June 2009 Wizard Newsletter

Mac’s Moments

Mac’s Moments is taking the month off. I had a chance to watch the movie Frost/Nixon and was so inspired by the film that I thought; hey wouldn’t it be fun to interview for real the President of Wizard Cards. However, since I don’t REALLY know who the President of Wizard Cards is, I decided to go one step further and interview the inventor of the game. I call it Sappy/Fisher. This interview was conducted on March 28th and I think the information is still relevant and current. If you’re really witty try to find all the movie references that Ken used.

Marko: I’m sitting here with Ken Fisher, creator of the game Wizard Cards. Ken, firstly thanks for taking time out of what must be a very busy time for you.
Ken: You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Yes, I am very busy; as a matter of fact you’ve just interrupted my afternoon nap.
Marko: My intention was to address some of the issues regarding the site, give you an opportunity to promote your upcoming tournaments, talk about the future of the site and such, but first why don’t you tell us a bit about you. A brief biography if you wouldn’t mind.
Ken: All-righty then! I am misunderstood, underappreciated, maladjusted, abused and mocked by my peers. I’m currently undergoing psychiatric treatment but am resisting the medical advice that I be lobotomized. You don't understand! I coulda had class. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. ….If anyone really cares it’s all on the site. Go to Bulletin Boards, then Guidebook, then Personality Profiles – (editors note: Or go here: http://www.wizardcards.com/viewthread.php?tid=536 )
Marko: The website, when did it start? Who are the administrators and what role do they play?
Ken: What we've got here is failure to communicate. Geeze, doesn’t anyone navigate the site? Go to “Members” and you’ll see Member #1 registered on December 31, 1969.
An Administrator is anyone willing to take on the demanding and thankless task of running online tournaments and is prepared to suffer the complaints inherent with the job. Sometimes the moaning and groaning gets the administrators down but I just tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the wizard.
Marko: Is the wizard game the way you envisioned it when you invented it? Or what led you to create it in the first place?
Ken: Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. For the umpteenth time it’s all explained on the site. This time “Bulletin Boards” then “Guidebook” then “History of the Game”
(editors note thingy again - http://www.wizardcards.com/viewthread.php?tid=505)
Marko: The changes to the Web based site. How are they coming along? What will be the most major change or adjustment that players will have to adapt too?
Ken: Resistance to change increases proportionately with age. Players will have to adjust to a simpler, faster, improved format. Deal with it! After all, tomorrow is another day!
Marko: Two years ago you went to Niagara for Wizfest and had 100 people sign in and had a great tournament, last year you had 100+ players and had a great tournament. This year you reduced it to 60 people. Why the change? Why not continue to grow the game?
Ken: “SHOW ME THE MONEY!” It cost Wizard over $100 for each attendee.
If an organization is not changing, it’s dieing. We are having 2 tournaments this year: one in Canada and one in the USA. Each has a maximum of 60 which combined is 120. (That’s more than 100) And we need new people, not the same people in the same place each year. We need to get away from the northeast and into other parts of North America. If we build it, they will come.
Marko: We will be using a new type of deck at the tourney in the Gen Con Convention. Why the change? Will these cards be available for sale? Are there going to be any rule changes?
Ken: I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! The decision was made by “U.S. Games”. The explanation is too long and space is too short to explain the rationale here. And there will NOT be any rule changes.
Marko: Speaking of rule changes, you had talked about adding 20 points extra to someone who goes all blue? Are there other changes that you are looking at or rejected?
Ken: La-dee-da, la-dee-da.. You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk? Because this is getting me down. Am I on “Candid Camera?” At the risk of being repetitive: “Bulletin Boards” then “Variations”. A lot of the variations are excellent but there has to be a standard set of rules. That having been said there is nothing wrong with players using whatever variations they find fun for their personal games. It’s difficult (expensive) to introduce even minor changes because it involves modifying all the rule pamphlets in a variety of different languages. Online variations can be done more quickly and easily but even there I prefer to present them as ‘host options’ as I have done with the “Canadian Rule”.
Marko: You tried a weekend 2 day online tourney. There were 30 some odd people and yes most of them were odd people and I realize that a lot of the people from the Toronto West club had a conflict with that date, would you still call it successful? Would you do it again and are you planning to have less Live tournaments and more Online tournaments?
Ken: It was a qualified success. I learned that it is possible to host a complete online tournament similar to the annual event in one day. (We don’t need 2 days) We can’t host live tournaments in many areas for many reasons. Online tournaments bring the world to us with minimal cost and preparation. The future lies with bigger and better online tournaments. I must go for it. If I don’t I'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of my life.
Marko: Regarding other areas, I had a request once to bring the game to the West. There are a lot of players out there and some of them have asked about bringing a Tournament closer to them. Most of them can’t afford to travel to Ontario for WizFest. Is there anyway to get a tournament out there? Live tournaments are very different than online tournaments should they be given the chance to participate in one? Or is it simply the economics simply too big to over-come?
Ken: Are you still talking to me? Well, I guess you are because nobody else talks to me. Bingo!. Economically and logistically it’s a nightmare. The stuff that dreams are made of but hard to bring to fruition..
Marko: Are you surprised by the growing number of games played online? We recently
had a morning/afternoon tourney on a weekday that had 16 people sign in and play. Are you surprised that at any time day or night players are ready and willing to play?
Ken: Anywhere, any time is Wizard time. I am thankful for the enthusiasm. In fact my mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you. I think that when we get to the web-based system the number of players will grow even faster because many people are hesitant to download a game onto the computer lest they contaminate it with a virus.
Marko: There are two clubs that meet up monthly both in Ontario. Are there more? Can people create their own club? What is involved in running one and can anyone run one?
Ken: Well, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. Anyone, anywhere can start a Wizard Club but I won’t bore you with a cacophony of words. Simply visit the “Wizard Clubs” forum on the site for all that you need to know and more.
(editors note: Or go here: http://www.wizardcards.com/viewthread.php?tid=953 )
Marko: This year marked the first time Merlin was passed for top spot on the World Ranking (although at one point and only for a short period of time, Ken Mccoy did surpass him) at least since I joined the site. You have known Merlin for a long time how would you describe him and his successes?
Ken: It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. But again if you want to know what I think about Merlin Click on “Bulletin Boards”, then “Wizard Guidebook” then “Personality Profiles” and scroll down to: “Profile of George (merlin) written by Ken Fisher (wizard) in 2006”.
(editors note: Or go here: http://www.wizardcards.com/viewthread.php?tid=536)
Marko: Denny Crane has been riding the “Campaign Bus” shouting out, “One person One name”. I realize this is an old argument, but does he have a point? Should players be allowed multiple names? I have three names personally. One I use all the time, Mactonight; one I use when my SR is high and I no longer want to play as Mactonight and one I use to have fun, to try new things and to see if I played things a little differently what would happen, but Denny Crane believes that people have and will use their alias to bring another player down, to scratch on purpose in order to force someone else to fail. With the new Web based program will you enforce One person One name?
Ken: You can't handle the truth! There's no crying in Wizard. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Have as many names as you want, cause as much havoc and dismay as you can, the rest of us will still soldier on and have fun doing it.
Marko: You introduced Online Wizard Jr last year. How has the response to it been? I heard that there are no plans at least for now to make a web based Wizard Jr. program is that true? Will there ever be one?
Ken: It's Showtime! Wizard Junior will rise again. Victor is simply concentrating on the basic game. Today Wizard tomorrow Wizard Junior!
Marko: What has been the biggest surprise? Or what has wizard accomplished that you didn't first foresee?
Ken: Go ahead, make my day. Ask me something not already covered on the site. The biggest surprise is no surprise. I guess I never really thought this far into the future. From the beginning I said, “Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride.” There have been and continue to be lots of ups and downs and twists and turns and my goal has simply been to survive and keep the dream moving forward. The original goal of getting Wizard into the marketplace has been achieved. I never imagined Wizard becoming a major success in Europe but “Amigo-Spiele” has made Wizard a popular game in the very competitive German market.
Marko: Looking ahead to the future of Wizard Cards. What would you like to see five years from now?
Ken: I’d be happy to still be alive and well in 5 years. But today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I’m king of the world! Marko, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. You make me want to be a better man. Hey why are you leaving? Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet. Oh well. Hasta la vista, baby.

* Apology: If this month’s interview is not up to scratch here is the reason. I received this note from Marko: “This month I have the interview with you. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to fix it up and make it brilliant, so it will have to stand as is.”

Next month, back to Mac’s Moments. Up next “Mac seeks wisdom”

Wizard Fantasy Deck vs. German Fantasy Deck
When I began development of the Fantasy Deck for North America I had no idea that the German Fantasy Deck would one day be available to the North American market. Just as work has reached the final stages of development the German Fantasy deck arrived on the scene in North America. This would seem to relegate the North American version solely to exposure on the Wizard website for online play.
Now another option has popped up. Although we are a long way from reaching any kind of agreement there is the possibility that an aggressive and relatively young company will be granted a license to market Wizard and if they do so it is my recommendation (for a number of reasons that I can’t go into here.) that they do so with the new North American Fantasy Deck. More on this next month.

BETA
The new Beta program offers the following advantages:
1. No download needed.
2. Everyone can host.
3. Easy testing and fixing of problems.
4. Should work on all operating systems including Macs
5. Easier to get into a game.
6. Updates can be made and implemented with relative ease.
7. The web-based version uses the latest technology, which will only get better and better over time.
8. Better to go for the NEW rather than try to fix the OLD>
We are still a long way from where we want to be but the goal is in sight and is attainable. The BETA process can be annoying and frustrating but we will get through it faster if everyone helps by testing it and reporting specific problems to the programmer, Victor at vslawson@verizon.net

Wizard Fest 2009 in Toronto
If you are attending please check for updates at www.wizardcards.net
As anticipated some players may need to drop off the list for any of many reasons. Currently all spots are taken and we have 2 standbys who definitely want to join and will take the place of anyone who needs to drop off the list. Registered players receive a separate e-mailing with updated information and I try to keep the data at wizardcards.net up to date.
The 2 players from Japan have decided to opt out due to concerns about the H1N1 virus scare.
I have replaced them with 2 of the standbys

Who Owns Wizard?
Wizard is a privately held incorporated Canadian company based in Toronto, Ontario. The company was incorporated on August 9, 1990 in Ontario, Canada: Corp. No. 907656.
There are a total of 10,000 shares issued. The Wizard Corporation has been buying back stock from investors whenever possible. The Corporation currently holds 12% (1,200 shares) of the shares. “K. Fisher Enterprises Ltd” holds 35% (3,000 shares), and “Dave Fowler Enterprises” holds 18% (1,800 shares) These 3 entities hold 65% (6,500 shares) in total. The remaining 35% (3,500 shares) are held by 12 other individuals whose individual shares range from 1% to 7%.
Shares are currently valued at $40 Canadian making the total value of the company $40 x 10,000 = $400,000 Canadian. Although this is the “book value” the real value is considerably higher.

Interesting store at
:http://www.wizardschest.com

Feedback?
Mac’s Moments to markosapiano@teksavvy.com
Other to kenneth.fisher@sympatico.ca
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