Dealers are adapting too. Why do you think we offer sick numbers on cards for ‘store credit’? It makes it easier for players to trade with dealers instead of with each other.

I’ve walked away from trades where the other person spends 5 minutes flicking through my binder looking for a 2 dollar card that he needs(when there’s you know, 5 2 dollar cards in there) so the trade is “worth it” for him.

Well when it comes to the homophobia, sexism and all that jazz, that can usually be attributed to this new generation that’s so much more sensitive to all that then before. It’s always been there but we only care now because social climate, the media, and others tell us its important to care about it now.
Case in point with bullying usually.
Personally in my local group we’ve always been welcome to whatever so I don’t recall any instances where someone was being overly homophobic or sexist. We even have about 5 girls that play at FNM pretty regularly.

Moreover, the fear of getting ripped off has led to a certain mindset that a player DESERVES to get every penny out of their cards. They hear messages like “don’t get ripped off” and so when I suggest trading an $8 card for a $9 card, they “have to find $1”. And take five or ten minutes to do it. And if they don’t, they will call off the trade entirely. CHRIST ALMIGHTY YOU DOUCHE, NO ONE’S TRYING TO RIP ANYONE OFF HERE, JUST MAKE THE TRADE

wary

Turning the corner and being at that point where you don’t “need” anything from other players is a great place to be. I don’t “have to” wade into the trade tables anymore if I don’t want to and that’s a great feeling. Also using Pucatrade to fill out playsets has made trading in person a chore by comparison.

When you compare Magic to virtually any other hobby game, Magic has more events on a magnitude of 10x. If you look at games like Heroclix, players are happy to drive hours for a chance to lose at Heroclix and be thankful for the opportunity to play. Take a look at Gencon, there are some games played by only a handful of people across the entire country and you’ll see that handful meet up at Gencon every year to just for a chance to play their favorite games.

On the other hand, Magic players are “used to” having an event every week at the least, with many getting to play multiple nights a week at the same shop. For me living in a metropolitan area, I can play in a Magic tournament pretty much every day of the week if I wanted to without driving much more than an hour.

Magic players have just been spoiled the last few years with Organized play opportunities.

I really like this perspective, and think this is worth sharing, especially in light of the events recently brought to the forefront of the MTG community.

It’s definitely going to vary by store / region / etc … but there has been a lot of talk recently about Magic not being very “welcoming” to women, racist undertones, homophobia, and general antisocial behavior. In comparison to free-range internet foolery Magic may be low on the toxicity scale, but compared to a healthy community it’s pretty rough.

For example, I worked a mixed gaming booth at Gencon, we sold board games AND Magic. MAYBE 1in 10 of the boardgame / Warhammer players was rude whereas 3 in 10 of the Magic players were rude. Sure it’s anecdotal evidence, but I’d heard similar things from friends working in game stores.

I think that Magic players feel entitled because, compared to most other hobby games, we’ve long had a lot done for us (events and such).

Sorry about that, not sure how both my spellcheck and editor (COUGH) Tyler (COUGH) missed that one!

Way back I was printing price guides at a font size only I could read (I’m near sighted)… The good old days ;).

I haven’t really noticed a fear of trading in these parts, but admittedly I don’t regularly go to tournaments. I’m surprised the “wolfs” would ask that question. I never asked anybody what they value things at, I just make stacks: these cards for those cards seems about right*. Any wolf could use the same approach. I imagine it’s the people who are actually good at being a “wolf” are those that stick around and keep going at it. I wouldn’t worry about those that give themselves away that easily.

*On bigger deals I might look up prices, but even then it’s easy to get value by asking for compensation for downtrading, indicating you don’t want certain cards that badly or are hesitant to let go of yours.

The guys who taught me the game were true sharks, they actually quit when cards started showing their rarity…

Also, Derek, it’s Gandhi and not “Ghandi”! Sorry, but I’m Indian and he’s a pretty important figure in my history, so just thought I’d correct you there. (Don’t mean to sound pedantic, I totally get that Typos happen).

Just be glad you played in a time with expansion symbols for rarity … I remember going to prereleases and there being a scramble to determine which cards were even rares … oh the shenanigans we pulled in those dark times

Luckily people are naturally attuned to scumbags so they don’t last long, the real problem is in smaller communities where a single shark can control most of the market by being the only person that really has anything “in stock.”

Same here, I had the nostalgia bug when I came back and Demigod of Revenge seemed like the coolest thing since sliced bread so I traded “some old trash” I had lying around: Intuitions and City of Traitors and some worthless old cards like that.