Introduce Yourself (Right On!)
General forum
Posted on Jan. 27, 2014, 2:15 p.m. by ChiefBell
We're supposed to be a community so I thought it would be a nice if we had a thread where people introduced themselves, so that we can all get to know each other a bit better (nothing contentious please!).
I'll start -
This is me (on the left!):
And this is what I do when I'm not playing Magic (clinical Psychology):
So come in, put your feet up and tell us more about yourself and what you do :)
JimothyCrikkett says... #2
NOT SO SURE IF RE-RAILING
Hey there guys, I'm Robert. I'm 17 and I'm a senior in high school. I'm planning on going to the Art Institute of Atlanta to get a bachelor's degree in game programming when August comes around.
For things that pertain to the MTG side of the conversation, my favorite deck colors would have to be mono-red (burn especially), mono-green with ramp (big creatures, big fun), and green/white lifegain (stay above the competition all the time). I'm working on saving up for my green/white lifegain deck I have built on-site, which costs about $82, but I have some issues with saving money right now.
As for the more realist aspect of it, when I'm not messing around on TappedOut or debating ideas for a new deck, I spend my time doing some writing, which tends to lean more towards a kinda-sorta mixture of sci-fi and fantasy. When I'm not writing, I tend to play games on my Xbox 360 (first person shooters and RPGs being favorites). My favorite games on the 360 are Dark Souls, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Serious Sam 3.
In short, it's just great to be able to introduce myself.
January 28, 2014 10:23 p.m.
Gotta love Dark Souls. When I'm not crying from frustration, that is. (Although tbh I prefer its predecessor)
January 28, 2014 10:26 p.m.
JimothyCrikkett says... #4
Yeah, Dark Souls is great. I've never had the chance to play Demon's Souls as I've never owned a PS3, but from what I have seen, it's brutal. Dark Souls II is slated to come out in March, so that's something I'm keeping an eye on. I definitely can't wait!
January 28, 2014 10:30 p.m.
Yay people play dark souls. Thats the video game I play most often other than Minecraft :)
January 28, 2014 11:02 p.m.
Yea, DS is a lot less forgiving. When you die... there is a lot for you to redo >.<
January 28, 2014 11:25 p.m.
Hey guys! My name is John-Mark (simply "John", or "Mark" will not suffice, it must be the full thing!) and I'm thirteen. Magic and League Legends are my only hobbies that are video games/card games, and other then that I play travel hockey for a AA team. I live in Michigan where it is a balmy -1 and I like all sports, and I'm a big fan of the Detroit Red Wings! I also love to read, and math sucks!
My favorite color is probably green, and I love building the weirdest decks. I started playing around New Phyrexia, and I recently got rid of most of my collection so I don't play much or any paper magic anymore.
Thanks for making this thread, ChiefBell! It lhelped me make the decision to actually share this information, haha.
January 28, 2014 11:36 p.m.
Wow. I would not have imagined that you were only 13, buffy.
January 28, 2014 11:59 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #10
It's completely crazy to think that in Michigan today, it was in the negatives and windy with lots of snow and ice, and in Alaska it was 48 degrees.
I think us in Michigan broke nature guys.
January 29, 2014 12:02 a.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #12
Hey everybody. I'm Lydia. Been playing since Time Spiral. I don't have pictures of me except my facebook, which I'm not planning to give out any time soon. I'm in Washington studying natural science and being a part time wizard.
I play every color to some extent, but blue is my favorite. (Just like my favorite player, Patrick Chapin.)
My favorite formats are Modern, Legacy, and Invasion-Planechase-Apocalypse draft.
Other hobbies include writing, DnD/every pen and paper RPG ever, and doing video gaming, particularly Dark Souls PvP.
January 29, 2014 12:45 a.m.
I've had a ps3 (recently got a ps4) for ages and am an avid gamer but I've actually never played demon souls or the other one. I may have to try. I really like RPGs - I've played nearly all the final fantasies, every mass effect, every elder scrolls, pokemon, chrono trigger, dragon quest (dragon warrior in ths US). Basically anything with a strong storyline I like because I really appreciate the human side of video games. Having said that I used to play Battlefield competitively but that was a long time ago. I've had a high end self-built computer for a while but I don't game on it as much as I used to.
At the moment I play DotA a lot, as a support. Wrecking kids as Lich or Crystal Maiden is what I do. Before DotA I played Starcraft competitively but that died - because everyone left to play DotA. So here I am. Writing essays about schizophrenia and blasting noobs with my ice nova.
January 29, 2014 6:16 a.m.
@JimothyCrikkett My writing also leans towards sci-fi / fantasy. I am piecing together a big project that involves invented games, stories, poems maybe even a script for a movie or two. Its just for fun. I used to play LotRO, WoW, and DAOC but after DAOC started dying off, it made me think carefully about ever sinking lots of time into any video game ever again.
@The_Wizard Hey! Another table top RPGer! Awesome! I think there is something missing when you arent face-to-face rolling dice and eating Cheetos / Mountain Dew together. My group from high school still meets up on Saturdays like we always have done. We play GURPS and once we got hooked, it was hard to play too much of anything else because whatever we wanted to do could be converted into GURPS. I usually play EDH, though.
@Korombos I think that going to school isnt the best choice for everyone all the time. I have a friend who dropped out of high school and certainly wasnt ready for college right away. He waited and graduated with straight As from college a decade or so later. In my case, I had no business staying on for a PhD after my MS unless I was prepared to sell my condo, sell my car, and be willing to stay for as long as it took, maybe even up to 10 years, and be open to a change of major - not necessarily of my choosing. Im not there right now! Im still stuck back in Id like to have a say in who my advisor is and what my major is la-la-land. When I am ready to try again, I will also be ready to let someone assign my adviser, major, and PhD research project to me and do whatever it takes no matter how difficult these assignments may be. Only then will I bother to try again.
I guess that in the USA, kids arent as pressured to perform on those tests. There is this prevailing idea that doing well in school isnt directly related to succeeding in life. To some extent that isnt completely wrong since many top business and pop-culture figures werent big-time school success stories and the trades and things often offer better wages than jobs offered to college graduates these days. To some degree, it is a little bit wise to think carefully about whether it is better to have a minimum wage job with college loans or without college loans.
That being said, I do value education quite a bit but I am shifting in my idea about what makes it important. I think it is critical to our success as a nation to have our people educated. I also have found that I am actually using quite a bit of what I was taught in school in my own writing projects, efforts to stay in shape / wellness (when I am remembering to do this), etc. So I think it adds a lot to the quality of life. I would hate to see schools just fail and kids start getting isolated, falling through the cracks, and missing out on a chance to learn useful things.
January 29, 2014 7:41 a.m.
r3v13w - Whilst it is correct that many top figures didn't necessarily succeed in school, that is shifting. What we're (schoolchildren and young adults) looking at now is a generation that occurred about 20 years before us. In the last 20 years education has shifted and most of the successful young people I know (the up and coming, next big figures) did indeed get a strong education. I think that requirements have shifted. When my mother went to university she only had to get a degree to get the job she wanted, now most of the jobs I'm looking for ask for a masters. Over the last few years we've had education inflation whereby the required level of education to succeed in a purely academic sense has risen.
Obviously I'm not saying, 'you can never do anything if you don't go to college'. That's rubbish. What I am saying is that the public figures we look up to will start to change in demographic - from having little education to at least having some. I believe this to be the case because a lot of the high powered jobs such as politics or media has shifted in their requirements.
January 29, 2014 8:09 a.m.
I think that you are right about education inflation and things shifting over time. I am open to getting a PhD some day if I am so lucky. But now I know what it takes and if it ends up being an employer saying "here is your adviser, he will give you your project, make him happy or else - whatever it takes", I will be ready for it. That's not something I was ready for - it wouldn't have worked out well. I should have paid more attention to the hesitation of my department head at the beginning. He is a smart guy.
There are a few facts, though. Not everyone can get a PhD. Someone has to work the minimum wage jobs. There is no way to pay off college loans and still survive on minimum wage. Graduates from trade schools are doing a little bit better than college graduates right now, at least in my part of the world.
January 29, 2014 8:19 a.m.
Certainly true. We dont have trade schools in the UK. Bad government shut them down. It was a big mistake. We have a shortage of plumbers and builders and electricians in this country now. No-one wants to do manual work.
January 29, 2014 8:43 a.m.
Well I haven't had time to write in this thread because I was hoping to get a picture, but I didn't, so sorry.
My name is Mike, I'm older than the sun, moon and stars, I'm a programmer by day, by night a magic player. I don't game seriously outside of this, just cause of time considerations. In magic I enjoy control and combo more than any other archetype but willing to play them all. I was born and raised in Los Angeles CA. I first picked up magic in 1995/6 at store no longer around. Back in the 80's we used to go there for DnD products, one day I was bored and went back to see what was going on. They introduced me to the game and I got involved. My first pack I opened a Tropical Island then a shark got me to trade for a Fastbond . As a reminder, I will always keep a Fastbond around. I found out quickly, I liked black and green color combo, using Hypnotic Specter and the like for the hand destruction, mostly I played multiplayer casual with 60 card decks, in 97 I stopped playing, got rid of my cards and then didn't pick it up again till a year ago with the gatecrash release. II now play weekly in all formats, mostly commander and limited, because my LGS isn't that big and not enough of the players play standard/modern/legacy.My preferred format is legacy in 60 card constructed.
Currently I collect Counterspell cards. I own at least one of every printing besides alpha and the arena promo. My favorite artist is Terese Nielson and Steve Argyle.
That's the time I have for now, if you have questions, ask and I'll answer.
January 29, 2014 8:57 a.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #21
How do ya'll post pictures? Im weak at this code stuff.
January 29, 2014 9:26 a.m.
Go onto imgur. Make an account. Upload the picture onto imgur. Then you can click on the picture and it gives you the code to link it into comments on forums and other things.
January 29, 2014 9:32 a.m.
So yeah about the introducing yourself part...Im Andrew, im 17, senior in high school and it seems as if im the only Canadian on this website (eh!), ive never really had a hobby until my friend told me about it, i basically started playing at the end of Dragons Maze. I love standard but just recently started to play edh. I also have a part time job in a grocery store making pizzas. Im planning on going to the University of Waterloo (if anyone knows that school) for psychology and i play a little video games but not all that much
January 29, 2014 10:10 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #24
I'm Greg, I'm 21 and have been playing Magic since 4th Edition, though I only started playing seriously (and spending money on it) since Rise of the Eldrazi. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life, but I'm not panicking about that yet; quoth ChiefBell, "just chill out and enjoy yourselves".
My favorite colors are Black, Blue and Red, though Green and White can be salvageable if paired with Black. I love old cards especially, which is why I run SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT Ye Olde Challenges in the forums. When I'm not playing Magic, I play Metal Gear Solid and watch anime (Ghost in the Shell is my favorite).
January 29, 2014 10:51 a.m.
It's been really nice to learn more about everyone. It think it makes the community closer.
January 29, 2014 5:24 p.m.
My name is Damian, I'm 26 and have been playing since the release of Mirage (1996). As I stated in a previous post, I'm from Sheboygan, WI.
I collected on-and-off as a child all the way until Mirrodin, where I began to get more into the competitive scene. I continued to "waste" a LOT of money up until Planar Chaos, and I took a break due to real-life changes (relocating, new job, etc.). I came back buying cards a bit in Lorwyn and then Alara, and finally came back full-on during Return to Ravnica.
While the largest percentage of the area is Standard or EDH, I love all formats, especially Modern. I just the love the massive card-pool in Modern, and I run Mono-U Tron and Merfolk. I run a bit of EDH with Merieke Ri Berit .
I am also active on Cockatrice and am always willing to jam some games on there. Let me know if you're interested.
January 29, 2014 5:33 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #27
The_Wizard, you're the first female (I believe) that has commented on this thread, I couldn't help but notice. It seems as though not many females play magic, which is a shame. I'd like to see more females play, and I believe that I speak for everyone here when I say that, it seems pretty sexist IMO.
January 29, 2014 5:49 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #29
How generally, women aren't really thought of as gamers, it's just men (stereotypically)
January 29, 2014 5:56 p.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #30
Before I comment, I think you got your words mixed up. Are you calling magic sexist? or gaming? And if its gaming... and with the reason listed... is being a car junkie sexist? or into fashion sexist? or any field of work or hobby or interest where there is a clear division between male and female interest?
January 29, 2014 6:01 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #31
Sorry, I may have said that badly. IMO, it's sexist how women are thought of as non gamers (I've tried to word it better, but that's probably the best way that I can put it, in a nutshell).
January 29, 2014 6:05 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #32
I should probably think about how I say things before I post them tbh lol
January 29, 2014 6:06 p.m.
I think we knew what you meant. My girlfriend plays magic with me. She hasn't commented on this yet. In fact in my local playgroup there's another girl that plays edh with us.
January 29, 2014 6:14 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #34
There is one girl in our meta, and she doesn't really play at all tbh.
January 29, 2014 6:21 p.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #35
Yeah... thats what I why I wanted to ask first. But I definitely see what youre saying. My gf plays, my friends gf plays, and usually any lgs I go to to play magic has a female or two. I think the sexist part comes into play when an opposing male player expects a female to be bad if its their first match with them. I see it, a guy tried to help my gf and I was like dude dont help her. Really I wanted to take his deck and throw it across the floor and beat him up on it. It was the way he did it. Anyways... haha, I agree. I also IMO find that its difficult for many females to come up and just play at LGSs.
January 29, 2014 7:08 p.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #36
And thats my bad on my part earlier. I didnt mean to sound so aggressive when trying to figure just what you meant was sexist.
January 29, 2014 7:12 p.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #37
It's no problem, it's a sensitive subject to some, and I should have worded it more carefully tbh, so if anything the fault lies with me.
I see what you mean about the guy helping your GF. If she plays at FNM ect, then she should play without any help from the opponent, as it is competitive. Your GF probs knows the rules well enough is she's confident enough to play in a competitive environment anyways, and I imagine that it's quite annoying for a girl if everyone automatically assumes that she's bad.
Maybe that could be a reason for girls not playing games like magic, because they think that everyone will be better than them. Granted that it'll be the case at first, but most presumably don't think about becoming good because it's such a male dominated game.
January 29, 2014 7:40 p.m.
No, they don't play magic because it's a male-centric game, from which they feel ostracised and would most likely be very uncomfortable about playing.
January 29, 2014 7:55 p.m.
(let me know If I'm getting off topic too much on this thread, but I'm having a grat time trying to articulate my views.)
Some sexism is more obvious and some sexism is more subtle. Some sexism is institutional; some sexism is personal.
I think that the artwork in MtG could be read as demeaning in a sexist way, but some of it could be seen as sexy and empowering. In artwork, you can apply a subject/object test. Is the figure being depicted a subject performing an action according to its own motivation, or is it an object to be desired or acted upon? I think that MtG has gotten better at avoiding art that is prone to sexist critiques.
The gaming space, however, is a little more troubling. By and large the gaming spaces I've encountered in my life have been "boys' clubs." There are occasionally females present, but certainly not at levels that approach 50%. I have heard that there are female-majority gaming communities out there, but I have not encountered one in person. My own lgs is pretty good about maintaining an environment that does not encourage sexism. Two people run the shop: a male manager and a female employee. Some customers, however, will ignore the female employee because they seem to think that the male manager is the only one of the two that could be an expert about anything that pertains to gaming. (In truth they are both huge gamers that each have expertise in different areas of gaming. Both are thoroughly versed in MtG.)
The worst sexism I've encountered comes from gamers, ourselves. We often turn to humor that denigrates females and femininity. We use violent and sexual hyperbole constantly. This can create a hostile environment. Some people like the "boys' club" and do what they can to keep it that way. Others don't mind if there are females in the room, so long as they either act just like the boys, or at least don't object to the status quo. It doesn't help that many in (and outside of) our gamer culture never quite learned to see female humans as people. They see females as either objects to gratify them or objects to be venerated, but not as subjects with their own motives and motivations.
I don't think we'll be able to claim that gaming in general (and MtG in particular) are free of sexism until we start to see numbers involved in the hobby approaching the numbers in the general population. We can do our part by trying to see other humans as people, and not assuming that we know what their motives and motivations are just by looking at them. Heck, that might even make us better at the games we play.
January 29, 2014 8:14 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #40
Sooo.... I will explain why girls don't play magic very often, and especially why girls don't join online communities for nerdy activities.
http://xkcd.com/322/
We are regularly objectified by many of the people in these communities, because a fair amount of the guys are assholes/sexist pricks thinking that they are funnier than they are. If you want more girls to join in your gaming, don't treat them differently than a guy friend you wanted to teach how to play. If they don't want to play, don't force them to play. It makes you come off as a chauvinistic asshole.
January 29, 2014 8:38 p.m.
Dalektable says... #42
This thread has changed subjects so many times wow
Also i cannot say "yes" enough times to what The_Wizard said. Guys can tend to be misogynistic assholes in this community
January 29, 2014 8:54 p.m.
I think it's nice because it's just people having natural conversations about things other than decks and cards.
January 29, 2014 9:10 p.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #46
There should be an off-topic forum. Or like a community forum, where people can talk about stuff that doesn't necessarily tie into magic, like math... who you are... females and magic/gaming, or whatever else has already been covered here.
January 30, 2014 5:29 a.m.
Quadsimotto says... #47
Name is Rob, I work in the Oilfield with some of the biggest trash talkers you have ever met. I like to think of myself as a nice guy but don't push and i wont get "hasty". I played magic way back and am finding myself getting re acquainted with it and enjoying the competitiveness of it all. I feel lucky to have stumbled across this site so i can hone my deck building techniques and play skills as well as steal ideas and make them fit my needs when the opportunities present themselves. The group of people i play against is solely FNM guys who never miss a week and play in their spare time where as i have a limited time to play due to having a wife and kiddos. Its nice to share ideas when they spring in to my noodle and i don't mind doing just that.
As usual i missed the boat on the original conversation.
January 30, 2014 6 a.m.
atreyujames says... #48
Hi, I'm James, and not much can be said about me. I'm 17, a second year bakers apprentice, Canadian (Albertan to be specific). I don't really have much of a social life. my interests involve work, manga, anime, and Pokemon. I have a new favourite song everyday basically (today's is Dashboard by Modest Mouse). I'm a pretty chill dude, never really angry but also never overly excitable. I don't get to play magic as often as I wish due to having work 2 hrs after FNM finishes as well as early classes during the weekdays. My play style of choice is combo. I love it. can't get enough
January 30, 2014 8:22 a.m.
I saw Modest Mouse once with Lacuna Coil, and Coheed and Cambria. It was a weird night.
Jay says... #1
Smartphone under the table >.>
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, as it were) I'm inherently good at math, so I don't really have to pay attention in class. The bad part is I was put on the accelerated track early on and my piss-poor work ethic is starting to catch up to me...
January 28, 2014 10:10 p.m.