Upcoming Changes II: The Changening

 Soooooooo...now Wizards is going to have other IPs represented in the game. 

I come down at least mostly with Pleasant Kenobi. Reskins, silver boarders, these things would go a long way towards generating goodwill about the whole idea.

There's always going to be people who cry about the sky falling when they do this, 'quitting the game' etc, just as there are always going to be people who point out that The Walking Dead Secret Lair (which generated a huge outcry) made more money than any other SL, just as there are always going to be people who suck up to a Corporation because 'money'. I.E.: if it makes money, it is good, therefore no real criticism can exist. 

Because it made money.

I do want to make a couple things clear: First, I don't think this is going to 'destroy the game'. That's nonsense, because it just has no logical or historical support. Second: some people are really happy to hear this and they aren't wrong to be excited. 

For me, the question isn't 'who is going to quit Magic'. 

The question is: what does this do to the Magic brand as a whole?

They could go anywhere and do anything and put their own stamp on it, and they do...this. So now we're just going to get Warhammer but Magic, instead of Magic riffs on Warhammer, which is far more interesting to me. 

If everything becomes Magic, then nothing is Magic. It'll take time, but I believe that by bringing Magic to other properties, instead of having a Magic take on said concepts, the identity of the brand and eventually the game will be diluted and homogenized. The one-ofs (Transformers, My Little Pony) will cease to be special  and now just be part of the regular things that WotC does.

And those regular things will become less and less successful and interesting every time. Sure, at the moment there are people who are incredibly excited about seeing Warhammer-and good for them! Lots of different products for different people.

Except: you can only do it once, and then the enthusiasm diminishes. That's just human nature. Will people who decide to try Magic for the first time because of a Lord of the Rings card stick with the game, especially since the thing that brought them in isn't continued? Some might and that is a good thing, I will say. 

However even if the cards start off as reskins or sliver boarder cards (welp, so much for that idea), an insistence that the product make all of the money will inevitably push Hasbro into adding mechanically unique cards because that quality drives sales. They will, without fail, make a card that is necessary for a popular deck and that will be that. More and more people will be disillusioned over this, and Magic is already a cash-intensive game.

Again: Magic will lose branding strength over this, instead of gaining it. It'll take time but it will become less special. 

I don't particularly think that's a good thing but it will absolutely make Hasbro money. I just don't know that, long term, it's the best thing.