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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WIZARDS OF THE COAST INC. BUYS OUT POPULAR MAGIC E-ZINE April 1, 1998 (Renton, Wash.)--Wizards of the Coast, Inc., developer and publisher of the world's bestselling trading card games, most notably Magic: The Gathering®, has announced that they have bought out Beyond Dominia, the Internet's oldest running monthly Magic: the Gathering e-zine. Since its creation in 1993 by Richard Garfeild, the Magic: The Gathering game has established an entirely new genre of games--trading card games--that today are played by millions worldwide. The Magic: The Gathering game alone already outsells well-known games such as Monopoly® and Trivial Pursuit®. Originally started in 1995, and online in 1996, Beyond Dominia has revolutionized the merging of Magic and the internet. Co-founded by Innate Mak, it was the first to implement message boards, online chat, joke collections, and the Magic Site of the Month to the Magic community. One of the most popular Magic waterholes on the web, Beyond Dominia serves tens of thousands of pages a day to thousands of people all over the world. Garfeild commented, "Traditionally, we have had a tough time with the Magic community; they love to complain to us. Actually, it's more of a love-hate relationship -- Magic players need us, since we provide the card crack, but they love to gripe and complain about how we steal all their money and waste all their time. I mean, God, it's just a game!! Get a LIFE dudes!! No, better yet, just give us all your money and SHUT UP!!!" "Then we realized," Garfeild continued, "that we could emulate how the CIA and all those men in black control the general populace -- by controlling the media. If we feed a constant stream of propaganda to the masses, we can control how they think, purchase, and view, Magic. Obviously, the first step was to purchase Beyond Dominia." Under the agreement, Wizards of the Coast gives publisher Innate Mak two starter boxes of Alpha and ten cases of Fallen Empires for full control and rights of Beyond Dominia. Stated Mak, "When they approached us, it was a really tough decision. But I mean, when they threw in the ten cases of Fallen Empires, I couldn't refuse. I can now have enough Orggs and Goblin Grenades to RULE THE WORLD!!!" Wizards of the Coast has already planned changes to Beyond Dominia. Wizards of the Coast® President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Adikston remarked, "The changes will be quite small, actually. First of all, we'll force that annoying critic Da Sarge to always complement and praise us. The strategy columns will all cover only the new Type 5.2149 format, where players can only use cards from the newest stand alone set, minus all the lands and anything green, because they're way too abusive. The fan fiction will include subliminal messages to buy more Magic cards. Finally, all the forums will be censored so that users can only praise us. You know, real minor changes like that." Adikston continued, "This takeover will also allow us to check the effectiveness of our card-lacing campaign. As you conspiracy theorists know, we laced all Magic cards since Ice Age with a new kind of mind control drug, Snufforlia Lotumunus. This drug allows us to give powerful suggestions to players, such as crazy ideas that Lotus Vale is actually useful, or that there really is a Mox Diamond." The takeover is scheduled to be completed in early May. Remember, resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. Wizards of the Coast is a leading developer and publisher of entertainment products, including the world's bestselling Magic: The Gathering trading card game. Wizards of the Coast subsidiaries include TSR Inc., creators of the popular Dungeons & Dragons® adventure games, and Five Rings Publishing Group Inc., best known for the Legend of the Five Rings® trading card game. Headquartered just outside of Seattle, Wash., Wizards of the Coast has international offices in Antwerp, Paris and London. For more information on Wizards of the Coast, visit the company's website at www.wizards.com or its CompuServe forum at GO WIZARDS. If you have any questions, contact Innate Mak at o***o@b***i.com
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