Oh, I've always been playing one on one. Guess I should've clarified that somewhere.
BTW, my name on Goko's my real name. Long story short, I bought the expansions using my real name and I can't change it back to my forum name.
Engines get a lot weaker in multiplayer games, because there are less engine pieces in the supply per player. Also, "Wharf engine" could be pretty weak or incredibly strong depending on the kingdom: if you're playing Hamlets and Wharves with no trashing and basic Treasures as your payload, it's not going to win anything, but if there's Chapel, Wandering Minstrel, King's Court and Bridge in the kingdom as well, there's no way any big money strategy is going to beat that. Also, you don't always need to buy 2 Provinces every turn in engines.
I have managed to find the logs for the games in question:
http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20140726/log.508acb02fca2b169e80725c9.1406405207947.txthttp://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20140726/log.508acb02fca2b169e80725c9.1406405752224.txthttp://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20140726/log.508acb02fca2b169e80725c9.1406405989135.txthttp://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20140726/log.508acb02fca2b169e80725c9.1406406255133.txtThe first game sparked my questioning of Jack vs Wharf. I had some unfortunate luck at the beginning, but the quickness of Jack+BM is really displayed here: 4 Provinces by turn 13, and I'm still building. I honestly couldn't tell you why I went double Duchy on turn 17 instead of single Province (and maybe an Estate if I really felt behind, which I was), but at that point, I could do no right.
Second game, I open double silver. My priority was to get to Wharf pronto. With the only village at $4 however, I was stuck buying more Silvers on $3. Prior to my first Farming Village buy on turn 8, I was playing more like a Wharf BM. By the time I was ready to green, Jack had claimed three Provinces. Turn 14 I think I panicked a bit. 9 times out of 10, you go double Province I think. My only shot would've been that he misses Province next turn, and my engine edges ahead at the last second. Turned out he would've had it anyway.
The third game was terrible. I open Trader+Silver against his Jack, hoping to turn my Estates into cash, then transition into a Wharf engine. Turns out extra Silvers prevents your Wharves and Villages from colliding. Who knew?
Yeah, Stables was there for stability (heh), but they also helped Jack. Never stood a chance.
The fourth game is where everything fell into place for me. I was alternating Wharf and Farming Village buys when I could, and the AI was considerably slower. On turn 13, Jack had only two Provinces, but my engine had enough power to double Province right back, and again on turn 14 and 15.
Well, I think that was more discussion on Jack vs Wharf than anyone expected to see in this topic. I also have to admit that I win against the AI waaaay more often than I lose, so the occasional losses I do get where I believed I was playing the superior strategy created sour grapes.