Locations
I decided I might as well predicate my article on the premise that my readers are on Twitter. I went from not wanting to be pigeonholed as “the Twitter article” to embracing the moniker. So, hooray, I tweet, you tweet, we all tweet. Some of you have never followed me on Twitter. That’s pretty messed up. Some of you did follow me and stopped. That’s more understandable.
It’s all a little surreal to be associated with Twitter to such an extent when I think about it—I was an incredibly late adopter. I’m no Luddite, but I do have a tendency to let everyone else go ahead and do some of the preliminary bug testing. Usually, the 1.1 versions of things like Windows phones and PlayStation consoles are a little more reliable. I also have a tendency to be a bit of a skeptic, so I’ll regard anything popular with suspicion, sometimes to my detriment. It happens. It wasn’t just Twitter that I adopted late either.
I imagine a great deal of you use, or at least have established an account for, Magic Online. With booster Drafts, Sealed tournaments, and daily Constructed events firing all the time, Magic Online can help you get a delicious hit of cardboard crack at any hour. What’s more, there is an online secondary market because the cards have value online as well. This wasn’t a market I knew anything about until recently, but it’s one that the finance community is very interested in, and I was receiving more and more questions about it. Rather than take some time to learn anything at all about it, I dove in headfirst and started a new series chronicling my mishaps and successes with the platform as well as the market. It’s been a blast so far, and I am really enjoying learning about Magic Online finance, and people are really enjoying watching me make a fool of myself.
I am not nearly so fanatical about Magic Online as I was when I finally came around to Twitter, but becoming involved at all has made me want to peek behind the curtain a bit. Who exactly is working on this game? Is it people we know from the paper side of Magic or is it an entirely different team? (Yes, obviously, it’s a different team.) Okay, so I didn’t really wonder whether it was a different team, but I did wonder who that team was. I wanted to learn all about them—where they went to school, what they studied, when they started playing Magic, the works. I quickly became bored with that and decided to just Twitter-stalk them instead. So, here are the fruits of my stalk session: three people who are instrumental to Magic Online and whom I think you should be following. Without further preamble, I present “Who to Follow – Magic Online Edition.”
Worth Wollpert
Where You Know Him From: Being all over Magic Online
Current Title: I’ve seen every title from “Executive Producer” to “Brand Manager”
Social Media:
If you’re following Kenji Egashira as I recommended you do, you are no doubt aware of his Magic Online stream catchphrase, “Blame Worth.” Does this make Worth the Brian Kibler of Magic Online? (Do yourself a favor, and don’t google “Brian Kibler” and “Magic Online” together for another week or two if you don’t like drama.) Sure, why not? “Blame Kibler” was such a fun meme, and “Blame Worth” is equally fun—provided we keep it fun. You are going to keep it fun, right? If you want to hear more about when Kenji met Worth at the Community Cup, listen here.
Did I make it clear that we should keep things light? Because Worth, in his capacity as “Magic Online lightning rod” is receiving a lot of the blame for the crashed events over the weekend. On one hand, he sort of gets paid to be one of the faces of the platform and to interface with the community. On the other hand, wow, let’s chill out. If you misclick and apply Gods Willing to the wrong creature and your dude eats a removal spell, a well-aimed “Blame Worth” is a fun way to play off the mistake and not go on tilt. If Magic Online crashes, an actual mentality of, “Blame Worth,” may not be appropriate. I would recommend checking his Twitter stream to see if someone else has asked the question you want to ask because someone probably already has. This will save you from looking like you’re foaming at the mouth.
Are you worried about the future of Magic Online? They’re on it.
@gmacmtg @Juzam_ 100% not true. change is coming, and it's not because Brian happened to be in one crashed event (of many)
— Worth Wollpert (@mtgworth) November 11, 2013
So are on-demand Limited events.
@tommartell @gamingian @mtg_law_etc signed some leagues paperwork this very morning, it's coming
— Worth Wollpert (@mtgworth) November 9, 2013
If you have a question about something that doesn’t seem right, he’s a useful resource to have in your Twitter feed because he can usually answer specific questions with an alarming degree of accuracy.
@AndreasPischner far as I know that was fixed on 10/23
— Worth Wollpert (@mtgworth) November 2, 2013
Put down the pitchforks, folks. If you think they are only working on fixing MODO because something bad happened to Brian Kibler, you might want to exchange foil lands for a foil hat. Here’s the right way to blame Worth.
@LordHosk lolin cc @NumotTheNummy
— Worth Wollpert (@mtgworth) November 3, 2013
Mike Turian
Where You Know Him From: The Magic Hall of Fame
Current Title: Digital Product Manager for Magic Online
Social Media:
MagictheGathering.com Archives
You know who you want working on your product? A Hall of Famer, that’s who. Mike is no ordinary Hall of Famer either; he first qualified for a PT in 1997. I didn’t even know you could play somewhere other than a lunchroom table in 1997. Mike is OG, and he brings his years of experience to the game. You should be following him already, frankly.
Hi all. The #MTGO PTQ event experienced issues today causing it to be cancelled. http://t.co/DvaJ10N34l More info to come this week.
— Mike Turian (@mturian) November 11, 2013
The tone in his Twitter feed is a little more civil than in Worth’s. Are people too accustomed to blaming Worth? Does that mean Kenji is really to blame?
I learned a lot about what transpired over the weekend just from reading other people’s questions.
@Malteko We will look into this. It may be tomorrow when we resolve it for you.
— Mike Turian (@mturian) November 10, 2013
Mike is another great resource for Magic Online–related questions as well as general information. Plus, he gets to be the bearer of good news often.
When you log onto Magic Online this week, many will have a full set of Theros Premium and Regular Basic Lands! #MTGO http://t.co/zQjnBHImbb
— Mike Turian (@mturian) October 30, 2013
Just as instructive as his feed are his archived articles on the mothership. Make sure you take a minute to check those out as well.
Lee Sharpe
Where You Know Him From: Magic Online Event Coverage
Current Title: Senior Business Intelligence Analyst for Magic Online
Social Media:
Despite working extensively on Magic Online, Lee has managed to remain blessedly clear of a lot of the blowback from this weekend. This is good because Lee seems like an almost relentlessly cheerful person. I think he serves as a decent contrast to the Magic community nearly in its entirety in that regard.
To that end, his Twitter feed is really edutaining.
@natasha_lh I remember the meeting when we came up with that template. As costs go, it’s an easy one to pay.
— Lee Sharpe (@Lee_Sharpe) November 8, 2013
@natasha_lh Erik Lauer is a strange, fascinating, and awesome human. (So much so that I created @eriklauerquotes.)
— Lee Sharpe (@Lee_Sharpe) November 2, 2013
Oh, come on. You’re telling me he takes a “glass-half-full view” of his power going out? No one is that cheerful. He’s like a human Spongebob who’s good at math.
No power! At least I have a cozy robe.
— Lee Sharpe (@Lee_Sharpe) November 2, 2013
I find having Lee Sharpe in your Twitter feed is like a refreshing bite of a lime wedge to help temper the stinging Tequila taste of everyone else complaining about Magic Online crashing over the weekend.
Lee’s feed is a font of good information and good vibes, and I would recommend following him to anyone.
That’s all for me this week, folks. Join me next time, when I’ll be back in your face with even more value. Until then, remember to blame Worth; just don’t, you know, blame Worth.
