hahahaha...nope. sorry. :) There were so many people there,and i was a bit overwhelmed!!!! some people were upset about the wait. I think if any actual corps members were there, they would have given me a little smile of solidarity! We did get through a lot...but wow.
it was entertaining though - a bartender at my work showed up - had NO idea i was in charge... was completely shocked i was running the whole thing!!! and then i met a few people through random connections!!!
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2015-04-09T01:39:00-04:00
Sounds like a ton of fun! So wish I could've been there! Stop making me so jealous! ;)
Dude. I was seriously stressed. SO many people showed up at once and I had a three page wait list!
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2015-04-09T01:54:26-04:00
I was wondering why you didn't get a friend or two to help keep it going. Maybe one per table so each person could have their own game to run. Just have a system and divide it over the decks. Though this may have been better info before today, huh? As Doc Brown once said, "Damn damn!"
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2015-04-09T02:25:52-04:00
Should not have watched that all the way through. I should've gone to bed half an hour ago.
That's just how it goes Creeper! Glad the party went well, but don't stress much else. Pleasing everyone is impossible, especially given the size of the event. People were going to have to wait one way or another. They should just be happy the environment was awesome and that there were cupcats.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2015-04-09T08:17:47-04:00
How could people possibly whine in the face of cupkittens and trinkets?!! I mean come on people! Trinkets!!!
It was crazy. I showed up 15 minutes early and there were already people waiting! So I didn't have that "let me get set up and figure this out" time to myself. My friend was there to help- but it was hard to tell her what to do. I also didn't want a friend to stay at each game hecasue I wanted to rotate in as many people as possible. So I had to coordinate parties of 3+2, 4+1... Was texting people when they were coming up on their turn, having them head over to me, etc.
I accidentally skipped over one couple, I felt so bad! But they were sweet and understood. Just sliiiiightly annoyed- which I totally get.
Epicderpguy 2015-04-09T08:59:47-04:00
That's understandable. You probably had to deal with around 80 people. If I know anything I know that 1 person trying to plan for 80 something people, something is going to go wrong.
Even the best laid plans hit snags, sound like you pulled it off perfectly! The data has been gathered and people got to have fun playing exploding kittens with good food, trinkets and cupcats! They couldn't get a better deal if they wanted to.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2015-04-09T09:27:56-04:00
@Potatten, you had me at trinkets! Everything else too, but, trinkets man, trinkets!
Powers of Tesla 2015-04-09T09:37:16-04:00
Yay Creeper. My questions...
How many people showed up?
How many played?
How late did you go?
i'd say about 100 people showed...i'll have to go over the waitlist. I'll look over the list for the number of people played, as well. We went until they kicked us out - right around midnight. most people left around 11, then we had one last game going- when i was FINALLY able to play - hence my tweet. One guy who was awesome and helped out throughout the event- he stayed to the bitter end. He sat inbetween the two tables and helped people get started.
loved teh game. great to see how easily the tables can turn. I had 3 defuses, but still lost.
Powers of Tesla 2015-04-09T09:57:11-04:00
I have been having trouble explaining to people that there is no advantage to getting rid of cards early in the game. Everyone seems to be programmed to get rid of cards. Did you experience that as well?
I had one friend that also helped me with the raffle tickets. The first round turnover was just so insane. I had to hand out favors, cupcakes, make sure people paid their tab, collect raffle ticket money, and get new people seated, while taking names for people that showed up. There was a moment where I just stopped and stared at a crowd of people with a deer in headlights look.
Sounds like it went well then Creeper. And you said you wouldn't get all the people who signed up for your event. :P
Sure, some of the people probably brought a friend or two...but still, you got around 100.
Lord Zombitten 2015-04-09T10:30:28-04:00
Yay! I'm glad Creeper's party was a success! I also had a bunch of people who were dead set on getting rid of cards early on.They soon learned how bad of an idea that can be
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2015-04-09T10:35:50-04:00
Good morning corps! Good to see you LZ! How did your party go?
GM- I was PRAYING everyone wouldn't show! Banking on it! I was soooo wrong! So many fun people though! Someone came from Connecticut! And I loved talking to people about the corps! Gave them a history lesson! :)
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T10:42:00-04:00
Praying people wouldn't show? What a gracious host. ;)
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2015-04-09T10:45:06-04:00
@Tchotchke, at least she didn't tase anyone (that we know of anyways...)!
Did they seem to appreciate the business Creeper, I had meant to ask?
Powers of Tesla 2015-04-09T11:19:33-04:00
Keeping up with that damn map is becoming a job. : )
This coming weekend is gonna be hell. I try not to post games as concluded until they are, by their posted time limits, over, but sometimes I pull the trigger a little early so I don't have to worry about it.
Why do people forget to send critical information to the parties that need it? Like a change in bank information...close the old account, forget to send the new account details(which you would have well before the closing of the old account...) to the people who need it(payroll in this case).
@GM, answer that question and you'll be a rich man!
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T11:29:39-04:00
I'm sure they'll rectify when they stop getting paid.
Lord Zombitten 2015-04-09T11:31:57-04:00
PoT, yes, there are fb events. One should already be on the map, as it was in the original list posted by EK. The one a week from today is at the same place as the one I did on Tuesday
Powers of Tesla 2015-04-09T11:32:23-04:00
@Tchothchke. Well, yes, they will fix it when they don't get paid, but first they'll get pissed with GM.
Human nature.
Powers of Tesla 2015-04-09T11:33:21-04:00
Please post the links for me LZ. It just makes it easier to find them.
Powers of Tesla 2015-04-09T11:34:25-04:00
Oh. You're also doing Hastur Gaming?
Lord Zombitten 2015-04-09T11:35:54-04:00
Yes, I'm doing Hastur. I'll get the link for the one in a week in a minute
@Tchotchke: He didn't get paid. That's why I'm complaining about not getting the new bank information. He closed the account, apparently has all the banking info we need with him, but is out in the field for the last week+.
@Tchotchke: Pretty much sums up my whole work life...except when I was working in kitchens. Ended up doing lots of emergency cooking back then. People under prep for the day, forget to pull items from the freezer(nothing like thawing fish fillets to bread at 9am, for a 11am open), or just plain don't do anything.
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T12:44:47-04:00
Hi guys, Good to hear from so many of you and sorry for your loss LZ, for me I went today to visit my location (Game shop) and bought sleeves for my decks. Surprisingly the location of mine said I'll have them for free as they are sponsoring them for me! Yay
@Juha: I was only kidding. I have probably 900+ sleeves laying around from my Magic: The Gathering days....still have my 4 decks I played with too...should find people to play with again. >.>
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T13:57:19-04:00
I actually have also some MtG sleeves for my cards, but there wasn't enough for couple of EK decks. Also the size wasn't right, sleeves was a bit bigger and they would work but crease much faster.
Which decks you have laying around? I'd like to play more again, but have no time from school/work/thesis.
Mostly used Racial(Elves, Zombies, Dragons, etc) decks to work with my 4 Coat of Arms. I did have a pure Artifact deck when Mirrodin(I have a feeling I spelled that wrong...) came out, but not sure what happened to it.
My friends hated when I played my Elves, nothing like being trampled to death by an attacking Forest(yes, I killed people with my land cards).
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T14:29:44-04:00
Sounds like a bunch of fun. I don't like to use racial decks, they too often go to too direct beating, and for me that can become boring, I like to do tricks and cool stuff and then maybe win in the end, but that's just a plus if I do.
I was usually the first target when using my Elves because once I got 10-12 Elves out, I couldn't be killed. 4 Coat of Arms, 4 Seedborn Muse, Riptide Replicators, and many other things that made me able to pump out another 6 Elves, every persons turn. I think at the height of one game, I had something along the lines of 150 Elves out(with just under half my deck used). Oh, can't forget the Wellwisher's. Gained 8x the number of Elves in health every persons turn too(always needed two calculator to figure it out).
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T14:59:43-04:00
I played from Unlimited through 4th. I have no idea like half of the words you guys just spit out.
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T15:06:32-04:00
Tchotchke, those might be quite pricy now if sold to right person. If you have any dual lands from Unlimited or Revised they at least are worth something
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T15:12:15-04:00
@GM, I also have a "fun" elf deck, for the moments when I feel like I must kill my opponent in most brutal way, thought It wouldn't survive any tournaments, it still has a unlimited mana/tokens combo in it, I could make it better but it would cost a pretty penny as I mostly need more (nonland/noncreture) things to make green mana on turn 1.
Most of the cards I had were from the Fifth Edition to the Mirrodin Block. I had a few of the Unhinged(I think that was the "joke" series). I even made a deck around the one where everyone's deck is their hand. Made a burn deck around it too.
@Juha: I had 10 mana, and 2 Elves that could produce Mana(1 for each elf in play...got to be awesome with Riptide Replicator, throwing 300-400 Mana at it, and generating 4x 400+/400+ Black Elves every turn)
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T15:23:16-04:00
@Juha
I sold pretty much everything (worth anything anyway) while at college ~15 years ago. Had a few dozen duals, half of them Beta and signed, half the rest were unlimited. Sold a (beat to crap) lotus, and 4 mox. (one beta, signed) Also a signed Beta Beserk, Fork, and full set of signed Beta Juggernauts and Ice Storms. Had a signed Beta Time Walk at one point as well, but it was involved in a trade for one of the Mox (and some other stuff back and forth)
The artists were pretty accessible at tournaments and through mail back in those days.
If I had the stuff now it'd probably be worth more, but maybe not 15 years of opportunity cost / inflation more. :)
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T15:28:27-04:00
Those beta lands would be really pricy right now. Blue/black dual from revised is more than 100€, atm so beta must be much more expensive. I have with 10 years of active gaming, managed to trade my self a puny 1 set of each dual from revised, and that took a lot of time. I haven't really invest a lot of money into in recently but I used to buy a lot before I met my wife.
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T15:32:51-04:00
Hmmm, that'd be unfortunate. I think the Beta ones sold for ~$70-80 a piece at the time. So, yeah, maybe 2-3x more now for a lot of the stuff, but that's a lot of capital to hold on to for 15 years, especially as a starving student.
If I really wanted a do-over I'd have scrounged around and purchased a few more full cases of Unlimited and just packed them away. Unopened packs would have to be crazy expensive now. (If they still existed)
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T15:34:48-04:00
@Tchotchke: Just find a closed comic book store, and get in somehow. You might find some squirrelled away under the stairs, or in the attic.
Also, I remember seeing the Sliver Queen for $50 CDN back in 2003-2005...somewhere in that date range. I just remember I was in high school at the time.
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T15:42:10-04:00
Wow, just spent a few minutes perusing ebay. Beta duals, beta / unlimited sol rings, Antiquities rares... man, depressed now. Ha. Thanks
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T15:45:13-04:00
Had one just like this. Actually, if the guy I sold it to never once played with it, this could actually be the same one. Think it sold for like $200 back in 2001 or so.
@Tchotchke, sorry, didn't mean to depress you. I still like the game, the have this new format called Highlander or Commander where game gets quite casual as all decks have 100 cards and you can't have more than 1 of anything else than basic lands, makes game much more fun and gives luck some chances. But as you knew they had value when you had them, I see why you felt the need to sell them when you were in need of money. I'd do the same if I wouldn't still be so hooked to that game.
Tra la la la..... (Sorry... Don't know anything about Magic, just saying hi)
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T16:06:11-04:00
Not really depressed at all. It's actually kind of amazing how much it's carried on. Nobody even thought of it as an investment or anything back in those days and people didn't even start playing with sleeves until revised. Once revised came out there was such a large influx of new players, the best cards were no longer a booster pack away, and for the first time it was actually hard to find deck pieces other than say the power 9. Even then, it was like "What? You want $70 for a Black Lotus? Are you crazy? I can get a whole case for that."
Plus you never know with most of them. I think I sold the Ice Storms for more than what they're going for now. I KNOW I sold the Beserk for more, probably because it was released again later it looks like. If they decided to add duals back in, even as rares, for a set the price on the vintage ones would plummet. Plus this game won't be played forever. Eventually people are going to stop playing and the price for everything will just drop steadily until it hits near zero. Honestly, I'm shocked it lasted this long.
It's like in poker. You have high hand after the flop and you get a weaker hand to go all in. They get a lucky draw on the turn and the river. You lose your whole stack. It doesn't mean you made a bad decision. You made the right moves with the information available.
I got years of entertainment in my youth, found good friends, and made good memories. Plus I got a bit of money out of it to boot.
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T16:13:56-04:00
Also, always remember if anyone actually considers something a 'collectible' or 'investment opportunity' as soon as it hits the market, it almost assuredly won't be. The more people think that way, the more flooded the market will be. (and the less material is out there for laymen to pick up and develop fondness for, something you really need for collectibles)
It's always the stuff you never expected to become rare. Even then, the parts that are collectible are just random. Again, if they kept duals in the standard set after Revised, but axed Regrowth and Sol Rings after Unlimited, those would be worth a ton instead.
I have some things I know will be collectibles. Mostly limited edition items, that I was lucky to get(Mass Effect Navigators Watch, only 400 or 500 made; Todd McFarlan Dragons collections, have almost all of them, series 1 and 2 I stupidly removed from the packages, but they don't re-release them after the next series came out)
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T16:19:34-04:00
@Creeper, Hi!
@Tchotchke, ATM, it looks like it's not going down, though I'm sure someday it will, like Pokemon cards and everything else has. Right now many people (who plays magic) thinks it as investment at least everything on reserved list, which is a newly made list of cards, that WOTC claims they will never reprint. other thing that affects the prices of cards still are banning them or their combo partners from tournament use.
@Juha: I actually haven't bought any Magic cards since around 2006. Just couldn't legitimize the expense at that time. Right now, I'm investing in other things that I can see as being collectibles(hello 8 sets of the NSFW decks...at least two of which will NEVER be opened, AT ALL. :P), and paying off my debts.
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T16:35:39-04:00
See that's exactly my point though. If 250 of the 500 people save something expecting it to be collectible, then only 250 people will actually bond with it. If Mass Effect winds up becoming like Mario and there's another 20 versions of it over the next 30 years, great. You have generations of people with that fondness and desire for memorabilia. If it slowly gets phased out for the next new great thing then in 30 years it may only have minor remembrance. Think about old Arcade games. Name some. Somehow Asteroids and PacMan are the two that became ingrained in our social memory, and plenty of (many even better) games never caught on long term.
Or cars. Why is it so hard to find an original Challenger or Camaro in show room condition? Because the people who owned them drove them! Because of that they are well remembered and there are few good examples, making them costly. Meanwhile a lot of Ferraris over the years have been purchased and garaged as a collectible and only gain moderate value. The ones that did gain significant value were usually exceedingly limited or became noteworthy for other reasons (race wins, celebrities, etc).
I just feel that a large and well-informed population can't properly guess what will be a collectible, because by doing so you ruin the very essence of what would make something collectible.
What you need is something that was sold in large volume, people loved playing with, became a cultural sensation and tapped into a number of cultural channels, and then because of the number of people who purchased who used and abused it (out of love) became rare to find in any sort of quality condition. Like Exploding Kittens! Unless everyone hates it, the games only get played a few times, and then you have half a million copies of something in good condition that wasn't bonded into the social memory...
I can see your reasoning Tchotchke, but Mass Effect is something BioWare has stated they plan on continuing to produce because of the following the first and second games had(the third was a let down for the endings, even the extended didn't redeem much). There are teaser trailers, from BioWare, about ME4. No more Shepard being the main character, whole new story line. I honestly can't wait to get my hands on it when they release it(supposedly before April 2016). For something like that, a collectors edition will be something sought after.
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T16:42:42-04:00
@Juha
Yeah, the reserved list gives some piece of mind, but I still wonder. Like the Ice Storms. They used to be quite a bit because mixing green in a land kill deck has advantages and there were only a few green land kill cards. However things like Thermokarst or other new green land kill that may not be exactly the same could be viable (or even better depending on the situation) substitutes. It looks like the Sinkholes have lost a little value as well, so there may be some other variation for black.
Also you can't just keep weakening the game for ever in order to hold value for the older cards. People are less likely to keep playing as the game gets more and more protracted and people who have been around longer or have more money will have better decks. At some point you have to make the new cards at least as good as the ones they are replacing.
Juha-Pekka Ahonen 2015-04-09T16:45:09-04:00
Well, thanks for the good talk that distracted me from my studies. I'm heading of to sleep now. And for collectibles, at this time of peace it seems like everything that's old and in good condition will sell well to somebody as there is so many specializing collectors on all fields.
But as I was trying to say, Good night guys, sleep tight
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T16:49:00-04:00
Maybe ME will hold on and be a draw for decades, and that'd be great. I love the game play and it's well organized. However Bioware isn't the deciding factor. For example if ME4 sales suck because of how bad the last quarter of ME3 was, they may not have much choice in the matter. Being a fan, I hope not, but it's not in my hands either.
I'm not saying it won't be or will be. I'm just saying that everything that hits super collectible status is the stuff no one ever expected. There are plenty of examples where a collectible item at least retained or slightly gained value (happens in sports cards all the time) but the stuff that increases 1,000x is something nobody saw coming.
Eric 'Tchotchke' Aschner 2015-04-09T16:55:26-04:00
...I get sidetracked because of work and look what happens. Absolutely nothing, despicable.
Anja "Cha!" Allen 2015-04-09T17:54:42-04:00
Yay Magic - good times. I started with 2ed edition /the Dark. Played for about 4 years. Sold 'em when I immigrated to US in '98. Should have held on to them
Our town recently had renovations done on a major scale. One change was to remove the auto repair shop and put in a new one. Well, it turns out the new owner had no money, and the old one retired, so we couldn't put in a new auto shop. In memory of the previous owner's years of service, the town put in a large decorative wheel, mostly made of iron, to commemorate him. After both the wheel and the owner, all town board members agreed to call it...
merp a derp.
so many people. could not accomodate them all. :(
Did you know I was there?!
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... in spirit. I so wish I could've gone! Did I get you even for a millisecond?!
hahahaha...nope. sorry. :) There were so many people there,and i was a bit overwhelmed!!!! some people were upset about the wait. I think if any actual corps members were there, they would have given me a little smile of solidarity! We did get through a lot...but wow.
it was entertaining though - a bartender at my work showed up - had NO idea i was in charge... was completely shocked i was running the whole thing!!! and then i met a few people through random connections!!!
Sounds like a ton of fun! So wish I could've been there! Stop making me so jealous! ;)
Dude. I was seriously stressed. SO many people showed up at once and I had a three page wait list!
I was wondering why you didn't get a friend or two to help keep it going. Maybe one per table so each person could have their own game to run. Just have a system and divide it over the decks. Though this may have been better info before today, huh? As Doc Brown once said, "Damn damn!"
Should not have watched that all the way through. I should've gone to bed half an hour ago.
That's just how it goes Creeper! Glad the party went well, but don't stress much else. Pleasing everyone is impossible, especially given the size of the event. People were going to have to wait one way or another. They should just be happy the environment was awesome and that there were cupcats.
How could people possibly whine in the face of cupkittens and trinkets?!! I mean come on people! Trinkets!!!
Huh?
It was crazy. I showed up 15 minutes early and there were already people waiting! So I didn't have that "let me get set up and figure this out" time to myself. My friend was there to help- but it was hard to tell her what to do. I also didn't want a friend to stay at each game hecasue I wanted to rotate in as many people as possible. So I had to coordinate parties of 3+2, 4+1... Was texting people when they were coming up on their turn, having them head over to me, etc.
I accidentally skipped over one couple, I felt so bad! But they were sweet and understood. Just sliiiiightly annoyed- which I totally get.
That's understandable. You probably had to deal with around 80 people. If I know anything I know that 1 person trying to plan for 80 something people, something is going to go wrong.
Also what did you do at your party?
Even the best laid plans hit snags, sound like you pulled it off perfectly! The data has been gathered and people got to have fun playing exploding kittens with good food, trinkets and cupcats! They couldn't get a better deal if they wanted to.
@Potatten, you had me at trinkets! Everything else too, but, trinkets man, trinkets!
Yay Creeper. My questions...
How many people showed up?
How many played?
How late did you go?
i'd say about 100 people showed...i'll have to go over the waitlist. I'll look over the list for the number of people played, as well. We went until they kicked us out - right around midnight. most people left around 11, then we had one last game going- when i was FINALLY able to play - hence my tweet. One guy who was awesome and helped out throughout the event- he stayed to the bitter end. He sat inbetween the two tables and helped people get started.
loved teh game. great to see how easily the tables can turn. I had 3 defuses, but still lost.
I have been having trouble explaining to people that there is no advantage to getting rid of cards early in the game. Everyone seems to be programmed to get rid of cards. Did you experience that as well?
Actually, no. We all hoarded
Hurray! You had a helper!
Once we said "you don't have to play a card, you can just take one" most people held on.
I had one friend that also helped me with the raffle tickets. The first round turnover was just so insane. I had to hand out favors, cupcakes, make sure people paid their tab, collect raffle ticket money, and get new people seated, while taking names for people that showed up. There was a moment where I just stopped and stared at a crowd of people with a deer in headlights look.
Sounds like it went well then Creeper. And you said you wouldn't get all the people who signed up for your event. :P
Sure, some of the people probably brought a friend or two...but still, you got around 100.
Yay! I'm glad Creeper's party was a success! I also had a bunch of people who were dead set on getting rid of cards early on.They soon learned how bad of an idea that can be
Good morning corps! Good to see you LZ! How did your party go?
GM- I was PRAYING everyone wouldn't show! Banking on it! I was soooo wrong! So many fun people though! Someone came from Connecticut! And I loved talking to people about the corps! Gave them a history lesson! :)
Praying people wouldn't show? What a gracious host. ;)
@Tchotchke, at least she didn't tase anyone (that we know of anyways...)!
I'm like the guy guarding the lifeboats on the titanic. "Stand back!!! Or I'll shoot you all like dogs!"
Hi tchotchke! :)
Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
I wasn't killed by a shark, I was actually speared by a Narwhal.
Hi BaKhan! My first party went well. Second party is in two days. Third is in a week
LZ is a party maniac!
@Creeper: What kind of history lessons lol?
Bitten Tchotchke, Bitten by a Narwhal.
LZ! Good to see you back man, I was worried about you.
Belated condolences about the loss of your grandmother.
@ LZ. Regarding upcoming play test parties... Do you have FB events posted? Can I add them to the map?
Good idea PoT.
Did they seem to appreciate the business Creeper, I had meant to ask?
Keeping up with that damn map is becoming a job. : )
This coming weekend is gonna be hell. I try not to post games as concluded until they are, by their posted time limits, over, but sometimes I pull the trigger a little early so I don't have to worry about it.
Why do people forget to send critical information to the parties that need it? Like a change in bank information...close the old account, forget to send the new account details(which you would have well before the closing of the old account...) to the people who need it(payroll in this case).
Hind-sight is 20/20 GM.
@GM, answer that question and you'll be a rich man!
I'm sure they'll rectify when they stop getting paid.
PoT, yes, there are fb events. One should already be on the map, as it was in the original list posted by EK. The one a week from today is at the same place as the one I did on Tuesday
@Tchothchke. Well, yes, they will fix it when they don't get paid, but first they'll get pissed with GM.
Human nature.
Please post the links for me LZ. It just makes it easier to find them.
Oh. You're also doing Hastur Gaming?
Yes, I'm doing Hastur. I'll get the link for the one in a week in a minute
@Tchotchke: He didn't get paid. That's why I'm complaining about not getting the new bank information. He closed the account, apparently has all the banking info we need with him, but is out in the field for the last week+.
https://www.facebook.com/events/920271311362951/
Things have slowed up a bit here... slackers...
Thank you LZ. You're back on the map at Mystic.
@GM
"Lack of proper planning on your part does not make an emergency on my part."
@Tchotchke: Pretty much sums up my whole work life...except when I was working in kitchens. Ended up doing lots of emergency cooking back then. People under prep for the day, forget to pull items from the freezer(nothing like thawing fish fillets to bread at 9am, for a 11am open), or just plain don't do anything.
Hi guys, Good to hear from so many of you and sorry for your loss LZ, for me I went today to visit my location (Game shop) and bought sleeves for my decks. Surprisingly the location of mine said I'll have them for free as they are sponsoring them for me! Yay
@Juha: Nice, want to send me some? :P
@GM, only got puny 200 sleeves, so I'll need them for my playtest event and other one where I'll be taking my deck. But we'll see later on if I might.
@Juha: I was only kidding. I have probably 900+ sleeves laying around from my Magic: The Gathering days....still have my 4 decks I played with too...should find people to play with again. >.>
I actually have also some MtG sleeves for my cards, but there wasn't enough for couple of EK decks. Also the size wasn't right, sleeves was a bit bigger and they would work but crease much faster.
Which decks you have laying around? I'd like to play more again, but have no time from school/work/thesis.
Mostly used Racial(Elves, Zombies, Dragons, etc) decks to work with my 4 Coat of Arms. I did have a pure Artifact deck when Mirrodin(I have a feeling I spelled that wrong...) came out, but not sure what happened to it.
My friends hated when I played my Elves, nothing like being trampled to death by an attacking Forest(yes, I killed people with my land cards).
Sounds like a bunch of fun. I don't like to use racial decks, they too often go to too direct beating, and for me that can become boring, I like to do tricks and cool stuff and then maybe win in the end, but that's just a plus if I do.
I was usually the first target when using my Elves because once I got 10-12 Elves out, I couldn't be killed. 4 Coat of Arms, 4 Seedborn Muse, Riptide Replicators, and many other things that made me able to pump out another 6 Elves, every persons turn. I think at the height of one game, I had something along the lines of 150 Elves out(with just under half my deck used). Oh, can't forget the Wellwisher's. Gained 8x the number of Elves in health every persons turn too(always needed two calculator to figure it out).
I played from Unlimited through 4th. I have no idea like half of the words you guys just spit out.
Tchotchke, those might be quite pricy now if sold to right person. If you have any dual lands from Unlimited or Revised they at least are worth something
@GM, I also have a "fun" elf deck, for the moments when I feel like I must kill my opponent in most brutal way, thought It wouldn't survive any tournaments, it still has a unlimited mana/tokens combo in it, I could make it better but it would cost a pretty penny as I mostly need more (nonland/noncreture) things to make green mana on turn 1.
Most of the cards I had were from the Fifth Edition to the Mirrodin Block. I had a few of the Unhinged(I think that was the "joke" series). I even made a deck around the one where everyone's deck is their hand. Made a burn deck around it too.
@Juha: I had 10 mana, and 2 Elves that could produce Mana(1 for each elf in play...got to be awesome with Riptide Replicator, throwing 300-400 Mana at it, and generating 4x 400+/400+ Black Elves every turn)
@Juha
I sold pretty much everything (worth anything anyway) while at college ~15 years ago. Had a few dozen duals, half of them Beta and signed, half the rest were unlimited. Sold a (beat to crap) lotus, and 4 mox. (one beta, signed) Also a signed Beta Beserk, Fork, and full set of signed Beta Juggernauts and Ice Storms. Had a signed Beta Time Walk at one point as well, but it was involved in a trade for one of the Mox (and some other stuff back and forth)
The artists were pretty accessible at tournaments and through mail back in those days.
If I had the stuff now it'd probably be worth more, but maybe not 15 years of opportunity cost / inflation more. :)
Those beta lands would be really pricy right now. Blue/black dual from revised is more than 100€, atm so beta must be much more expensive. I have with 10 years of active gaming, managed to trade my self a puny 1 set of each dual from revised, and that took a lot of time. I haven't really invest a lot of money into in recently but I used to buy a lot before I met my wife.
Hmmm, that'd be unfortunate. I think the Beta ones sold for ~$70-80 a piece at the time. So, yeah, maybe 2-3x more now for a lot of the stuff, but that's a lot of capital to hold on to for 15 years, especially as a starving student.
If I really wanted a do-over I'd have scrounged around and purchased a few more full cases of Unlimited and just packed them away. Unopened packs would have to be crazy expensive now. (If they still existed)
Holy hell. Even a revised box is going for two grand on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/361050508193…
I probably went through 3-4 of those boxes myself.
@Tchotchke: Just find a closed comic book store, and get in somehow. You might find some squirrelled away under the stairs, or in the attic.
Also, I remember seeing the Sliver Queen for $50 CDN back in 2003-2005...somewhere in that date range. I just remember I was in high school at the time.
Wow, just spent a few minutes perusing ebay. Beta duals, beta / unlimited sol rings, Antiquities rares... man, depressed now. Ha. Thanks
Had one just like this. Actually, if the guy I sold it to never once played with it, this could actually be the same one. Think it sold for like $200 back in 2001 or so.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Mox-Emerald-47-Unlimited-MtG-Magic-Artifact-Rare-1x-x1-/361197044723…
@Tchotchke, sorry, didn't mean to depress you. I still like the game, the have this new format called Highlander or Commander where game gets quite casual as all decks have 100 cards and you can't have more than 1 of anything else than basic lands, makes game much more fun and gives luck some chances. But as you knew they had value when you had them, I see why you felt the need to sell them when you were in need of money. I'd do the same if I wouldn't still be so hooked to that game.
Tra la la la..... (Sorry... Don't know anything about Magic, just saying hi)
Not really depressed at all. It's actually kind of amazing how much it's carried on. Nobody even thought of it as an investment or anything back in those days and people didn't even start playing with sleeves until revised. Once revised came out there was such a large influx of new players, the best cards were no longer a booster pack away, and for the first time it was actually hard to find deck pieces other than say the power 9. Even then, it was like "What? You want $70 for a Black Lotus? Are you crazy? I can get a whole case for that."
Plus you never know with most of them. I think I sold the Ice Storms for more than what they're going for now. I KNOW I sold the Beserk for more, probably because it was released again later it looks like. If they decided to add duals back in, even as rares, for a set the price on the vintage ones would plummet. Plus this game won't be played forever. Eventually people are going to stop playing and the price for everything will just drop steadily until it hits near zero. Honestly, I'm shocked it lasted this long.
It's like in poker. You have high hand after the flop and you get a weaker hand to go all in. They get a lucky draw on the turn and the river. You lose your whole stack. It doesn't mean you made a bad decision. You made the right moves with the information available.
I got years of entertainment in my youth, found good friends, and made good memories. Plus I got a bit of money out of it to boot.
@Creeper: We sort of nerded out here for a bit.
Also, always remember if anyone actually considers something a 'collectible' or 'investment opportunity' as soon as it hits the market, it almost assuredly won't be. The more people think that way, the more flooded the market will be. (and the less material is out there for laymen to pick up and develop fondness for, something you really need for collectibles)
It's always the stuff you never expected to become rare. Even then, the parts that are collectible are just random. Again, if they kept duals in the standard set after Revised, but axed Regrowth and Sol Rings after Unlimited, those would be worth a ton instead.
I have some things I know will be collectibles. Mostly limited edition items, that I was lucky to get(Mass Effect Navigators Watch, only 400 or 500 made; Todd McFarlan Dragons collections, have almost all of them, series 1 and 2 I stupidly removed from the packages, but they don't re-release them after the next series came out)
@Creeper, Hi!
@Tchotchke, ATM, it looks like it's not going down, though I'm sure someday it will, like Pokemon cards and everything else has. Right now many people (who plays magic) thinks it as investment at least everything on reserved list, which is a newly made list of cards, that WOTC claims they will never reprint. other thing that affects the prices of cards still are banning them or their combo partners from tournament use.
LOL, GM- yeah... Y'all are delving deep into Nerdom. :)
Hi juha!
@Juha: I actually haven't bought any Magic cards since around 2006. Just couldn't legitimize the expense at that time. Right now, I'm investing in other things that I can see as being collectibles(hello 8 sets of the NSFW decks...at least two of which will NEVER be opened, AT ALL. :P), and paying off my debts.
See that's exactly my point though. If 250 of the 500 people save something expecting it to be collectible, then only 250 people will actually bond with it. If Mass Effect winds up becoming like Mario and there's another 20 versions of it over the next 30 years, great. You have generations of people with that fondness and desire for memorabilia. If it slowly gets phased out for the next new great thing then in 30 years it may only have minor remembrance. Think about old Arcade games. Name some. Somehow Asteroids and PacMan are the two that became ingrained in our social memory, and plenty of (many even better) games never caught on long term.
Or cars. Why is it so hard to find an original Challenger or Camaro in show room condition? Because the people who owned them drove them! Because of that they are well remembered and there are few good examples, making them costly. Meanwhile a lot of Ferraris over the years have been purchased and garaged as a collectible and only gain moderate value. The ones that did gain significant value were usually exceedingly limited or became noteworthy for other reasons (race wins, celebrities, etc).
I just feel that a large and well-informed population can't properly guess what will be a collectible, because by doing so you ruin the very essence of what would make something collectible.
What you need is something that was sold in large volume, people loved playing with, became a cultural sensation and tapped into a number of cultural channels, and then because of the number of people who purchased who used and abused it (out of love) became rare to find in any sort of quality condition. Like Exploding Kittens! Unless everyone hates it, the games only get played a few times, and then you have half a million copies of something in good condition that wasn't bonded into the social memory...
I can see your reasoning Tchotchke, but Mass Effect is something BioWare has stated they plan on continuing to produce because of the following the first and second games had(the third was a let down for the endings, even the extended didn't redeem much). There are teaser trailers, from BioWare, about ME4. No more Shepard being the main character, whole new story line. I honestly can't wait to get my hands on it when they release it(supposedly before April 2016). For something like that, a collectors edition will be something sought after.
@Juha
Yeah, the reserved list gives some piece of mind, but I still wonder. Like the Ice Storms. They used to be quite a bit because mixing green in a land kill deck has advantages and there were only a few green land kill cards. However things like Thermokarst or other new green land kill that may not be exactly the same could be viable (or even better depending on the situation) substitutes. It looks like the Sinkholes have lost a little value as well, so there may be some other variation for black.
Also you can't just keep weakening the game for ever in order to hold value for the older cards. People are less likely to keep playing as the game gets more and more protracted and people who have been around longer or have more money will have better decks. At some point you have to make the new cards at least as good as the ones they are replacing.
Well, thanks for the good talk that distracted me from my studies. I'm heading of to sleep now. And for collectibles, at this time of peace it seems like everything that's old and in good condition will sell well to somebody as there is so many specializing collectors on all fields.
But as I was trying to say, Good night guys, sleep tight
Maybe ME will hold on and be a draw for decades, and that'd be great. I love the game play and it's well organized. However Bioware isn't the deciding factor. For example if ME4 sales suck because of how bad the last quarter of ME3 was, they may not have much choice in the matter. Being a fan, I hope not, but it's not in my hands either.
I'm not saying it won't be or will be. I'm just saying that everything that hits super collectible status is the stuff no one ever expected. There are plenty of examples where a collectible item at least retained or slightly gained value (happens in sports cards all the time) but the stuff that increases 1,000x is something nobody saw coming.
Stuff like this...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARRY-POTTER-and-the-SORCERERS-STONE-J-K-Rowling-1st-EDITION-1st-PRINTING-F-VF-/201058808240…
...I get sidetracked because of work and look what happens. Absolutely nothing, despicable.
Yay Magic - good times. I started with 2ed edition /the Dark. Played for about 4 years. Sold 'em when I immigrated to US in '98. Should have held on to them
wanna hear a joke?
Our town recently had renovations done on a major scale. One change was to remove the auto repair shop and put in a new one. Well, it turns out the new owner had no money, and the old one retired, so we couldn't put in a new auto shop. In memory of the previous owner's years of service, the town put in a large decorative wheel, mostly made of iron, to commemorate him. After both the wheel and the owner, all town board members agreed to call it...
The Ferrous Wheel.
*badum tssss*
(that's a chemistry reference, by the way)
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/05/05a716b3ec608f46f89b965fd87ebe8f682a2488d5c856f3ce4f7f41ce480f24.jpg
Chaotic Life just hit their big 1000 backer stretch goal. Expansion packs for everyone.