We recently covered the introduction of the online version of Magic: The Gathering (see 'WOTC Takes Magic Online'). Jerry Ringi feels it's an attack on his livelihood:
They have not learned from what they did to the direct market with Pokemon. Now that they killed that card game and continue not to support the direct market by going with this on-line Magic game, I'm very glad that I do not run games at my store. Magic is a dead-end product, as is every Wizards of The Coast product. I for one will dance and sing over their demise.
I feel for those gaming stores that rely on Magic products to survive. Once again a company forgot who took them to the dance and made their product hot. We did and what thanks do we get? We get a kick in the a**. However they are no different from Marvel or CrossGen or even DC. Instead of finding ways to make the direct market strong so that they can grow, they all try to find a way to cut us out of the picture. I hope that this fails for them, and that they find the way to their future growth is tied to the many retailers who support their products. Greed, however, seems to be the way of corporations these days.