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[J Reggie]

This is something that I think people try to overlook. We want dominion to be all about math and what the best possible strategy is, but that's unfortunately not always true, especially for newer players. Think about the recent discussion about relic vs minion. Minion seems like the stronger attack, when actually relic is usually better. But the fact that you may have discarded a good hand isn't inconsequential. Seeing your good cards skipped is demoralizing, even if the cycling helps you.

Another example is Torturer. I've seen many a new player pinned by this card because they just don't want to give themselves a curse, it doesn't feel right. There's always that feeling of "it's my fault I have these curses, I could have done something different".

Also, when playing an engine against big money, it can be hard to let your opponent pick up 4 provinces without even buying one. It takes willpower to get past that point of "how will I ever catch up?"

What are people's thoughts?

[LastFootnote]

We want dominion to be all about math and what the best possible strategy is

Says who?

[Awaclus]

We want dominion to be all about math and what the best possible strategy is

Says who?

It was J Reggie who said that.

[DG]

Improving your own psychology is quite possible. Making your opponent's psychology deteriorate is something else (without gamesmanship).

[Beyond Awesome]

Of course Dominion is psychological. If we did not get any emotional satisfaction from the game, we would stop playing.

[Awaclus]

If we did not get any emotional satisfaction from the game, we would stop playing.

A lot of the time, I find it the hardest to stop playing when I don't get any emotional satisfaction from the game.

[Doom_Shark]

Well, there are plenty of games I have played where I got overconfident because my engine was working turn after turn, or my opponent had gotten several dud turns in a row, and ended the game prematurely, giving my opponent the win, all because it FELT like they were losing.

[Limetime]

Get rid of emotion.

[pacovf]

I try licking my opponent's ear. That tends to give me the psychological angle of the game.

[madeofghosts]

There are a lot of cards I like and almost always go for even when I know they're a bad idea.

Also, I just can't bring myself to not buy anything on my turn.

[Witherweaver]

Improving your own psychology is quite possible. Making your opponent's psychology deteriorate is something else (without gamesmanship).

Play Thief, reveal Copper and Platinum, say to trash the Copper, then yell "PSYCH!" and trash the Platinum.

[ackmondual]

This is something that I think people try to overlook. We want dominion to be all about math and what the best possible strategy is, but that's unfortunately not always true, especially for newer players. Think about the recent discussion about relic vs minion. Minion seems like the stronger attack, when actually relic is usually better. But the fact that you may have discarded a good hand isn't inconsequential. Seeing your good cards skipped is demoralizing, even if the cycling helps you.

Well, there's always going to be a discrepancy when you have newbies playing with vets.  I've said before that Dominion is a good game for newcomers, and Dominion is a good game for experts, but NOT both at the same time.  Either the vets need to guide the newbies, or the newbies have to be fun with perhaps getting mopped the floor with.  This may not be that far fetched, as I can say there are some bg I enjoy playing even if I'm losing horribly.  In fact, I'd rather LOSE at those games than WIN at others.

Otherwise, have a more equal group where not everyone's studying opening moves, drawing upon charts, graphs, number of moves, and efficiency ratings.

Another example is Torturer. I've seen many a new player pinned by this card because they just don't want to give themselves a curse, it doesn't feel right. There's always that feeling of "it's my fault I have these curses, I could have done something different".

FWIW, similar to how Bureacrat has a self included way to keep it from hitting too much (buy adding Silver to that player's deck), by taking Curses, you do increase the chances that you'll have "good garbage" to discard when you get hit again.

Also, when playing an engine against big money, it can be hard to let your opponent pick up 4 provinces without even buying one. It takes willpower to get past that point of "how will I ever catch up?"

What are people's thoughts?

See my comments in the first block above.