Hi, everyone. I’m asking Omeed and Pete to post this so that readers who have been writing me asking about the Dojo can get what I consider to be my complete and true response to the matter. I regret that this cannot run on the Dojo itself.
I know only a smidgeon more than the average player, and only in that I have a record of progressively desperate emails to Rob Hahn and Mike Flores about what has been going on. I have had no responses to my emails, their general phone number rings without answer or machine, and the educated guesses I’ve seen from Scott Wills and Alice Coggins have me quite depressed. The current rumor, which is going unchallenged by those who know more than me, is that Psylum has gone bankrupt and the Dojo is (at least temporarily) dead.
Whether true or not, there are two things I would like my readers to know:
1) I plan to continue posting to StarCityCCG.com on a regular basis for as long as they’ll have me. I’ll have a bit more time to focus on this now, of course, so these postings might get longer!
2) I do not endorse or encourage any negative statements about The Dojo or Psylum. I suspect that there are many more experienced and high-profile Magic players who will be rather direct in criticism of these entities, and perhaps they have solid reasons for doing so. That is their business. Aside from their current lack of communication, Mike Flores and Rob Hahn have never been anything but enthusiastic about their professional relationship with me. When I first sent them my idea and sample Casual Fridays, Psylum could have spit in my eye or simply ignored me. They did not, they asked for more, and they did a great many things to make the Casual Fridays experience enjoyable for me. Even if they had not, I am not a big fan of kicking someone when they are down, even if it turns out they themselves are to blame. I urge Dojo readers, columnists, and others with an emotional stake in the Dojo to refrain from gloating, cheap shots, or whining. None of these things will increase our enjoyment of Magic.
Omeed and Pete, thanks for posting this statement. Dojo readers, thank you so much for your enthusiastic response to Casual Fridays – you made 1999 a great year for me. Please stick with me as I continue my nomadic journey across the Magic Internet community! StarCityCCG.com readers, thank you for making 2000 already competitive with 1999, and I look forward to the fun and good thinking that are to come.
Peace out,
Anthony Alongi
[email protected]