Worth Wollpert leaves Wizards of the Coast #blameworth

After 16 years at Wizards and a long time in charge of Magic Online, Worth Wollpert has stepped down.

The reason stated is that Wizards is restructuring digialt. That is probably a good idea and it is natural that it includes some layoffs. You really can't blame Worth for wanting to do something else.

I am personally amazed at the amount of stuff he has handled. And all the negative feedback he has endured.

The announcement by Wizards in itself is very interesting. They claim to be reimagining digital versions of Magic and other Wizards games. They will bring the characters and worlds to other games and experiences. They will make Wizards experiences more efficient, connect and convenient.

All I can think when I read that is "What does this mean for the value of my investment in MTGO cards?". I guess it is just too early to tell.


Wizard's announcement about the restructuring: https://company.wizards.com/article/press/making-moves

Worth confirms in a tweet: https://twitter.com/mtgworth/status/819694515682299904

Disable User Account Control In Windows 10

On Microsoft Windows 10, User Account Control ('UAC') prevents applications from making certain changes on your PC. Some applications try to change system-related parts, such as the Registry or the file system.

ML Bot is one of these applications because, in order to manage Magic Online and uninstall / reinstall it, the bot needs to access the file system (the "files on your hard drive"). If you don't disable UAC, ML Bot will not be able to perform certain tasks on Magic Online and in particular to repair MTGO in case of crash. As result the bot will work fine until MTGO crashes. At this point ML Bot will not be able to handle the crash and recover.
Please note that on a stable machine this will hardly happen and keeping the UAC turned will not affect you however typically this is not the case, MTGO is very unstable and crashes often and turning off UAC is mandatory.

Here is how to disable UAC and get rid of its popups in Windows 10.

Step 1
Firstly, right click on the “Start” button and select Control Panel option.

Step 2
Select "view by: large icons"

Step 3
Select the User Account option.

Step 4
Select the 'Change User Account Control setting' option

Step 5
Select User Account Control settings, and move the slider to the bottom (Never Notify). If the slider is already at the bottom (Never Notify) then move it up, release the mouse, move it down again to Never Notify and release it. Click OK.

Step 6
When you click OK the new dialogue box is open. Click YES.

Step 7
At this point UAC should be disabled. You will need to restart your PC. Once restarted, launch ML Bot using the icon on the Desktop,  if you completed the steps successfully the bot will launch without UAC. If you still see a request dialog from UAC, you did not disable UAC and you need to do again the steps above. If the problem still persists, please contact us via email at staff@mtgolibrary.com or mtgolibrary@gmail.com

MTGO Library Bot 11.67 - Kaladesh

Yesterday we released ML Bot 11.67. The new bot version supports the new set Kaladesh (KLD).

As usual the official pricelist containing the KLD prices is available in the update process and for download from the Online Control Panel. LITE bots have to update as well.

Happy release events to all!

MTGO Library 10.65

We released ML Bot 10.65. The update contains many fixes regarding one of the most 'delicate' part of handling the MTGO client: the uninstall / install process. 

Uninstall MTGO is sometimes required when MTGO breaks. In these cases you are not able to launch the client (not even manually) and the only way to fix is to reinstall MTGO. This is an easy task for a human but it's complex for a bot because many things can go wrong.
In particular, previous ML Bot versions had problem with non-English operative systems, where the title of the windows can be different from the typical "Application Error" messages that appears in an English-based system.

Mtgo hotfix for broken binder

*UPDATE*  The binder problem seems to be fixed.

WotC just deployed a hotfix to the active trade binder problem. You need to restart your MTGO and the binders should be working fine as usual.

Our team is now doing tests, we'll keep you informed.

MTGO Library Bot 11.24 - update required

Last Wednesday (6th July) Wizards of the Coast updated MTGO and changed a couple of minor internal things. We had to release a bot update (version 11.24) to cope with the changes. Previous bot versions have been disabled and now you cannot use them.

If your bot is experiencing problem, here you are the exact step to follow to restore it:

1. locate the bot folder and erase all the files in the "/log" folder. These are log files the bot created, and probably they filled the whole hard drive. You have to erase them to free some space.
2. empty the Windows Recycle bin to confirm the space
3. download the bot installer from www.mtgolibrary.com . The current version is 11.24. Any version superior to 11.24 is fine. Do not let the bot update by itself, use the installer.
4. install the bot again. Choose as destination folder the folder of the current bot folder. The installer will overwrite all the bot files but not your settings and your price.
5. the bot is now able to work again and can handle the new version of mtgo!

We'll be on LiveChat if you need help, please contact us

MTGO Library Bot 11.15

We just released ML Bot 11.15, fixing a major Mtgo bug introduced last Friday with the .615 hotfix. On some accounts the trade chat does not appear properly and does not dock on the right. The bot was unable to detect the problem and was not able to act properly.
To make things worse, if you dock the chat manually you will crash mtgo forever and you will have to reinstall it.

ML Bot 11.15 fixes the problem, it is able to detect the issue and to reset mtgo properly.

Wikiprice down for 3 hours

Today we had a 3-hours downtime of our wikiprice service (https://www.mtgowikiprice.com). As result the webpages were not visible via browser and the wikiprice APIs were unavailable as well.

In details, we had a hardware failure and we had to replace some parts. We replaced the broken parts with redundant hardware in order not to have a similar problem again.

The service is now fully restored and working. We apologize for the issue.

MTGO Library Bot 11.06

Yesterday Wizards of the Coast deployed a Mtgo update with an internal refactor. After the update the bot was not working properly. After few hours we released a bot client update (version 11.06) to address the issues and restored the fully functionality. We forced the update on all the bots from remote, so you probably already have version 11.06 on your bot.
Today we will release a minor update (11.07) to tune and better integrare the bot.

MTGO Library Bot 11.00

We released ML Bot 11.00 some minutes ago. The new version improves a number of things. Among these:

• ML Bot has been compiled with Net 4.5.2 to offer a better compatibility with Mtgo.
• Some weeks ago, WotC updated Mtgo and broke the "blinking" of the submit button in trade. As result, the bot was unable to detect the submit and needed an explicit "done" command in the chat to finalize the trade. We fixed the problem by changing the way the bot detects the submit and now typing "done" is no more necessary.
• Opening trade with other bots is now faster and more reliable.
• We fixed some DKA cards with wrong names

Mtgo update to Net framework 4.5.2

WotC updated Mtgo to the Microsoft Net framework 4.5.2. To run Mtgo you need to install the Net framework 4.5.2 and then to update Mtgo manually.
A ML Bot update is not required, but you still need to update Mtgo manually to use it.

We will be online on LiveChat if you need help. You may need to unistall and then reinstall mtgo to have mtgo update successfully.

MTGO Library Bot 10.93

The new Magic Online version, released today, requires a ML Bot client update. We have just released the update (ML Bot 10.93) and stopped the launch of the previous versions. If you run an older version you need to update the bot to 10.93. The bot should automatically update, but you can still download the installer from the Online Control Panel.

Please also note that WotC changed the way the "Submit" button behaves. The button does not blink anymore when the buddies submit the trade, and thus there is no way to recognize the submit action. We will try to read the "Trade Submitted" flash message to recognize the action, even if the message fades in few seconds. For now the bot will only recognize the "done" written in the chat, like the old MTGO v3.

Later today or tomorrow we will also release another update, supporting the new set, SOI.

Help save Standard Pauper!

Don't Let WotC Take the Standard Pauper Filter Away!

Wizards announced today that they are retiring the Standard Pauper filter from Magic Online along with several other formats. Don't let them do it! Standard Pauper has a commited community that loves the format. Tournaments are run weekly on pdcmagic.com.

If you're on Twitter, contact @mtg_lee @mtgworth @wizards_magic @MagicOnline and tell them not to.

You can directly E-mail those responsible for making decisions on Magic Online:Chris.Kiritz@wizards.com; Michael.Turian@wizards.com; Worth.Wollpert@wizards.com;Lee.Sharpe@wizards.com.

In your E-mail, please be calm, rationale, polite, but heartfelt and passionate about the format. It doesn't have to be long. Just tell them why you like the format and ask them to keep the Standard Pauper filter. If you want, tell them that George Leonard / gwyned gave you their contact info.

Let's blow up their E-mail and social media with support for the format. Let's show them just how important Standard Pauper is.

Spread the word, make your voice heard. Do not let them do this!

(content copied and adapted from George Leonard / gwyned via http://writeradept.blogspot.com/2015/10/dont-let-wotc-take-standard-pauper.html)

MTGO Library Bot 10.22

Yesterday we found a memory leakage. We are still investigating it. We released ML Bot 10.22 to temporarily fix it.

ML Bot 10.22 will constantly check MTGO memory usage and its own internal memory usage, and restart if memory consumption grows too much.
We think the issue has been introduced last Wednesday, but it's too early to say - it will probably take a couple of days to shed light.

Yesterday Wizards had a rough MTGO update

Yesterday Wizards of the Coast released a MTGO update building the core infrastructure for Leagues. http://magic.wizards.com/en/MTGO/articles/archive/magic-online/magic-online-announcements-august-25-2015

The build was big and required 12 hours of downtime instead of the usual 4. At the end of the downtime Wizards had several problems affecting many functionalities of Magic Online, including trades and events. Trades and Events have been disabled for 2 hours. In general MTGO was not stable after the downtime and was pretty slow.

The issues seem to be resolved now, and Magic Online is again fully operative.
No bot update is required. If you experienced problems with your MTGO (disconnections, low trades, random withdraws) this was ok.

Hidden Tempest Remastered Cards in wishlist

There is a minor MTGO bug related to TPR card visualization. Users should be aware of this:
Quoting MTGO article:  http://magic.wizards.com/en/MTGO/articles/archive/magic-online/magic-online-announcements-may-5-2015


Known Issue Around Trading Tempest Remastered Cards

We added a new known issue in last week's Bug Blog involving trading cards from Tempest Remastered.

The Tempest Remastered set is hidden if unowned. This means that if a player owns no Tempest Remastered cards, the Tempest Remastered filter cannot be selected as a possible format, even if the player has the quantity filter set to 0. Because of this issue, a player who doesn't own any Tempest Remastered cards cannot place any of those cards in their wishlist. This bug is scheduled to be fixed during the Wednesday, May 27 deployment. In the meantime, players can find a breakdown of how we expect this to affect trading Tempest Remastered. Thank you for your patience while we work on this!

Trading Tempest Remastered without using wishlists:

If a player who does not own any Tempest Remastered cards begins a trade with another player who has Tempest Remastered cards, then Tempest Remastered cards will be visible in the trade for both players.

The player who did not own any Tempest Remastered cards is able to trade with that other player to get Tempest Remastered cards without issue.
Once the trade is complete, the player who did not have any Tempest Remastered cards will now find that the Tempest Remastered filter in their collection is functional.
Once the filter is functional, the player will only be able to see cards that they own.
Trading Tempest Remastered using a wishlist:

If a user owns no Tempest Remastered, the Tempest Remastered filter cannot be selected as a possible format, even if the player has the quantity filter set to 0. Because of this, a player who doesn't own any Tempest Remastered cards cannot place any of those cards in their wishlist. The only cards that can be added to the wishlist, are ones that a player already owns.

MTGO Library 9.60

ML Bot 9.60 fixes a minor problem introduced yesterday with the MTGO update. The problem appears on just some bots and results in aborted trades right after setting up the trading interface. This happens because the bot detects the trading interface as not correct (while it is) and thus restarts MTGO.

Even if your bots do not show the above problem, we suggest to update to 9.60 to avoid any potential issue.

MTGO Library Bot 9.59

We released ML Bot 9.59 right after the downtime to fix a problem with opening the trades. The MTGO update changed the position of the "new chat" button and the bots were chatting in the "Support Area" instead of opening a new chat.

We released the update few minutes ago and forced a mass update. We contacted ORCS to explain the issue. Please check you bots and please update if they are version less than 9.59.

MTGO Library Bot 9.03

ML Bot 9.03 fixes a strange bug of Mtgo v4, resulting in your bot being "online" (apparently) but offline for the rest of the world.

The bug is pretty bizarre because on the client the bot results perfectly online (for example you can move the mtgo client, navigate the tabs, browse the collection, adjust the settings and so on...) but the rest of the world will see you offline and you won't be able to receive any trade request!

Year 2014 with MTGO

PureMtgo published a very nice article about the year 2014 for MTGO. I read it. It's very interesting and gives an overall visions. You can read it here:

http://puremtgo.com/articles/state-program-year-review