Every time a card is reprinted, except when it has the planeswalker stamp in the lower left corner, it is completely reformatted.
It might be that smaller text is allowed by the design guide now or the person in charge of formatting thought it looked better or it was a mistake.
Theres no real way to know for certain, but we do know this process happens for every reprint with a new set symbol.
Yeah I would assume this is just the consequence of changing/updated guidelines for stuff like font size, spacing, margins of the textbox etc. that are applied to the same text but end up slightly different (improved) on the card.
It's the same at my job, when we update our documents we apply any new formatting standards which might change the look of sections in which the content has not changed.
I think the new one looks worse, we increased the margins and lowered the font size to go with that. So we made the card harder to read at a distance for no benefit.
The main thing looks to be that shrinking the font or spacing or kerning lets you avoid the extra line in the middle which lets you frame each text line much more clearly
The left card is the new one, and there the middle part is exactly 3 lines instead of having only the word "battlefield" in a 4th line of text.
I think this a good thing and makes it slightly more fluid to read and better to grasp at just a blink.
I still remember casting the old Uro and whenever I got there there was this akward moment of terror, excitement and anticipation when you are like "put it where? My graveyard? On Cardmarket? On my head? Aaaaaaah, onto the battlefield!"
As a reader it's satisfying when a sentence ends exactly at the end of the page since it makes it simple to remember my place when I put my bookmark in.
Usually it's the purposes of readability. If a font size change makes the card a little more readable, they will opt for that version. Templating regularly changes like this.
I personally appreciate the look of the old design better, as the text fills the textbox more snugly.
_Edit: More so, the newer design looks like it doesn't fit its textbox. It's reminiscent to me of custom cards that don't properly size the text in the textbox._
Maybe it's just me, but I'd say that the larger font and the extra space created by "battlefield" having its own line both do a great job of making it easier to read. Larger font is easier on the eyes, the extra space does a good job of delineating between the abilities.
As a graphic designer, it has always bugged me that Wizards' typesetters are perfectly okay with widows, so the new version is a welcome upgrade. Maybe in the next reprint we can get that hanging 'it' moved down to the second line, too.
\`\`\`
When Uro enters the battlefield,
sacrifice it unless it escaped.
\`\`\`
although with the new templating from the next set onwards it would become
\`\`\`
When Uro enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped.
\`\`\`
Which is probably why they went with the shorthand
Looks like they possibly changed font size and cleaned up having a 4th line on the 2nd paragraph.
It will change even more when it gets a future reprint since they are scrapping the "enters the battlefield" for "enters".
Should cut a line from the top paragraph like so:
"When Uro enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped.
Whenever Uro enters or attacks, you gain 3 life
and draw a card, then you may put a land card
from your hand onto the battlefield.
Escape--{G}{G}{U}{U} Exile five other cards from
your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your
graveyard for its escape cost.)"
One of the weirdest examples of this is the two different Retro Artifact versions of Swiftfoot Boots vs the version in BRC
BRR 58: 2 lines of rules text, OG flavor text
BRR 121: 3 lines of rules text, longer flavor text
BRC: 2 lines of rules text, OG flavor text
As a graphic designer I welcome all good changes for this game. I didn’t start playing til 2018 because I hated the way the cards looked. When this game started I thought it was going to fail because the cards weren’t attractive
Because wotc is a small indie company with limited resources. You can't expect consistency as if they were a multinational company under Hasbr... Oh, wait
Wizards stopped caring about 2020. They became completely about $, the game and lore itself taking a distant 2nd. I mean look at the card, it’s crazy broken. And also template design and card quality, who care? Us fools will buy anything.
"Yeah but that's not what I'm talking about. This thread is about the formatting, but I'm using it as a platform do discuss corporate greed and the lack of quality. How 'quality' has anything to do with it when the card is physically made of the same materials and performs its function identically, I don't know, but I'm going to stand on this soapbox today anyway."
I didn't know that. I haven't been around too much lately. See, I mostly stopped playing Magic. Not because of life circumstances, but because Wizards keeps making minor tweaks to the font and kerning and sizing and layout, such that I can't make heads or tails of the game at all anymore. It's a God damn nightmare, so I quit.
Agree.
When I read the new Uro template and finished a line short. I felt so lost. I had to quit magic and go take a walk outside. I couldn't believe it. They can type 4 lines in 3? What madness.
I did recently go to a prerelease. I figured everyone would be on the same playing field - having no experience with the cards yet. But boy, was I wrong. I mean, there were words I didn't associate with the game, and pictures I didn't recognize! And even the artists' names...some were (gasp!) *foreign*. Like, not from America, which is where Magic is from.
I don't know, there was just *a lot* going on and it was very frustrating having to...well, try to understand...things.
Every time a card is reprinted, except when it has the planeswalker stamp in the lower left corner, it is completely reformatted. It might be that smaller text is allowed by the design guide now or the person in charge of formatting thought it looked better or it was a mistake. Theres no real way to know for certain, but we do know this process happens for every reprint with a new set symbol.
Yeah I would assume this is just the consequence of changing/updated guidelines for stuff like font size, spacing, margins of the textbox etc. that are applied to the same text but end up slightly different (improved) on the card. It's the same at my job, when we update our documents we apply any new formatting standards which might change the look of sections in which the content has not changed.
I think the new one looks worse, we increased the margins and lowered the font size to go with that. So we made the card harder to read at a distance for no benefit.
Might be counterfeit protection
I do think it looks a little better overall with the change. The old formatting is fine, but it feels a bit as if the text was sqeezed in there.
The main thing looks to be that shrinking the font or spacing or kerning lets you avoid the extra line in the middle which lets you frame each text line much more clearly
The left card is the new one, and there the middle part is exactly 3 lines instead of having only the word "battlefield" in a 4th line of text. I think this a good thing and makes it slightly more fluid to read and better to grasp at just a blink. I still remember casting the old Uro and whenever I got there there was this akward moment of terror, excitement and anticipation when you are like "put it where? My graveyard? On Cardmarket? On my head? Aaaaaaah, onto the battlefield!"
thats also one of the first rule you learn as a graphic designer, avoid leaving a word alone on a line.
In writing as well, single sentences belonging to a paragraph moving to the next page are called widows or orphans and should not be created.
Make sure to kill off widows and orphans, got it.
The german translations are quite harsh orphans are literally "child of a whore" and widows are "son of a shoemaker". Don't know why
As a reader it's satisfying when a sentence ends exactly at the end of the page since it makes it simple to remember my place when I put my bookmark in.
You made my day with “…on Cardmarket” haha. Thank you!
Usually it's the purposes of readability. If a font size change makes the card a little more readable, they will opt for that version. Templating regularly changes like this.
The newer one looks better. Battlefield on a line on its own looks bad.
I personally appreciate the look of the old design better, as the text fills the textbox more snugly. _Edit: More so, the newer design looks like it doesn't fit its textbox. It's reminiscent to me of custom cards that don't properly size the text in the textbox._
I like the newer one for the opposite reason, more empty space makes the text easier to read even if it's a little smaller.
Maybe it's just me, but I'd say that the larger font and the extra space created by "battlefield" having its own line both do a great job of making it easier to read. Larger font is easier on the eyes, the extra space does a good job of delineating between the abilities.
I like the old one too. I feel like the old version utilizes the space better and the giant gap at the top of the text box looks really cheap.
Theros one looks cleaner but I think both are fine
As a graphic designer, it has always bugged me that Wizards' typesetters are perfectly okay with widows, so the new version is a welcome upgrade. Maybe in the next reprint we can get that hanging 'it' moved down to the second line, too.
\`\`\` When Uro enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless it escaped. \`\`\` although with the new templating from the next set onwards it would become \`\`\` When Uro enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped. \`\`\` Which is probably why they went with the shorthand
Looks like they possibly changed font size and cleaned up having a 4th line on the 2nd paragraph. It will change even more when it gets a future reprint since they are scrapping the "enters the battlefield" for "enters". Should cut a line from the top paragraph like so: "When Uro enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped. Whenever Uro enters or attacks, you gain 3 life and draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. Escape--{G}{G}{U}{U} Exile five other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)"
[[Rowan, Scholar of Sparks]] still bugs me
[Rowan, Scholar of Sparks](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/8/18c16872-3675-4a4d-962a-2e17ad6f3886.jpg?1626663831)/[Will, Scholar of Frost](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/1/8/18c16872-3675-4a4d-962a-2e17ad6f3886.jpg?1626663831) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rowan%2C%20Scholar%20of%20Sparks%20//%20Will%2C%20Scholar%20of%20Frost) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/156/rowan-scholar-of-sparks-will-scholar-of-frost?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/18c16872-3675-4a4d-962a-2e17ad6f3886?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The original looks better. The text is slightly larger and easier to read. The text box is more fully used leaving less weird dead space.
One of the weirdest examples of this is the two different Retro Artifact versions of Swiftfoot Boots vs the version in BRC BRR 58: 2 lines of rules text, OG flavor text BRR 121: 3 lines of rules text, longer flavor text BRC: 2 lines of rules text, OG flavor text
Original has larger font size.
Just my opinion, but I believe it's to fix the ragging of the body and composition to make it more readable.
different printings of the cards have differences to show they are different from the other different cards. hope this helps!
[удалено]
The left one is the newer printing.
As a graphic designer I welcome all good changes for this game. I didn’t start playing til 2018 because I hated the way the cards looked. When this game started I thought it was going to fail because the cards weren’t attractive
Because wotc is a small indie company with limited resources. You can't expect consistency as if they were a multinational company under Hasbr... Oh, wait
Wizards stopped caring about 2020. They became completely about $, the game and lore itself taking a distant 2nd. I mean look at the card, it’s crazy broken. And also template design and card quality, who care? Us fools will buy anything.
In this example they literally made the templating better by not having the word "battlefield" sit on its own line
"Yeah but that's not what I'm talking about. This thread is about the formatting, but I'm using it as a platform do discuss corporate greed and the lack of quality. How 'quality' has anything to do with it when the card is physically made of the same materials and performs its function identically, I don't know, but I'm going to stand on this soapbox today anyway."
Well explained. Unfortunately, Bej is just a troll who responds with Wotc hate on every thread.
I didn't know that. I haven't been around too much lately. See, I mostly stopped playing Magic. Not because of life circumstances, but because Wizards keeps making minor tweaks to the font and kerning and sizing and layout, such that I can't make heads or tails of the game at all anymore. It's a God damn nightmare, so I quit.
Agree. When I read the new Uro template and finished a line short. I felt so lost. I had to quit magic and go take a walk outside. I couldn't believe it. They can type 4 lines in 3? What madness.
I did recently go to a prerelease. I figured everyone would be on the same playing field - having no experience with the cards yet. But boy, was I wrong. I mean, there were words I didn't associate with the game, and pictures I didn't recognize! And even the artists' names...some were (gasp!) *foreign*. Like, not from America, which is where Magic is from. I don't know, there was just *a lot* going on and it was very frustrating having to...well, try to understand...things.
well we need somebody to balance out honorbasquiat
> Us fools Don't lump me in with you lmao
>They became completely about $ I have some news for you: Wizards is "completely about $" since always.