On Pricing

There's been a lot of discussion about pricing in Magic regarding premium product, lately. Peasant Kenobi lays it all out in a way that I think is legit. (TCC also has a strong take on this.)

I honestly do not understand why Wizards has not taken the lessons of the past to heart.

Alt-art reprints that are super rare? Awesome, the community loves them, and some are willing & able to pay for them. We saw this in the Zendikar and Amonkhet reprints-all of which still go for premium prices. Secret Lair products are quite popular-and understandably so. 

Essential game pieces that are super rare? It starts small- the distaste, the apathy- but it keeps growing and eating at the community. Your friends, already pressed for time and money, can't play as often, can't pay for important game pieces...and suddenly YOU are pressed for time and money and...wait. How many sets have come out? How much is it to play a deck you love?

Next thing you know, Magic doesn't matter-or at minimum, it doesn't matter enough for you to pay for new cards. 

There is a difference between premium product and premium game pieces.

Having premium product means blinged out game pieces-foils, art, etc. Presentation. Having premium game pieces is basically a fee-to-way win structure: you pay more, you win more. Guess which one will burn out your customer base?

There is also a difference between customer attraction and customer retention.

Having formats of smaller, generally more affordable card pools helps bring people in. Reprinting cards so those new people can play a variety of formats is how you keep them! People don't play in a vacuum: they play with other people. And other people who have been playing Magic for a long time don't just play Standard. 

They don't have to reprint needed cards to oblivion, because crashing the secondary market would be a horrible thing to game stores. But, there is no reason why WotC can't print them so that new-and old!- players can have access. More people with access = more people playing the game = more money long term. 

At the moment, it just feels like the playerbase than can be milked is getting milked for all they're worth, and everyone else-the game isn't for them.