Locations
I've recently been made aware of your decision to discontinue the long-running Player Rewards Program. From my humble perspective this move is a saddening miscalculation on the part of Wizards of the Coast. In these tough economic times many of us have become accustomed to the slashing of the common folk's benefits. Indeed, most of us understand the importance of belt tightening when the going gets rough. But the problem I have with this particular cut is that, of all the expenses you could have curtailed you chose the one that disproportionately afflicts the most loyal, dedicated and populous player profile of all.
It's always tough to keep perspective on what it means to be a "casual" Magic the Gathering player when, as a member of the development team, you obviously become anything but casual. But for those of us in the trenches on tight budgets keeping our fingers crossed for mythics in our weekly booster pack your decisions just don't seem to be in our interests.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt when you say that the Player Rewards program will be replaced with something more beneficial to casual tournament goers but you must understand what it looks like when you bury the official announcement in an unfeatured web-article headline.
Like every other decision of import, I am sure that this one was concocted in a dreaded budget meeting. The Sr. Accountant at Wizards of the Coast informs management that they need to find $10,000 before this fiscal year's budget-end. Mark Rosewater looks around the room and shrugs. A Jr Accountant cautiously raises his hand and says something the the effect of: "Well... the player rewards program costs about that..." Mark Rosewater looks around the room and shrugs again. Mike Turain finishes his martini and says wryly "I ain't taking a pay cut!" Abracadabra!! A decision has been made. [note: it might not have actually happened this way]
Look, guys we're all struggling to stay in the black this Christmas. But it's the little things that keep us in good humor. The little things like Magic the Gathering and the player rewards program more specifically. The people who used that program were the dedicated, died in the wool Magic the Gathering players who have those same naustalgic feelings I have about this game. They're the ones who stayed with you through the bad times and bought a few extra booster boxes during the good times. With decisions like these you end up with the worst of both worlds. You not only aleinate the most loyal players, you aleinate your most lucrative customers at the same time. I'm sure you've looked at this particular issue through the lens of "will this cause people to purchase fewer Magic cards?" and apparently have come to the conclusion that it will have little or no impact. I suppose only time will tell.
This time next year you'll be looking at the WOTC fiscal budget for 2011 and you won't even notice that $10,000 slash you'd made the year before. But when Johnny, Timmy and Spike run to their mailboxes this Christmas in wide-eyed anticipation of that alternate-art foiled DCI Bloodbraid Elf... I hope the sad look of disappointment on his face was worth it.
Sincerely,
Your Loyal Fan to the Bitter End
I was originally going to title this article "An Open Letter to Wizards of the Coast" but I decided that this was much more of a rant. I'd love to get your opinions on my opinions in the comments section below. Do you care about the Player Rewards Program? Is this a win for casual tournament-going players? Was this the best cut that Wizards could have made? Is Reinhart as sexy in person as he sounds in his writing?
