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Fatigue…!
Hey gamers and other assorted readers. It’s been a couple of weeks.
I’ve been working a lot, doing engraving and shipping for an Etsy business called You Concrete Me. We do cute engravings of dogs and babies and inspiring messages, and some sass. It was Mother’s Day this past weekend, and we had a big order boom. So I’m pretty tired from that.
But it’s not the work tired that has prevented me from writing. It’s the gaming fatigue.
There’s a 24/7 combination of releases, spoilers, reactions, overreactions, and predictions. And that’s not just any one game or gaming sector. It’s all like that. I play Magic, lots of board games, and a number of console games, and the volume of stuff available is staggering.
The addition of ‘generative AI’ is only going to further open the floodgates.
Personally I’m against using ‘generative AI’. I like the process of making art, and I don’t like data scrapers taking from existing work and creating derivatives just to fill the need for ‘content’. It sounds a lot like plagiarism, and emphasizes the commodity aspect of Artwork, at the expense of process, personal growth, and effort.
But a corporation doesn’t care, and it is expected that WotC/Hasbro will have most or all of their ‘artwork’ provided by AI in the very near future. So they can pump out cards like crazy, report massive profits, and sleep tight knowing the most important thing was that the shareholders got some money. The execs should know, all being prominent shareholders themselves.
The release schedule is already too fast for me. Sets like Wilds of Eldraine, the Ixalan one, and Markov/Karlov Manor have come and gone in such a hurry that they barely registered.
Quick, name five impactful cards from each of those sets. No peeking at websites that show the full set lists. I sure can’t. I can barely name five cards at all from some of those sets.
In addition, Fallout and Thunder Junction happened more recently, and innumerable Secret Lairs. It’s all speeding up.
We have had plenty of controversy, some executive shakeup, and even all the sticker cards were banned. And attractions, too, of course. If you want conspiracy content, I’m sure you can find somebody saying how the Unfinity cards were banned because WotC had finally sold through the print run or something.
It’s a lot. And there’s a Juggernaut on the horizon.
FOMO
Are you like me, in that your entertainment dollar is being stretched, and often used for things like food instead? Inflation, right? It always seems like the people who look at us sadly and say ‘Inflation’ never bother to explain it much further and always seem to do very well financially themselves.
If you do manage to keep some spending money around, and want to use it on games, you can easily spend it all, no matter how much you had. Magic will take it for sure.
Magic would love to be a subscription, and it sort of behaves like one. It tries to get a regular payment out of you, and leverages FOMO to get it done.
FOMO is Fear Of Missing Out. Missing out in Magic terms is often the same as any other speculative marketplace: you didn’t get the thing while it was cheap.
Modern Horizons 3 is almost here. The cards will impact a lot of formats, and many will be expensive. Players are speculating hard, trying to find the best things to buy that will later rise, and when to get sealed product to maximize their potential return on it.
I’ve split a box of both previous Modern Horizons sets with my roommate Andrew Wade, and we’ve been happy with the results. Both times we were able to sell several of the singles we opened and make back a chunk of the cost. Both times we got stuff we still put in decks, and loaded up on the powerful commons and uncommons in the sets.
Now? These boxes are so very expensive, and powercreep has made the bar for significant impact so very high. I’ve seen a lot of spoilers, and so far, it doesn’t feel as seismic as the previous ones did. There’s still plenty of time, though.
FOMO can be terrible! These costs we have to consider come hurtling at us relentlessly, and amid the bombardment of Rent! and Food! and Bills! comes Limited Time Offer! and Cheap Now, But Later…?!
And what’s the worst that could happen?
MO
Well, you Miss Out. Recently I traveled to Ontario for a family wedding, and almost Missed Out. I waited an extra day to get a plane ticket and the flight I wanted was gone, and the next best thing had jumped up by almost double. I took a compromise, but I almost MO’d hard.
My regular post two weeks ago was derailed by MO. I didn’t register for the Commander Challenge in time, and it sold out. I knew it would, and I got complacent, and I MO’d.
Our film concern, Barigord Studios, would have taken part in the 48hr Run & Gun Film Competition in Vancouver this year, but I didn’t appreciate the popularity of the thing, and tried to register the morning after registration opened. It had sold out in 45 minutes after the 12:01am open time. MO’d.
That last one is a blessing in disguise because of all the fatigue, and I really had no way of knowing I needed to get a spot on the spot like that, but now we have to wait until next year.
I did get the jump on the Steveston Grand Prix of Art, and secured my spot as a competition painter for the second year in a row. Charlene Happy and I have already started bootcamp! Here’s my first effort, done inside on a rainy day. First the subjects:
Then the painting!
And Barigord Studios will be competing in next month’s 100hr International Film Race. We’ve agreed to also take on a Behind the Scenes look into our process, which will be part of a documentary on Film Racing to be created by FilmRacing themselves! Very cool.
We also have the premiere of our film, The Something, this week. It will air as part of the Finals screening for the 72hr International Horror Film Race, and awards ceremony. This time, we are the International portion of the programming, as all 14 other finalist films came from the USA.
Here’s our trailer:
Depending on how things go, we might be able to release the film this weekend. So no more MO for you!
Conclusion
It’s a no-no on the FOMO for the MOHO, bro, whether it’s BOGO, go-low, or even so-so. The prices will yo-yo anyho. I’m going to get a Fro-Yo, and not be a bozo no-mo’, so… yo?
Translation: Maybe the best way to divert from FOMO and MO is to be doing something else that’s meaningful and purposeful and fun. I really don’t know if I’ll get any MOHO3, but it’ll be fine if I don’t. Mmm, frozen yogurt.
I’m also very likely to divert from Magic the Gathering in this site’s content going forward. The endless amount of ‘content’ available is starting to be less and less relevant. Pointing out that there are a half dozen decent uncommons for Commander in Markov/Karlov/Soundov Manor feels a bit pointless these days. Cards are designed for Commander. There are often hundreds of ‘decent in Commander’ cards per set now, with a few standouts, a few toxic properties, and the cEDH stuff.
There’s a plan in my circles for a board game night, and you can bet I’m going to write a bit about some board games in the very near future!
In the meantime, don’t let FOMO or even MO get you down. They happen. As long as you look after the really important stuff, you can always catch up later, or just let it go.
Thanks for reading!
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