Since the beginning ofMagic: The Gathering Arena’s beta, Wizards of the Coast has been hard at work,improvingMagic Arena’s UIand implementing various new features. At times, these features have focused on the game’s social aspect, with the somewhat-recently added friends list acting as a good example, and indeed the developer has now confirmed that yet another highly-requested social feature is on its way.
Specifically, Wizards of the Coast has just announced that direct message is finally coming toMagic: The Gathering Arena. This was confirmed in the March 2020MTG: ArenaState of the Game, which was issued on March 5, and it is indicated that direct messaging will be available inMagic Arenaon Thursday, March 12.
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As fans are sure to expect, messaging will allow players to communicate directly withinMagic: The Gathering Arena, something that is not currently possible outside of using emotes, though there is one caveat: players will only be able to message someone who currently has them on theirMagic Arenafriends list. This means that players will not be able to randomly contact their opponents during a match, and presumably this limit has been set in an attempt to avoid in-game conflicts.
Additionally,Magic Arena’s direct messaging will allow players to set different designations for themselves, which will alter the feature’s functionality. For instance, players that want to send and receive messages, but do not want any notifications, can simply set their status to “busy.” Alternatively, a player can turn messaging off completely by going “offline,” allowing them to focus on their preferredMagic: The Gathering Arenaformatwithout interruption.
Direct messaging is not the only social feature addressed inMTGA’s March 2020 State of the Game, though, asWizards of the Coastis also adding two new dynamic emotes. Namely, players will be able to respond to a “Nice!” emote with the new “Thanks!” emote, while an “Oops” emote will give fans access to “Sorry!” as a replay. These new dynamic emotes will be available next week, and while they are perhaps not as exciting as direct messaging, they will at least give emote-lovers more ways to express themselves.
Magic: The Gathering Arenais available now on PC, with a mobile release scheduled for 2020.
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Source:Wizards of the Coast
