This game and it's elitist players are toxic.

Amalthea

I didn't know whether I should post or not as I really can't be doing with faux online drama but I feel I should put my view forward for what it's worth as I feel partly to blame for how things have materialised.

I was happy in Aether, we were a great team and despite what some have said I like Azazel's relaxed leadership. He said he was happy to have me do some recruiting when spaces came up and I was more than happy to do so as a stronger coalition was a benefit to us all. We had some really strong players in our coalition but some just stopped playing the game and some left for other higher placed coalitions. I was happy to stay around and help the team get stronger by recruiting and I'm well aware there were some much stronger players than I was.
I kept finding good players but there was still a massive gap between the top and the bottom and a few of us did voice our concerns over this but non active players weren't removed.
I tried several times to get us more involved with the coalition on slack but only a few wanted to join.
I sought advice on the slack channel as to how I could help improve the chances of our coalition as we had dropped from top 15 to only just scraping top 50 and I was feeling a bit deflated after the hours of time I put in.
I wasn't actively seeking a new coalition personally although I suspect others understandably were.
I was approached to be part of a top 10, but not aggressively in any way and it was my own choice to make.
I personally do not feel there is anything wrong with recruiting from other teams as at the end of the day this is a competitive event.
I said in my parting message to the whole of Aether that I felt pretty **** about leaving but at the end of the day I wanted to improve my game and the best chance I had was to be in another coalition. I also left you all with my email address so that you could be added to slack and that I had been told top players could be also found a position in top coalitions.

I know you have other things going on in your life too Azazel and I'm sorry if you have been left feeling betrayed or if I have caused you any hurt but on my part it wasn't personal.

I think it's time to put this to bed now and move on. I wish you and Aether all the best and hope you can continue to enjoy the game x

LeafHyren

Amalthea wrote:

I didn't know whether I should post or not as I really can't be doing with faux online drama but I feel I should put my view forward for what it's worth as I feel partly to blame for how things have materialised.

I was happy in Aether, we were a great team and despite what some have said I like Azazel's relaxed leadership. He said he was happy to have me do some recruiting when spaces came up and I was more than happy to do so as a stronger coalition was a benefit to us all. We had some really strong players in our coalition but some just stopped playing the game and some left for other higher placed coalitions. I was happy to stay around and help the team get stronger by recruiting and I'm well aware there were some much stronger players than I was.
But I kept finding good players but there was still a massive gap between the top and the bottom and a few of us did voice our concerns over this but non active players weren't removed.
I tried several times to get us more involved with the coalition on slack but only a few wanted to join.
I sought advice on the slack channel as to how I could help improve the chances of our coalition as we had dropped from top 15 to only just scraping top 50 and I was feeling a bit deflated after the hours of time I put in.
I wasn't actively seeking a new coalition personally although I suspect others understandably were.
I was approached to be part of a top 10, but not aggressively in any way and it was my own choice to make.
I personally do not feel there is anything wrong with recruiting from other teams as at the end of the day this is a competitive event.
I said in my parting message to the whole of Aether that I felt pretty tinykitty about leaving but at the end of the day I wanted to improve my game and the best chance I had was to be in another coalition. I also left you all with my email address so that you could be added to slack and that I had been told top players could be also found a position in top coalitions.

I know you have other things going on in your life too Azazel and I'm sorry if you have been left feeling betrayed or if I have caused you any hurt but on my part it wasn't personal.

I think it's time to put this to bed now and move on. I wish you and Aether all the best and hope you can continue to enjoy the game x

Thank you for you perspective. And yes, can we all just look at yunnn's kitty and wonder about the "its" in the world hmmm It's interesting to contemplate.

bk1234

LeafHyren wrote:

Amalthea wrote:

I didn't know whether I should post or not as I really can't be doing with faux online drama but I feel I should put my view forward for what it's worth as I feel partly to blame for how things have materialised.

I was happy in Aether, we were a great team and despite what some have said I like Azazel's relaxed leadership. He said he was happy to have me do some recruiting when spaces came up and I was more than happy to do so as a stronger coalition was a benefit to us all. We had some really strong players in our coalition but some just stopped playing the game and some left for other higher placed coalitions. I was happy to stay around and help the team get stronger by recruiting and I'm well aware there were some much stronger players than I was.
But I kept finding good players but there was still a massive gap between the top and the bottom and a few of us did voice our concerns over this but non active players weren't removed.
I tried several times to get us more involved with the coalition on slack but only a few wanted to join.
I sought advice on the slack channel as to how I could help improve the chances of our coalition as we had dropped from top 15 to only just scraping top 50 and I was feeling a bit deflated after the hours of time I put in.
I wasn't actively seeking a new coalition personally although I suspect others understandably were.
I was approached to be part of a top 10, but not aggressively in any way and it was my own choice to make.
I personally do not feel there is anything wrong with recruiting from other teams as at the end of the day this is a competitive event.
I said in my parting message to the whole of Aether that I felt pretty tinykitty about leaving but at the end of the day I wanted to improve my game and the best chance I had was to be in another coalition. I also left you all with my email address so that you could be added to slack and that I had been told top players could be also found a position in top coalitions.

I know you have other things going on in your life too Azazel and I'm sorry if you have been left feeling betrayed or if I have caused you any hurt but on my part it wasn't personal.

I think it's time to put this to bed now and move on. I wish you and Aether all the best and hope you can continue to enjoy the game x

Thank you for you perspective. And yes, can we all just look at yunnn's kitty and wonder about the "its" in the world hmmm It's interesting to contemplate.

Just don't call that kitty a tinykitty because one of the ghosts of shteev will report you.

buscemi

bken1234 wrote:

Just don't call that kitty a tinykitty because one of the ghosts of shteev will report you.

Reported for circumventing the swearing filter.

bk1234

buscemi wrote:

bken1234 wrote:

Just don't call that kitty a tinykitty because one of the ghosts of shteev will report you.

Reported for circumventing the swearing filter.

When I laugh out loud reading things on the interwebs, my daughter looks at me like I'm a crazy person. Thanks for that.

Corn_Noodles

yunnnn wrote:

The real issue here is the thread title: This game and it's elitist players are toxic.
It is completely wrong to say such a thing, and it makes you look incredibly foolish. "It's" is equivalent to "it is", rather than being possessive. Take a look here: http://grammarist.com/spelling/its-its/

Your so right.

buscemi

Corn Noodles wrote:

yunnnn wrote:

The real issue here is the thread title: This game and it's elitist players are toxic.
It is completely wrong to say such a thing, and it makes you look incredibly foolish. "It's" is equivalent to "it is", rather than being possessive. Take a look here: http://grammarist.com/spelling/its-its/

Your so right.

I couldntve put it better myself.

Ohboy

buscemi wrote:

Corn Noodles wrote:

yunnnn wrote:

The real issue here is the thread title: This game and it's elitist players are toxic.
It is completely wrong to say such a thing, and it makes you look incredibly foolish. "It's" is equivalent to "it is", rather than being possessive. Take a look here: http://grammarist.com/spelling/its-its/

Your so right.

I couldntve put it better myself.

You kinda could of, couldnt you.

IamTheDanger

*sigh* Time to put on the flame proof mod pants.

This thread has the potential to go down hill fast. Now, since I am really trying to be more open and less strict, please, please, do not let this thread go off in the wrong direction. I feel this is a worthwhile topic and can be very informative to a lot of people. So if everyone can be nice and civil, we can keep it going. My post here is mostly an attempt to avoid any unpleasantness and defuse any serious rule violations before they happen.

Thank you all in advance.
Danger.

*takes off mod pants* don't worry folks. regular pants are still on.

Poaching players actually can happen. But, in my opinion, it can only happen if the player is willing to be poached in the first place.
In MPQ, I started an alliance family of 3 teams. The first was top 100 in PvP, top 20 in PvE. The second was t200 PvP and PvE both. The 3rd was like a resting ground where players from the first two could take a break and still be part of the family. We were very close at one point and became good friends. There were several attempts by better, higher ranked alliances that tried to poach some of our members, but they chose to stay.

Fast forward about 2 years and things started to change. I was getting slack in my leadership duties and lazy about recruiting new players. The result was, that when some were approached by stronger teams, they went. The alliance I had built was no longer giving them the rewards they deserved. And that was on me. It showed me that because I wasn't willing to put forth the effort to maintaining a top team, I'm better off letting others take over. That's just a better fit for me and I haven't regretted it once.

Now, you may be thinking "what does this have to do with MtG?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
I play MtG casually, so starting my own coalition would be pointless. However, in an effort to be a more effective moderator, I've been playing Magic more and more. Buy, having learned from experience, joining a casual group would be a much better fit for me. So, if anyone out there knows of one, please let me know.

Coppertouret

IamTheDanger wrote:

*sigh* Time to put on the flame proof mod pants.

This thread has the potential to go down hill fast. Now, since I am really trying to be more open and less strict, please, please, do not let this thread go off in the wrong direction. I feel this is a worthwhile topic and can be very informative to a lot of people. So if everyone can be nice and civil, we can keep it going. My post here is mostly an attempt to avoid any unpleasantness and defuse any serious rule violations before they happen.

Thank you all in advance.
Danger.

*takes off mod pants* don't worry folks. regular pants are still on.

Poaching players actually can happen. But, in my opinion, it can only happen if the player is willing to be poached in the first place.
In MPQ, I started an alliance family of 3 teams. The first was top 100 in PvP, top 20 in PvE. The second was t200 PvP and PvE both. The 3rd was like a resting ground where players from the first two could take a break and still be part of the family. We were very close at one point and became good friends. There were several attempts by better, higher ranked alliances that tried to poach some of our members, but they chose to stay.

Fast forward about 2 years and things started to change. I was getting slack in my leadership duties and lazy about recruiting new players. The result was, that when some were approached by stronger teams, they went. The alliance I had built was no longer giving them the rewards they deserved. And that was on me. It showed me that because I wasn't willing to put forth the effort to maintaining a top team, I'm better off letting others take over. That's just a better fit for me and I haven't regretted it once.

Now, you may be thinking "what does this have to do with MtG?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
I play MtG casually, so starting my own coalition would be pointless. However, in an effort to be a more effective moderator, I've been playing Magic more and more. Buy, having learned from experience, joining a casual group would be a much better fit for me. So, if anyone out there knows of one, please let me know.

First off, thanks for not going full moderator and shutting the thread down. I appreciate a moderator that flexes occasionally, rather than full choke holds.

Second off, I played mpq since day 1 and MtGPQ since day 1 as well. They are very different games with similar Alliance/coalition issues. I appreciate you beginning to play both simultaneously to appreciate the similarities and differences. I will say that a history in paper mtg had won my loyalty for time devotion being towards mtgpq, but the competitive side of the game is not as strict on scheduling exact play times, though it is leaning that way. I hope you find a balance that allows you to keep on with both. As far as casual coalitions go, there are an abundance that can potentially feed you into the top groups as a sub or permanent spot if desired at a time where you want to experience the true competitive end game. I know mpq is organized mostly on Line, but the top groups in mtgpq use Slack (a very similar app). If you're interested in having another app, send me a pm and I'll get you started.

LeafHyren

Public discourse is a good thing. I hope we can do this more often, and whatever happens from here on I hope it doesn't discourage you moderators from allowing us to have this type of conversations hopefully you'll see that it's nice to wear the second pair of pants more often. And that we can all get better at voicing out opinions with civility. I do not mean kindly, rather fairly. We all did a good job, and I am sure we can communicate this way more regularly.

(I used a lot of hope here lol, I need a hope replenishment... *looks at yunnnn's kitten again, better)

Skiglass6

IamTheDanger wrote:

*sigh* Time to put on the flame proof mod pants.

...
*takes off mod pants* don't worry folks. regular pants are still on.

...
Now, you may be thinking "what does this have to do with MtG?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
I play MtG casually, so starting my own coalition would be pointless. However, in an effort to be a more effective moderator, I've been playing Magic more and more. Buy, having learned from experience, joining a casual group would be a much better fit for me. So, if anyone out there knows of one, please let me know.

I feel the mod should have kept mod pants on and moved this post to the appropriate topic. There is already a topic set up for being recruited/recruiting called MtGPQ Coalitions.

LeafHyren

Skiglass6 wrote:

IamTheDanger wrote:

*sigh* Time to put on the flame proof mod pants.

...
*takes off mod pants* don't worry folks. regular pants are still on.

...
Now, you may be thinking "what does this have to do with MtG?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
I play MtG casually, so starting my own coalition would be pointless. However, in an effort to be a more effective moderator, I've been playing Magic more and more. Buy, having learned from experience, joining a casual group would be a much better fit for me. So, if anyone out there knows of one, please let me know.

I feel the mod should have kept mod pants on and moved this post to the appropriate topic. There is already a topic set up for being recruited/recruiting called MtGPQ Coalitions.

(sigh) this is not about the typical recruiting issues though.

Ohboy

Coppertouret wrote:

As far as casual coalitions go, there are an abundance that can potentially feed you into the top groups as a sub or permanent spot if desired at a time where you want to experience the true competitive end game.

I was told that anyone could easily get a spot on the top coalitions because members weave in and out to take breaks. Your statement seems to affirm it.

That doesn't sound like the true competitive end game you're describing.

If there's a pool of 300 players that the top 10 coalitions draw from, then that kind of defeats the point of competition doesn't it?

Ideally you want to have 15 teams from those 300 fighting to be in top 10. What you're having is people colluding with each other, while talking about competing.

I'm aware that the top 10 spots are heavily contested. I'm just raising a simple example to illustrate that the system you've set up actively seeks to reduce competition when there could be more.

This could be the status quo on how things used to be done on mpq, but it's kind of alien to me and I'm really surprised it's been condoned for so long. It's a subversion of the advertised system. For anyone who doesn't come across you guys, it becomes an instant shut out.

No one experiences the true competitive end game. The ones playing it are playing it on easy mode. It's less competitive than it could be, while making barrier of entry from standard coalitions into top 10 much higher than it would be.

IamTheDanger

Skiglass6 wrote:

IamTheDanger wrote:

*sigh* Time to put on the flame proof mod pants.

...
*takes off mod pants* don't worry folks. regular pants are still on.

...
Now, you may be thinking "what does this have to do with MtG?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
I play MtG casually, so starting my own coalition would be pointless. However, in an effort to be a more effective moderator, I've been playing Magic more and more. Buy, having learned from experience, joining a casual group would be a much better fit for me. So, if anyone out there knows of one, please let me know.

I feel the mod should have kept mod pants on and moved this post to the appropriate topic. There is already a topic set up for being recruited/recruiting called MtGPQ Coalitions.

You are correct. I actually did put a post in the recruitment thread as well though. My post here was mostly an attempt to keep from having to lock this thread. These kind of situations do exist, and it can upset a lot of people. But I feel it's a topic that really should be discussed. Politely. I have never been a member of a MtGPQ coalition, but I do know, that in any game like this, players will come and go. It's how the world works. If I'm a top performer, then I would like to get compensated for my efforts. Just like in life. If I have a job that pays $15 an hour, and someone offers me the same job at a different company making $20 an hour, I will probably take it unless I have good reason to stay where I am.

About me looking to join a coalition. I do it for two reasons.
1.) I'm playing more so I can better understand the point of view of others that post in this forum. It was pointed out, rightly, that since I was so casual, I couldn't be a very effective moderator.
2.) I actually like them game. I doubt I'll ever be a hard core, top 10 player, but that doesn't mean that I can't still enjoy the game.

So, to keep this thread on topic, please P.M. any coalition advice to me instead of posting in here.

now, back to your regularly scheduled program...

blacklotus

Hi IamTheDanger,

you can try joining tinykitty mtgPQ coalition. it's a very casual coalition where players test out their alternate accts or just want to start again from fresh with Low level planeswalkers.

it's coordinated by bk1234.

to be honest, playing well with a Low level planeswalker is more difficult than a max out one.

even if u have OP cards like Deploy the Gateway, you cannot use them effectively because your Matched-gem mana gains are subpar.

Ohboy

blacklotus wrote:

Hi IamTheDanger,

you can try joining tinykitty mtgPQ coalition. it's a very casual coalition where players test out their alternate accts or just want to start again from fresh with Low level planeswalkers.

it's coordinated by bk1234.

to be honest, playing well with a Low level planeswalker is more difficult than a max out one.

even if u have OP cards like Deploy the Gateway, you cannot use them effectively because your Matched-gem mana gains are subpar.

Do you deliberately keep them low level?

blacklotus

Ohboy wrote:

blacklotus wrote:

Hi IamTheDanger,

you can try joining tinykitty mtgPQ coalition. it's a very casual coalition where players test out their alternate accts or just want to start again from fresh with Low level planeswalkers.

it's coordinated by bk1234.

to be honest, playing well with a Low level planeswalker is more difficult than a max out one.

even if u have OP cards like Deploy the Gateway, you cannot use them effectively because your Matched-gem mana gains are subpar.

Do you deliberately keep them low level?

not deliberately. but runes are pretty hard to come by if one doesn't grind quick battles on a daily work-like basis.

event rewards for runes are quite low too. 100 runes per battle and about 2000 runes for progression rewards?

story mode doesn't give much runes either. not the low level story modes.

one need about 20k runes per pw to level it to be more competitive. for nop, that's 5 pw or about 100k runes.

I have only today just levelled Nissa to level 59 on my alternate acct after about 5 months (since Jun2016) of collecting runes thru basic means:
converting dupe cards and the daily rewards.
the rest of my pw in my alternate acct are all level 1.

LeafHyren

Ohboy wrote:

Coppertouret wrote:

As far as casual coalitions go, there are an abundance that can potentially feed you into the top groups as a sub or permanent spot if desired at a time where you want to experience the true competitive end game.

I was told that anyone could easily get a spot on the top coalitions because members weave in and out to take breaks. Your statement seems to affirm it.

That doesn't sound like the true competitive end game you're describing.

If there's a pool of 300 players that the top 10 coalitions draw from, then that kind of defeats the point of competition doesn't it?

Ideally you want to have 15 teams from those 300 fighting to be in top 10. What you're having is people colluding with each other, while talking about competing.

I'm aware that the top 10 spots are heavily contested. I'm just raising a simple example to illustrate that the system you've set up actively seeks to reduce competition when there could be more.

This could be the status quo on how things used to be done on mpq, but it's kind of alien to me and I'm really surprised it's been condoned for so long. It's a subversion of the advertised system. For anyone who doesn't come across you guys, it becomes an instant shut out.

No one experiences the true competitive end game. The ones playing it are playing it on easy mode. It's less competitive than it could be, while making barrier of entry from standard coalitions into top 10 much higher than it would be.

Agreed. My coalition and Extinction are not part of the Alliance, and we both do well. Speaking for my team, we talked about this issues too, and chose to stick to being outsiders and doing things our way. Finding members in Russian forums and the recruiting threads in here. I am personally proud of my group for doing it this way. We believe in competition and we'll stick to what we have created. That said, the Alliance is less of a hardcore group of loyalists to the system they have. They are much more faithful to the coalition they belong to, as it should be. In my opinion the Alliance works more like this forum for recruiting purposes. Just a place for players to chat and discuss the game. I am definitely an advocate of creating your own path.

Coppertouret

Ohboy wrote:

Coppertouret wrote:

As far as casual coalitions go, there are an abundance that can potentially feed you into the top groups as a sub or permanent spot if desired at a time where you want to experience the true competitive end game.

I was told that anyone could easily get a spot on the top coalitions because members weave in and out to take breaks. Your statement seems to affirm it.

That doesn't sound like the true competitive end game you're describing.

If there's a pool of 300 players that the top 10 coalitions draw from, then that kind of defeats the point of competition doesn't it?

Ideally you want to have 15 teams from those 300 fighting to be in top 10. What you're having is people colluding with each other, while talking about competing.

I'm aware that the top 10 spots are heavily contested. I'm just raising a simple example to illustrate that the system you've set up actively seeks to reduce competition when there could be more.

This could be the status quo on how things used to be done on mpq, but it's kind of alien to me and I'm really surprised it's been condoned for so long. It's a subversion of the advertised system. For anyone who doesn't come across you guys, it becomes an instant shut out.

No one experiences the true competitive end game. The ones playing it are playing it on easy mode. It's less competitive than it could be, while making barrier of entry from standard coalitions into top 10 much higher than it would be.

If you think that the top coalitions actively work together to maintain everyone's status, you are mistaken. The individual coalitions are very much attempting to dethrone everyone above them. The coalition Alliance is ultimately a place for us to discuss as a whole gameplay and issues. There is no coordinated attempt to block any other coalition's rise to glory. The loyalty remains with the individual coalition.

Also, if one member decides not to play, the top 10 placement is easily lost. As the game progresses, the number of people with event wining decks increases, as do the number of coalitions with an active roster in possession of these decks. Nearly every event for the last few weeks, there have been several coalitions that I do not normally recognize in the top spots that are pushing just as hard as the regular top groups. Whether they aren't successful in their attempt due to players giving up toward the end or individual players scheduling conflicts, the pressure is always real in the top 10. Our group had an 80% minimum score requirement every event to maintain ranking and that threshold is barely enough to hold us in place. The minimum will have to rise soon, I'm sure. Eventually the minimum threshold will not be achievable with any losses including the random freeze losses. If winning every match by playing every single refresh at the top of the refresh time to break ties at the end while obtaining every subobjective point possible isn't end game, I'm not sure I understand what you feel like the level of competition is supposed to be like.