I ran a comic book shop for a couple of years (this was 8 years ago), including a big deal of MtG (selling, organising tournaments, etc) [1]
From the point of view of the marketing, it is absolutely BRILLIANT. It was an amazing well oiled machine that was printing money, while developing an impressive game that has been around for 20 years and hasn't grown old.
They knew all the ins and outs of the game from the rules to the way to organise tournaments and how to create a community that is absolutely obsessed with it, playing everyday.
It's easy enough that I've seen 8 year old kids playing, and complex enough that a match can be determine by a very precise use of the rules.
I've never really been a hard core player, but after watching it from the point of view of a business, it's really impressive.
From the point of view of the marketing, it is absolutely BRILLIANT. It was an amazing well oiled machine that was printing money, while developing an impressive game that has been around for 20 years and hasn't grown old. They knew all the ins and outs of the game from the rules to the way to organise tournaments and how to create a community that is absolutely obsessed with it, playing everyday. It's easy enough that I've seen 8 year old kids playing, and complex enough that a match can be determine by a very precise use of the rules.
I've never really been a hard core player, but after watching it from the point of view of a business, it's really impressive.
[1] In case anyone is interested in a low-tech business experience, I talked about it here: https://wrongsideofmemphis.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/i-was-on...