Basic Social Functions
Hey everyone! Long time Magic fan here - I think a HUGE weakness of Arena is that there are almost NO ways for me to onboard other people into the game or to maintain interest among friends. One of the reasons this game still exists in general is the social component of playing in paper which allows players to keep each other interested (and invested) in the game.
Here are some basic social functions that would give us ways to interact with friends and therefore maintain broader interest in the long term:
Friend people you meet
This is a basic way to let people start building that social component which can keep them coming back; why can't we make friends IN the game? Sometimes you play someone who is fun or you liked their play, why can't you choose to connect with them in any way? This makes the game feel empty and lonely."Well played" / "Nice deck", other more expressive emotes
It's insane that there's no way to commiserate with someone if they are having a rough draw. There's nothing you can really signal. If someone has a great deck you haven't seen, or makes a great play, why can't you complement them on it? It's so basic and I frequently wish I could have just this little extra bit of communication.Private player lobbies
Why is the only functionality for private games a single 1v1 match that's not even observable? The fan made website to play Netrunner (a card game with a much smaller community) lets you make lobbies and have people join as spectators. There is no way to interact with a group of friends on Arena, not at all.Spectator Mode
No brainer, and even beyond the social aspect of being able to involve more than one friend, this is just basic for the esports scene. It looks very unpolished to have at the official esports events a janky screenshare of the individual players (sometimes with issues too).Pod draft / sealed?
This is huge! You could sell so many more packs if people could play limited formats in a social way (with friends). This would be such an easy way to get friends into the game / maintain hype over the course of a year. You underestimate how many non magic regulars would pay to draft once just for a fun game night.2v2 / Two headed giant, etc.
Again, any way you can add to the game for players like me to involve more than one friend would be amazing.
There's much more social functionality to desire from Arena, the important thing to remember is that this has a very real long term impact on the community of a game. I want to get friends involved and experience the game with them, but I right now I can't do pretty much anything to that effect.
In the words of Tom Cruise in some movie "Help me help you"
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Abo#77969 commented
It would also be nice if you could, send a request for a rematch when having played a game.
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ClementlaPizza#18753 commented
+1
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PrideGreen#53201 commented
Agreed and Bumped
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Eclipstical#39381 commented
+3
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Aziro#45922 commented
Great Ideas and Great Post!
Especially 2HG etc. Is highly required to keep Player motivated.
Spectator Mode would be nice.
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Crusty Magic#03080 commented
Voted
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Singe Poisson#84692 commented
I would like spectator thou but hide what is in each players hands so you can't cheat to see your opponents hand.
Also it would be nice to be able to share replays of matches or view highly well reviewed matches.Maybe even be able to follow the ranking or playing of your favorite pro players.
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FimbulWinter#94306 commented
Thanks for ur post!
We need all of need love to spend more time doin it -
veRGe#38423 commented
Playing Magic Arena right now feels hollow and like a single player game against bots half the time. Magic is inherently a social game, and I would love to be able to chat and have real social features in this game. It's the only game I play where I can't communicate with the people I'm playing with/against online, and it sucks the life out of an otherwise-great game for me. At least give us an option in the settings to turn chat on/off, make it to where you have to opt-in by default to use it, or whatever it takes to get real social features in this game. Please.
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InsaneCommand#48036 commented
Great post!
I actually found your post because I was going to suggest a spectator mode, so it really hit home, and your other suggestions are compelling as well.