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Magic moves online

. . . And who they are
So, just who is buying the physical Magic: The Gathering cards? Both York and Kane agree it’s a pretty broad range. “Anywhere from six-ish to fifties,” says Kane. “There’s a lot of ‘adults,’ certainly they’re not all kids by any means.” And Kane’s noticed it’s not just men and boys. “I’ve noticed with Magic that there are mothers that will come in and pick out cards with their kids and things like that,” says Kane. “One of the nice things about a business like this is seeing the bonding that goes on while they’re picking cards and it’s kind of neat because there are adults that come in with their kids to buy magic cards and you know that they’re playing the game which is great.”

While Kane was speaking, 12-year-old Austin Shields came in with his father to buy three packs of Magic cards. “I play with my friends at school,” says Shields, who has been playing for three years. He estimated his collection to be around 1000 cards. Although he found the idea of playing online interesting, he doesn’t do it. Shield says he like to play with his friends not because they can talk about Magic, but because “we can talk about other things too.”

There’s also the issue of money. While young players who are new to the game and are more likely to be willing to pay for virtual cards are an important market for Magic Online, this is the demographic that most likely won’t have the money or credit cards to do so. Shields spends about $10 per shopping trip, when he can, buying three packs of cards using money he earns by doing chores. The online core set cost an initial investment of $23, plus he would have to purchase the digital versions of cards he already owns.

As Shields and his dad left the store, Kane pointed out another reason why people like to buy cards in person. “The thing that still works with this is you can come in and buy the pack and ‘oh wow,’“ says Kane. “It’s that excitement of finding the card yourself as opposed to going and picking it out yourself.”

Back in Westbrook at Weekend Anime, the Friday night draft game was just about to begin, more people were pouring into the store and Ryan York was busy selling booster packs. “For the most part, once people know the basic rules, it’s about socializing,” He says. “The closest to a demographic you could say is ‘geeks.’” But he quickly retracted that, saying many players wouldn’t identify themselves as geeks. According to York, the card game’s inclusiveness is an important factor why there is such a broad range of people who play. It allows people from all economic backgrounds the opportunity to escape into a game while creating a community – a community of real people rather than online personas. “A lot of the kids here come from impoverished background or are high school dropouts,” says York. “It gets them to think and one thing about any gaming environment is that there are people actively looking to socialize.”

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Joseph R. Thompson: listener83@maine.rr.com