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76

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Opening of the Day #1 (Strategy Discussion)

« on: June 30, 2011, 07:28:20 pm »

I never use it, but if I open 5-2 with these options, I'm getting a Saboteur.  Really.  Every kingdom card in the set costs at least 3, so Saboteur might actually do some damage.  Even against an Alchemist chain, it'll probably hit Potions at some point and mess up my opponent's strategy.  Furthermore, assuming he opened 4-3, the first tiime he's Saboteured, he's likely to lose a card he just bought and choose to gain nothing in return.  Getting into an opponent's head early has some value.

In Dominion, there are some cards that are rarely useful, and Saboteur is one.  But there are no cards that are never useful.  I may be an idiot for suggesting it, but I stand by my choice.

77

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Supporting Alchemists

« on: June 30, 2011, 07:01:37 pm »

Alchemist games can be short, and typically you'll need to buy at least two Potions, so you may not have time to get very many extra actions.  You want a +buy card if you can get one.  Market works very well.

The Forge can be devastating with an Alchemist chain.  The strong drawing power of the Alchemist allows you a number of options for Forging.  With a couple good turns, you can turn all the clutter from your deck into useful cards.  Suddenly you find yourself drawing your entire deck every turn, which means the Alchemists always go back on top of your draw pile, and you can Forge the two extra Potions into a Province...

Obviously, hand-thinning attacks like Militia and Goons will hurt the Alchemist, to the point where it may not be a good choice.

78

Dominion Articles / Re: Making it to Level 42: Level 1- The Beginnning

« on: June 29, 2011, 10:18:26 pm »

Level 42?  Ah, now we know what the question is.

This seems like good advice.  Looking forward to future articles.

79

Dominion General Discussion / Re: New Dominion promo card: Walled Village

« on: June 29, 2011, 05:31:57 pm »

Walled Village works very well in a Torturer chain; if you play it wisely, you'll usually have it with your Torturers.  By the same logic, it should also work well when chaining Goons, Wharves, etc.

As IamOBESE mentioned, it combos very well with Island, since the Island will no longer be in play once you reach the cleanup phase.  By the same logic, it should work well with Feast, Treasure Map, Embargo and Mining Village if you trash it for the 2 coin.  All these but Mining Village are terminal actions.

80

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Average Turns Per Game

« on: June 29, 2011, 04:32:39 pm »

Back to the OP...to answer your question, one would have to know what cards are in play, and also the nature of the players.

Colonies will typically add a couple turns. Attacks that issue Curses or force players to discard will likewise lengthen the game.  If Goons is in play, the game may go longer because players aren't as quick to purchase Victory cards, and also because they are clogging their decks with Coppers.  If someone is playing a Gardens strategy, he will try to shorten the game.  Draw engines will speed the game up because the good cards are going into your hand sooner.  Trashing cards, especially Chapel, will make games significantly shorter.

The other variable is your opponent.  Some players prefer winning it all on one turn using long action chains and multiple buys, but that usually takes a few turns to set up.  Others go for a quick-and-dirty strategy.  Which approach will win is a function of the cards that are in place, and the luck of the draw.

81

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Game Selection

« on: June 29, 2011, 03:32:24 pm »

It is annoying when the same person declines five games in a row.  That happened to me today.

I never decline based on a person's level.  I've beaten people who were level 40 or better, and I've lost to people who were level 1.  I try to ignore the rankings, because when I do, I enjoy the game a lot more.

Sometimes I will decline a game based on the set of cards.  Usually that means Possession, Goons or a potential Torturer chain; I win a decent number of games with these cards, but the attacks can get so obnoxious, and some days I just don't have the stomach for it.

Occasionally I'll decline just because the card selection is boring and the only option I can see is Big Money.  But usually I'll just play those games.

82

Simulation / Re: Dominion Simulator available for download!

« on: June 22, 2011, 02:23:18 pm »

Very impressive!

Echoing Taqman's request...you can see the buy rules by clicking edit/create, but I'm not sure what the rules are for playing actions.  For example...how does it determine which cards are trashed by Chapel?  If there are two terminal action cards and only one action available, which gets played?  In what order are cards trashed with Bishop/Apprentice/etc.?  When does Minion play +2 coin and when does it toss the hand?

I hope these questions aren't annoying you too much.  I'm just curious as to how you worked the rules out, and if we have any way to tweak them, if we wish to experiment.

83

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Make up your own card?

« on: June 20, 2011, 02:44:45 am »

One more...
 
Card Name: Financier
Type: Treasure
Cost: 4
 
Duplicates the value of any Treasure card you have played this turn.
 
The Financier started with a thought..."hey, it would be cool if you could Throne Room the Treasure cards."  I played around with the idea a little, and came up with this.
 
This card is only useful if another Treasure card has been played this turn.  The other Treasure card can be a standard Treasure such as Silver or Platinum, or a Treasure in the kingdom set, such as Loan or Venture.  The effect is exactly as if you put another copy of that Treasure into play.

84

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Make up your own card?

« on: June 20, 2011, 02:37:37 am »

Here's another...


Card Name: Monk
Type: Action-Duration
Cost: 3
+1 Action; This turn and next, +1 Coin
While this card is in play, the player is exempt from all player interaction.


The duration of this card starts when a player puts it on the table, and ends at the beginning of that player’s next turn.  During this time, the player is not subject to any attacks.  He cannot be Possessed.  If Masquerade is played, the player to his right passes to the player to his left, leaving him unchanged.  If the player to his right plays a Tribute, the player to his left shows two cards.  On the other hand, if Council Room is played, he doesn’t draw an extra card, nor may he trash a card as a result of the Bishop being played.  Treat every situation as if the player is not in the game.
 
While the Monk is operative, the person who played it cannot attack others or affect them in any other way.  He is essentially playing solitaire during that time.

85

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Make up your own card?

« on: June 20, 2011, 02:35:11 am »

Here's a simple one...

Card Name: Beggar
Type: Action
Cost: 2
+1 Coin, +1 Buy
You may gain any card in the trash.

This is a fairly meaningless card, unless there's a trash-for-benefit card in the game, in which case it could be rather powerful.

86

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Make up your own card?

« on: June 20, 2011, 02:31:55 am »

I have never really thought about asking for feedback on cards I have made up since... well, I made them up.  Here are my two favorite cards I play with that I've tried hard to balance.

A Victory card: Ancient Tomb -- Cost: $4

Worth 1 Victory Point per Curse you have.

This basically turns Curses into something you wouldn't mind having, to something you would actually buy.  It also really changes how powerful some attack cards like Witch are.  It seems to work when I play with my friends, but I haven't had the opportunity to try it with better players.

I had a card that was identical to this one.  Mine was called the Blessing (since it negates a Curse).


I'll throw a few of my card ideas out here to see what you guys think. 

87

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Do you have non-competitive friends?

« on: June 20, 2011, 12:05:16 am »

With newer players who don't know the game, it's probably a good idea to avoid the really nasty attacks, and any action that's too complicated.  I'll usually start a new player with the basic set only; after a couple games with the base cards, I might pull out another box.  In these situations, it's more important to me that everyone has fun and less important that I win.  I only really care about winning on isotropic, because of the ranking system.

88

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Achievement Unlocked

« on: June 19, 2011, 11:55:56 pm »

I've been told at least twice that I unlocked that achievement, although it doesn't show up under "goals achieved" in CouncilRoom.com, so I guess it's different from Pile Driver, One Trick Pony, Bought Only Money, etc.

89

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Is Golem worth it ?

« on: June 19, 2011, 11:50:57 pm »

Golem is great with +action, +card kingdom cards (Laboratory, Hunting Party, etc.) or with powerful attacks.  It combos ridiculously well with Goons, and makes a nice counter to Possession.


It's not a good choice for every set, and if you're going to get it, you have to choose your action cards wisely, since Golem doesn't give you a choice about whether to play the actions it finds.


One note on buying it early; as others have said, this isn't always a great idea, but if you buy it with only one other action in your deck, it will have a Chancellor-like effect of discarding your draw pile, which means the card you buy might be drawn into your next hand.  There is some value in that.

90

Dominion Isotropic / Re: Decline of civility on isotropic?

« on: June 17, 2011, 08:16:45 pm »

Yeah, the rudeness factor does seem to be going up a little.  And I'm not talking about people not saying "gl hf" or "gg", because everyone forgets to do that once in awhile.


A couple of weeks ago, someone beat me on isotropic and then posted something like, "That was too easy.  A Fairgrounds strategy?  Really?  That was stupid."  That ticked me off a little.  When someone loses and posts a snarky remark, it doesn't typically bother me, because I've done it too (I'm not proud of it, but I have).  I find my anger in such situations is really directed at myself for having a poor strategy, not at my opponent.  As a rule, I try to avoid personal attacks, and I would like to see others do the same.


We all know that the internet is somewhat anonymous, and therefore people tend to be themselves more than they would in real life.  If someone would be polite in person for selfish reasons only, he probably won't bother to be polite online.  I feel compelled to remind these people of something Joss Whedon once said - "Always be yourself...unless you suck."

91

Dominion General Discussion / Re: First player advantage

« on: June 15, 2011, 11:46:24 am »

There is absolutely no question that the first player has an advantage.  Anyone who doubts can check his winning percentage from each position on http://councilroom.com.  That said, I think starting last can sometimes have an advantage as well, because you can see your opponent's opening strategy and adjust yours accordingly.  The first two buys are crucial, after all. Also, the player who starts last can play for a tie, knowing that if his opponent ends the game, he wins.