I think that there was a sense that WotC was going to do something special for Magic's 30th anniversary - something for the community at large. Instead, they released a mediocre, $1000 product.

My guess is the feeling that if the product is successful, then the corporation might create similar products that are less optional. Or they may neglect or discontinue their less customer hostile products.

It's also probably reasonable to be upset that they are pricing a significant portion of their community out of a product that ostensibly celebrates the success of the community.

Imagine a game with 30 years of history, genre defining, that has die hard fans and then take some cards, make effectively "fake" versions (not tournament legal) and charge $1000 for 60 of them.

They could have done a LOT more cooler things and passionate lovers of the game wish that they did.

Why not make them tournament legal? It’d cut down on some of the insane prices for these things (like house prices, sad for those who just bought at a huge premium, but ultimately good for the rest).

Long story but there is a list of cards called the "reserved list" and WoTC promised to never reprint them. So they got cheeky and said "well, we didn't really reprint them because they aren't legal, see?" Oh, and pay us $1000 for these cards.

https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Reserved_List

One of the most famous cards is on the RL:

https://scryfall.com/card/leb/233/black-lotus?utm_source=mw_...

And the new "not legal" version:

https://scryfall.com/card/30a/228/black-lotus

This is a segment of geek culture that has all sorts of ego/identity stuff tied up with these brands. So when they don't "act properly" it feels like it reflects on them and they take it personally.

That's the downside to having that market segment as your customers, the upside is that they are fanatically loyal and are not remotely picky or discerning as customers/consumers.

You don't understand why people who own what was supposed to be a limited edition collectible/in game power up got upset when more were released? Cards that they bought for large amounts on the secondary market because WOTC promised they would never be reprinted.