First Time Magic the Gathering

[PixelPixii]

Also, I understand that some stuff being described is actually the reality, but I think that some of you might be missing that these guys are not creating the awkward environment on purpose. Quite possibly one main reason they like to gather in such places is because usually there are no girls there and they can relax - Pixii has every right to go and Niode has every right to take a girl with him, and I don't think most of them there think otherwise (sadly I bet some do), but I don't think you should blame them for the weird vibes in that sense.

I like your response Ivo. Like I said, I did not actually think the guys there were weird. I just described how I am used to being the intruder at such gathering. (At first anyway) Even if it was a newbie guy that walked in it would be a little awkward, but they just were not real used to seeing a girl there. Which is fine. I just tried to describe my experience honestly.

I will say that there are some guys that really act shy and embarrassed around girls and this is usually my excuse to keep showing up, hoping over time they will learn how to assimilate girls into their friendships.

I love playing mmorpgs and I don't see a problem paying for cardboard or online subscriptions. If you know you will play the hell out of it and enjoy every minute, it is no different than buying a movie ticket. It just is not for me mainly because I lack the resources right now to buy extra stuff like that. (Not to mention my desktop went kaput.)

I will add that if there is a party going on at my house, I would feel guilty sitting in my room playing a game. My mother trained me to be the "hostess" and I would feel rude by ignoring all the guests. It is different if we started up some 2 player games that others would enjoy. However, if I was at someone's house that chose to do that, I would not say anything.

One thing that really interests me about games is the way that games appeal to different people. Some people love D&D while others would rather play WoW. (I used to be an avid WoW player, by the way.) Some people paint miniatures while others spit paint onto a canvas and call it art.

I think it is all really intriguing.

[Ivo]

I like your response Ivo. Like I said, I did not actually think the guys there were weird. I just described how I am used to being the intruder at such gathering. (At first anyway) Even if it was a newbie guy that walked in it would be a little awkward, but they just were not real used to seeing a girl there. Which is fine. I just tried to describe my experience honestly.

If you said you thought they were weird, as long as you don't mean it in a negative way, that is perfectly fair and I would not get on your case. They ARE weird. I am weird. But probably so are you if you are playing MTG and retro games. But I say this knowing what I am using the word for. Most people using weird use it as an insult, maybe different is a better word then. Weird is not inherently negative (it is not inherently positive either, that is not what I'm saying. Some people are different and have a non-justified complex of superiority and that is not good either).

I will say that there are some guys that really act shy and embarrassed around girls and this is usually my excuse to keep showing up, hoping over time they will learn how to assimilate girls into their friendships.

I think that that is very nice of you actually - to some of these guys you are probably doing them a great favor in fact (even if they may prefer you not to show up at first so that they can stay relaxed).

I will add that if there is a party going on at my house, I would feel guilty sitting in my room playing a game. My mother trained me to be the "hostess" and I would feel rude by ignoring all the guests. It is different if we started up some 2 player games that others would enjoy. However, if I was at someone's house that chose to do that, I would not say anything.

If you are hosting the party, you had control over who you invited (in principle), the time at which the party takes place, what activities are available for the guests. If you invite two distinct groups of friends hoping that they will mingle that seems decently fair (even more so if it is not a surprise), but you have to understand that some people either do not want or can not mingle.

Ivo.

[Erik_Twice]

A note, many players choose not to speak during a match and concentrate on the game instead. Avoiding converstaion is normal as is avoiding eye contact. I have played with many people like this, it's not because you are a girl.

I can't say that Magic is a very expensive hobby but it has a very steep cost of entry, specially since the cost of cards skyrocketed recently in the US. Except for some chase rares you will spend most of your money on mana bases and staples.

If you want to save money, simply buy the cards you need, don't build cards for trade or buy packets. The only people that you can expect to get a good deal from are kids, everyone else is going to carry a magazine that dictates the price of the cards.

Speaking of magazines. Don't. As in, if you pay the price that they put there you are being ripped off in 90% of the cases. The market doesn't work that way, hit ebay or pages like cardshack and you will find cards for much less.

The main problem with those magazines is that they have high prices for cards that are never actually used. Yeah, Smokestack is good but there's only one deck that could play it and it's not exactly a common deck either. But they sell it for 6 or more euro and you have hundreds of players trying to sell those cards for that price even when not a single person wants them!

Another tip: If a card is damaged as in bent corners it's resale value is 0. People will only take one or two bucks of the price but you lose all the resale value. It's not worth it, specially when it comes to cheap cards.

What format do you play, anyways?

[PixelPixii]

A note, many players choose not to speak during a match and concentrate on the game instead. Avoiding converstaion is normal as is avoiding eye contact. I have played with many people like this, it's not because you are a girl.

I did not think it was because I was a girl. I was simply stating my experience playing against him. He did it with everyone.

[Erik_Twice]

I did not think it was because I was a girl. I was simply stating my experience playing against him. He did it with everyone.

Cool then =D

Many people don't realize those things, so I just thought I would give you a pointer

[PixelPixii]

I did not think it was because I was a girl. I was simply stating my experience playing against him. He did it with everyone.

Cool then =D

Many people don't realize those things, so I just thought I would give you a pointer

Ya. Works well as intimidation also. LOL

[Erik_Twice]

Ya. Works well as intimidation also. LOL

Haha. There was a pro player... I don't remember the name, right now. He always dressed up in a suit when attending tournaments because it looked so serious it was scary haha

[PixelPixii]

Ya. Works well as intimidation also. LOL

Haha. There was a pro player... I don't remember the name, right now. He always dressed up in a suit when attending tournaments because it looked so serious it was scary haha

Would work on me! LOL

[Niode]

To be honest Niode, I think your close friend was right to be upset with you. And if I was at a house party with lots of people I didn't know before, I would probably just leave after a short while - but given the option I wouldn't mind playing some games and ignoring the party. What is fun for you is not necessarily fun for others.

To be fair, the story was a little exaggerated for comedic purposes. He didn't spend all night just playing SC2 and Aion, it was after several hours of Rock Band and Street Fighter with a bit of Perfect Dark thrown in. What I said to him was true though. So he was sort of sociable for a while, but just wasn't interested in integrating/socialising with the rest of the group. Also, he wasn't upset with me for long, I told him I was sorry making an ass of myself in front of his friends and he saw the funny side of it. No harm done.

By the way, I never understood why people don't want to pay for virtual cards but are ok with paying for cardboard cards. Both are intrinsically worthless, having the value that people are willing to pay for them due to collecting or playing value. Some of the online cards are pricier than their paper counterparts. It is just not consistent to discriminate the online versions when you are ok with cardboard (as if cardboard is much more valuable than bits).

It's not that I wouldn't pay for virtual cards. It's that I refuse to buy my collection again. It's a waste of money to buy something that I already have access to. Same reason why I won't buy virtual console/xbla/psn titles of games I already own on their respective formats. It's not the physicalness (or lack) of the item itself (you could argue since you don't really own the games you have in physical media, just the licence to play it, that the same archetype stands) it's just that I've already paid for it so I don't see why I should pay again for the same thing.

[einzelherz]

Memories of my last magic tournament come flooding back. Orlando, several hundred nerds, eating/dressing poorly and still handily being top 5 in terms of hygiene. Part of me is glad I stopped playing.

The other part got to play a few games with his old friends from middle/high school who he used to play with this past Christmas vacation. That was quite wonderful.

One of the problems I have with Magic the Gathering is the money it takes to build a really good deck. I know some people that stopped playing just because they were tired of spending all the money.

Playing constructed for any other reason than funsies is a waste of time and money. There will always be a little kid with more money than you and who will beat you because of it. Making a killer deck is fine to play with your friends. Spending $100 to make one only to lose in the first round because you got a matchup with the one rare deck that can actually beat yours sucks.

If you play competitively go draft. Drafting takes a while to get good at, but it actually requires some skill (as well as luck, of course.) There used to be another type where you got a starter and 2 boosters to make your own deck.