Holy Crap.

Like most people who fancy themselves to be good writers, I often fall into the pitfall of taking so long to make my point that often the real thrust of my articles is lost on readers. Too much in love with my own writing voice, I guess.

After the article about my claim to fame came out, it was clear to me from the replies I received that my point was lost on a lot of people. I got letters advising me to stop picking on Wakefield (wtf? Stop picking on one of my best friends? Jeez!), to stop laying the blame for bad cards at R&D's feet (I'm not going to comment on the idiocy of THAT), and my favorite, to stop playing Magic "if I hate it that much".

Okay, in plain English for those who didn't get it yet.

I love Magic. Absolutely love it. I've been playing ever since Alpha came out, and it's my intention to continue to play far into the future.

What I hate (and thanks to Rebecca Hubbard for stating clearly that which I danced around for 5-600 words) is unprofessionalism.

I'm almost 36 years old, and I'm good at my job. One thing I've discovered over the years is that people who actually ARE good at their jobs absolutely hate people who AREN'T good at their jobs. I don't accept bad service in a restaurant, I don't buy products with bad tech support, I don't go to mechanics who don't fix my problem the first time I bring them my truck, and I despise supporting the current R&D regime at WotC.

Mark Rosewater may be THE nicest guy in the world. If he is, so what? I have absolutely nothing against him personally and as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfectly willing to concede his kind nature and big heart as fact because it has absolutely NOTHING to do with his competence at his job. When a product such as a Magic expansion gets released the head of R&D should be able to stand back and revel in the accolades from the gleeful fans. He shouldn't be already working on his excuses and apologies and preparing to issue errata on new cards.

That type of behavior is unprofessional and imho, wholly unacceptable. At the risk of upsetting two Matts in one week, I would like to say that if Matt Vienneau finds the current pattern of behavior from R&D acceptable, maybe that indicates what kind of professional (un) he is.

alan webster
still willing to argue against mediocrity