Last updated on August 29, 2024
MH3 Splash Art – Illustration by Wisnu Tanu
After waiting weeks to get their prizes, winners of the recent Arena Direct events have just been told by Wizards of the Coast that they are out of stock.
David Finseth, Senior Manager of Digital Product at Wizards of the Coast, told Draftsim that they had run out of product due to the event's popularity surpassing their expectations.
“The product we had set aside wasn’t quite enough,” Finseth said. “We had to substitute an alternative cash prize for a small percentage of players as described in the terms and conditions.”
8/17/24 3:45 p.m.: Wizards of the Coast has clarified the situation regarding the product shortage:
“While we did run out of product for the MH3 event, less than 3% of winners had to have their prizing substituted for monetary rewards. We have already contacted those players about the change. All remaining winners (~97%) will still be getting the MH3 boxes they’re expecting, there are just delays in processing.” We understand players are rightfully frustrated. We are working to get them their prizes as soon as possible.”
The Arena Direct events offered players a chance to win boxes of Modern Horizons 3 “delivered directly to [their] door.” This continues Wizards' foray into offering real-life prizes for online play, expanding on the precedent set by Arena Open tournaments
The events took place on the weekends of June 28th and July 12th, and players could enter as many times as they wished. The community also gave them a great initial reception, with WotC even running an additional Arena Direct in July that rewarded two Outlaws of Thunder Junction Play Booster boxes.
However, things began to get more confusing, and players became frustrated as there was no information available on how to claim the boxes they won. The situation finally changed on July 31st when Wizards of the Coast reached out to winners to let them know they could claim their prizes on August 9th.
But now, less than a week after the beginning of the claim process, event winners were notified that Wizards had run out of stock and players who hadn’t already gotten a box would receive cash payouts instead.
“This event was three times as successful as our estimates,” Finseth said. “This is a good problem to have, but it definitely caused some issues.”
When asked why Customer Service had closed tickets without a satisfactory answer or resolution, Finseth said the overwhelming response caused a series of delays in their response.
“When delays happen at one stage, they unfortunately then trip up the next step, and the sheer volume of individuals in the event receiving prizes is clogging up our pipes a bit. We’re working through it all, but it’s definitely rightfully frustrating some players. But we’re working through it all and we will get to you if we haven’t yet.”
Player and Community Reaction
The online Magic community has been outwardly frustrated at Wizards of the Coast’s handling of the Arena Direct situation.
High-profile competitor and 2017 Player of the Year Luis Salvatto won nine MH3 booster boxes and managed to order his winnings on August 9th, but he still doesn’t have them.
“I already placed my order and I’m waiting for the boxes,” Salvatto told Draftsim.
Salvatto also said that he thinks he’s only getting all his boxes because he went public with his concerns on X.
“Since I spammed a lot on Twitter they are giving me the total amount of boxes … but a few folks reached me with this same situation, some (or all) the boxes exchanged for money,” Luis said to Draftsim. “In the end I think that if you keep quiet they don't care at all.”
Another player, Holzi, spoke out on X regarding their anger towards Wizards.
“For over a month I’ve been waiting for a reply,” Holzi said on X. “A few days ago you confirmed I will receive the boxes in August, now are you are telling me you are out of stock? This is just ridiculous.”
Although this inventory contingency was indeed included in Arena Direct's original announcement, the change has cascading consequences in how each winner's country or state taxes their prizes. According to Holzi's tweet, “[An] MH3 box is like 250€. 1000U$ cash prize from wotc is around 635€,” given the taxes applied to cash prizes.
Players from Colorado are also having issues claiming their prizes. As explained on Reddit by u/KingLewi, “This is because of Colorado's 27-cent delivery tax. It's an oversight with [WotC's] website. It applies the tax to your total and sees that you owe 27 cents but you didn't put in any payment information, because you can't because it should be free.”
And players are mostly left to fend to themselves when it comes to these problems.
“[I] waited for the email after and followed the appropriate steps and when it links out to scalefast I receive an error,” posted u/BoosterTherapy on Reddit. “I’ve made multiple tickets and have tried to work with WotC for weeks and at this point I’m receiving no communication back and I’m unsure what, if anything, can be done to help me receive the box I had won.”
MTGO Content Creator Fireshoes joined the conversation, claiming that “Wizards communication on this promotion has been heinous.”
The Future of Arena Direct
Despite the community's frustration, shipping delays, and confusion regarding the event, Wizards of the Coast seems likely to run future Arena Directs—but only after they make some serious improvements.
“We’re going to continue working on the structure and the prizes and other ways to make sure the experience is awesome end to end,” Finseth said.
“In fact, we've delayed some planned Arena Directs precisely because of this backup, so we can clear things out and build a better system before ramping back up. It’s more important to us to get this experience right than it is to run ahead with the next one.”
When asked if they had a statement to those who felt disappointed by the way prizes were distributed following the Arena Direct, Wizards of the Coast said the following:
“We get it and we hear you. We want our events to be awesome experiences from the moment you sign up to the day you get your prizes. Anything less than that is a miss. The latest Arena Direct’s outsized popularity definitely caught us off guard, but that’s our problem to solve, not our fans. So we’re going to keep improving, keep tweaking, and keep trying to make sure our good problems don’t become fans’ bad problems.”
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