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26

Dominion Articles / Pilgrimage

« on: October 17, 2015, 10:15:23 am »

"The pilgrimage has gained momentum /
Take a turn, take a turn /
Take a fortune, take a fortune"
- Michael Stipe

At first it might seem like Pilgrimage is more trouble than it's worth. You have to spend two turns and $8 to get its effect, and that can be quite a lot of opportunity cost on many boards. Things get rosier when you realize you are gaining three cards you have in play of any cost. This means you can gain another Gold. It means you can gain another King's Court. It means you can gain another Familiar or Possession. Grand Market has an amazing synergy too.

I think the implications there are fairly obvious. You're spending a measly $8 (really $4 two times, which is a whole lot different than $8) on cards that could be worth a whole lot more. However, I'd argue Pilgrimage is still pretty sweet when you are gaining cheaper cards with it. The important thing here is that in most cases, Pilgrimage is gaining you cards that you certainly want more of in your engine. Most engines like having parts in mass: draw cards, villages, gainers, money earners, and so on. By adding more of these cards to your deck in one fell swoop, you are adding a lot of value at hopefully little stopping risk.

Of course, you want to be careful what you gain. If your turns contain Village, Smithy, Market, and Militia, odds are your Pilgrimages should be netting you Villages and Markets primarily with a few Smithies sprinkled in. Odds are you don't want to add another Militia. The more cantrips and nonterminal actions you can add, the better. It might seem like adding a bunch of Gold and Woodcutters could net you a lot of money, but remember that having a starting hand of five stop cards means you are doing no better than your initial hand in a turn. This is where deckbuilding skill comes in to play, and it's why I predict we will see better players using Pilgrimage more often. Pilgrimage is not an event you should trigger without a plan.

Setting up your Pilgrimage takes a bit of finesse. You need to spend a spare buy on a $4 that nets you nothing. The upside of this is that by the time you have a deck worth playing Pilgrimage with, hopefully there are not very many $4 or fewer options you would consider worth a single buy. The prospect of gaining three helpful cards next turn should outweigh the lost opportunity. There are some instances where it might not! If an important pile is about to be drained, you should probably buy the last card in that pile instead, for example. Certain situations are nice for buying that dead Pilgrimage too, particularly in Adventures-heavy games. Opponent played a Swamp hag? Might as well set up your Pilgrimage this turn. You went on a Mission? Pilgrimage away.  Of course, speaking more generally, there are times where you might end up with a bad draw. It happens to the best of us. Often you do have $4 on those draws, though, so Pilgrimage is likely to be a strong option as long as you have a good potential to profit off the Event soon.

I should quickly mention that Pilgrimage can be combined with Ranger or Giant to flip the Journey token around. Of course, remember that if you use this combination you are losing the effect of one of the Journey token users, so it had better be worth doing.

Finally, one of the considerations when using Pilgrimage is that it can only gain cards that are put in play. This means you are not going to be able to gain Provinces or Colonies, which means that Pilgrimage is only useful in the endgame if you are planning to run piles. Good engines typically do want to have that option available, so Pilgrimage is quite nice in the endgame as long as you can end on a point lead, but if things are down to the wire and you need points, not pile control, it is probably not worth setting up a Pilgrimage over gaining points. Don't throw all your eggs in a basket that might have a hole in it.

The short version:
- Pilgrimage can gain cards that are very expensive or awkward to buy as long as you already have one
- Pilgrimage is worth using when you want multiples of the same cards in your deck, particularly in an engine
- Some cards, particularly in Adventures, help you set up a Pilgrimage, so always consider those options when they are available
- Consider using Pilgrimage in the endgame for pile control, but remember it cannot gain the big victory cards unless Donald releases an Inheritance for Provinces in a future set.

27

Goko Dominion Online / Open Beta Ending Soon, RIP Goko on 10/15

« on: October 13, 2015, 06:59:04 pm »

http://forum.makingfun.com/showthread.php?7889-Exiting-Open-Beta-Sunset-of-Goko-Site

Read the news here

28

Dominion General Discussion / JSH's True Art Rankings

« on: August 11, 2015, 12:53:21 pm »

Many years ago, a great man began a project that would revolutionize our view and understanding of Dominion. He spent countless hours writing about various cards, putting himself out there and hoping only for the respect and toleration of his peers. That man's name was theory, and without him, Dominion Strategy may well never have existed. Let's give him a hand. Not a literal one, though. Ew.

But enough about that guy. Last summer, I began a thread that sought to rank all of the Dominion cards by the quality of their art. Everything started off well enough, but little known fact: by that time, I had already joined the playtester group for Dominion: Adventures. Why did I start a ranking thread, knowing full well that there would one day be more cards to rank? What kind of lunatic would make life harder on himself like that? Apparently this guy. Anyway, eventually the weight of the project got to be too much. Aside from turbulent scenarios on my own life making it harder to care about ranking art, the futility of the whole thing got to be too much once the expansion started nearing release. But then I got to thinking: I could make the project less of an ordeal for myself by simply posting one card a day, sticking to one expansion at a time, and not adhering to a stupid gimmick in my write-ups every post. Sure, it could take a mammoth amount of days, but it would also be easier for everyone, most importantly myself.

At the end of each expansion, a ranking of the overall art cohesion and my perceived quality will appear. I will be keeping numerical scores of each picture private, but will show the 'average' number in those posts. The Promos and Base Cards will have their own separate expansion, and box art/mat art/etc will be evaluated with the expansion they belong in.

As an aside, a common complaint in the last ranking thread was that I was judging the quality of art by how it appeared on the card and not in high-res pictures seen online. In order to continue being a troll to these types of nitpickers I am going to continue judging the art by how it appears on the cards. That is the medium the art is intended to be seen in, and as such it will be in my mind.

As a final note, I want to get this out there to any Dominion artists who happen upon the thread. As an artist, I'm sure you understand the concept of subjectivity and hope you won't take offense if I happen to place a picture you drew lower on the list. This stuff is your work that you put sweat and tears into and I have no intention of putting you down for it. I've been there. Besides, even some art I dislike is loved by others. Also, I am in no way a professional art critic and actually have no clue what I'm talking about! Teehee!

As a true final note because I'm a liar, these rankings are not going to match up with the previous list. Times change, people change, art changes. Even war has changed.

29

Goko Dominion Online / 2.0 Closed Beta Begins

« on: May 01, 2015, 09:39:15 am »

Announcement here, with some schedule info: http://forum.makingfun.com/showthread.php?6525-Dominion-2-0-Closed-beta-has-begun&p=33194#post33194

30

Dominion General Discussion / Dice Tower Review of Adventures (Post any other reviews here too I guess)

« on: April 23, 2015, 09:52:21 pm »

I am kind of surprised this is already out, but a lot of people watch TDT so I guess it warrants a thread.

Note: the actual review starts around 13:50.  The stuff before that is just him going over some cards.

31

Dominion: Adventures Previews / Preview: Messenger

« on: April 02, 2015, 09:55:15 am »

There are three types of Dominion players. Some of us just play to unwind. Some play to compete. But then there are those of us who just want to watch the piles burn. Here's Messenger, for everyone who loves giving gifts and making merry.

Sometimes you'll get one for the Buy and coins. Sometimes it'll help you cycle your deck all the way down. But most of the time, you'll be using it to hand things out. Maybe your friend opened 5/2 and couldn't get two Ambassadors. Your Messenger purchase helps him with that. Maybe your opponent got himself a Potion and you feel like he should have another. Just be careful; you're getting one too. Maybe there's a sneaky way for you to win by making a bunch of Estates vanish at once. Messenger has you covered. Or maybe you're a jerk holding a Watchtower and you decide to hand out Curses in the most convoluted way possible. Man, what's your problem? Well, go for it, I guess.

The truth is, there are a lot of neat applications of the Messenger. I could go on and on about it, but I've had plenty of time to think about it, so I want you guys to have the fun. I'll leave you with one idea for your cousin's birthday party: try playing a 5 player game with this bad boy. (If you actually go and try that, please don't shoot the messenger)

32

Dominion Articles / Spy

« on: March 20, 2015, 07:19:00 pm »

Spy is a card that does a variety of things. In a number of cases you are not putting yourself at any disadvantage by buying the card, as it's a cantrip that can at times remove an unwanted card from the top of the deck.  In fact, as long as you do not use any more risky draw strategies that rely on terminal actions, Spies are only bad purchases in a couple of situations. These situations are only of a certain amount of concern, and potentially the benefit of playing Spy could be far greater.

What can Spy do for me?

I'm glad you asked. Maybe the most relevant thing written on the card is the attack.  With it, you can make your opponent skip past good cards like Platinum or Mountebank, potentially ruining their current shuffle if it's early. You can also guarantee that they'll draw a dead card like an Estate that was already there, though it should be noted that this isn't as cool of a thing since the same result would have happened had you not played the Spy. Still, it never hurts to be sure your opponent will have a 4 card hand, and if you can play multiple Spies to skip past good cards and also leave a bad one, your opponent will be crying at his or her computer chair.

Spy can also filter through your deck much better than other cards like Market or Woodcutter.  You can remove bad cards that you don't want to draw, which gives you a cycling advantage of some value.  Another great benefit of the Spy is that you can leave good cards for your next turn or even your next draw on the top of the deck.  This is a level of useful when hoping to play key cards like Mountebank more often, but also some magnitude of powerful just for smoothing out general draws.  Effectively, this ability is the reverse of Spy's attack played on yourself, but it can be of equivalent power.

Are there any drawbacks?

A number of people would argue that handsize attacks hurt cantrips like Spy.  By increasing the number of cards that do not give money, buys, or +Draw in hand, your options become more limited when hit by cards such as Militia and in other similar cases.  However, one must bear in mind that Spy has the potential of filtering you more quickly toward important cards that are perhaps better than these cards you would have in place of Spy. As such, Spy can arguably overcome this drawback.

Another problem with Spy is that it can trigger bad reshuffles. However, since it's rare to have a deck with so few cards that you are always triggering these, more often than not Spy is benefiting the flow of your deck than it is harming it. As such, this risk is so small that in a number of cases it is negligible.

Perhaps the most common argument against getting a Spy is that it carries an opportunity cost.  The $4 price point must always compete with cards such as Silver and Bureaucrat. It's also difficult to reach hands that have $4 when you are ridden with Curses and Ruins. (but bear in mind that a good Spy can help you get past those bad boys)  However, when considering opportunity cost one must also remember that every card in Dominion carries some opportunity cost, so the opportunity cost in purchasing Spy may be of equal or lesser significance.

What have we learned?

Spy is a card that should be bought in a variety of circumstances when playing Dominion, a game published by Rio Grande Games in America.  It is useful for filtering past bad cards, leaving good cards on the deck, making your opponent skip good cards, and ensuring they have bad cards.  Sometimes it might even trigger a bad reshuffle for them!  You should always spend some amount of time considering purchasing Spies in any given Kingdom.

Works with:
Any deck that can benefit from the general benefits that Spy provides

33

Goko Dominion Online / Sales on Humble Bundle

« on: January 20, 2015, 04:40:35 pm »

Looks like you can get some of the expansions in the Humble Bundle today, in case you were waiting on one.

https://www.humblebundle.com/

Looks like Seaside is there if you pay $6.63+, and Intrigue/Prosperity if you pay $12+

34

Dominion General Discussion / Best Dominion Moments 2015

« on: January 01, 2015, 12:01:03 pm »

http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20150101/log.505c6645a2e6c78ad2ed5ad3.1420131558947.txt

I'll get things started this year with an epic Rats victory.  I was crushed by his Mountebank for the whole game and lost the Scrying Pool split.  In the end, the furry wonders managed to gather in hordes and assure my victory. 

35

General Discussion / WiiU/3DS Registry

« on: November 20, 2014, 01:18:58 pm »

With Smashgiving approaching us, I'm trying to add as many people as I can who own these systems.  Post your friend codes and WiiU usernames here.  It'll be like we're one happy family.  Communicating through machines.

If this thread gets replies, I'll try and keep the OP updated.

WiiU:
Asper - Kartoffel-ID
Dsell - DieselRunner
JSH - jsh357
LastFootnote - LastFootnote
Tables - Tables61

3DS:
Dsell - 0662 3781 5530
eHalcyon - 0748-2612-6651
JSH - 0318-7048-3073
LastFootnote - 5412-9998-4485
markusin - 3840-7707-7036
Tables - 3523-3415-0449
xeiron - 2895-7743-1369

36

Dominion General Discussion / JSH's Art Rankings

« on: July 21, 2014, 05:42:28 pm »

This is a thread in which I am going to give a comprehensive ranking of the aesthetic values of card art in Dominion. I don't want this to be seen in any way as trying to degrade actual discussion. Indeed, that is one of my favorite things about this site. Yet I am still doing this - what's the difference? There are a few key differences: This is purely my own rankings, not composited with other people; this is purely because I'm procrastinating from real work; this includes all artists into a single comprehensive list; I'm only looking at the entire scope of art with all cards (not by expansion). I will also probably not have coherent descriptions on each card. Anyway, on to the list!  Note: for the purposes of sanity, I am not including the base treasure and victory cards that are just numbers; I will, however, include the updated Base Cards art.

Big thanks to dominion.diehrstraits.com for making it possible for me to do this while eating a bag of Doritos and playing Minesweeper on my phone.  Extra thanks to the various artists of Dominion card art, without whom none of this would exist, and even if I poke fun, I have a lot of respect for those who are willing to get their art out there.  Honorable mention/apologies to WW; I have a terrible sense of humor.

If you hate this and I should feel bad, I'll promise to stop.

37

Dominion General Discussion / TableTop Simulator - IRL Dominion Online

« on: July 09, 2014, 05:08:00 pm »

Tired of playing on Dominion Online?  Well, now you can play the game in a (even more) frustrating setting with TableTop Simulator mods!

http://www.nexusmods.com/tabletopsimulator/mods/35/?

I plan to actually buy TTS whenever it goes on sale; looks too cute to pass up.  Having to enforce the rules yourself is cumbersome, but at least you can flip the table when you lose and even make your own games and test them in a way that sort of resembles real life board gaming.  Just imagine playing Possession...

38

Goko Dominion Online / 4/17 Updates

« on: April 18, 2014, 09:36:21 am »

For those of you who don't read the MakingFun forums, looks like there was a relatively significant update today:
http://forum.makingfun.com/showthread.php?4599-Release-Notes-4-17-2014

This update includes:

• Improved card highlighting
• Made it less likely to accidentally trash a trash a card thinking that you're playing it (for instance, when an opponent plays Bishop) by making the entire card to trash glow red
• Similarly, when you need to discard the whole card glows orange
• Similarly, when you can reveal a card, the whole card glows blue
• Made it clearer that you are possessing an opponent by outlining moveable cards in pink. Also, the background color gets a pink tinge.
• In some cases cards are given a white-blue outline, like when the card will be Throne Roomed or King's Courted.
• Improved Show All Cards user interface for Wishing Well, Contraband, Journeyman, Doctor, and Rebuild
• Previously there were so many cards to choose from that it was difficult and time-consuming to find the one you wanted. Now the area only shows the action cards that are in the current game and only those cards you couldn't select on the main screen, such as individual Ruins and Knights. The button now says "Show More Cards"
• According to the rules, you should be able to choose any card. That card doesn't have to be in the current game, which is useful, for example, after you have played a Wishing Well, but don't want the top card in your hand. To represent a card that's not in the game, the Ace of Spades is selectable.
• If you want to get out of the Show More Cards area, you can click a Done button.
• Fixed bug with Edit profile where it asked you for a password when logged in with Google+ or Twitter authentication.
• Your quit count is now unchanged if you quit against a bot
• Adjusted AI so bots don't go crazy buying potions
• Fixes system notifications, so you can be warned that the site is going down
• Fixes problems with in-box promotional cards
• Problem detection dialogs
• Display an informational error message when the game is not connecting properly
• Tests for proper HTML5 support and puts up a message when it is not there
• Fixes problem with infinite "Lost Network Connection" dialogs
• If you're underage, make it clearer why you can't create an account
• Adjust avatar placement in tutorial map
• Fixed Abandon Changes button

39

General Discussion / Any interest in an IRC channel?

« on: January 28, 2014, 06:33:41 pm »

(For those not familiar, IRC is internet relay chat, popular clients for it being my favorite, Mirc and Mibbit.

I thought it might be good for arranging games / discussing streams / talking about Ozle behind his back.  I personally have used IRC every day to chat with online friends since discovering it in the 90s, and thought the stripped-down nature of it would appeal to the folks who liked isotropic.

As an experiment, I'll have the channel #dominionstrategy open on irc.esper.net for a few days.  Join the chat if you are interested.

40

General Discussion / SCARAB? (Columbia, SC)

« on: January 16, 2014, 02:54:08 pm »

Anyone planning to go to this convention by any chance (It starts tomorrow)?  According to the members map I'm the only F.DSer in South Carolina and within hundreds of miles, but it's worth asking. 

41

Feedback / Can't post in Chrome

« on: December 06, 2013, 10:16:00 am »

When I try to post on the forum in Chrome, there's no input box for the message body.  Any ideas what might be causing this?

42

Goko Dominion Online / Possession / Tactician Bug?

« on: December 06, 2013, 10:15:04 am »

The other day I played a game with Possession and Tactician.  I possessed my opponent twice.  On the first possessed turn, I played his Tactican. On the next turn, I didn't get the duration effect of his Tactician.  I haven't tested this with other Duration cards, and I know Possession is complex so I may be missing some ruling on it, but it seems like a bug to me.

Log is here:
http://dominionlogs.goko.com/20131205/log.505c6645a2e6c78ad2ed5ad3.1386256209310.txt

See TrophyChase: turn 20 [possessed] for the turn in question.

I tried to post this on Getsatisfaction, but it won't let me log in.  Sent me a verification code which I still haven't received.  LordHumanton seems to be posting there again, so if someone could post this (if it's actually a bug) I'd be appreciative.

43

General Discussion / Gas prices

« on: November 29, 2013, 06:34:50 pm »

Definitely working better of late.

Perhaps they did this just to mess with our minds to make Goko seem awesome when it works, when in fact it still is not.  Kind of like how gas prices went from $2.25/gallon to $4.50/gallon in the summer of 2008, causing an outrage, but in the 5+ years since then everybody now thinks that $3.50/gallon is just fine.

That makes me feel old because I still remember the rage in 2004/5 when it jumped from $1/gallon to $3 when the Iraq War started then only dropped down to the $2 range.

44

Goko Dominion Online / That Wacky Leaderboard

« on: August 07, 2013, 11:44:38 am »

I just lost 25 points for beating a 5500ish rank player.  Oh, Goko.  *Laugh track*

45

Dominion Articles / Combo: Black Market / Merchant Guild

« on: July 27, 2013, 09:21:13 am »

One of the more annoying drawbacks of Merchant Guild is that you can't use the tokens you gain from it.  Well, with Black Market, you can!  Create an engine that can play at least one MG and then the Black Market, buy something from the Black Market, gain coins, spend them in the Buy phase.  Now, this is probably counterproductive unless you really want cards from the Black Market or have the ability to play tons of Merchant Guilds, but it's yet another addition to the "cool stuff BM can do" list.

46

Goko Dominion Online / Did the chat stop working for anyone else?

« on: May 13, 2013, 02:40:41 pm »

It was working fine for me in one game, then stopped entirely.

47

Innovation Rules Questions / scoring non generic achievements in echoes

« on: April 02, 2013, 02:48:31 pm »

edit: nevermind, we found the rule for this in the 'new terms' section.

48

Dominion General Discussion / Armory / Vineyard

« on: February 21, 2013, 12:09:52 am »

I discovered this combo while playing a game on Goko today.  It seems insanely powerful.  Obviously, Armory is great for picking up cheap actions quickly, but with Vineyard it allows you to set up Potion plays on the next turn, or even topdeck a second Potion and a +Buy card if you know another's coming up (assuming Villages are around).  Even better, gaining Armory with Armory assures you'll be able to gain Actions on the next turn.  I suppose this one is a little obvious given how good Ironworks and Workshop were for Vineyard, but Armory may just be its new best friend.

49

Goko Dominion Online / End Turn / Play All Treasure buttons

« on: January 01, 2013, 03:31:47 pm »

(Yet again, I cannot log in to GetSatisfaction no matter how I try to do it.  I want to post this there but I guess I'll post it here)

I cannot count how many times I have accidentally hit "End Turn" when I meant to hit this button ("Play All Treasure").  The location of it is fine, I think.  What it needs is some kind of idiot-proofing, like an "Are You sure?"  prompt when doing it before playing treasures (or actions)  I can't be the only one who hits this by mistake, and it's the kind of thing that can cost you a game.

50

Dominion Videos and Streams / Recording Dominion for Dummies

« on: December 03, 2012, 11:42:59 pm »

So you've been watching WanderingWinder's videos.  You've said to yourself, "Man, I can do that.  But I don't know what I'm doing."  Maybe you only played board games in college and never learned how to use a computer.  Maybe all this newfangled recording technology goes over your head.  Maybe I'm being a smart-ass and you just want the links. 

PRELIMINARY STUFF
- Make sure you have a computer that can handle recording videos.  It's 2012, so I'm just going to assume that the majority of users on the site do.  I can't tell you the exact specs you'll need here, but I'd suggest having at least 4GB of RAM and a processor that wasn't made in the 90s.  You will also need hard disk space to store video files.  I'd suggest having at least 50 GB of space just in case, but if you're running that low, you probably already knew you had storage problems.

- Test your microphone.  You can do this by calling a buddy on Skype, doing a test recording, or whatever.  Mic technology has come a long way, but there are some things to be aware of.  Internal mics on laptops, for instance, tend to pick up keyboard sounds and fan noises, which can be impossible to remove in editing.  Some mics will make clips and pops.  How far you go in getting a good mic is up to you (some viewers don't mind extra noises) but for the best quality I suggest:

A) A headset mic.  Even a cheap one is usually serviceable.  They tend to have noise cancelling, which eliminates a lot of what I've mentioned above.
B) A standing mic with a pop filter (removes hard 's' sounds and such).  This will run you more dough, and really I don't think you want to spend all that on recording commentary videos for free.

- Have some idea how you want to approach the commentary.  This is an art (and a science I guess) and I can't give you the actual answers.  WanderingWinder's videos are pure live commentary, so there's an element of thrill along with seeing how he thinks through games.  Jonts26's videos were done with post-commentary, which lets him do a (possibly scripted) analysis of the game with the end result known.  The latter takes more time to do, but doesn't mean it's objectively better.  My videos are a mix of both: I record the audio as I play, then add stuff in later.  All styles have their pros and cons, and the way you choose to record is up to you.

"I just want to stream my videos."

If you aren't planning on posting videos to Youtube or an equivalent and just want to have people watching you play Dominion, then all you need is a streaming screen capture software.  There are many, but the two I have tried and recommend using are Livestream and Twitch TV.  If this is all you want to do, see my section about Livestream (I'm not covering Twitch TV, but the program you'd need for it is XSplit) but stop at the part about saving your videos.

"I just want to record live footage and don't care to edit my videos"

The classic, easy way to handle this is by using Livestream Procaster.

You will need to sign up for a Livestream account to use this method, but no worries, that will happen while you're trying to use the program.  Procaster will stream your video for anyone watching your Livestream page (livestream.com/username), so you can tell your buddies to hop on there and watch if you like.  Or don't tell anyone.  Whatever, man.  Procaster will also allow you to save the video file to your computer, and videos will be archived on your livestream account online until they get purged. 

So after you install Livestream and get your account set up, follow my handy-dandy picture here to get your settings going, then click "Go Live"



After you "Go Live," here are a few other things to take note of.



And as far as Procaster goes, those are the basics.  Once you have the program set up and settings tweaked, they should save for your next session and you won't have to tinker much anymore. 

"I want to edit my footage"

If you're planning to edit footage, there are a few more advanced programs you will need.  No worries, nothing too complex.  Some of it can get expensive, though, assuming you're working on a strictly legal basis here.

Note: I don't own a Mac, and I don't know anything about Macs other than Final Cut Pro is amazing should you have access to it. 

The program that I use to both record and edit footage is Camtasia.  It has an even simpler interface than Procaster (the same guide can apply to it for the most part) but also allows for editing the footage you capture.  There are other programs that can work, such as Fraps and Camstudio.  FYI, Camstudio is horrible and you should never use it.



I am willing to write a fuller guide on using Camtasia to edit (someone request it if you want it, but since the software isn't free I'm not going to do so for now).  Going over a few brief features here:  Record the screen works a lot like Procaster.  Produce and Share renders the video after you finish editing.  Import Media will let you drag in audio files should you need to (useful if doing post-commentary, see below).  Callouts let you put fancy text and images in your video.  The most important parts of editing are shaving out portions of the video where nothing is going on (Notice in my example here, the Audio 1 track is almost never silent.  That's because I edited dead space out, mostly at the beginning and end) and silencing bad audio (coughs, weird external noises, your Mom calling you on Skype, etc).  However, you can also do things like add the current score or important cards (See jonts26's videos) or make notes about the game you forgot to mention during live footage.

Other tools that can come in handy if you are editing:

Windows Movie Maker, Sony Vegas, Virtualdub: These are alternative editing software options that work in Windows.  WMM and VD are free, though I have had mixed results with both.  Virtualdub particularly is very picky about the file format it's opening, which is a shame.

Audacity: The greatest audio recording software ever.  It is FREE, it does everything you need pretty much.  If you're recording post-commentary, I highly recommend doing it in Audacity and exporting the sound file.  With a program like Camtasia, you can import the sound file and place it where it needs to be.  This may require some editing to get it to synch, but honestly, video editing is pretty fun once you start doing it.


That's all for now.  Is anything unclear?  Do I need to add anything? Other video producers, feel free to weigh in.