Hello all, it's been a while since I've darkened the doorstep of this here forum. I see some familiar faces from the olden times.
I am getting back into Dominion after a long hiatus -- I stopped playing actively sometime around the middle of the last decade, and I'm coming back to it now. I'm looking for insight into opportunities within the community for reintegration.
My goals are:
1) update my knowledge of and competence with the sets/cards published since my hiatus began (I left shortly after Dark Ages)
2) gain greater familiarity/command of the ShuffleIT implementation and its advanced options (I have mostly only played Isotropic with a little bit of Goko)
3) explore the landscape of opportunities for structured competitive play
4) update my physical set of Dominion (my oldest two children have recently started playing and they are loving it!)
What resources exist to help me in these goals? (see below for my notes/context of this personal update project, as well as a list of current questions/reactions)
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Notes on efforts thus far:
goal #1) update my knowledge/competence- I have just finished reading all of the dominion strategy blog posts.
- I am aware of the DS wiki, and I have started using that to learn about new cards/concepts/etc. However, with some concepts, I have difficulty wrapping my mind around its context or significance (such as these 2019 rules changes).
- I think I "get" the basics of the following new concepts: Reserve cards, Traveller cards, Adventures Tokens, Events, Debt, Split Piles, Gathering cards, Night cards, Heirlooms, Projects, Coffers, Villagers, Exile, and Ways.
- I struggle to wrap my mind around the basics of: Fate/Boons, Doom/Hexes, States, Zombies, and Artifacts.
Questions/reactions:
- I get the basics of Reserve cards, but it seems like they aren't Throne-able since the card doesn't stay in play. Or has this changed with the changes to the lose-track rule (which I kinda got)?
- I get the basics of Travellers, but I see from Qvist rankings that they are both ranked VERY high. What is it about this progression that is so powerful? It seems like it would take quite a long time to make them come online...
- I get the basics of Debt, but it seems like Donate is game-warpingly strong and Capital is weak. Can someone walk me through the significance of these cards?
- I get the basics of Split Piles, but several seem pretty underwhelming.
- I get the mechanics of Gathering cards, but Farmer's Market utterly confuses me strategically... when is this good?
- Nocturne seems crazy overwhelming!
- I get the basics of Villagers, but how strong are they?
- Renaissance seems like a little bit of a power-creep set... or am I missing something?
- Ways seem 'way' cool!
- Coming back, I hear that Butcher is considered one of the best cards in the game. Can someone help me understand this?
- Also, it appears that the strategy space has shifted in favor of 'gainers' - what's the story there?
- Can someone point me in the direction of good Dominion content-creators on YouTube? Twitch? I hear there is a Discord? Apparently Podcasts too?!?
goal #2) figure out ShuffleIT- I have figured out how to log on, play bot matches, set cards as familiar, fiddle with some basic options, and (recently) play against other users.
Questions/reactions:
- This seems like a nice implementation! I was really bummed with Iso shut down, and I don't think I was ever pleased with Goko. This seems like a really cool product that lets one be causal or a fanatic at their leisure!
- I am a little bummed by the limited options for subscribing. I was expecting to just subscribe to the sets that I own instead of getting unfamiliar sets bundled-in or excluded.
- What does 'extra Menagerie' mean in the options?
- Is there a difference between ranked/unranked play? How do you manage this with the automatch?
- When playing Isotropic, I would specifically try to play as random a kingdom as possible. How do I achieve something similar here? Do I need to create a table myself?
- I've been playing automatch with "prefer expansions" to try and include these daily-rotating expansions in my games (I am not yet subscribed). However, so many matches have been just the base set. Can I exclude base-only games without changing my preference to those with all of the expansions (as I still haven't really figured out the vast majority of Nocturne, Renaissance, Menagerie yet)?
goal #3) competitive play- I have heard that this exists.
Questions/reactions:
- How to get plugged into it (online)?
goal #4) update my physical set- I own and have played Dominion, Intrigue, Seaside, Alchemy, Prosperity, Cornucopia, Hinterlands, and Dark Ages; additionally, I have the following Promos: Envoy, Black Market, Walled Village, and Prince.
- During the hiatus, I was gifted both Adventures and Empires. (I have just opened these and started tentatively playing through the suggested sets of 10.)
Questions/reactions:
- I never acquired Guilds, but it seems that it is now unavailable for purchase except in conjunction with Cornucopia. Is there a stand-alone, updated Guilds set for sale? Is the change from "Coin-tokens" to "Coffers" on the cards as they are currently being published?
- I have just bought the Intrigue 2nd-ed. update pack. But I can't find the Dominion (base) 2nd-ed. update pack anywhere. Other than re-purchasing the entire base game, any helpful suggestions on how to get these new cards?
- I have been using the Hobby Lobby artisan case for my storage - if/when I acquire Guilds, Nocturne, Renaissance, and Menagerie, plus the missing promos and 2nd-ed. update pack(s), I am concerned it may not all fit. What all-in-one storage solutions are being used for the complete Dominion experience?
- Any creative ways of acquiring the promos that I am currently missing (other than BGG store)?
