Yeah, Type 1 tournaments occur about once every other moon, unfortunately.
Who said anything about tournaments? I said I
play this game, not "LOL I am a masochist!"
Let me tell you... you commit to ANY expensive/collectible hobby long enough, you eventually do it only when you want to - and on your terms - or you learn to hate it.
Actually, that brings up another lament. Years back, the single most awesome group of people that I had fun playing MTG with was the older crowd. People who were perfectly ordinary 30, 40, or 50-somethings, whose
only gaming-related vice was a little Magic now and then. These were stable, mature, and above all FUN people. They made interesting decks and generally had a good time. Some even got their kids involved (one of them, my old friend Dave, had a horrible rivalry with his 15 year old son... Dave took it stride and had great fun goading his son on, but like any good teenager trying to show up his dad, the son took it dead serious. Watching Jerry, negotiate, plead, scheme, outright attack, and otherwise do everything in his power to make sure his dad was knocked out of multiplayer games first was some of the most enjoyable gaming I've ever participated in).
I don't know ANYBODY like this who plays MTG anymore. Not a single person. And I haven't in years. I know a couple of old-timers, but they're gamers. They may be a bit older than most and somewhat more sensible, but they're still gamers at core. Technically my wife is an exception, but that's kind of like "My mom says I'm cool." i.e. it does't really count. I'd say that nine out of ten games of MTG my wife or I play is with each other. If I was being honest I'd say that most MTG players have ALWAYS been intolerable twits, nothing new there, but there used to be a
spectrum of players at least.