Were the Hybrid cards in Throne of Eldraine made so that Happily Ever After could be achieved in a Limited environment?

That was not the impetus for the hybrid cards.

Why is Tribal still a card type? It seems more suited as a super-type like Legendary or Snow, since it can't exist by itself. Unlike older mechanics like banding and phasing that have largely been relegated to the annals of Magic's history, this issue continues to come to mind when dealing with prominent cards like Tarmogoyf or even very recent ones like Happily Ever After.

Changing it from a card type to a supertype would require a lot of work, and as tribal is retired and only interacts with a handful of cards, it’s not worth the transition cost.

Does Happily Ever After even count as a new thing for white when it is strictly worse than a cantrip, and white regularly gets cantrips already?

When we try new things we often dip our toe in. It’s always easier to ramp up than ramp down. The issue is do you like the concept of “all players draw” in white?

The reason Happily Ever After's new card draw isn't exciting me is that it's a cantrip with drawback, and cantrips aren't new to white. If this is opening the door two each player draws as an activated ability, or each player draws two or more, that is exciting though.

We’re looking at one shot effects right now, but exploring things like draws greater than one. When trying new things, we usually start conservatively.

I've been looking for a happy ending wincon for 5C group hug that doesn't involve hurting my opponents and Happily Ever After is just that. High fives to whoever to make it an alternate wincon.

High fives to be delivered.

As a matter of trivia, symmetrical draw actually isn't 100% new for white. There are two very old "Truce" cards, one from Portal and one from Homelands, that cause each player to draw two cards or forego drawing to gain life. There's also a monowhite Parley card from Conspiracy which does, strictly speaking, cause each player to draw a card.

The two cards you’re taking about are pre-color pie monitoring. Parley is just an example of slight bends when we cycle mechanics through all five colors. Happily Ever After is the first time we’ve made a conscious decision to make this ability part of white.

I do hope that there are cards named “Once Upon a Time” or “Happily Ever After” in ELD. Like not as playtest names, but actual card names. A maybe and a smiley for this?

Maybe. : )

Hi mark i am a long time reader first time asking anything. First i have a couple of suggestions for code names: Happily, Ever, and After. Tick, Tack, and Toe. (for all the Doc Who fans) Bad, Wolf, and Bay. Also i really enjoy creating cards, sets and mechanics and would one day like to do that for a living. Is there any hope of someone from R&D to see my work, or do i have to wait for GDS3? What is GDS3 on the storm scale?

Tic Tac Toe is already on the list but I like it. I haven’t heard Happily Ever After but it has some promise. The Dr. Who reference is a little too obscure although I and a few others in R&D would enjoy it.  I am not allowed to look at unsolicited material so the next GDS is probably your best bet for me to see it.