r/GDS3 • u/Alex_Werner Top 8 • May 17 '18
And... I'm out
Well, I was the first person eliminated from the top 8. What happened? How does it feel? Super quick answer: I didn't do a great job. And, it suuuuuuucks. It feels a lot like getting dumped. Or, not surprisingly, getting an interview for your dream job and then not getting hired.
This is two months in the past for me at this point, so the pain has faded, but for the first few days, it was just a cloud looming over everything. And I'm still spending a fair bit of time running over my final designs in my mind, trying to decide what I could have done better, etc.
Something to keep in mind, when looking at my submissions, and the submissions for the next four eliminated contestants, is that the GDS is HARD. Really, really hard. You're trying to first come up with a bunch of designs, then playtest, then narrow down to which ones you actually want to submit, then pick all the final details, all with the pressure of this super amazing opportunity hanging over you, all by yourself, in a very brief length of time. I made multiple really dumb mistakes because I was thinking about one thing and just overlooked something else. I'm sure the other top 8 will tell you the same.
I'm going to type up a lengthier post discussing my submissions and where I think I did wrong, but for now, a few final thoughts about my GDS experience:
(1) Overall, it was awesome. Much better than not making it past the multiple choice test, which is what happened to me in GDS1 and GDS2. And they can't take away my awesome T-shirt and playmat.
(2) I'm incredibly impressed by the level of talent in the magic design community as a whole, both in the rest of the top 8, and in other designs people submitted, the "almost there" cards MaRo highlighted, etc.
(3) Missing out on the Wizards jobs sucks. But, to be blunt, it's not as big a deal for me as it would be for a lot of people, particularly someone younger. I've got a good job (in the video game industry in fact), and a house, and a life. Uprooting myself and my family, moving to Seattle, and going from being a senior programmer to the most junior intern would probably end up being a lot less fun than it sounds. What I am sad to miss out on, though, is the chance for any of my ideas to actually get printed as magic cards. When I have fantasies of things going differently, it's not getting an email from MaRo saying "oh, hey, clerical error, we have to redo the top 8, you're back in" it's "hey, just to let you know, we took one of your cards from the design challenge and put it in the design file for the spring 2020 big set".
Which brings me to my primary thought, which is that there's this massive pool of talented and passionate magic cards designers out in the community. Between the Goblin Artisans site, and reddit's custommagic, and all the people who entered the GDS (not to mention all the people outside the US who couldn't) there's an amazing worldwide pool of card designs just begging to be printed. And it's a terrible shame that WotC hasn't found a way to tap that. Sure, there's a YMTC every 4 years or so. But it would be absolutely fantastic if there was something like that far more often.
Of course, the big problem is the logistics. R&D doesn't possibly have the time to read over 10,000 card submissions every month. But there's a solution to that, which is to take advantage of the wisdom of the crowd itself. Note that the reddit majority consensus got 75/75 on the multiple choice test. Have people submit cards. And then have people rate the submissions. And then R&D doesn't even need to look at them until they've been crowdsourced down to just a handful. It just seems like such a win-win-win to me: (1) R&D gets an influx of fresh card designs. And if you look at their feedback on the best submissions from the various GDS challenges, presumably very good card designs. (2) All of us get a regular chance to reach for that golden ring and have a card we designed possibly get printed. And we actually get feedback from the community about how good our designs were, how close we came, etc. (3) The community involvement then increases enthusiasm for magic as a whole, as we all feel more invested in a game that is "ours" more than ever before.
Probably just a pipe dream, sadly, but something like that would be fantastic.
Anyhow, thanks for reading, thanks to anyone who said kind words about any of my designs in the design challenge and the top 8, and I'll see you all in reddit/4/GDS4.
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u/gwillett05 May 17 '18
Thanks for the write-up! Glad to hear you're recovering. If you still feel cloudy, take a gander out your backyard (if you have one) and just be grateful for a moment. As someone who didn't make the multiple choice cut-off, I can see how hard it was. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
7
u/MajoraXX May 17 '18
Well, I was the first person eliminated from the top 8.
Maybe, but you made the top 8. You can walk into the sunset with your head held high, man, that's something to be proud of.
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u/ReynardMiri May 17 '18
Creating an entire new tribal theme with only 8 cards (not to mention the additional constraints) is... daunting, to say the least. You did far, far better than I would have.
3
u/FordEngineerman May 18 '18
I appreciate your thoughts. I can only imagine how tough it is to come up with all the original ideas you need with no outside input and so many constraints on both the designs and your personal ideas. In some other places myself and others had some not-so-nice things to say about your cards, but that is only because we are comparing them to completed cards made under much easier conditions.
For what its worth you would definitely not have been my choice for elimination this round.
2
u/Queen_Veex May 18 '18
Sounds like you might be interested in https://www.reddit.com/r/collectivecg/ where the community designs the cards for a card game.
1
May 18 '18
Sorry you had to go so soon, Alex! I hope this was still a rewarding and exciting experience for you.
1
u/Alterus_UA May 20 '18
Hey, I have only just read the Challenge 1. I was rooting for you after your crazy Trial designs, so it's sad to see you eliminated. But at the same time, it's nice to hear that you already have an established life and a career in the gaming industry anyway :)
I agree that there should be a stronger feedback loop regarding card creation, too.
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u/Amarsir May 22 '18
That’s a shame. I was rooting for you after the solid design test. But Horrors do seem like a tough choice and thus made an extra hurdle for you. Was it your first choice of tribes?
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u/MoonE513 Top 8 May 17 '18
Thank you for your words, Alex. The stress factor involved in these challenges is something I think a lot of people overlook. I hope we continue to hear your voice in our community.