MWS: MTGO It Ain't

[Finn]

This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, MWS: MTGO It Ain't. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.

[Absolutionis]

Seems like a curious "best of" from the amusing MWS Logs thread.

[SSJ Alakazam]

This is a great read that clearly highlights the limitations
of MWS. Also, if physical cards were made transferrable to MTGO I too would consider paying for it.

[imopen2]

Well writen and enlightening to someone who hasn't used mws. Sadly I have...what I need is an article about magic online.

[The Boss]

Funny article. It characterizes mws perfectly.

[LeonhartVIII]

It's the truth, testing on MWS is a nightmare. BW Discard vs. Thresh, I start winning when I smother 2 of the guys 4 Tarmogoyfs, it's a tough match, I get him down to 5. Then I get the player lost. I'm back in the lobby five minutes later and I see the same guy with a record update that says 1-0-0. I wish there was a better way to test, this article embodied the problems exactly, I congratulate the author for capturing it so perfectly.

[_S3BaS_]

Mws can be a great tool in the correct place like magic-league.com, the testing will be fun and serius

[Babbler]

I've found the best way to do testing with MWS is to test with people you know, so you don't have to worry about the rules issues and the lost player ordeal.

[Valderan]

I agree with the general statements, I do want to make one comment though, for that one log with the goblin piledriver getting jitte, the guy attacking never entered his declare attackers step, so he would get owned on that ruling, that or he equipped Jitte in response to declare attacks.. so either way he loses. Above and beyond that, the other play never said ok, or anything.. the one player just kept doing things.. now there may have been a general agreement in play on both their parts to skip some of the phases as generally happens, but there still has to be some consensus before you just start doing stuff. But apart from that, very good article that shows exactly why MWS makes us laugh and cry.

[Belgareth]

I actually think all the comments were problems with stupid opponents and not the program.
MWS is actually perfectly fine as long as your opponent has a functional grasp of the rules, if they don't they probably shouldn't be playing against strangers.

[Mega D]

Originally Posted by Belgareth

I actually think all the comments were problems with stupid opponents and not the program.
MWS is actually perfectly fine as long as your opponent has a functional grasp of the rules, if they don't they probably shouldn't be playing against strangers.

Exactly. Most of this isn't about problems with Workstation. This is an article about the fundamental flaw in all of Magic, the fact that you have to play with other people.

I adore Magic Workstation and credit it with continuing my enthusiasm for the game. I love it for testing decks against each other in solitaire mode. I never, EVER just play with random people online, however. It's just not worth the headache.

[burek]

Good article, but I never quite got the point. Maybe it's just a 4-page-long whine. :P I've been using MWS for a while now, I like it to test out decks against my friends. Sometimes, I'll do a Sealed deck the day before the Prerelease. I'm that excited!

[Finn]

Good article, but I never quite got the point. Maybe it's just a 4-page-long whine. :P

You did get the point then.

[DarkRitual]

Originally Posted by Belgareth

I actually think all the comments were problems with stupid opponents and not the program.
MWS is actually perfectly fine as long as your opponent has a functional grasp of the rules, if they don't they probably shouldn't be playing against strangers.

Yea, but then again in every other venue for playing cards (FNM, MTGO), you will usually have some kind of solution to the problem of the stupid opponent.

[Tahn]

I used MWS until I got MTGO, and here's my way of handling the problems described. It's easy, doesn't get you frustrated and saves a lot of time.

First of all, make it very clear in the title of your game that you are looking for serious opponent's and good decks only. Now, this will certainly not scare off all of the people you're trying to avoid, but it's a decent filter. Furthermore:
- Never play with someone named "Player" (the default).
- If you try to explain something and it turns out he doesn't speak English, quit immediately.
- If you try to explain something and it turns out he doesn't know basic rules, quit immediately.
- If your opponent's deck turns out to be completely sub-par (e.g. it's Legacy and they open with Plains, Plains, Cenn's Heir, or whatever), quit immediately.

Basically, if they do something against the rules, tell them how it has to be done, and if they don't comply, or start arguing: never bother explaining things, because the sort of people who don't know how to play are 1) not worth testing against and 2) extremely unlikely to change their mind. Of course, in all this I'm assuming you do know the rules yourself and are serious about testing.

Just make sure you waste as little time as possible with them. Once you can accept that they're there and you learn to get away from them as fast as possible, it will save you much frustration.

Oh and this may come over a bit cynical, and people may think it's unfair towards the opponent, but that's where my first point comes in: make it perfectly clear that you are looking for good players only, and they really have no right of complaining (if they didn't know they weren't good, that's really their own fault).