Ben Harris

He/him. Former host of @wdwnt's ParksCenter; current L2 judge for MTG; anxiously awaiting the ability to add Lorcana judge to that list.

[DMV Legacy League @DMVLegacyLeague]

🪙INSERT COIN TO START🪙
🕹️READY PLAYER ONE🕹️
The DMV Legacy League is happy to announce March 1st as the kickoff date for Season 3! We look forward to seeing everyone! We have some new changes this season, so be on the lookout for new initiatives & participating stores!

[Ryan Freeburger @RyanFreeburger]

He finally did it. Years of struggle, years of work and he finally did it.

Congratulations @mshadaro. You earned this.

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

Dragon AND Nadu?! I gotta re-tweet. Mat is gonna be sick.

[𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 Goldsabertooth𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 @Goldsabertooth]

THANK YOU @DMVLegacyLeague for an amazing stream! Playmat WIP detail:

[Mel Brooks @MelBrooks]

I told you we’d be back

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

Having both the games I love refuse to acknowledge their judge communities officially has caused way more pain than I ever thought it would. This does a great job of summing up my feelings on Lorcana, where we're at, and what the next steps from RB need to be. Magic, you too.

[Albert Maloof Berdellans III @EDMsnob]

Watching the @DisneyLorcana livestream yesterday, I was blown away by the community outcry for a Judge Program. I couldn't believe how many people were so passionate about it.

I think some people are missing why this community reaction is happening. First, without such a program, it will be impossible for there to be a larger official tournament schedule that allows significantly more attendees. You need a steady supply of new, trained staff. Second, people are looking for community leaders that aren't employees of the publisher.

@RavensburgerNA (RB) did a great job with this production. The new announcement structure and commitment to frequent communication was really encouraging, as was the quality of the show.

But the biggest thing that stood out to me was the complete lack of accountability. They should have apologized for their complete failure to hire adequately and plan appropriately, which resulted in the community being locked out of the first-ever World Championship. Instead, they blamed the community for reacting too positively, too quickly. How hard is it to say: "We messed up. We're sorry. Here's how we're going to avoid this in the future."?

I feel bad that the news leaked early, and I feel terrible for the RB staff that worked on the announcement and had this happen to them. But maybe the fact that an internal collaborator was willing to leak something like this, for the first time ever, points to a growing sense of dissatisfaction with leadership and loss of confidence in their direction.

Earlier this year, at the exact same time RB was making a website post committing to transparency in organized play, they were simultaneously signing Worlds-qualified players to non-disclosure agreements so that the public wouldn't find out that the event would be invite-only.

Similarly, they must have known set rotation was coming for months, if not a year or more. It was obviously inevitable. They chose to conceal this from consumers buying any of the past 8 sets so they wouldn't hold back their spending.

And of course, a Judge Program was announced to be forthcoming even before the game and its rules were released. People threw themselves into studying the game rules and educating players on a daily basis. Almost 2 years later, not only has nothing been released, but now they refuse to even say the word 'Judge' publicly. Yesterday they censored the Twitch chat when fans wouldn't drop the subject.

It's a shame that the publisher of Disney Lorcana will not even acknowledge the Judges and event staff that helped make the first year of the game successful. A lot of focus is on players and content creators, and they are important. But the total abandonment of Judges has left a hole in the community-- one that RB created by inducing people to commit themselves to this role.

On a personal level, I feel guilty for my part in encouraging people to devote their time and talent to becoming Judges. I am sorry that I trusted RB so thoroughly and took them at their word. They won't say it, so I will:

Judges, you matter. For all those who worked on the events, you made a huge difference in the success of the first year of the game. Thank you. Virtually everyone in the community agrees.

Look, I know that people are tired of the subject. I get it. We all want to move on to happier times and more positive subjects. But there has been a justifiable, major loss of public trust in the team running the game. And they need to earn it back.

It's great that Ravensburger has committed to better communication about Disney Lorcana. But if this game is going to succeed, those words will need to be followed by actions.

The honeymoon phase of the game is over. It's time for the next chapter to begin.

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@TheGrixisGuy @Jenn_the_Judge JUDGE!

_sound of 18 people simultaneously tripping on their pants and hitting the floor_

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@seasonincarnate YOU GOT THIS

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@ScottSmitty Use anything and everything you have. There's no shame in using privilege to help cope - the problem comes when you start living in that bubble & refusing to acknowledge a problem exists. We're mourning a loss right now; we don't need to immediately come back swinging.

[Nadu @NaduWingedWisdm]

Don’t vote for Bolas.

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@Dsitt7 Sorry you got bird'd on

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@TheGrixisGuy I've heard of worse

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

C̶̛̛̞̬͚̤̈̀̏̂u̵̱͖̳̱̣̲͒̚ḃ̴̠͇̯̆̈̀͝ȩ̶͋͊C̸̡̨̛͇̜̮̉͆͝ͅó̷̧̨̙̥̗̫n̷̤̬̊

[Cody Colston @CodyPlaysMagic]

C̶̛̛̞̬͚̤̈̀̏̂u̵̱͖̳̱̣̲͒̚ḃ̴̠͇̯̆̈̀͝ȩ̶͋͊C̸̡̨̛͇̜̮̉͆͝ͅó̷̧̨̙̥̗̫n̷̤̬̊

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

CubeCon

[Cody Colston @CodyPlaysMagic]

CubeCon

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@Jenn_the_Judge We don't need luck when we have CARPET

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@KayzarkxCFB

[David 'Dsitt' Sittinger @Dsitt7]

When the AYCE Sushi place by the RC venue presents an opportunity...

(Credit: @likethe_whiskey )

[Kathleen De Vere @Kathleen_LRR]

@BudgetCommander @TolarianCollege I have zero doubt the WoTC employees “in charge” will fight tooth and nail for the best of the format.

I have 100% an executive who doesn’t play magic will give themselves the power to overrule those same employees the second they think they can make more money.

[Ben Harris @ben_center]

@TheGrixisGuy @BrujajaGaming Also, your opponent can wait to point this out until it is best for them - specifically, they can wait until you're tapped out, then point out the pact trigger. (This is one of the very small number of times you're allowed to "sit on" your opponent making a mistake.)

[Cody Colston @CodyPlaysMagic]

Well this happened a bit ago but it's now officially on paper! I made L2 as a judge! It's been a long time coming and I was all but dragged kicking and screaming by my many mentors. My thank you list is very long but @RyanFreeburger & @ben_center have made this a wonderful ride!