Well, Wizards released their pricing structure - and there was first a moment of silence, then a"thud" as collective jaws hit the collective floor, and then a barrage of outraged howling and swearing. Not are they planning on charging the same amount for the virtual cards as real cards, they are actually charging more when you consider that virtually no one pays MRSP.

Listen up: I have good news and bad news.

The good news is, they aren't going to charge that much. By the time the game is out, I promise you the price will be less than that. The bad news is, it will still be higher than you'd like. Lets look at the reasons for why they might go with such a pricing structure and I'll tell you why I think they did it and my reasoning for believing so.

Reason #1: They are that stupid.
Well, corporations can do phenomenally dumb things (Remember the New Coke? No, of course not, you're too young.), no one said executives had to be smart - but it is hard to believe they would this out of touch. I don't think this is the answer.

Reason #2: People will actually pay it.
I know the Ferrett suggested that their costs would be low enough that even if very few people played it, they could still make money. A more reasonable explanation than #1, I admit, but still hard for me to believe. Part of the appeal of online Magic is the"anywhere, anytime" factor and as the esteemed editor noted, would there really be enough people to support that? I can't see it. I have read a couple bulletin boards on a couple sites and seen only one (of over a a hundred) respondents who said they would pay that much (and I don't believe him). It is just too ridiculously high to expect anyone to pay more (not even the same as real cards - more!!) than what they pay for real cards.

Reason #3, a.k.a. the real reason: They aren't going to charge that much.
My first reaction was, like almost everyone, apoplectic outrage. Then I began to think and realized very quickly that this initial structure is just a transparent ploy to soften us up for the real prices, which although still high, will look positively a bargain next to the $3.29 figure quoted so far. Some marketing genius somewhere in some corner office obviously has figured out that the first offer for a virtual product (especially one that most users already own in real life) will always be seen as too high. Thus, one way to make it palatable, yet still gouge the hell out of the users, is to suggest an insanely high price and then when everyone bellows in protest,"acquiesce" and"lower" the price by a bunch (probably 50%).

The response by the brand manager confirms (in my mind) that this is indeed their strategy. From his statement on the Magic Online board:

"I have read every post on this board. I know that nearly all that have posted hate the pricing structure announced today. Keep posting it if you like, I will keep reading it and taking it into account."

Oh now you know how much they hate it? It is not reasonable to believe that he didn't have an inkling of this"hate" before they released the price.

And again from his statement:

"Near to unlimited cards (i.e. $0.03 per booster pack) will also result in great cannibalization to the point of destruction of the physical environment. With all of this in mind, give me your feedback on what you think is a reasonable price per pack. I am not promising that we will change the structure, but as the voice of the customer and the company, I want to hear your numbers."

Ah ha. His point about it being detrimental if it is too cheap is valid, although it really wouldn't take much price (.10/booster) too keep people playing in real life when you consider the smaller card pool, lack of $$ prizes, and lack of personal interaction. The"rub," though, is his request for feedback. They know damn well the price they just put out is insane, so they will listen to the furor for a week or so and then we will get another announcement to the effect:"Oh jeez we are so sorry we suggested that outrageous price (snicker). We had no idea people felt that way (giggle). We are actually only going to charge $1.50 per booster, less than half of what we said at first, isn't that generous of us!?!?! Isn't it!?!??!"

Outrageous prices look reasonable compared to insane prices. That was the insane one; wait for the outrageous one in a couple of weeks.

By the way, an honestly reasonable price would be, as many people have already noted, about the same as it costs to play online in other major online games, i.e. about $10-15 per month. If I could buy a box of boosters per month at that price, I'd play online. That would require a price of around .40-50 cents/booster. That's what I was hoping for, but this opening salvo of $3.29 per, although an obvious PR ploy, demonstrates that they aren't going to go that low and the real price will end up between $1-2 per booster and that means I'll pass on Magic Online, thanks. Too bad; it was a good game from what I hear.

Tony Drew
tntdrew@rogers.com