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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Art Waring" data-source="post: 9433577" data-attributes="member: 7037141">Hey [USER=6807152]@Scribe[/USER] here is the earliest interview I can find so far (about 15 years ago now I think) in regards to his opinions on the matter. I originally thought that he meant that no cards should be over 50$, but if you listen carefully I thinkhe is specifically talking about the Standard format, not Vintage or Legacy.[MEDIA=youtube]3gtqv5vYANI[/MEDIA]So he is saying that Standard cards should not be over 50$ because that prices some people out of the game. In regards to the current state of MTG I would say that he is actually right, in that card prices (for new reprints of old cards) are coming down for a lot of cards, while the original reserved list (RL) cards are largely unaffected by the reprints (its primarily the newer  post RL cards that suffer from loss of value from reprints). While some cards will drop from reprints, most RL cards are actually higher in value now that they were years ago when I quit, which also lines up with his comparison to stamps that accrue value slowly over time. Of course, this is a limited assessment as I have no way to account for mtg investors & speculators, as they do have an effect on the market that can be hard to pin down.This interview happened last year (during the M30 anniversary, he is doing this interview at the M30 event). He is basically saying the same thing as before, but always with the intention of focusing on the game rather than the collectable aspect. I don't want to get too mired down with talk about financials though as I would prefer to focus on game design. You did ask me for some links though so here are the best interviews I can find on the subject of criticisms.[MEDIA=youtube]RJ_SZomuVL8:990[/MEDIA]Of course, we are talking about the first & most successful CCG to date, and the collectable aspect is what some would argue has contributed to its longevity. I personally think that there is a middle ground somewhere, where both the customers can be happy and be able to afford to play the game while collectors can focus on the more high end stuff. I do think that they are trying to meet the demands of both types of customers (precon EDH decks are pretty affordable, and they are getting better at putting better cards into them recently, while they are also selling collector type products like collector boxes and all-foil stuff). The problem that I see is that sometimes their behavior is way out there in terms of what they are releasing. The M30 set release last year was an obvious example of a greed-driven cash grab, and players responded with a lot of pushback (to this day it is still the most hated mtg product). If you also look at recent sets and the ROI numbers from box openings, you can see that they are overprinting new sets, while the majority of the financial value of each set is limited to a small pool of cards (Mythic cards specifically). Back in the day you could buy a booster box and typically get your money back (my very first booster box I ever bought was from Alliances, & i got four Force of Will's right out of the box, which were uncommon). Today opening a boosters box can often times result is disappointment, as their new model will have you chasing specific cards, forcing you to buy ever more sealed product. It leads to buyer fatigue, which results in less pack being opened, which then leads to higher single prices on the secondary market due to less people opening packs (the recent Murder Mystery set was not opened as much as other more successful sets, and so cards are shooting up in price. This contributes to a pay to win dynamic, which if not addressed could become an increasing problem (in particular I see this becoming a problem with EDH).</blockquote>

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