Neon Dynasty: Is it Magic?

Hi, Maro. I'd like to express concern with Neon Dynasty and Magic feel.When the image of the DJ table was released, there's been a lot of discussion about what "feels like" and "doesn't feel like" Magic/fantasy. The (heavily paraphrased) argument that I see from you is that there are already sci-fi and humoristic elements in the game, and that extending those elements isn't doing anything necessarily new. I feel that that's a disingenuous take. Steampunk tropes on Kaladesh have a nuanced fantasy feeling that's premodern and/or modern-divergent. Urza-era "mech suits" emerge naturally from metallurgic constructs and fantastic artificing. The nuance between that and cyberpunk/scifi is frustrating to articulate, but I believe that the public response of "X elements already exist, why is Y different" erases that nuance and the displeasure that comes with it.I personally feel that, instead of understanding that cyberpunk-DJ-techno elements may feel antithetical to the player base's connection to Magic's established fantasy, your responses have been dismissive and equating Neon Dynasty's aesthetic to parts of the game that have completely different origins and feelings.The same can be said around Un-sets sometimes. Humor on Magic cards (Spire Barrage comes to mind) is common, yes, but Un-sets are by nature a parody. Equating Un-humor to premier-set Magic humor feels like playing a Weird Al song in place of the original and claiming that the listeners are wrong for pointing out the differences.I hope that none of this comes off combative, but I do feel frustrated, and I know that there's no harm intended in how you present your work here on Tumblr. Thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to write a nuanced reply, so it seems only appropriate that I do so in return. I understand that you have a line you draw of what “feels like Magic” to you. I believe each Magic player, whether they’re able to verbalize it as well as you, also has a line. Here’s the tricky part. That line is different for every player, and often, pretty radically different. There’s no unified line that R&D can hold to.This means our philosophy isn’t about holding to a line (as it’s essentially an impossible task), but rather leaning into what makes a trading card game so special - the ability to enable the consumer to customize their own experience. This means we want to offer up a wide variety of different options, so that every player can find what makes Magic special for them and enable them to make Magic the game they want it to be.If a particular player doesn’t like a certain type of effect or a certain type of creative or a certain type of humor, they have the ability to opt out of using those cards, either by their choice of format, of deck and/or of opponents. My article next Monday tackles this topic in a bit more detail and is going to offer up my favorite new metaphor about what designing Magic is like.