Date: Mon Feb  7 02:37:36 1994
From: His intimate friends called him ``Candle-ends.'' <snark>
Subject: For Immediate RElease

News From The Snark: Magic and Religion

07 Feb 1994

I've received another letter of some interest and import. It's about
a topic many of you are already familiar with, I suspect; "The Role
of Satan in Gaming."

I encourage all readers to try and consider this with an open mind.
It would be a mistake to write off our game, or to ignore this
letter.

------------------------------------------------------------------

> I am letting a friend use my  E-mail account because she had some
> questions for you.
>
> Who thought of the game?

A gentleman named Richard Garfield.

> Are their any specific groups the makers of this game belong to?

Well, he's a professor of mathematics at Whitman College at the
moment. That's all I know of.

> Who thinks up the things to say on the individual cards?

A team of people were involved in the wording of the rules, and the
interesting "flavor text" in italics. Note that much of the flavor
text in Magic: The Gathering was drawn from classic literature,
including such authors and poets as Coleridge, Tennyson, and Lewis
Carroll.

> It is my thoughts that this game is demonically influenced because of the
> subject matter displayed on the cards, are the makers of this game
> involved in some form of Satanistic activities?

No. Not even a little bit. Actually, your observations on the subject
matter are worth noting. Yes, there are things like "Dark Ritual,"
"Lord of the Pit," "Sacrifice," and other ominous cards. However, there
are also cards like "Northern Paladin," "Guardian Angel," "Holy
Strength," "Crusade," and "Righteousness." I hope you find these cards
as representative of Good as the dark cards are of Evil.

> Do the creators practice magic or witchcraft on a regular basis?

No. Nor do we practice magic or witchcraft on an irregular basis. 
First of all, we're all way too busy. More importantly, the company
and its employees all firmly believe that our games are, and should
be, suitable for children in subject matter, even if the game is too
difficult for children in general. We're not interested in making
money through splashy gratuitous gore, irrelevant sex, demonology, or
other such methods.

I, (Dave Howell) am personally a practicing Christian. A Methodist, as
a matter of fact, and I have helped with the design of Magic. However,
I haven't made a big deal of this, because the company is not in the
business of pushing a particular line of thinking. We'd like to think
it's an ethical and moral company, but we do not intend our games to
promote any one religion or belief system, including Christianity or
Satanism.

Wizards of the Coast is concerned with fun and games. We want to see
people come together to exercise their imaginations, to interact with
other people, to be social, to learn, and to have fun. We do have
something of a hidden agenda, I suppose: we'd like to lure new
players into gaming so they can do things with people instead of
watching TV. We'd like to show people that sit home with the set, or
eat lunch alone, or try to meet people in loud, crowded nightclubs,
that there's a terrific alternative. We're serious about gaming. 

We're serious about imagination, about creative thought, about
solving problems. Magic makes people try to decide what cards are
good for their deck, what they should trade them for, and when to
play them. They talk about strategies with other people, they analyze
card distribution. They talk about the artwork, they talk about the
wording. 

Some people are uncomfortable with some of the cards because of the
artwork, names, or flavor text. We understand that. We don't think
that Magic is a game for everybody. On the other hand, please keep in
mind that it is a *fantasy* trading card game. Fantasy is
make-believe. It's about things that may be, might be, could be, and
shouldn't be. Monsters under the bed and things that go bump in the
night are an important part of fantasy, and of our culture. Leaving
them out of Magic would be denying an important, rich, and to many
people, very interesting part of our mythology and culture.

When I say "our" culture, I don't mean American culture, or European
culture, or the like. Our first expansion set, "Arabian Nights," has
flavor text drawn entirely from Arab or Middle Eastern sources, as
are the majority of the cards. This isn't a fluke. We want to explore
world cultures with these little pieces of paper.

> Please don't think I'm some kind of off the page character, I'm a curious
> mom, who's children may obviously be influenced one day by this game
> and I'm genuinely interested in understanding the nature of "Magic
> Cards".  If you could write me back and be honest, it would greatly be
> appreciated.  My views are my own, and my friend let me use his E-Mail.
> He enjoys this game and I want to respect his views.

You were wonderfully polite, and I certainly don't think you're "off
the page." I hope you feel somewhat more comfortable about having
your children influenced by this game, since I suspect you won't mind
if they're driven to be social, inquisitive, and creative. :) There
are some particular opportunities that you might wish to take if or
when your children acquire Magic cards.

For example, the idea of "mana," a key facet of the game, is
originally a Polynesian term. Talking about where the word comes
from, and what the beliefs are that gave rise to it, might prove
eye-opening to both you and your children. It's also a good place to
discuss the difference between real and make-believe. While you may
not agree, I feel that if you expose young people to foreign ideas
and explain why you don't follow or believe them yourself, this is
much more effective than not talking about it, and hoping that if
they're exposed later, they'll reject it without help.

You can also discuss why the Samite Healer was made a "white"
creature, and Sacrifice is in "black." I think if you point out that
black cards are generally things that people consider bad, that your
children will be much less likely to use them as some sort of model
for behavior.

Finally, if nobody's explained this part of the game yet, you can
play Magic without any black cards, if you choose. Many people play
with only two or three of the five possible colors in their playing
deck.

> Thank you very much for your time and your honest responses.

Thank you for writing. Please feel free to contact us about your
concerns at any time.

Dave Howell
Cyberspace Liaison
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
P.O. Box 707
Renton, WA  98057
snark@wizards.com