TCC has a video on their views of what Pleasant Kenobi has called 'perpetual hype': the practice of WotC to not even let a week go by after a new set is released, to start talking about the upcoming set. This is happening because there is a marked increase in the product being released.
Watching that video, coupled with my reaction to the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set, I've realized that the current state of Magic is turning me off. There's never any opportunity to explore what we have, because shiny new things are being dangled in front of us constantly. And for the first time in awhile, it feels sloppy.
It might not be, but how can I know since I'm never allowed to sit with this?
There is so much product that keeping track of it-and what might be of interest to me-is an actual drag on my time, instead of a thrill to look forward to. It's confusing and the pricing is inconsistent.
There's also a drawback the Professor mentions that I hadn't been able to articulate; that the worldbuilding, while excellent, goes by so fast that nobody could really get into a place. Players know planes like Mirrodin isn't Mirrodin anymore, that Khans has dragons now but didn't for awhile, and what the lives of humans on Innistrad are like (short, scary).
I can't remember a thing about Kaldheim and I really liked that set. There are only five schools in Strixhaven and I think I can name two-but I could name all ten Ravnica guilds. Strixhaven came out in April. War of the Spark-the last Ravnica based set-was in 2019. These kinds of drawbacks chip away at the enjoyment people are allowed to have, because they never get a chance to enjoy it.
This doesn't even get into the financial drain of having so much product but that cost is real, especially when Magic as a collectable game, wants to push people into collecting.
I don't think that WotC should go back to the 3 set block system: it was clearly a problem for them to keep people engaged and use the same mechanical riff for that long. Coupled with flagging sales as the block went on (every 3rd set had markedly less sales, which is why so many high value cards were put in them, in order to increase interest), a change was needed.
The upcoming Innistrad sets might show us the way though: with a one month delay between sets, I could see staggered releases moving into the future. If the individual sets are smaller, they could have 'mini-blocks' that could release as many, maybe a few more cards, allow for expanded storytelling and worldbuilding opportunities, and a longer window to experience the set's mechanics and see what's done with them.
This might solve the 'memory problem' and with smaller sets, might be less of a fiscal impact, too. On top of that, it would decrease the length of time Standard would be a 'solved format' because the gap between new sets would be shortened. A little over time, instead of it all at once means the format would shift every two months, instead of three.
This does still leave a perpetual hype problem and that might be something that can only be solved with less product. But I would rather have fewer but better product than a firehose of meh.
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