Magic the Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia
The Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia (M:TGIE) promises a lot. It claims to be a playing tool, an encyclopedia, and a deckbuilding assistant all in one. That's a pretty tall order. Is Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) up to the challenge? Let's find out!
The M:TGIE's interface takes up the entire screen. It's a black background that doesn't lend itself to skipping between programs, even though much of the system relies on a Web browser. My preferred weapon of choice is Netscape, so it's possible the interface works better with Internet Explorer. After a couple of extraneous and irritating animations (that you must skip through every time you load the program), you have a choice of five sections:
This section allows you to find an opponent and begin an online game of Magic: The Gathering. It's not quite the same experience as playing a non-virtual game. Essentially, this is just a virtual gaming table.
Like so many other attempts to duplicate in-person, face-to-face gaming, the gaming table is a poor substitute. While it does standardize some aspects of a face-to-face game, like not having to worry about getting soda on your cards or the size of your gaming table, it's not going to replace the card game any time soon. Of course, WOTC knows this, or they wouldn't have created M:TGIE. But at least you don't have to worry about running out of counters anymore.
All the typical elements of virtual gaming are evident, including the ability for coin tosses and dice rolls, so you don't have to guess if your opponent really got a Heads on that last flip. There's also a list of parameters you can set for prospective players, which help ensure you play the game the way you want to play. You won't find an AI computer opponent with this program though.
Beyond the awkwardness of a virtual interface, which takes some getting used to, the biggest problem with this section lies in its communication tools. M:TGIE doesn't provide for audio interaction (although it does have a chat window). This isn't usually an issue with most games, because there are plenty of other shareware programs that you can use to work around it. The problem, however, is that M:TGIE is not Windows friendly. Switching between windows is laggy and can cause the program to crash. The window doesn't minimize either.
Still, considering the chaotic nature of most Magic: The Gathering games, the controlled virtual environment may be a welcome reprieve for gamers with high blood pressure.
The Deckbuilder is a fabulous feature for collectors, because it allows you to see what cards you still need. This is also where you can create your own virtual decks. The ability to print data about each card is very useful, but you can't print the pictures. No surprises here - if WOTC did this, you could probably create your own cards at home. But you can print a list of your entire collection, as well as the details of each individual card (including the quotes!).
Let's face it, the best part of collecting is gloating over the value of your Black Lotus. Although WOTC doesn't officially endorse any particular pricing list, they've given you the ability to download pricing lists on the Web. What they didn't give you was the ability to sort or display the prices in any useful way. So if you want to figure out the value of your deck, you'll have to look at each and every card individually. If you're a collector like me, this can take a very, very long time. Still, it's faster than looking up the value of each card, which is something I simply wouldn't bother to do (I'm the lazy collector-type).
There are also a few problems with the Deckbuilder section. Some views do not display correctly on screen. The search view appeared to be broken, as I was only able to display the upper left part of the search window. Patches and updates to the program didn't fix the problem.
This is the real meat of the encyclopedia. This section tackles the daunting task of giving you access to every Magic card ever printed. Almost all of them, anyway - there were no Guru cards that I could find. Useful features include the ability to make your own notes about each card, additional information from WOTC about background information on each card, why it was created, its intended use, or strategy tips. One particularly useful feature is the ability to zoom in on the artwork. I didn't think this mattered much until I began to notice the subtle differences between the seemingly endless editions of Magic: The Gathering cards. The only way to determine which cards you have is to carefully scrutinizing those graphics. It's also amusing to see how the game has changed for the better, and how some obviously abusable rules were clarified in later editions.
The strategy library is a storehouse of articles and writings to help with your game play. It includes rules and formats, articles, the history of the game, and organized play. Don't get too excited though, as this isn't proprietary information - it's all available (and linked to) WOTC's Web site. This guarantees the information is kept up to date, but it makes for an awkward interface that doesn't mesh well with your Web browser.
This is where the true value of the M:TGIE becomes clear. With the speed that WOTC produces cards, this encyclopedia would be rapidly outdated in a matter of months. But just a few simple downloads, and -- voila! - my encyclopedia was up to date. This also included updates to the card pricing, ensuring the latest and most up to date values.
The M:TGIE tries to be all things to all gamers, and only achieves some of them successfully. As an interactive gaming tool, it's a novelty. As a collector's assistant, it's invaluable. As a reference, it's less successful due to the broken search function and awkward Windows interface. Most importantly, the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia utilizes the full power of the Internet, ensuring that its shelf life will be measured in years rather than months.
The M:TGIE's interface takes up the entire screen. It's a black background that doesn't lend itself to skipping between programs, even though much of the system relies on a Web browser. My preferred weapon of choice is Netscape, so it's possible the interface works better with Internet Explorer. After a couple of extraneous and irritating animations (that you must skip through every time you load the program), you have a choice of five sections:
This section allows you to find an opponent and begin an online game of Magic: The Gathering. It's not quite the same experience as playing a non-virtual game. Essentially, this is just a virtual gaming table.
Like so many other attempts to duplicate in-person, face-to-face gaming, the gaming table is a poor substitute. While it does standardize some aspects of a face-to-face game, like not having to worry about getting soda on your cards or the size of your gaming table, it's not going to replace the card game any time soon. Of course, WOTC knows this, or they wouldn't have created M:TGIE. But at least you don't have to worry about running out of counters anymore.
All the typical elements of virtual gaming are evident, including the ability for coin tosses and dice rolls, so you don't have to guess if your opponent really got a Heads on that last flip. There's also a list of parameters you can set for prospective players, which help ensure you play the game the way you want to play. You won't find an AI computer opponent with this program though.
Beyond the awkwardness of a virtual interface, which takes some getting used to, the biggest problem with this section lies in its communication tools. M:TGIE doesn't provide for audio interaction (although it does have a chat window). This isn't usually an issue with most games, because there are plenty of other shareware programs that you can use to work around it. The problem, however, is that M:TGIE is not Windows friendly. Switching between windows is laggy and can cause the program to crash. The window doesn't minimize either.
Still, considering the chaotic nature of most Magic: The Gathering games, the controlled virtual environment may be a welcome reprieve for gamers with high blood pressure.
The Deckbuilder is a fabulous feature for collectors, because it allows you to see what cards you still need. This is also where you can create your own virtual decks. The ability to print data about each card is very useful, but you can't print the pictures. No surprises here - if WOTC did this, you could probably create your own cards at home. But you can print a list of your entire collection, as well as the details of each individual card (including the quotes!).
Let's face it, the best part of collecting is gloating over the value of your Black Lotus. Although WOTC doesn't officially endorse any particular pricing list, they've given you the ability to download pricing lists on the Web. What they didn't give you was the ability to sort or display the prices in any useful way. So if you want to figure out the value of your deck, you'll have to look at each and every card individually. If you're a collector like me, this can take a very, very long time. Still, it's faster than looking up the value of each card, which is something I simply wouldn't bother to do (I'm the lazy collector-type).
There are also a few problems with the Deckbuilder section. Some views do not display correctly on screen. The search view appeared to be broken, as I was only able to display the upper left part of the search window. Patches and updates to the program didn't fix the problem.
This is the real meat of the encyclopedia. This section tackles the daunting task of giving you access to every Magic card ever printed. Almost all of them, anyway - there were no Guru cards that I could find. Useful features include the ability to make your own notes about each card, additional information from WOTC about background information on each card, why it was created, its intended use, or strategy tips. One particularly useful feature is the ability to zoom in on the artwork. I didn't think this mattered much until I began to notice the subtle differences between the seemingly endless editions of Magic: The Gathering cards. The only way to determine which cards you have is to carefully scrutinizing those graphics. It's also amusing to see how the game has changed for the better, and how some obviously abusable rules were clarified in later editions.
The strategy library is a storehouse of articles and writings to help with your game play. It includes rules and formats, articles, the history of the game, and organized play. Don't get too excited though, as this isn't proprietary information - it's all available (and linked to) WOTC's Web site. This guarantees the information is kept up to date, but it makes for an awkward interface that doesn't mesh well with your Web browser.
This is where the true value of the M:TGIE becomes clear. With the speed that WOTC produces cards, this encyclopedia would be rapidly outdated in a matter of months. But just a few simple downloads, and -- voila! - my encyclopedia was up to date. This also included updates to the card pricing, ensuring the latest and most up to date values.
The M:TGIE tries to be all things to all gamers, and only achieves some of them successfully. As an interactive gaming tool, it's a novelty. As a collector's assistant, it's invaluable. As a reference, it's less successful due to the broken search function and awkward Windows interface. Most importantly, the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia utilizes the full power of the Internet, ensuring that its shelf life will be measured in years rather than months.
Labels: Games
posted by talien | 8:20 PM
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