Thoughts of a Flying Sheep

I was reading an article on Wizards of the Coast's Magic website this morning (Flight of Fancy), and it reminded me of a revalation I had at GenCon this summer, when listening to a bunch of people talk about Magic.

Like Randy, I first thought of the art on cards as optional, a nice touch, perhaps, and maybe, just maybe, a tool to help the imagination place you in this fantasy world. At GenCon, I realized that players rely on the artwork to tell which spell has just been played. For most cards, the experienced player immediately knows and understands what the card means. Thus, players react to the sight of a Fireball, or a Platinum Angel, or a Two-Headed Dragon as objects in this fantasy world, rather then cards in a strategy game.

It's difficult to explain, but this game allows players to cast spells and summon creatures in a shared imaginary world, in the same way that good FPS computer games allow you to run around and shoot people (: The artwork does more then cover up the seams of reality - it creates this fantasy world. The consistency of the artwork allows players to immerse themselves into the world.

Well, I'll stop here, and hope that some of this difficult-to-explain stuff made it through. Have a happy Thanksgiving. I'm going to take a break from blogging until next month.

posted by FlyingSheep @ 9:48 AM