Asper, are you serious about Fortune? I get that you disliked Empires from the start and you have to find creative ways to express them but this is just ridiculous.
I did dislike Empires from the start, and there's no use lying about that. I have lined out several instances where i have changed my mind by now. The debt mechanic expands the game in a meaningful way, for example, and the rules problems I feared are far less relevant than i thought. I am perfectly fine with Debt and i take back everything i said about it. One major complaint was that i thought it could have been implemented better, but after some discussions I understood this wasn't true. Considering the many cool things debt cards allow for, they are more than worth it. I also always lined out Landmarks as an amazing idea that i think expands Dominion brilliantly. And there are some kingdom cards i do like, after all. Still, Empires is the set with the highest portion of kingdom cards i genuinely do not like. There has to be a set like that for everybody, and for me it's Empires. I have changed my mind in that I will get it, after all, as the Events and Landmarks on their own are worth it.
Ignoring the fact that Gladiatior is literally the only top card from a split pile that doesn't work as a single pile since the whole point of the card is to drain other Gladiators. The gold gain is the only incentive to actually buy a Gladiator yourself. It really ties the pile together, dude. And the rest of Fortune is too complicated??? It's literally a treasure woodcutter that generates more money. Not to mention it's not the only coin/debt mix(Wedding), and that itself isn't complicated at all since they are still the same currency.
Well, Gladiator trashes Gladiators, but it doesn't need to do that. A terminal Gold under certain conditions is still worthwile and could be a fine cornucopia-esque card on its own. Meh, maybe you are right, it's a bit boring, and could use a bit of extra. The problem is that being a split pile IS the extra bit. My problem with the bottom card being more complex than, let's say, Bustling Village, is that you need to know them to see what you are working towards - or look through the pile every time. I also never said that i hated Fortune. I hate other cards, like Rebuild or Warrior. I just don't really like Fortune. And why? Well, it's ugly, it has an effect that doesn't stack, it has a strange cost (which works better on an Event than on a card), and when describing it before i misremembered under which conditions it gains its Gold, because even its Gold gain isn't straightforward. I never said I hate Fortune, but seriously, is it so hard to understand why i don't specifically like it? What do you like about Fortune? I doubt it's the cost, the non-stacking or the fact it gains Golds depending on how many Gladiators you have. I assume what you like is the doubling of your money, and well, that's cool, i don't mind that. It's just the outstanding thing you can remember, accompanied by other things you forget while it's covered.
When i say i am split about split piles, it implies that the others are just much better. Emporium for example has that little extra, but is simple enough to remember when it's covered. Settlers/Bustling Village is just cute. Plunder is cool, and being able to buy one and then cover it up is glorious. Fortune just can't keep up with that. I had the same reservations about Castles, i admit, and technically i could dislike them for the same reason. I do like Castles now. They are even more cards to remember, but they are much more pleasing to look at than Gladiator's feet. I guess alt-VP just hits a weak spot with me.
Edit:
The funniest thing anyway is that if you still forget what the Papermachécutter does, just turn it sideway like the rules propose!
My problem isn't to remember which card the bottom one is, my problem is to remember what exactly that card does.