From: Ymaq Tyo (by way of Yugitips <yugitips@pojo.com>)
[alexd@pro-net.co.uk]
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2003 12:52 AM
To: Bill
Subject: My take on rich kids in Yu-Gi-Oh ~ Nerimon

Hi there, my name's Nerimon and I want to talk about how the Yu-Gi-Oh world 
is affected by money. Now, I have read a lot of articles saying that rich 
players dominate the game because of the cards they obtain, and things like 
that. However, this article is based on the other side - I would consider 
myself, from another's point of view, a 'rich kid' and so I would like to 
explain my actions.

OK, most people seem to think that players are rich because they buy cards 
individually instead of from packs. I think someone said it made them wanna 
punch them when they walked in and bought all of the rare single cards in a 
shop. However, I think this is a biased opinion. Living in the UK, I get £10 
a week (roughly), which is pretty good. my mum doesn't pay for my packs for 
me, (her words were 'no, after Pokémon I'm not gonna start buying you packs 
and packs, not again') I do it all myself. Now, with that ten pound a week, 
I got probably get a fairly good card. Or if I waited till next week when I 
had £15, I got get a Magic Cylinder cos that's how much they cost here. My 
point is that many people probably get just as much money as this, or more, 
in a week. Yet they start slating people who buy single cards. I think this 
stems from the fact that people think it's stupid to waste all your money 
on Yu-Gi-Oh - it's not that we're rich, just that we want to spend our money 
on it whereas others wouldn't. Well I can't vouch for other people but I 
personally have nothing else to buy that interests me. So I might as well 
spend it on Yu-Gi-Oh, as I have nothing else to save up for and spend money 
on. Also, packs of cards do not guarantee you a card you want - if you think 
about all the packs you've bought, it's probably at least £15 worth, no? 
(well in dollars obviously) And just think of the cards you got in them. 
If you had £15 worth of useless cards, you could have spent them on a Magic 
Cylinder instead which would have been more worthwhile to you.

My last point concerns rich kids being good. I spent £34 on Mirror Force and 
Fiber Jar the other day, to which my best friend said 'that's a lot to spend 
on cards'. I replied with 'I haven't got anything better to get, and the cards 
are worth it to me'. That shut him up. Anyways despite that, in national 
tournaments I won . . . 3 out of 7 matches, I think it was. Being rich (or 
wanting to spend money on Yu-Gi-Oh) doesn't make you any better of a player. 
Every duelist has their own individual strategy and they can use any card to 
their advantage with the right one. I always say that every card has its uses 
in the right Deck. So, are you saying that rich kids all have Beatdown decks? 
Because if you do think that, instead of whining about it, go build an Anti-
Beatdown and show them what it takes to be a duelist.

Please send me your comments, flame and suggestions to alexd@pro-net.co.uk. 
Flames will not be read, but it'll give me a good laugh.

Nerimon, UK, 14