One question,
how would you bring me back into the game and make me start spending money again?
I'm expecting a sarcastic, meaningless reply full of swearing. Try to think a little bit and surprise me.
Thats an invalid question. You havent defined any parameters. For one, you havent defined who 'you' are. Straight white male that quit becaude they made alesha a trans? Middle aged dude that out grew the game cause he got married/had kids/demanding job? Depending who 'you' are, i dont really care if you play or not.
It also has the implication that you think all of the (you)'s have left the game. They havent. Like i said, the game has stagnated, they didnt lose droves of a certain kind of player. New players have mostly just replaced players quitting, rather then grow the game.
Now, if the question is how do we grow the game, i think mtg arena is the future.
The old model becomes harder and harder to sustain.
Either card prices get super expensive because the player base has expanded drastically, which then puts a rubber band effect on the growth, or the cards are almost worthless from too many copies in circulation.
The reason cards pre-RTR hit huge prices,before getting reprinted in master sets, was limited print runs compared to how big the player base had gotten. This is great for hardcore players, but makes the game less enticing to newer players when they see the price tags. Go too far the other direction, and you lose the established players and stores.
WotC can keep trying to walk the tight rope between these two extremes, while also keeping standard fun and balanced.. but that becomes harder and harder every year without rehashing old ideas.
The new generation of kids is used to digital games and digital content. They have to reinvent the model if they want mtg to get bigger. The hobbyist/board game community is only so big. Mtg already dominates that sector. You've got to change the identity to being more mainstream accessible. If they execute well, thats what mtg arena could be.
