Happy Monday everyone! Zac Clark here, subbing in for Rich, who got married this weekend. We figured that’s a fair reason to take a week off, but since it was just in time for our 3 Year Anniversary it seemed like a good time for me to jump on the soap box while Rich enjoys himself.
I have a confession to make. This was not my original intention, My vision was so much more limited in this regard. I had absolutely no grand scheme, nor did I even consider that anyone other than a handful of people would read this. This was just a place for me to do as I had always done: Get some thoughts out of my head, and write about something I love. Before this it was Rock N’ Roll at Rocker Tycoon, or Travel at Uncle Traveling Zac, Photos at ClarkDarkroom, I did a stint as a political writer in Jersey City, I even had some Fiction at Robotic Neurotic. I was (and still am) a blogger.
I say all that to say this: Hipsters of the Coast was really supposed to be a personal thing. Just another mediation for me. Something to help me understand what I looked like years later. I write a lot. That likely stems from the fact that I talk … A LOT. If you’ve met me you know this. I’m a bit unpolished, I’m generally smiling and chances are I have 4 Scalding Tarns in my deck.
Enter Matt Jones and Li Xu: They were reading the blog and I though to myself, it would be fun to have other people collaborate on the site. They joined in, with voices that contrasted vastly from mine. I hadn’t planned it, but this was pretty cool. Jones suggested Jess and Hunter and Rich. I asked Tim Apkinar to join us. Zach Barash took up a limited article. Soon David “Bones” McCoy demanded that we let him edit the thing. (I still type while looking at my keyboard). That was all within the first 6 months!
There was no structure in the beginning. I just wrote whatever whenever. Then we had days. I think in the start I was writing 2-3 Articles a week! Matt, Li, Hunter and I all wrote waaaay too much. It wasn’t sustainable. We took on more writers, each person had a voice of their own. Standard/Limited/Modern/Legacy/Current Events/Cube/Finance. Not one of us could be considered a pro.
That was a big deal! You had no reason to read this blog, we had no previous credentials in this community. We were grinders at best. I think that appealed to a lot of people. Pros talk about pro things, stuff some players never deal with or come in contact with. We were the everyman/woman blog. Then we started putting up results, Hunter and Jess made Day 2s, Carrie did, Zach did and so on. Hell, I finally did! Hunter gets a spot on the Pro Tour, Then Carrie does. And within our niche some of our friends are Qing too. That was pretty awesome.
Like I said, That wasn’t my intention.
Then we started tackling social issues within the game. It started with tilt and Monique’s experience with it. Jess brought up some points at our local LGS that changed some of their policies when dealing with hate speech and harassment. Jess developed a voice on the site as a social justice warrior (she’d never call herself that). Wizards considered a lot of what we had to say concerning player experience and MADE POLICY CHANGES! Rich started the Top 100 Magic Pro List. Wizards followed up with a similar list. We had some mentions on coverage during interviews with the brass. It seemed like whatever we were saying there were folks out there listening and making real decisions.
I could go on about how we brought on some new folks this year. Curtis talks about some real world history/magic related Vorthos stuff. Kate picked up the Hope Eternal mantle, and Stefano analyzes the Magic Finance world. Last Year Shawn began cataloging his experience in Providence. We brought on Derek as well who covers tournaments and his struggles with the game. And we got Giaco back (the OG Scrub) curating stories from other scrubs across the multiverse. We just keep branching out.
So I look back on 3 years of Magic writing, and I look at something that is so vastly different then what I had envisioned and I can’t help but feel insanely proud. Proud, but ultimately humbled, by the folks that take the time to make this site what it is. Once a year I get the privilege of saying this is where it all began… LOOK HOW MUCH COOLER IT IS NOW! Each time I do it feels pretty awesome.
Zac Clark
Zac Clark is the founder of Hipsters Of the Coast. He’s often found in BK and Manhattan with a camera in hand or turning islands sideways. He misses the 90’s something terrible and still dreams of a day when he can just hang out in his friend’s mom’s basement and play 100 card decks of Magic, then get serious about Overpower/L5R/Star Wars CCG.