Magic: the Gathering is a collectible card/strategy game that I used to play back in the day, but like so many, it got too expensive and it just got harder and harder to find people to play.
It didn’t help that I was in university with over 40 hours of combined class and lab time. If I wanted to play when all of my work was done, what did I have to do? I had to go to my local comic book/gaming store and hope someone was around. Assuming of course that it wasn’t after 9:00PM, because Ottawa is the town that fun forgot, and everything shuts down.
But, for the older gamer who still enjoys this fun, social and yes, as-difficult-as-you-make-it game, how have things changed? Well, once you get home from work, fed the kids, paid the bills and are ready to relax and play you have to, um, go to your local comic book/gaming store and hope someone is around. Assuming it isn’t after ... oh you know the drill.
The point is this. Magic: The Gathering is as much of a kids game as lets say any First Person Shooter. Not in that is it "rated M", but in that the gameplay is too complex for a certain age group. Yes, teens play it, but it takes a ton of strategy, know how and money in order to start up and get any good. It is complex, and the complexity in the rules is something for adults and older teens. Not for kids. But since I am calling this an adults' game, it is surprising that it is in a way, very adult unfriendly. Most of the places where fellow MTG players hang out are on campuses and various types of stores, not the most convenient places for those who work 9-5 and have at home obligations.
And want to talk about uncomfortable? You know how we all hate to play with a kid on line? Now imagine that they are right there in front of you. It really takes away from the social aspect of the game. As we all know part of gaming is the social interaction outside the game itself. It’s yapping in the lobby, or in the clan forums. It’s about being part of a community. I mean what do I have in common with a teenager? What can I possibly have to say?
So. Pack it up, sell your decks, right? No, of course not. As you may know, Magic: The Gathering has an on-line component, appropriately called Magic: The Gathering On-Line (MTGO). The perfect place for a group of older gamers to get together on their own time and play a game they love. What I find interesting is this: MTGO is a on line game, where I am sure the demographic shifts older than most on line games. Allow me to explain: we have the teens who can play on the weekends and after school hanging out together, while the older folks play on-line. A bit of a role reversal if you will.
I do have a point in here. Most of us at 2old2play are here because we want to hang out with an older crowd. MTGO players want the exact same thing, but theirs is even a simpler need: they just want to play period! So, even if you have never played MTG or MTGO, as older gamers every single one of us can appreciate their need to just hang out with the old guys. And to 2old2MTGO... we all GET it. And welcome! You are among friends.
