become a johnny/spike
make obnoxious christmasland decks, piss your friend off
get bored
transition to full spike
.... this is kind of what happened to me.
Magic: the GAFering |OT2|
- Thread starter The Technomancer
- Start date
become a johnny/spike
make obnoxious christmasland decks, piss your friend off
get bored
transition to full spike
.... this is kind of what happened to me.
I have a bad habit of christmaslanding. But the appeal of a christmasland scenario going off is too sweet to ignore!
did I show you the (FNM only) deck I made post-m14? looked something like this.
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Goblin Electromancer
3 Krenko's Command
4 Battle Hymn
4 Reforge the Soul
4 Past in Flames
3 Faithless Looting
4 Desperate Ravings
2 Burn at the Stake
1 Increasing Vengeance
4 Searing Spear
23 land
I never had more fun losing (and occasionally winning by drawing my whole deck on turn 4)
Yes lol.
But no, not always (in all seriousness).
Think a professional tournament player.
Someone who plays to win, essentially.
This is a good piece to read about Spike, Timmy and Johnny (the three different psychographics in MTG): https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11b
So...
I have the Comic Con Planeswalker set as well as a FTV: 20 set. I'm into collecting, but I feel kind of dumb having these considering the stupid prices that they command. If I decided to sell, would this be something I'd feel really dumb about later, or will their prices stay around what they are and could I buy them back roughly for what I let them go for?
With the Theros release I want to buy a Booster Box and a Fat Pack, but I'd like to scrape up some money from within the hobby before doing so. Obviously the SDCC or FTV sets are easy money right now.
I have the Comic Con Planeswalker set as well as a FTV: 20 set. I'm into collecting, but I feel kind of dumb having these considering the stupid prices that they command. If I decided to sell, would this be something I'd feel really dumb about later, or will their prices stay around what they are and could I buy them back roughly for what I let them go for?
With the Theros release I want to buy a Booster Box and a Fat Pack, but I'd like to scrape up some money from within the hobby before doing so. Obviously the SDCC or FTV sets are easy money right now.
Heeeeyyyy
I'm not a jerk ;.;
I mean kind of
Jeff: do not sell your sdcc walkers. They are the rarest cards printed in a long time.
The print run is something like 1/100th of commander's arsenal, which is like ten times rarer than an ftv.
Never heard of the term spike before. What does it mean exactly?
I'm fortunate enough have a good core of players at my FNM. Some competitive but not anal, some casual that tries to beat you will low-tier decks like Nivix Blitz or B/U mill, and we always seem to have a rotation of new players. The lgs also does store credit and every game you win gets you a pack so I'm always using it to play drafts for free. There's also a few other lgs with way seriously competitive players if I wanted to play there. I have it pretty good scene here actually.
I'm fortunate enough have a good core of players at my FNM. Some competitive but not anal, some casual that tries to beat you will low-tier decks like Nivix Blitz or B/U mill, and we always seem to have a rotation of new players. The lgs also does store credit and every game you win gets you a pack so I'm always using it to play drafts for free. There's also a few other lgs with way seriously competitive players if I wanted to play there. I have it pretty good scene here actually.
Ok, I'll hang onto those. I do have a bunch of cards rotating out that I can sell. Seems like there's a lot of interest in them from people playing non-Standard formats. I may go that route, as I usually only play Standard.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Y'all don't want it. I'm the best limited player in the universe.
That's interesting. I've definitely faced a couple spikes at booster drafts before.
All I've ever done competitively is booster drafts. I need to start trying to make some decks to get into the FNM scene.
~part 1 in the bad casual decks series~
RUG BLUEVERRUN
aka MONO EVERYTHING DERGS
Creatures:
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Stormbreath Dragon
Removal:
4 Magma Jet
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Voyage's End
Permission:
4 Syncopate
3 Dissolve
Draw:
3 Steam Augury
Win:
4 Dragonshift
Planeswalkers:
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
8 Scrygates
12 Shocklands
2 Mountain
3 Island
edit: there is literally no reason for green to be in here but OH WELL
RUG BLUEVERRUN
aka MONO EVERYTHING DERGS
Creatures:
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Stormbreath Dragon
Removal:
4 Magma Jet
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Voyage's End
Permission:
4 Syncopate
3 Dissolve
Draw:
3 Steam Augury
Win:
4 Dragonshift
Planeswalkers:
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
8 Scrygates
12 Shocklands
2 Mountain
3 Island
edit: there is literally no reason for green to be in here but OH WELL
That is glorious. I'm jealous of your FNM.
I miss my fun, casual FNM so much. Everyone at school is spikey, which definitely isn't a bad thing, but none of them really enjoy the social aspects of they game. They just look bored when they play.
My LGS group has, among its players:
- A guy who insists on "designing" better cards (ie: "Do you know what'd rock? If Squire cost W, was a 5/6, had trample, lifelink and destroyed a creature whenever you blinked, wouldn't it be so boss?")
- A guy who wears a Totoro cap and puts a Cthulu miniature on the table facing his opponent every single time. He's also a really nice guy and loves brining crazy decks (and complaining about bad draws like there's no tomorrow)
- A few newbies who play sub-par cards but still enjoy themselves a lot (I sure got wrecked by some Rakdos, Lord of Riots every now and then)
- A guy who always plays mono green aggro <3
- A modern affinity player who didn't want to play aggro in standard, so he's playing some wacky american control deck. I won't ever forget the match I had against him with my BUG flash deck
- Some really nice guys I only end up meeting for prereleases or other such format-neutral events, since they only play modern
- Spikes who are so few and far between they don't have a hand at most important decisions
The only thing I don't like is how the lack of more spike-ish players means we don't do drafts at all. I love drafts because limited's my favorite format ever, and I get to build my collection while doing so. Other than that, I get to try my wacky decks while standing a chance and have lots of fun with the players, so I'm really happy with how things are right now.
It also looks like they might move to a more spacious store soon, and that'd be great, since the store itself can only accomodate about ten players at most, with some playing on top of the desks, even!
I've always thought about posting a thread over on the Gaming side talking about the psychographics and seeing if they can be applied to the ways and reasons people play video too since I find it a really smart way to break down a player base. There are certainly "spikes" in terms of competitive games but players of the other personalities would often just avoid those kind of games altogether.
I guess it'd more be down to what kind of games people play instead of how and what they do while in a specific game. Since individual games don't often have the same breadth of options that something like Magic has. You could probably apply it to something like Pen and Paper RPGs really easily though, with some tweaking.
I guess it'd more be down to what kind of games people play instead of how and what they do while in a specific game. Since individual games don't often have the same breadth of options that something like Magic has. You could probably apply it to something like Pen and Paper RPGs really easily though, with some tweaking.
"God's Beard!"
Member
San Francisco here!
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Heh, I've been to FNM like twice. I've had a group of friends who I played with every Friday for like four years now. There were a dozen of us (plus more off and on) originally, but over the last couple years as people have graduated, moved away, or just lost contact its down to a core three of us who meet every Friday without fail to play Magic and Monster Hunter
Worcester, MA
..... you.... you don't want to come here.
Wish I could comment more meaningfully, but this is a brilliant idea and you should do it.
..... you.... you don't want to come here.
Wish I could comment more meaningfully, but this is a brilliant idea and you should do it.
They're all the same at the core. People who think their communities are "unique snowflakes" are deluding themselves.
The things is, the psychographics behind Magic have a high concept that could be applied to videogames as well. In a nutshell, I guess you could think of it like this:
- Spikes like optimizing (learning frame data, speedrunning, RNGing Pokémon) and take games as competitions where they have to prove their skills over their opponents
- Johnnies like expressing themselves by building their own vehicles, weapons, levels or even game mods, sometimes to the point they care more about building stuff than they care about actually playing with it (kind of like playing The Sims only to build houses and not actually playing with the Sims)
- Timmies like over-the-top things and feeling empowered, probably favoring things such as doing awesome things in QTEs or games where their character is a single superpowerful entity that takes on hordes of weaker foes
- Vorthoses want to live and breathe the world they're in (and that requires games which are built in a way that supports it). They're likely to use multiple-choice questions in RPG-ish games in a way that suits the character they're playing rather than what they prefer or what'd yield the better rewards
EDIT: @kirblar: As far as I know, whenever Magic psychographics are referenced, people often end up grading their grade of belonging to each group rather than saying they belong 100% to any single one. It's true psychographics are simplified models and stereotypes used for player identification, but they still have some merits since trying to establish a theoretical base to games and their design is something we can't ever get enough of. Not that they're a be-all-end-all, but I feel this kind of research can be of use for game design theory as a whole.
blindrocket
Member
South Jersey/Philadelphia for me
The whole Timmy/Johnny/Spike thing really only comes up to me when they mess it up. Most cards in the set need to be designed for Spike- playable limited cards. When a set is filled with mostly Timmy and Johnny cards, you end up with a limited enviorment like Avacyn Restored, which was about as much fun for Spike (ie, the limited player) as getting a root canal.
The whole Timmy/Johnny/Spike thing really only comes up to me when they mess it up. Most cards in the set need to be designed for Spike- playable limited cards. When a set is filled with mostly Timmy and Johnny cards, you end up with a limited enviorment like Avacyn Restored, which was about as much fun for Spike (ie, the limited player) as getting a root canal.
Keru_Shiri
Member
I think it could work, something like...
Timmy plays for the experience. Timmys enjoy games that are more cinematic, exciting, and responsive (Zelda, God of War).
Johnny plays to express. They are the most likely to be loyal to a certain few games, or prefer games that let them show off the things they made or customize. I'm thinking stuff like Minecraft or Borderlands.
Spike plays to prove themselves. They prefer games that either competitive (Fighting, Shooters, MOBAs etc.) or are notorious for their difficulty or rewarding technical play (Super Ghouls & Ghosts, Super Meat Boy).
Not sure what types of games Melvin and Vorthos like. If anything, I see them liking a wide variety, but enjoying different aspects of the various games that pull in Timmy, Johnny, & Spike.
Timmy plays for the experience. Timmys enjoy games that are more cinematic, exciting, and responsive (Zelda, God of War).
Johnny plays to express. They are the most likely to be loyal to a certain few games, or prefer games that let them show off the things they made or customize. I'm thinking stuff like Minecraft or Borderlands.
Spike plays to prove themselves. They prefer games that either competitive (Fighting, Shooters, MOBAs etc.) or are notorious for their difficulty or rewarding technical play (Super Ghouls & Ghosts, Super Meat Boy).
Not sure what types of games Melvin and Vorthos like. If anything, I see them liking a wide variety, but enjoying different aspects of the various games that pull in Timmy, Johnny, & Spike.
narcosis219
Member
Fighting games:
Timmy: in a game like Marvel Vs capcom, they pick their favorite hero and spam their supers because they look AWESOME. Random supers rarely help you win, but they make you feel cool and look flashy (yourself at 12 years old)
Johnny: makes combo videos, finds cool combos that don't necessarily do damage but do many hits and or causes glitches in the game. They may look amazing in training mode but not necessarily any good against a human player. (Desk)
Spike: frame data, option selects, spacing, zoning, pokes, plays the top tier characters regardless of which character it is. (any pro player excluding Daigo because that guy has ascended beyond playing to win)
Vorthos: reads the marvel comic books instead of playing
Timmy: in a game like Marvel Vs capcom, they pick their favorite hero and spam their supers because they look AWESOME. Random supers rarely help you win, but they make you feel cool and look flashy (yourself at 12 years old)
Johnny: makes combo videos, finds cool combos that don't necessarily do damage but do many hits and or causes glitches in the game. They may look amazing in training mode but not necessarily any good against a human player. (Desk)
Spike: frame data, option selects, spacing, zoning, pokes, plays the top tier characters regardless of which character it is. (any pro player excluding Daigo because that guy has ascended beyond playing to win)
Vorthos: reads the marvel comic books instead of playing
narcosis219
Member
Timmy plays smash bros.
Shots fired.
Not that I play smash bros, but that game is still a legit fighting game.
I was mostly joking, but as a video game timmy? It appeals to my psychographic more than any other fighting game. It's a silly game with no expectation of competitiveness, and when I play video games I have literally no desire to care about winning. I can sit down at a couch with friends, not really know how to play it, and still do ok as long as items are on.
Falcon punches all day every day.
Timmy wants to play brawl.
Johnny wants MvC/SF
Spike wants street fighter.
Falcon punches all day every day.
Timmy wants to play brawl.
Johnny wants MvC/SF
Spike wants street fighter.
I dno, I played it at a friend's house last weekend. Shit was amazing, everyone died super fast and captain falcon was really overpowered.
Warlock punch did 666 damage.
Timmy and Spike are both used as negative terms. It bugs me too.
Keru_Shiri
Member
I kinda hate how Timmy is sometimes seen or used as a disparaging term. Speaking in general, of course, I don't think that's really happened here.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I'm definitely very strong on the Timmy, Vorthos and Melvin side of things. I used to think I had Johnny inclinations, but then I realized that I didn't really play to express myself, and what I mistook for Johnnyness was my very strong Melvin-based appreciation of intra-card design and interaction.
And I say I'm a Timmy mostly because a.)the social aspect of the game is basically the most important aspect for me, more then anything else I care about enjoying being around the people I'm playing with, and a lot of my favorite decks revolve around "more of " strategies, like "more tokens", "more creatures", "more card-draw". I mean, the primary reason why I'm not into the tournament scene is because playing against someone I've never met before removes a huge part of what I enjoy about the game.
And I say I'm a Timmy mostly because a.)the social aspect of the game is basically the most important aspect for me, more then anything else I care about enjoying being around the people I'm playing with, and a lot of my favorite decks revolve around "more of " strategies, like "more tokens", "more creatures", "more card-draw". I mean, the primary reason why I'm not into the tournament scene is because playing against someone I've never met before removes a huge part of what I enjoy about the game.
I dno, griefing seems like it's just being a dick.
If I find a creative way to be a dick -- like when I accidentally teleported teammates to an area that was impossible to leave in TF2 -- am I not a johnny griefer?
Maybe griefers need their own psychographic. Keith or Clarence or something
edit: Chad.
Timmy is purely about expressing emotion/feeling something/getting the rush/etc. That's why Griefing gets classified under it. They're not playing to express/prove anything.
Chad is a very griefer name.
Chads are those kinds of guys who let the clock run out rather than pass their turn so you can win.
Chads will pick Meta Knight every game and just spam down smash.
Chads will call you racial slurs on DOTA 2.
Chads will be the first to use nukes in a multiplayer Civ game.
Fuck that guy.
I think you kind of contradict yourself there. Griefing is ultimately a power play, a way to assert your dominion over another player. I don't think that's very Timmy at all. Timmy strikes me as more of the "fuck other people's expectations, I'll do whatever I want". It's an innately uninteractive mindset, because as far as they're concerned they don't care what you're doing so long as they get to follow their instincts.
Chads are those kinds of guys who let the clock run out rather than pass their turn so you can win.
Chads will pick Meta Knight every game and just spam down smash.
Chads will call you racial slurs on DOTA 2.
Chads will be the first to use nukes in a multiplayer Civ game.
Fuck that guy.
I think you kind of contradict yourself there. Griefing is ultimately a power play, a way to assert your dominion over another player. I don't think that's very Timmy at all. Timmy strikes me as more of the "fuck other people's expectations, I'll do whatever I want". It's an innately uninteractive mindset, because as far as they're concerned they don't care what you're doing so long as they get to follow their instincts.
Keru_Shiri
Member
Heh, Chad griefs because he's bitter about past defeats and seeks to undermine the game at every step. Keith griefs because he can't take any kind of game seriously and was probably dragged into playing. Clarence griefs to exert power over others.
If we were talking about colors, Timmy would be Green and Red, while Spike would be Blue and Black. Johnny would be Green and Blue while White is just kind of in the middle of Timmy and Spike, with a finger in both pies.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Yup, the way I've always understood it is that Vorthos and Melvin are more about appreciation while TSJ are more about enjoyment. I've definitely had huge surges in my appreciative level in the last couple years, to the point where I almost get more out of the game from that angle.
Where did Melvin and Vorthos come into play? Can't say I'm familiar with those, were they added in an update?
...I'm so sorry.
...I'm so sorry.