Maybe out own internal arguements as a community actually point the way here...
Dean, Have we stated clearly (to WoTC) we have approximately the same number of DCI registered players as DDM as a reasoning for why we should be considered a competetive game vs. a Casual game? That tact seems a good direction to take it.
Lobo(Aaron?, heh, me, you, and Shinja all with the cursed name...) Maybe the point that a large portion of the SWM market is collectors can be spun to help us. When there is a large competetive market for a product, as well as a large collectors market it only raises the over all value of the product. Former collectors become players former players become collectors. Both induce others to buy. WoTC makes more money.
As a community we need to try to sway them with ways to make more money, that also improve things for us.
Dean, I know you have been fighting the fight for a long time. I personally am glad we have a champion for our cause, if you give up on DCI/WoTC for sactioning then the cause no longer has it's champion.
Also to the point of multiple sactioning bodies hurting things. The "competition is always good" motto is true in business. But not in sports at least not in the manner we are discussing. If for instance , and for the sake of levity I'll call it Deans league, If the Deans league championships draws 50% of the player base for SWM away from DCI, and they continue on in their current manner. the community becomes split, you have 2 different champions. No concensus is had as to who the real champ is. In boxing having multiple sactioning bodies almost killed the sport, abc champ vs. WBC champ vs. xyz champ weakened the meaning of champ as much as a short notice championship
Boxing went back to unifying the championships as much as it could, thats why undisputed champion of the world means something. It's a unified title.
We need a clear unified path or our small community will get split and have less voice. Also we may need to consider it a fact that SWM is a casual game, that doesn't mean there is a competetive element to the community, but what if those of us who are competetive are only 5% of the people buying the game. How do we plead our case considering that is a "fact". I'm not saying it is. but if it is we need to have a justification that counters it.
I've been a program manager for Microsoft, worked with major companies like ATT, Cingular, Nokia, LG, etc.... The best thing we can do is provide a unified voice, give them positive monetary motivation, and provide positive feedback to positive things. Minimize angry feedback, and always when giving negative feedback include alternatives that can work.
Slie