This made life painful, to be sure.

It didn’t last forever — eventually a new CEO arrived and made Magic and D&D the sole focus of the company, which seems to have worked out okay — but for a little while there, I was “not happy” with the decisions from those above.

This happens a lot, actually.

The tendency to go wider than you should has played out numerous times in my experience.

You get used to it, and try and find the right calibrating lenses to prevent it, wherever possible.

Do what you can do well.

Speaking of Magic and death — because we were immature and didn’t fear repercussions enough, there was a card-throwing habit in R&D.

Cards were everywhere.

Hard to avoid it.

Around 2pm or 3pm, I’d take blanks and start throwing them over the wall of my cubicle (or someone did — didn’t have to be me).

Poor Nate Heiss.

Poor Cormac Russell.

Poor Rei Nakazawa.

Imps gonna imp.

Eventually mayhem would ensue, until the sheriff arrived.

The sheriff was Mons Johnson, as imposing a card-thrower as I’ve ever seen.

No one threw harder and more accurately than he did.

It was scary.

Magic didn’t die, and no R&D members died during the making of it on Mons’s watch.

It pays to have a goblin on your side.

P.P.S. Sorry to Nate, Cormac, Rei, et al. :) You’re welcome to throw cards at me any time.

Pany Haritatos has wanted to make games since he wanted to do anything, and because of this impulse he’s made a ton of games — big, successful, ones — for Kongregate, Zynga, Snap, Series Entertainment and who knows where else.

Given Pany’s bent, his games could be anywhere.

(And I mean anywhere.)

Pany’s learned an inordinate amount about how to run teams and build successful businesses, shifting from builder to operator to CEO — he’s one of the best I’ve worked with in the digital space. Incredibly sharp cat.

Really fun to catch up, to talk dad life & to consider what the future holds for each of us, and what we’ve learned from our adventures along the way.

Namaste.

The creative team wanted richer typing schema, which I didn’t particularly mind, but I also didn’t really care. :)

In fighting to have “humans” on cards it became increasingly clear that we were fighting about the minutia of a card game and not helping humans directly, at all.

Is what we’re doing here important at all?

Shouldn’t this group of really smart people be doing more important things?

How do you even do “something important?”

This is actually a really big question, one that warrants a deeper dive than this story allows for — it stumped me for quite some time.

Maybe it still does. :)

This has come up a lot in my career — if I get lost in technical product or operational details, and need some sort of human connection or tangible impact to thrive, I wilt.

All minutia = death.

I went to a mental health startup to help people (and selfishly, to feel good about it), and spent the entirety of that time running product development and worried about satisfying deal requirements.

We did incredibly well (like, the most well you can do).

But it was just work.

The mission was cool in theory, but work alone is not enough to sustain me, nor is success.

People are the point.

The above is partly why my appreciation for community builders and those who bring people together — in real life — has risen over the years.

Reality should exist, and be a place where people feel welcomed.

Authentically.

And that takes work.

Much respect to those who do it and make it core to how they live.

Our subset of Wizards had many standouts in this regard, with I remember fondly…

• Mark Rosewater threw an inclusive holiday party each year (it was clear from these events that he was a very good dad)

• Jim Lin threw an inclusive annual Super Bowl party where he supplied all with chili

• And “all are welcome” was a common refrain regarding social events, sporting events, gaming days, lunches, “home away from home” holidays, etc.

The culture within our bubble felt open and inclusive by design (if you happened to be in it).

Somebody out there was watching out for it.

If you can’t help everyone, help anyone.

In fact, helping someone may lead to the best outcomes.

Scale doesn’t scale.

There is only one Devin Low in play at a time.

Devin joined us in Wizards of the Coast R&D after playing professional Magic: the Gathering for a few years, and proved to have a great sense for how to wed both flavor & mechanics — which led to meaningful design & development evolutions with Lorwyn & Shards of Alara (both blocks he played a leading role on).

Devin has since been a standout in both the analog and digital space, as design champion for Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, Legendary & Riftbound.

Something tells me Devin Low will always have game projects on the front-burner, which is something we should all feel good about.

Let the games stay good. :)

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He or she or they were in a 1-on-1 meeting with an orthodox Jew in that moment, a conservative fellow on the brand team.

“Aaron, close your eyes.”

Aaron did as he was told.

A moment later, a very artful dildo (you wouldn’t even know it was a dildo, unless you were Benjamin — who definitely knew) was placed in a file cabinet.

We never saw or heard from the dildo again.

The above meeting took place in Benjamin’s office.

Before this meeting, Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny (their real names) formed a truce and went to an adult shop whereupon they purchased this “artwork.”

This was an especially childish thing to do, and would probably get those cartoon characters fired in retrospect.

They would never, ever, do this sort of thing again, I’m sure.

It would be very unprofessional to do so.

Fortunately, as Benjamin Pranklyn had his or her or their own randy history of pranks to wrestle with — as the primary ringleader for a long run of pranks that wreaked havoc in our department — this event did not go reported.

In fact, I don’t believe Benjamin pulled another prank after this.

Sometimes all it takes to stand up to a bully — and to change their behavior — is a well-placed, artful, dildo.

Hmmm…

Tom’s a master of the TCG-making craft, and he’s also continued growing his skills by making 0-to-1 happen in the digital sphere on his recent Episode: Reality Stars.

Nowadays he can enjoy being a design director while also aspiring to regain prominence as a competitive Riftbound player.

We don’t know where life will take us, but it helps when we open doors and say yes to things we may love.

Tom is a wizard & a sensei, through and through.

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If you’re with a party, and you tell the host that it’s someone’s birthday, they will believe you.

No questions asked.

It will be their birthday.

Furthermore, they don’t just “sing happy birthday” at Hard Rock Yokohama, they perform The Beatles, “Hey It’s Your Birthday!” while dancing on top of tables.

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Andrew also happened to make two top 8’s as a pro Magic: the Gathering player, and has a long history of playing games both competitively and socially.

One thing that made this uniquely fun is that The Wolfman was in town vacationing, so we met up in person and got to hang out for a bit.

My kids had board game design day at art camp, so if you ever want to play Robloxland the board game, let me know. :)

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That person is forgiven.

Mostly.

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Swede is been a gamer since as long as he can remember, and has been hands-on throughout his career. He started out at CCP and logged time on Eve Online & design directing World of Darkness, before shifting to Pocket Gems as VP of Game Design.

Swede is “the most competitive” type of player who always tries his hardest to win, but also knows how to kick back and have a hard time.

Also his kids are starting to beat him at games which takes a little of the edge off. :)

P.S. Jake Paul, if you’re reading — my money’s on Swede.

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10 guilds, living in every nook and cranny of the plane, with clear guild identities that intermingled well mechanically.

Everyone liked the Ravnica concept.

(This is often important.)

Bra…

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His writing was also the gateway that enabled Magic: the Gathering to try and enter the mainstream, via a fun expose on MTV.

Brian went on to design games at Upper Deck, and has been “a man of great intrigue” as long as I’ve known him.

He says he’s not a spy.

Which is exactly what a spy would say.

I was lucky enough to work with him for the World Championships in ‘98, and we partnered on a deck that brought him to the top 8 at Worlds, and 2nd place at the Grand Prix in Lisbon the week after.

(He was also lucky enough to beat Tiger Woods at golf many moons ago.)

Good times. :)

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Sarah was the first teacher Micah really connected with.

She carried herself with empathy and patience, intelligence and humor, and she seemed always to be abnormall…

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I can’t remember why we were there, per se, but we were there. :) I’d guess we were practicing for some upcoming event.

We’d parked in a spot not knowing if it was a spot we could park in, as it was the only sensible option.

At the end of the night, we went outside to …

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Before his time at WotC, Skaff was a Math PhD student at Penn, and joined the cadre of grad students who helped play & develop Richard Garfield’s earliest game designs (many of whom later followed Richard out west).

From there, Skaff joined Wizards of the Coast and became the first brand manager, and helped push the company towards starting a pro circuit to help legitimize Magic: the Gathering as a sport.

At these pro tournaments, Skaff quickly became a legend for a) never sleeping and b) organizing a basketball game anywhere an event happened and c) making any conversation more interesting for having him in it.

I knew Skaff from my days as a Magic player, but had the good fortune to work with him on WotC’s NBA game, which was really fun to play and make. Kudos to Brian Hacker for that design. :)

I learned a ton in this call about things I didn’t know prior. Enjoy!

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I hadn’t dated anyone seriously for four years, since high school, and one day this bubbly African-American girl from Houston knocked on my door, and that was that.

Goodbye, Magic.

I’d started playing music more regularly, too.

I got a lot of inbounds at …

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This episode explores the evolution of tabletop role-playing games through the career of Stephen Radney-MacFarland, whose work spans organized play, game design, Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, and decades of Dungeons & Dragons history. Brian and Stephen discuss how RPG publishing has changed, what it was like inside Wizards during the early 2000s, why community matters more than technology, and how modern AI and digital tools may reshape tabletop gaming without replacing the human experience.

Notes from Brian:

Stephen Radney-MacFarland has been a lead game designer for over two decades now, with a career spanning D&D, D&D minis, Pathfinder, Star Wars RPG, and Delve.

SRM is known for being both direct and kind, which is a good fit for my bent, which is also direct and kind.

We got real and had fun from start to finish.

I learned a fair amount in this conversation about how “the other part of WotC R&D felt,” as D&D and Magic: the Gathering stayed separate for years before partnering together on some fun initiatives.

Topics Covered

• The state of virtual tabletops and remote RPG play

• Fantasy Grounds, Owlbear Rodeo, Zoom, and digital gaming

• Stephen’s path from Kinko’s to Wizards of the Coast

• Organized Play and the RPGA

• Living Greyhawk and convention gaming

• Working alongside Magic and D&D at Wizards

• Company culture, reorganizations, and layoffs

• Dragon Magazine and the golden age of RPG publications

• Kickstarter’s impact on tabletop publishing

• Substack, modern media, and content overload

• Geek culture from the 1980s to today

• Bullying, identity, and growing up as a gamer

• Why younger generations may be more confident creators

• AI’s role in tabletop design and creative work

• Building communities around games rather than products

Memorable Moments

• Stephen laughs about repeatedly telling companies not to build their own virtual tabletop because existing platforms had already solved the hardest problems—a prediction that proved remarkably accurate.

• He recounts how he nearly joined Wizards once, lost the job, then was hired shortly afterward to help run Organized Play during the launch of D&D Third Edition.

• Brian and Stephen swap stories about Wizards’ early culture, including office pranks, department rivalries, repeated reorganizations, and surviving wave after wave of layoffs.

• Stephen explains how he transformed the RPGA from an inward-looking organization into a marketing engine that encouraged players to explore new D&D books and adventures.

• The two reflect on how magazines like Dragon once felt like treasured monthly events, contrasting that experience with today’s endless algorithm-driven feeds and constant competition for attention.

• They discuss how being a “geek” shifted from something many people hid to something openly celebrated, and how younger generations have benefited from that cultural change.

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He was playing basketball, and then he was gone.

Just like that.

It hit me pretty hard.

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This episode is both a nostalgic reunion and a thoughtful reflection on how lifelong friendships are formed through shared passions. Brian and Lan revisit the earliest days of competitive Magic: The Gathering, recounting Pro Tours, IRC friendships, legendary deck designs, and the personalities that helped define the game’s formative years. What begins as a trip down memory lane gradually expands into conversations about education, parenting, social media, reading, AI, community, and why the relationships built through games often outlast the games themselves.

Note from Brian:

Lan D. Ho has been many things in this life.

Most pertinent to this video podcast — he’s a former Magic: the Gathering pro, who went on to film a Magic: the Gathering documentary (I Came To Game), then later created a duplicate sealed format meant to represent “what Magic: the Gathering could be as a boxed set.”

Lan is beloved by all in the Magic community, and his aspiration to become the world’s best dinner guest has led him to light up the room in many wonderful places.

He’s also incredibly well-read, well-viewed, well-listened and well-versed, as a lifelong student of everything that interests him.

This recording is longer than the rest, but if you start it at the beginning of your nightly three-course dinner, it’ll accompany your meal quite well.

May your listen be a magical one!

Topics Covered

• Meeting through early Internet Relay Chat (IRC) communities

• Pro Tour Chicago 1997 and the early professional Magic scene

• Famous deck designs and tournament stories

• Working with early Magic teams including CMU

• Living together while traveling the Pro Tour

• The culture of late-1990s competitive gaming

• Origins Game Fair memories

• Magic as a catalyst for lifelong friendships

• Education, college, and self-directed learning

• Parenting in the age of smartphones and social media

• Reading versus digital attention spans

• “Brain rot” culture and Gen Alpha

• AI, creativity, and modern media

• How Magic differs from chess

• Commander, personalization, and emotional attachment to games

• Why games can shape careers and identities

Memorable Moments

• Brian and Lan laugh about first meeting through IRC before finally meeting in person at Pro Tour Chicago, where Lan’s deck design helped several players post outstanding finishes.

• They reminisce about sleeping on apartment floors, traveling to tournaments with almost no money, and unknowingly standing at the beginning of careers that would eventually lead to Wizards of the Coast and beyond.

• Brian recalls writing Alternate Worlds and relying on Lan’s remarkable memory to correct countless historical details before publication.

• The discussion shifts to raising children today, with both expressing concern over constant digital stimulation while sharing optimism about encouraging reading and curiosity instead.

• They joke about “brain rot,” MrBeast, Fortnite, and modern Internet culture before turning the conversation toward serious questions about attention, education, and how children learn.

• Looking back nearly three decades later, they conclude that while Magic introduced them, their friendship endured because of shared values and curiosity rather than the game itself.

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This episode moves far beyond game design into a thoughtful conversation about the future of society, technology, education, AI, politics, trust, media, and creativity. While both Brian and Zac share deep roots in Magic: The Gathering, the game becomes a lens through which they explore much larger questions about how people learn, build communities, tell stories, and create meaning in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

Note from Brian:

Zac Hill is an incredible writer, gamer, and thought leader spanning “what the future of humanity” should be & how to position ourselves best to inherit an optimistic future.

Zac and I met a few decades back, when I was at the throes of “purest capitalism,” so I couldn’t talk to other humans in a real way.

Fast forward today, where Zac and I run the gamut of our present world & how we want to position ourselves for the future ahead.

How do we build systems that make groups of people better than ever before?

Let’s find out.

Topics Covered

• Zac’s Office of American Possibilities and civic venture studio

• AI for public-interest and social-impact applications

• The future of education in an AI-driven world

• Why friction is essential for learning

• Motivation versus optimization in education

• Trust in institutions and public leadership

• National stories, identity, and belonging

• Billionaires, venture capital, and public perception

• Politics as storytelling versus policy

• The evolution of media business models

• Subscription versus advertising ecosystems

• Substack as a creative platform

• Writing about games as a way to explore larger societal ideas

• Building creator tools for collaborative game creation

• AI-assisted game design

• Immersive theater and participatory experiences

• The future relationship between AI and creativity

• Roblox, Minecraft, and AI as creative platforms

• Magic: The Gathering as a lifelong framework for thinking about systems and people

Memorable Moments

• Zac explains that America has long called itself “an experiment,” but experiments require debriefs—a philosophy that inspired one of his major civic projects reviewing 250 years of presidential history.

• Brian argues that learning resembles the famous opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey: every generation still has to “hit the monolith” through real struggle rather than simply downloading knowledge.

• The pair discuss why AI can accelerate access to information without eliminating the difficult experiences that actually produce wisdom.

• Brian shares the story of leaving Netflix after a health scare, discovering Substack almost by accident, and gradually evolving from memoir writing into podcasts and eventually an AI-powered platform for collaborative game creation.

• Zac compares AI’s future not to a single killer application but to platforms like Roblox or Minecraft, where creators build countless unexpected experiences atop shared creative infrastructure.

• The conversation closes by imagining games that are easier to create, more personal, and capable of producing meaningful shared experiences in real time.