"And that’s okay! It’s okay that it’s a fun topic to
read and think about. The same way that Mark Rosewater insists that One With Nothing is
valuable to the game precisely because people can complain about it, it’s
kind of fun to bitch with your friends about how fucking expensive the
newest Jace already is. The same way that tourney grinders love to talk shop
about how the new cards might perform in the new Standard, it’s really fun
for finance grinders to talk shop about…how the new cards
might perform in the new Standard."
The "fun" of shared complaint - it
is different than sharing a burden.
Last night with my friend we played with the set where
the "fun" is eluding me but using our favorite format where
everything is usually more "fun" it blended in well with a
more enjoyable set. Sharing the complaint of being unable to read the
cards due to disability was not "fun" it was however bonding and
exploratory - she is a person I can ask who does not have a disability
what the cards look like to her - that could lead to problem solving
for me. This is closer to "work" or "work for play".
Sharing
the complaint of the muddy artwork and similar card visuals that was
NOT disability related WAS a kind of fun - discovery of not aloneness,
shared aesthetic, shared expertise (we are both alumnae of the same art school
- different media) I think that shared complaint may only be "fun"
but we were not "playing" and it was not "play"Interacting
with each other and the cards however was "play" - the subjective
quality would have been a kind of lightness - is there more of a discovery
aspect?
The method of play is based on surprise - sealed booster packs of cards
are opened and only seen/discovered through gameplay. We have an
expectation of finding something, the act of rules-based interaction
(the strucutural aspect of the game which is vetted as enjoyable and repeatable)
but comments made about art both positive and negative added to the
"play" factor - we are sharing discoveries WITH
personal subjective opinions - we discover the cards and more of each
other.
This makes me think of how you keep your hamster healthy and happy
by hiding food and treats for your hamster to discover. There are no
"negative" discoveries in either system. Hamster treat finding
is play for the human trying to balance the discoverability with the surprise
for the hamster and what is it for the Hamster - who does not need the treat to
survive - the idea of the treat as play or opportunity to play may be
thought of here.
********
The quote above is from a site Hipsters of the Coast - they
are a branded Magic content site that assumes it leans left their forays
into MtG Finance are interesting as the echo many of the complaints for
the people who want to play - but I still see very little
self-knowledge about the justification of play through capitalist language
/acts even though it saturates all the conversations
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