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76

Innovation General Discussion / Re: Making the jump to figures/cities?

« on: April 10, 2014, 09:19:40 am »

Yeah, my girlfriend and I just played a couple of games with base+figures. She kicked my ass 3 out of 4 times... I definitely agree that it is more fun than Echoes, at least at first, although I can see how it would be frustrating after a while because it almost punishes you for building up a solid tableau with lots of splays and icons (can't easily get a sharing bonus), and because the card-drawing mechanism is dramatically more luck-based. Good to know which ages are worth setting up for, I did notice some power 5's there.

77

Game Reports / Re: Most weird engine I ever played

« on: April 07, 2014, 01:07:22 pm »

Well your opponent didn't do themselves any favors ignoring Masquerade and greasing your engine with the Bishop (or by buying a Farmland on the fifth turn). But it's impressive that you bought 8 scrying pools and 5 provinces after 15 turns (not to mention 7 other actions, for 20 total purchases). Using the +buy 5 times in one game is a pretty damn efficient use of Storeroom.

78

Innovation General Discussion / Making the jump to figures/cities?

« on: April 07, 2014, 01:00:21 pm »

(Dunno if anyone still posts here but I will give it a shot anyway.)
I've been playing innovation for about half a year now. . . I have the real-life cards for the base set and Echoes, and that's all I've played on Isotropic as well, where I've worked myself up to between level 15-20. I haven't trusted myself to start any games with Figures or Cities, not wanting to put the effort into learning so many new cards.

I was curious what people's opinion is on:
(1) how much additional effort it takes to play a game with figures and/or cities given the added complexity
(2) whether either of them make the game more fun
(3) whether the dominant strategies change radically, like how adding Echoes tends to change the strategy from a scoring-heavy blitz in base-only to more of a long game focusing on splaying and building giant stacks.

Anyway, if anyone still posts here I'd love to hear people's opinions, just curious before I take the plunge and get slaughtered for my first several dozen Figures games!

79

Game Reports / Re: Lost GM split 7-3 but eked out win with Farmland

« on: March 11, 2014, 01:47:43 pm »

Oops, I meant to post this in Game Reports! So sorry, please move if possible.

80

Game Reports / Lost GM split 7-3 but eked out win with Farmland

« on: March 11, 2014, 01:46:57 pm »

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20140306/log.512f4c81e4b08cb66ebe711c.1394167094061.txt

Code: [Select]

Fortune Teller, Hermit, Masquerade, Sage, Tunnel, Advisor, Herald, Island, Farmland, Grand Market
I must admit I was pretty happy I could pull out a win here. I think Herald-Masquerade is a decent opening but maybe I should have bought a Silver instead of Herald to try to get more GMs earlier in the game. I think my opponent was fairly lucky to pick up 7 GMs by turn 12 especially without heavy trashing but I was able to use Farmland in textbook style, gaining a Herald on the first Farmland buy, then a Grand Market, then two Provinces on the final $12 turn.

So was it just luck or did I play this one correctly?

81

Goko Dominion Online / Re: Goko ranking

« on: December 10, 2013, 10:07:41 am »

I think the leaderboard is down at the moment 
But I don't think being selective is that important to maintain a high rating. I play anyone except guests (the only time I check people's ratings is when I see that helmet with a red tassel pop up) - the only reason not to play them is because they rarely know what any of the non-base cards are and the game moves pretty slowly.

82

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Why I like Dominion

« on: December 08, 2013, 04:52:38 pm »

Like Monopoly - if you get Mayfair and Park Lane, you're probably going to win. 

I'm assuming that is the UK version of Boardwalk/Park Place? If so, that analogy totally misses the mark...http://www.amnesta.net/other/monopoly/

83

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Is there a "good" and "bad" way to Win in Dominion?

« on: December 08, 2013, 04:33:33 pm »

The monument example you specified is an exception to my rule of course. As long as you have a province or its equivalent in VP, then its fair game to end the game via three pile

Well, I've been watching this thread for a little while and I'd say, to use another hackneyed sports metaphor, that this is a fairly egregious example of "moving the goalposts."

In addition, repeatedly saying that "WAY more" advantage accrues to the first player in a kingdom that favors three piles as a dogmatic statement with no evidence to support it doesn't seem like the best way to win an argument, especially on a forum where people write reams of simulation code to generate evidence that a particular strategy is best in a particular scenario.

84

Introductions / Hi from Tennessee

« on: December 06, 2013, 11:17:49 am »

Hey I'm Q and have been lurking on this forum for a while, only recently started to make a few posts. I am a grad student in ecology at the University of Tennessee. I started to play Dominion in real life maybe a year and a half ago and have been feeding myself on a steady diet of Isotropic followed by Goko for a little over a year now. Sometimes when I waste several hours on this game I silently curse my housemate for telling me about the existence of online Dominion... but heck it's fun! I don't often play in real life now, but my sister and her fiance built themselves one of those fancy wooden boxes for all the Dominion sets, so I definitely do when I am over at their place. It took me a while to figure this game out but now I would say I am fairly decent, hovering between levels 32-34 on Isotropish (5300-5700 on Goko). Thanks for all the intelligent analysis on this forum, it has really helped me with my game!

85

Dominion Articles / Re: Request: Baker

« on: December 06, 2013, 11:07:15 am »

Well, I just had a game where getting a Baker on the first shuffle was a very good move. It was a Gardens/Storeroom game. Opening Storeroom/Baker rather than Storeroom/Storeroom made it possible for me to repeatedly hit $5 for Duchies once all the Gardens were gone.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131206/log.50745d1a0cf28ed55d9d6498.1386345850654.txt

86

Dominion Articles / Re: Crossroads

« on: December 06, 2013, 08:52:39 am »

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Bridge. Crossroads is no Native Village, but it can enable 3 Bridges to be played on one turn. Combined with the +cards if you get a lot of Estates in your hand, this can lead to a very quick three-pile ending on Crossroads/Bridge/Estate, reliably in 12 turns or so.

I'm not convinced by this.  Three piling XR/Bridge/Estate in 12 turns will reliably result in a loss. Just buy a Province and a Duchy and you beat 8 Estates.

You might be right, but it has worked for me a couple of times as a "surprise" fast three-pile ending strategy, since you can probably pick up a Duchy or two if you can lay down 2-3 Bridges in one turn. But maybe it would not work against a high-level player...

87

Dominion Articles / Re: Request: Baker

« on: December 06, 2013, 08:49:36 am »

Just to come back on this, but if hitting a key $6 is what you're after, then opening Baker/($3 cost) is effectively opening ($3 cost)/nothing just to save the coin token as far as the second shuffle is concerned. And that's assuming Baker lands into your turn 3 hand. If it lands in your turn 5 hand, then you opened ($3 cost)/nothing with without a coin token for the second reshuffle. You could have maybe gotten a Militia or something while still saving that coin token. However, I'd say it's unlikely that you can get both the $6 cost card and the Baker before the second shuffle, in which case you miss out on some of the benefit that Baker gives you from your third shuffle onward. If you want Baker, well, you gotta get them at some point, right?

Thanks for the input on this topic. I guess it comes back to the old canard that it depends on the kingdom. After all Baker is a good 5 that can probably be considered "key" in many cases, so I understand picking one up on T1 or T2. However, I think that if you get a 4/3 opening you will probably be better off saving the coin token and opening something like Militia/Silver. Then with the coin token, you are very likely to get two $5 cards on the second shuffle, or even a Gold on T3 or T4. By skipping the Baker on the first turn you can probably build a better economy by the third shuffle, if that makes sense.

88

Dominion Articles / Re: Request: Baker

« on: December 02, 2013, 10:38:27 pm »

I have a question on Baker for you experts... I see a lot of people buying Baker on T1 or T2 with the extra coin token. I usually find this isn't a great plan since Baker cannot guarantee you getting to $5 again on the first reshuffle. So it seems to me that it ends up slowing you down to immediately buy a Baker, and that it's usually better to get another $5 card, or save the coin token to get Gold. What are people's thoughts on this?

89

Dominion Articles / Re: Crossroads

« on: December 02, 2013, 10:35:37 pm »

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Bridge. Crossroads is no Native Village, but it can enable 3 Bridges to be played on one turn. Combined with the +cards if you get a lot of Estates in your hand, this can lead to a very quick three-pile ending on Crossroads/Bridge/Estate, reliably in 12 turns or so.

90

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Homage to the Best Card

« on: February 28, 2013, 09:04:17 pm »

When I saw Dark Ages on Isotropic:


When the server was reset after only 2 games: