to the intended purpose of the blog soon. Things should begin settling down soon enough.
Later,
Don!
It appears that the general frustration level from the MTGO community is beginning to come down. Not that people are suddenly happy about v3, just that they're beginning to realize that nothing that's said is going to make the program any better right now. The first (of quite a few) patches is due this week -- and a SP1 is likely to be out in a couple of weeks.
The initial fixes are supposed to deal with the problems regarding chat fonts and 'escrow' problems in the client. I think what a lot of people want to see is an end to the 'docking' mechanism that has been universally panned since it was launched. For the life of me, I don't understand how that piece of programming was left in the release client -- it's awkward, not user-friendly and just a sharp jab in the eye visually. Not to mention that the icons for using the 'docking feature' aren't intuitive at all. My son asked what the 'pen tip' icon was, and I had to explain to him the concept of really old writing implements that had to be dipped in ink to function. I think that there could have been a much more descriptive icon for that -- but of course, if the dock goes away, I won't miss that icon's departure at all.
Anyway, I'm still waiting to for a couple of things to get cleared up before I dive into the MTGO pool again. The marketplace is still not very useful, with both the 'bots not being out in force yet -- plus the annoying 'pop to top' bug every time someone posts as new ad -- making it tough to see any of the items past the ones on your initial view screen.
Speaking of which -- has anyone seen a good article or post for teaching players how to navigate around in v3? I'm still having fun playing with the different colors in chat -- but that's a feature that's not highlighted in any official capacity, and I imagine there's a lot of other features in this client that I'm equally unaware of. If you know of a good resource for getting to know the new client, let me know and I'll link to it here.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read the blog -- hopefully we can get to the intended purpose of the blog soon. Things should begin settling down soon enough.
Later,
Don!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Holding pattern
Hey all, if you haven't noticed -- this blog is kind of in a holding pattern at the moment. The release of v3 has been a little bumpy for Magic Online right now, and I expect it to remain that way for the next few days at least.
That presents a pretty large challenge for a project like this -- when the only reliable and repeatable method for getting cards and such is through the MTGO online store.
The first few 'bots have come online today, and I'll put up a new poll later this evening. The original poll showed that 71% of you were looking forward to having the bots return, with 15% of you happy that they're gone. The remaining 12% of folks weren't concerned one way or another.
Store coupons, like the one you get when you start a new account aren't working either. So, I'm sitting on the initial $9.99 coupon for the ThriftyDjinn screen name as we speak.
With all that having been said, if anyone knows of any good places or value deals for people to get cards -- feel free to add a comment to the blog, or drop me an e-mail at thrifty.djinn@gmail.com to let me know. I'll post the best ideas up here and hopefully some of our early adopters can get a good bargain while they're waiting for the masses to come running into MTGO.
Okay, one final note -- I'd like to thank everyone who has visited the site over the past week. Someone overnight was the 1,500th visitor, and I've had more than 340 hits from unique IP addresses -- that's not bad for an initial 'word of mouth' blog opening. I hope that as the kinks get worked out in MTGO and this blog that it will be a place you want to recommend to your friends and anyone interested in playing Magic Online.
Later,
Don!
That presents a pretty large challenge for a project like this -- when the only reliable and repeatable method for getting cards and such is through the MTGO online store.
The first few 'bots have come online today, and I'll put up a new poll later this evening. The original poll showed that 71% of you were looking forward to having the bots return, with 15% of you happy that they're gone. The remaining 12% of folks weren't concerned one way or another.
Store coupons, like the one you get when you start a new account aren't working either. So, I'm sitting on the initial $9.99 coupon for the ThriftyDjinn screen name as we speak.
With all that having been said, if anyone knows of any good places or value deals for people to get cards -- feel free to add a comment to the blog, or drop me an e-mail at thrifty.djinn@gmail.com to let me know. I'll post the best ideas up here and hopefully some of our early adopters can get a good bargain while they're waiting for the masses to come running into MTGO.
Okay, one final note -- I'd like to thank everyone who has visited the site over the past week. Someone overnight was the 1,500th visitor, and I've had more than 340 hits from unique IP addresses -- that's not bad for an initial 'word of mouth' blog opening. I hope that as the kinks get worked out in MTGO and this blog that it will be a place you want to recommend to your friends and anyone interested in playing Magic Online.
Later,
Don!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Free drafts that aren't really free ...
UPDATE 2 -- Straight from Worth <-- Click the link for updated info!
*** UPDATE ***
According to Adept_Ponza in game, Scott (Larabee, I assume) said there would be no more free drafts today and that they had the information they needed.
*** End Update ***
File this one under 'Also Expected' regarding the troubles with MTGO.
As some of you already know, Worth Wollpert came on to the official boards yesterday to discuss when the drafts would be up and running in MTGO. He said that they hoped to have them up Friday afternoon and would run a few no ticket/no product required events to test the system.
Well, nothing fires up the masses like a chance at free product, right?
There was one small hitch. The 'free' drafts required the players to have the product, and would not allow players to enter the event unless they had the product. Players who managed to enter the 'free' drafts were to be reimbursed via a coupon for replacement product, i.e. three packs and two tickets.
Needless to say, the road to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is paved with good intentions. So on top of all the rest of the hubub in game and on the various MTGO boards -- people are accusing Worth of a bait-and-switch.
I gotta admit, Worth kind of screwed the pooch with this one. But I also don't think the idea was a bad one. It just needed some more work, and a lot more clarity in communication.
Face it folks, right now they're just trying to get v3 up, running and semi-stable. Worth's going to have to make a lot of snap decisions on a thousand different things between now and the end of the month, when hopefully things will get better. If this is the worst mistake that gets made, then so be it.
With that having been said, Worth's kind of saying now that there may actually be some real no ticket/no product drafts to test the system in the near future -- so keep your eyes out for that in game and on the official boards. No promises mind you, but I'd be surprised if there isn't some sort of product giveaway to ease the rampant flames currently going on around the release of v3.
One big thing to note, I can tell you that the current management doesn't like to give away free product near as much as the previous administration. That's both a good and bad thing. Good, because it shows they have faith in their processes and a concern for the market -- both WotC's store and the secondary market. Bad, because, well -- frankly people like free stuff. Used wisely, free stuff can keep people interested in a product and show that they're more than just a source of easy income for the company.
Anyway, I'll try and update the blog with any news as it comes in regarding free drafts or anything else that will help stretch that MTGO dollar!
Later,
Don!
P.S. Feel free to chat me up in game if you see me, and don't hesitate to add ThriftyDjinn to your friends list. I really appreciate all the support you all have given me so far, and I really hope that once stuff settles down that this project/blog will be of value to the MTGO community.
*** UPDATE ***
According to Adept_Ponza in game, Scott (Larabee, I assume) said there would be no more free drafts today and that they had the information they needed.
*** End Update ***
File this one under 'Also Expected' regarding the troubles with MTGO.
As some of you already know, Worth Wollpert came on to the official boards yesterday to discuss when the drafts would be up and running in MTGO. He said that they hoped to have them up Friday afternoon and would run a few no ticket/no product required events to test the system.
Well, nothing fires up the masses like a chance at free product, right?
There was one small hitch. The 'free' drafts required the players to have the product, and would not allow players to enter the event unless they had the product. Players who managed to enter the 'free' drafts were to be reimbursed via a coupon for replacement product, i.e. three packs and two tickets.
Needless to say, the road to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is paved with good intentions. So on top of all the rest of the hubub in game and on the various MTGO boards -- people are accusing Worth of a bait-and-switch.
I gotta admit, Worth kind of screwed the pooch with this one. But I also don't think the idea was a bad one. It just needed some more work, and a lot more clarity in communication.
Face it folks, right now they're just trying to get v3 up, running and semi-stable. Worth's going to have to make a lot of snap decisions on a thousand different things between now and the end of the month, when hopefully things will get better. If this is the worst mistake that gets made, then so be it.
With that having been said, Worth's kind of saying now that there may actually be some real no ticket/no product drafts to test the system in the near future -- so keep your eyes out for that in game and on the official boards. No promises mind you, but I'd be surprised if there isn't some sort of product giveaway to ease the rampant flames currently going on around the release of v3.
One big thing to note, I can tell you that the current management doesn't like to give away free product near as much as the previous administration. That's both a good and bad thing. Good, because it shows they have faith in their processes and a concern for the market -- both WotC's store and the secondary market. Bad, because, well -- frankly people like free stuff. Used wisely, free stuff can keep people interested in a product and show that they're more than just a source of easy income for the company.
Anyway, I'll try and update the blog with any news as it comes in regarding free drafts or anything else that will help stretch that MTGO dollar!
Later,
Don!
P.S. Feel free to chat me up in game if you see me, and don't hesitate to add ThriftyDjinn to your friends list. I really appreciate all the support you all have given me so far, and I really hope that once stuff settles down that this project/blog will be of value to the MTGO community.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
3.0 is down ...
LOL, I think we all knew this was coming.
It appears there's been a few issues that need fixing post launch with V3. As of 9 p.m. EST, there's been a patch to the client (at least for me, I had to download two new files) and the servers are "Currently undergoing maintenance" ...
I honestly wouldn't expect the server to be anything near stable for the next week or so. In addition, the initial release of 3.0 has limited functionality in many regards.
So, if you absolutely need to get your Magic: The Gathering fix ... let me suggest playing in your local paper PRE-RELEASE EVENTS for the new Shadowmoor expansion this weekend. Right now, the current state of MTGO is likely to be a bit frustrating as they work through the opening bugs.
Later,
Don!
It appears there's been a few issues that need fixing post launch with V3. As of 9 p.m. EST, there's been a patch to the client (at least for me, I had to download two new files) and the servers are "Currently undergoing maintenance" ...
I honestly wouldn't expect the server to be anything near stable for the next week or so. In addition, the initial release of 3.0 has limited functionality in many regards.
So, if you absolutely need to get your Magic: The Gathering fix ... let me suggest playing in your local paper PRE-RELEASE EVENTS for the new Shadowmoor expansion this weekend. Right now, the current state of MTGO is likely to be a bit frustrating as they work through the opening bugs.
Later,
Don!
3.0 is up!
If you weren't already aware -- Magic Online v3.0 is up and running.
There seems to be some minor problems with some collections, and the sales store is coming down to fix a few issues as we speak. Other than that, there seem to be some folks online and testing out the new client.
On a more important note ... before the store had to close, I had a chance to test the new account creation functions from within the client. It's not exactly user friendly, but I found my way through it. So, if you see ThriftyDjinn online -- that's me! Feel free to open a chat window or give me a poke in game.
I don't have any cards yet, as I'm waiting a day or two to let things settle in with the new client -- but that's the whole point of my next blog anyway!
Anyway, if you haven't already downloaded the client -- the link is below. Also, keep an eye on the official forums for updates -- the link to the MTGO General Forum is also on the links list below as well.
Later,
Don!
There seems to be some minor problems with some collections, and the sales store is coming down to fix a few issues as we speak. Other than that, there seem to be some folks online and testing out the new client.
On a more important note ... before the store had to close, I had a chance to test the new account creation functions from within the client. It's not exactly user friendly, but I found my way through it. So, if you see ThriftyDjinn online -- that's me! Feel free to open a chat window or give me a poke in game.
I don't have any cards yet, as I'm waiting a day or two to let things settle in with the new client -- but that's the whole point of my next blog anyway!
Anyway, if you haven't already downloaded the client -- the link is below. Also, keep an eye on the official forums for updates -- the link to the MTGO General Forum is also on the links list below as well.
Later,
Don!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Time to test the waters ... and when will the 'bots be back?
Hey all, this is the second post for the blog -- and the initial response has been pretty positive. I don't want to burn up too many good future blog topics yet, so I'm choosing one that should have a pretty short lifespan ... so without further adieu ...
How long do you think it will be before the mass majority of bots will be back up and running on MTGO once Version 3.0 is released? What kind of effect will the lack of bots have on the secondary market? If new players come on board right at the release of 3.0, what do you think the secondary sales market will be?
**** Oh, for new players -- a 'bot is a automated, interactive client within MTGO. In other words, some accounts are run by a program to automatically support trading without a person on the other side of the keyboard. Most of these bots have set prices, some selling certain cards for X amount of tickets, while others sell X amount of cards for a single ticket. So when dealing/trading with a bot, you can enter trade with one of these automated (bot) accounts, and as you pull a card from their trade binder -- it will automatically pull a ticket (or tell you a price) for the card(s) you've chosen. ****
Bots in MTGO in general are both beloved and hated because of how they impact the secondary market of the game -- but that's definitely a topic (or topics) for another column at a later time!
Personally, I think a bot-free environment will raise prices (at least initially) across the board. One of the good things about having so many bots in MTGO was that they were self-regulating in terms of pricing. In other words, they kept the market from having large spikes as a whole by being available in large numbers. That's not to say that certain cards wouldn't have large price spikes or drops -- but that the large number of bots acted as a stabilizing influence on MTGO secondary sales as a whole.
I think a early on with the release of 3.0, you'll see MTGO buying/selling/trading look a lot like it did when the game was first released. More interpersonal, and more relationship based.
That's a good thing, and of course, a bad thing. The good things will include people honestly trying to help new players by offering them help and service along with their trades. With a bot, a player is left alone to choose the cards they want -- but with a real person, they can help a player choose cards that might compliment their collections, or a certain deck.
For example, if I pull 4 Stone Rains from a player's trade binder as part of a 32-for-1 ticket trade, they might also suggest some other commons/uncommons to compliment a deck that runs Stone Rain. Maybe some low-casting cost creatures, or additional land destruction spells. That sort of feedback and instruction is invaluable to the newer Magic player.
Another positive with direct interaction that you don't get with bots is the ability to haggle. A lot of the current economy is based on the basic limitations of the bots and the MTGO client. That's why the 32 common for 1 ticket standard is so prevalent throughout the game. If you're trading with another player you trust, maybe 50-for-1 trades will make more sense for both sides. Or maybe the ability to add certain commons, uncommons and rares will make the market a bit more manageable for people just starting out and building their collections.
Of course, the dark side of all this person-to-person trading will be some of the same old horror stories MTGO veterans have heard before. People trading a new player only a few crappy commons for multiple tickets, or conversely, trade them only a single ticket or two for powerful rares like Wrath of God or the 2-mana cost green creature that must not be named on this blog ...
So, what's your thoughts? Are you an optimist or a pessimist regarding the relatively bot-free environment we'll have when MTGO opens up? And how long do you think it will be before the majority of bots will be back online with 3.0?
Let me know, and make sure to post -- remember, your inputs make this blog a better resource for others -- and the MTGO community as a whole!
Later,
Don!
How long do you think it will be before the mass majority of bots will be back up and running on MTGO once Version 3.0 is released? What kind of effect will the lack of bots have on the secondary market? If new players come on board right at the release of 3.0, what do you think the secondary sales market will be?
**** Oh, for new players -- a 'bot is a automated, interactive client within MTGO. In other words, some accounts are run by a program to automatically support trading without a person on the other side of the keyboard. Most of these bots have set prices, some selling certain cards for X amount of tickets, while others sell X amount of cards for a single ticket. So when dealing/trading with a bot, you can enter trade with one of these automated (bot) accounts, and as you pull a card from their trade binder -- it will automatically pull a ticket (or tell you a price) for the card(s) you've chosen. ****
Bots in MTGO in general are both beloved and hated because of how they impact the secondary market of the game -- but that's definitely a topic (or topics) for another column at a later time!
Personally, I think a bot-free environment will raise prices (at least initially) across the board. One of the good things about having so many bots in MTGO was that they were self-regulating in terms of pricing. In other words, they kept the market from having large spikes as a whole by being available in large numbers. That's not to say that certain cards wouldn't have large price spikes or drops -- but that the large number of bots acted as a stabilizing influence on MTGO secondary sales as a whole.
I think a early on with the release of 3.0, you'll see MTGO buying/selling/trading look a lot like it did when the game was first released. More interpersonal, and more relationship based.
That's a good thing, and of course, a bad thing. The good things will include people honestly trying to help new players by offering them help and service along with their trades. With a bot, a player is left alone to choose the cards they want -- but with a real person, they can help a player choose cards that might compliment their collections, or a certain deck.
For example, if I pull 4 Stone Rains from a player's trade binder as part of a 32-for-1 ticket trade, they might also suggest some other commons/uncommons to compliment a deck that runs Stone Rain. Maybe some low-casting cost creatures, or additional land destruction spells. That sort of feedback and instruction is invaluable to the newer Magic player.
Another positive with direct interaction that you don't get with bots is the ability to haggle. A lot of the current economy is based on the basic limitations of the bots and the MTGO client. That's why the 32 common for 1 ticket standard is so prevalent throughout the game. If you're trading with another player you trust, maybe 50-for-1 trades will make more sense for both sides. Or maybe the ability to add certain commons, uncommons and rares will make the market a bit more manageable for people just starting out and building their collections.
Of course, the dark side of all this person-to-person trading will be some of the same old horror stories MTGO veterans have heard before. People trading a new player only a few crappy commons for multiple tickets, or conversely, trade them only a single ticket or two for powerful rares like Wrath of God or the 2-mana cost green creature that must not be named on this blog ...
So, what's your thoughts? Are you an optimist or a pessimist regarding the relatively bot-free environment we'll have when MTGO opens up? And how long do you think it will be before the majority of bots will be back online with 3.0?
Let me know, and make sure to post -- remember, your inputs make this blog a better resource for others -- and the MTGO community as a whole!
Later,
Don!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Okay, now we're in beta!
If you're reading this, you're interested in playing Magic Online. Either you're an existing player, or you're considering playing the game. Of course, while the game is a great deal of fun -- it can get very expensive, very quickly.
That's the purpose of this blog. It's possible to enjoy the game on a monthly budget, roughly equivalent to playing other massively-multiplayer online games, like World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings Online. For the purposes of this blog, I'm starting with an initial purchase of $30 and a monthly goal of spending $15 or less.
Hopefully you'll find some tips, tricks or just plain good ideas for playing Magic Online without burning a hole in your pocketbook.
That's the purpose of this blog. It's possible to enjoy the game on a monthly budget, roughly equivalent to playing other massively-multiplayer online games, like World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings Online. For the purposes of this blog, I'm starting with an initial purchase of $30 and a monthly goal of spending $15 or less.
Hopefully you'll find some tips, tricks or just plain good ideas for playing Magic Online without burning a hole in your pocketbook.
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