Magic the Gathering Arena is many will know is the new/latest digital version of MtG. This version is being given a “modern” Hearthstone look and feel.

This should tick all my boxes so why am I not getting all excited about it?

Well at the moment it’s only PC during its beta stage. Being a Mac and iOS person it means I can take part in the beta program. My main casual gaming platform is iOS. So until it’s out on that I’m not interested.

But there are some recent announcements that are coming out that mean even if Arena came out on iOS tomorrow I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.

Firstly the redemption codes. They are currently testing them down under. In the Dominaria boosters there, they get a redemption code in each one. This code when redeemed in game gives you a booster pack or in game gold and a card. Apparently the split is 10% of the time you will get a booster pack, 90% that card gold combo. Plus I believe there will be a limit of 10 redemption codes per account. This news has put me off this feature straight off. If I buy a booster box I want to be able to use all 36 codes, not be screwed over. Plus that probability of getting a booster pack when redeemed sucks. I’d want a higher percentage of having a booster than the 10%. A fifty fifty split would be more something I’d be attracted to.

The price of boosters, drafting, etc in hard cash. Although this actually doesn’t get announced until tomorrow based on how WotC have behaved so far things are not looking good for this (see above for starters). If this is above $2 a booster, and approximately $6 for a 3 booster draft then WotC might as well forget about releasing Arena. Yes the gaming part of Hasbro was down financially in Q1 apparently. But that doesn’t mean WotC should be nickel and dimming the public. It means they should get their house in order first, stop attacking their player base because they express opinions they disagree with, improve the quality of products that they release (Iconic Masters, Masters 25, Explorers of Ixalan, the list goes on) and the card stock issue. Then maybe they might turn things round without picking the publics pockets.

I’m sure as we get closer to the release date to the general public release other developments will show that WotC are listening to the public and have ignored them. WotC need to listen, and change things big time else they can forget about attracting Hearthstone players to Arena, but also forget about moving over MtG players digitally and physically to Arena also.