Before I start the article, it is important that you read this article from Chris Cocks, President of Wizards of the Coast. Without it, this article would not exist.





I've been consumed by two things recently, the first being cube draft. I'll get to that in a second. The other thing that has taken my attention has been the Pokemon TCG online client. Every day I have a new quest to do, which rewards me with currency, sleeves, and deck boxes. On top of this quest system, there is a ladder system that rewards desirable cards (that you can't trade from your account), packs, and currency. There is also a training system where you take on a wide range of AI opponents to earn more packs and such. Heck you even get to spin a prize wheel after playing matches.





I've been on the Pokemon TCG client since 2013, before it was released on iOS. It was released in 2011 as a browser application. Using the Unity Engine, it was released in 2012 on Windows and OSX. In 2014, it came to the iPad, and early last year came out to Android. It's far from perfect. The Collection screen could use some work, and setting stuff for trade could as well. The game only offers single elimination events for tournaments, but you can buy in super easily, because there are codes involved with paper packs. The paper and digital versions are linked, and it's done well. Heck they are so linked that when the game was celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was entirely possible to go to Barnes and Noble, make a purchase, and receive exclusive digital promos.



MTGO has struggled to be linked between paper and digital. While there was promise early in the version 4, that promise quickly showed it would go unfulfilled. I've not seen digital promo codes given out since one could pick up a promo Dryad Militant, and that was back in what, 2012? With the changes in Organized Play online, the rerelease of League play, and the Treasure chests, MTGO is catching back up to the offerings that other games, like Hearthstone or Pokemon have.





However the game is still lagging behind. With the announcement of the creation of the Digital Games Studio, I wanted to talk about my dream list of things that Wizards of the Coast could do.

I think the first and most important thing that WotC could do is recognize that Magic, as it is now, is not going to be an eSport. At the time of this writing, less than 2000 people are watching Magic on Twitch, and that's with Paul Cheon streaming Legacy Cube. With version 4, things are harder to see, the action is slowed down, and unlike League of Legends or Overwatch, you don't have the exciting game play that attracts viewers, and big money sponsors.

Magic: The Gathering however, is one of the greatest games ever made. People love Monopoly too, but that's also not fit for streaming. An effort to grab a part of the eSport market, and be in the "top five" is entirely possible, but I feel it is not going to be done with a traditional Magic: The Gathering option. I also feel that Magic Duels is not going to be that game, because well, as of this writing, there are four people streaming it, and 16 people watching. So traditional Magic is much too slow and encumbering to be a serious eSport, and Magic Duels is just not capturing an audience, what needs to be done. Can MTGO coexist alongside with Duels and a third made for eSport game?

I think all three products (one only exists in my dreams) can coexist, and can do so without the cannibalization of current product offerings. Heck I think a lot can be done for Magic's, nay, Wizards of the Coasts Digital offerings. While I have often said that Wizards thinks of themselves as a Card Game company that makes Video Games, the digital studio shows that they are now willing to be a video game company that is making a Card game as well.

Here is what I would do if I had the chance.

The very first thing I would do involves MTGO. It's 2017, and the games competitors are free to play. Yes they are loaded with shops and micro transactions, but I can create a Hearthstone account for free and start playing games. I can do the same with Pokemon and get actual decks to play when I sign up. Dropping the signup fee for MTGO is a thing that I am, quite honestly, shocked about it not happening already. Yeah you get a lot of things for signing up, 5 Tickets, some new player points, and a lot of commons that well are Standard legal at least. This new account charge is just an unneeded barrier to entry to MTGO. Drop that fee and create a new welcome kit for new signups. While we don't have an AI opponent to do training modes like Hearthstone or Pokemon, (and honestly that should not be a thing that is needed for MTGO, the most people should need is a small tutorial for how to navigate the client and play, as you're not learning a new game when you sign up), we would still need something in the same vein as a starter deck for the new player. This should be able to be achieved without charging ten dollars for signing up.

The second MTGO thing I would do is start work on a new client. Yeah version 4 is functional, and by functional I mean it allows people to play Magic, but it really needs some work. Version five would have, ideally in my dreams, the following things.



1. A way to report bugs, behavior, or contact customer service built in to the client. Having to go to the webpage to file anything is a hinderance to WotC, because it puts an extra step on the customer. With the site redesign, having to deal with that personally, I've decided to not report things, or file for compensation just because I did not want to deal with the site. That might be a feature though. Regardless, I should be able to file in client.



2. Integrate streaming from the client. While MTGO is not going to be the thing that captures the piece of the eSports market that MTGO wants, streaming is a fun thing for people to watch, and it fills the void during the week that weekend coverage of live events fills. With the Twitch partnership, we should be able to fill in our channel information, hit a button, and stream our game play.



3. Get rid of chat functionality. No one uses it outside of raging at their opponents, at least that is what Twitter and Reddit would lead us to believe. Hearthstone and Pokemon both use an emote system, and players can easily mute that.



4. Make Guilds matter again. I'm not entirely sure how this can happen, but people are smarter than I am, and they can figure it out. Maybe voice chat. Maybe special events, or avatars, but something has to happen to make guilds great.



5. Program a way to make combos that are "infinite" work on the client.



6. Add format filters back to the client. Make it easier for players who want to play Frontier, French Commander, Tribal or any other format. MTGO should strive to match up to paper as often as possible, and limiting play formats makes that harder for players.



7. Multiplatform support. Again it's 2017, I should be able to load up MTGO on my iPad, sign in with my JXClaytor account and see what I would on my PC. If I can do that on Hearthstone and Pokemon, I need to be able to not be tethered to my PC when I want to play in a league.



8. A sharp user friendly UI. Magic should look great.



9. Actually use the promo code box. The best way to do this I feel would be to add promo codes to the advertisement cards in paper packs. Put the promo codes and get a pack would be super easy, but would also ruin the MTGO economy, but what about putting a code in and getting a random amount of play points? Or putting in a code and getting a currency that could be used for promotional cards from the MTGO store?



MTGO is an important tool and it should continue to be the flagbearer for the Magic product line. I have no idea what is going to happen to collections, or if there is a new game that is going to come along, but anything that makes digital Magic, and takes it further away from Paper Magic is not for the good of either platform. Stuff like XMage, Magic Workstation, and other free options will continue to exist, and if players have to go to a third party (that more than likely violates copyrights) than we lose. As I have stated, MTGO is not going to deliver on the E-Sports pie. Neither is Duels.



Yet both games still coexist. They have different customer bases for the most part. MTGO is for the player that wants to draft all the time, or practice for PPTQs and Grand Prix. Duels is for someone that wants a light mobile experience, but something heavier on story. MTGO is a simulation where Duels would be something closer to an Adventure game.



I fully believe that a third card based game can use the Magic IP and fill the role of the mythical top five eSport product. I believe that MTGO, Duels and Game to be Named at a later date can also share space on multiple platforms. Why do I believe this?



Well because each game would fill a different role for the player looking to play them. Want to draft? Pick up MTGO. Want a fast paced easy to pick up and learn how to play game? Pick up the new product. Want a story driven experience? Pick up Duels. While there is overlap in a sense, because they are all card games, it's like saying Omaha is the same game as Blackjack is the same game as War, because they all use playing cards.



Yes WotC would have to design a new eSport friendly game. Is that something that they could do? I firmly believe that they can. In fact the gameplay for an eSports game has been laid down by the company already.



I am talking about Portal. There were no artifacts, no enchantments, and no instants in the game. It was tremendously simple Magic, and this creature, sorcery, land format would lend itself well to eSports. It's quick to learn, quick to play, and faster paced when compared to a normal game of Magic.



Heck one could set it up like Hearthstone, and this probably would have been perfect when Return to Ravnica was last introduced. Get a hero based off the guild you decide to play, get a hero power with them. Have a base set of cards that any guild could use, and then guild specific cards. While biting off Hearthstone directly may not be the best idea, the simplified game play of the Blizzard game could give WotC great resources in deciding where to build towards.





So yes, MTGO, Duels and HearthMagic I believe can all coexist, and I think that the three of them will have enough crossover appeal while still maintaining a core group of users that development and maintenance of the users would be very easy to do.

What else could the Digital Games Studio do?



In the announcement, Chris Cocks alluded to an MMO, which could be well suited for a Magic setting, but more than likely much better with another of WotCs properties, Dungeons and Dragons. He mentioned an augmented reality game, which seems pretty cool too. I believe that the digital offerings of Wizards of the Coast could be vast. I've only talked about Magic, and touched on Dungeons and Dragons, but what could be done digitally with the Avalon Hill properties? Could WotC port their board game offerings to the digital world like Days of Wonder did with the Ticket to Ride series? Could they create new games based on this intellectual property as well? Wouldn't Axis and Allies or Risk be well suited for Real Time Strategy games? Of course they would fit well in a war game as well, but that might be a bit over saturated. Betrayal at the House on the Hill could be a survival horror game. Robo Rally could be a cart racing game, or maybe something like Rocket League! Vegas Showdown could be an open world sandbox game where one tries to build the best casinos while stifling the opposition.



I might have reached fever dream status with the thoughts of board games as something besides a digital board game. But think about it, you port the board games and open up mobile apps for them as well.





So they could do something with Avalon Hill in addition to the Magic and D&D properties. Maybe dust off DuelMasters again? Reimagine Hecatomb, Harry Potter, and Showdown Sports games as digital games! What I do think though is this, Wizards of the Coast has went from a card game company trying to make a video game, to a well-rounded game company trying to make the best games.

The highlighted names in the statement Chris Cocks put out last week were intriguing to say the least. Jeffrey Steefel was the Executive Producer at Turbine, which was the company behind The Lord of the Rings Online, a MMORPG and Infinite Crisis, a MOBA. David Schwartz was the General Manager at THQ behind MX vs. ATV Alive which was a special game in that it was cheaper than a normal game, but recouped costs with higher than normal DLC. Sure it was outside the box thinking. Arron Goolsbey has been involved with WotC for twenty or so years, and oversaw the Wizards Play Network and the first Duels of the Planeswalkers on Xbox. The higher ups, the names listed to me, have earned a good reputation within the games industry and I am excited to see what they have in store for us not just as Magic players but as gamers!



So with this in mind, and my list of MTGO wants already stated, what would I want to see from the Digital Games Studio?



A lot, as I have incredibly high expectations out of them. I probably play more games than a 36 year old should play, but with all the free time I have and a 9 year old son, it may be just the right amount of games. I see companies like Blizzard, Bethesda, UbiSoft and Electronic Arts rounding up all their games and offering them in one centralized place. There is the Battle.net (which is changing names soon as I understand) Launcher. From there you can find easy access to your friends list, news, streaming options, a storefront and of course, the games! You can scroll down the list and decide if you're in for a Diablo or Starcraft kind of play session. Bethesda has their launcher for Eternal and Fallout Shelter, which was a mobile game, as well as mod tools for Fallout and Skyrim. Electronic Arts has Origin, which is a storefront and a place for your game EA game collection. Ubisoft has Uplay, which is a thing. I'm not actually sure what it does.

So Wizards could make a program like this, it could link MTGO, Duels and the Puzzle Quest game maybe, I mean if Fallout Shelter can be put on PC, why can't a puzzle game? It could also link the D&D digital properties as well, Neverwinter is a current MMORPG that is out. Baldur's Gate could be thrown in there as well. That's pretty much it for current products.



So we get a launcher and centralize the present and growing digital properties. What is next?



I'd love to see a Magic MOBA. If it is well done it could muscle in some of the space that DOTA, Heroes of the Storm and League of Legends take, and the champion list is pretty much already built thanks to the rich history of Magic. Tahngarth, Karn, Volrath, and Gerrard could be tanks. Chandra, Jace, Hanna, Mirri could be support. Tibalt and Squee could be the minions (though each map could be based on a color, or location and an iconic creature could be the minion there?), and with the Brothers War, the Weatherlight Saga, and other storylines there is no shortage of characters for a champion list.









After a MOBA the next digital offering I would like to see would be a remastered original Duels of the Planeswalkers, which I believe is now better known as Shandalar. This would be closer to my Diablo like game, a nice action adventure rpg where the cards play a role, but not as much as they did in the first game. Instead of every battle being a drawn out card game, it could just be the boss battles of dungeons. Or maybe no card battles outside of something like Triple Triad, where the card game is a thing, but not super important. Heck this is probably less of a remastering and more of a hey, let's have a Magic based rpg.



Maybe we can have a Planeswalker fighting game. I think that would be super cool, and another way to tap in to the eSports craze.



I think there is a lot of promise in the future direction of Wizards of the Coast's digital offerings, and while I might have wandered off into a magic Christmasland bit towards the end, think that the possibilities for the existing IP are nearly endless for the Digital Game Studio. In the coming months we should have more news in regards to what they are going to do with things, but I am looking forward to seeing where they take not only our game, Magic: The Gathering Online, but the other games that WotC offers in this new digital world.



What do you think the new Digital Game Studios should do? Comment below, and have a great day!