The Surveys of Old

Every now and then, I get nostalgic. Not for a specific time or event- just a general yearning for the simplicity and joy of childhood and adolescence.  Even stumbling across silly things can trigger this desire- like this survey I came across recently in a Seventh Edition starter deck:

This survey was from 2000. It not only triggers nostalgia- it provides a few insights into that time:

• Question 3 gives insight into the Collectible Card Game (CCG) industry in this time. The late '90s bubble had burst, but Wizards still had several strong competitors to Magic. Pokemon, Star Wars, Harry Potter- no shocks there.  But MLB Showdown?!  WCW Nitro?!  Weird. And what about Yu-Gi-Oh!- why wasn't that listed? Oh right . . . that wasn't released until 2002.
• Question 7: rating Magic. Ignoring the 'overall' question, two of the five questions (card art and package design) have no bearing on game play.  The others (easy to learn, fun to play, complexity level) help us understand Wizards' goals for the product.
• Question 8 sheds light on the types of media common at the time and how they expected Magic to be advertised. Internet was gaining popularity- in this year, 42% of US households had Internet, though only 4% had broadband. It mentions the Internet, but focuses more on television advertisements (I never saw one of those, to my recollection).  It also mentions magazine advertisements (Scrye magazine, how I miss you!), the Magic Guru program (whatever that was), and expected things like game stores, friends, and tournaments. And, of course, they expected people to mail the survey in. I wonder how many did? Remember the days of doing that?
• Question 9: How did you learn to play?  Note that the Internet isn't a listed option- there just weren't the resources online for new players (or, if there were, they weren't significant to warrant inclusion in the question). Two of the answers are "self-taught."  Wow.
• Questions 10 and 11: on favorite television shows and video games. These intrigue me; I wonder how they'd use these in product development.

I'm glad it's 2020 (well, sort of . . . it has been a messed-up year). Part of me, however, does wish I could go back in time to:

• Tell my younger self to invest in Magic; I'd be a millionaire now
• Enjoy what seems like a simpler era, before information overload, fake news, the expectation of instantaneous communication, and social media dominated our lives

Ah, I'm complaining. Back to the present.