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A 28-year-old man wants to do something he actually enjoys for his birthday this year after a previous attempt at celebrating fell flat.
He’s planning a Magic: The Gathering draft night, complete with food, booster boxes, and a laid-back hangout vibe.
To cover the costs, he’s considering a $20 entry fee and framing it as a “pay-to-play instead of buying me a gift” situation.
Read on for the story.
WIBTA if I made people pay to play at my Birthday Draft?
My (M28) birthday is coming up in a couple weeks.
Last year, I told my friend group I wanted to have a Halo Lan Party for my birthday, as I was barely able to attend my Best Friends Halo Lan Party for his birthday the previous year, despite me paying over $200 to get enough copies of the game and controllers and organizing the affair when he said he wanted one, because I had to work that night.
I didn’t mind it at the time, because he’s my best friend and I wanted him to have a good birthday, but I figured since we had all the equipment still, it would be an easy effort to get it organized for MY birthday, when I would have the night off, so I could enjoy some sweet Halo Action. But my birthday came and went with no Party.
Oh no.
This year, I figured it was up to me to plan my own party if I wanted something to happen.
I love playing Magic the Gathering. One of my favorite formats is Draft, but most of my friends stick to Commander these days. I thought, for my Birthday, it would be cool to host a Draft Day!
I figured I’d charge a $20 entry fee to cover the cost of food and buying the booster boxes needed for the draft.
Sounds fair.
My intent had been that I would keep all the cards from the draft, and tell people not to worry about buying me gifts, but rather coming and paying to play, eat, and hangout WOULD be their gifts to me.
However, one of my friends has raised a concern that it seems like I’m just trying to get friends to pool money together for me so I can buy Magic cards for myself, while another friend says he sees no problem with the plan.
What do yall think? WIBTA if I made people pay to play magic at my birthday and didnt let them keep the cards?
Now he’s wondering whether this is a reasonable birthday setup or an awkward ask that puts people in an uncomfortable spot…
Most people have one thing to say: YTA. No, one more thing: TACKY.
This person says charging admission to a birthday party is ridiculous. 
This person says when you host, you pay…period.
And this person agrees with all…not cool.
