Dominion Strategy Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Pages: 1 ... 22 23 [24] 25 26 ... 225  All

Author Topic: Interview with Donald X.  (Read 2127666 times)

1 Member and 8 Guests are viewing this topic.

thirtyseven

  • Duke
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Respect: +475
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #575 on: January 29, 2013, 08:47:57 am »
0

I know there are at least hints of this in the secret histories ("this card never changed" and "this took a long time to playtest and changed a lot"), but what cards were among the easiest/quickest to both come up with and playtest, and which ones were among the hardest/longest to both come up with and playtest? Are there whole expansions that were generally easier or harder to finish (expansion size notwithstanding)? I realize this question may not be answerable, but just in case. Thank you.
Logged
I'm only a mid-level player, so I may be wrong...

rrenaud

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 991
  • Uncivilized Barbarian of Statistics
  • Respect: +1197
    • View Profile
    • CouncilRoom
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #576 on: January 29, 2013, 02:35:15 pm »
0

The millions of dollars plus team is only really for publishing the game, though. For prototyping many types of games, a single full-time expert programmer can do the job. Of course, you probably know that already, given that isotropic exists.

Heh.  dougz's personal text should be "an existence proof of awesomeness".
Logged

jotheonah

  • Jester
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 989
  • Respect: +949
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #577 on: January 29, 2013, 03:06:28 pm »
+15

Someone already wrote something with no e's, and man no-one needs to read it.

I don't know. I think lipogram is unfairly hit by too much criticism. I find just trying it ups my linguistic skills and assists in building my vocabulary.
Logged
"I know old meta, and joth is useless day 1 but awesome town day 3 and on." --Teproc

He/him

neoeinstein

  • Herbalist
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
  • Respect: +15
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #578 on: January 29, 2013, 03:16:48 pm »
+15

Someone already wrote something with no e's, and man no-one needs to read it.

I don't know. I think lipogram is unfairly hit by too much criticism. I find just trying it ups my linguistic skills and assists in building my vocabulary.

I mark what you did in that location.
Logged

Insomniac

  • Jester
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 785
  • Respect: +392
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #579 on: January 29, 2013, 03:52:51 pm »
+1

Someone already wrote something with no e's, and man no-one needs to read it.

I don't know. I think lipogram is unfairly hit by too much criticism. I find just trying it ups my linguistic skills and assists in building my vocabulary.

Myself? Elegant response sure. Equally challenging however express entire phrases ensuring e's everywhere.
Logged
"It is one of [Insomniacs] badges of pride that he will bus anyone, at any time, and he has done it over and over on day 1. I am completely serious, it is like the biggest part of his meta." - Dsell

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #580 on: January 29, 2013, 04:18:19 pm »
+9

I know there are at least hints of this in the secret histories ("this card never changed" and "this took a long time to playtest and changed a lot"), but what cards were among the easiest/quickest to both come up with and playtest, and which ones were among the hardest/longest to both come up with and playtest? Are there whole expansions that were generally easier or harder to finish (expansion size notwithstanding)? I realize this question may not be answerable, but just in case. Thank you.
I will pick two cards from each set.

Main: Mine is a day one card where the only change was "up to +$3" rather than "copper to silver, silver to gold." It matters now but did not much with just the main set. Witch went from "$3, they gain Curse" through "$5, pay $1 to give them Curse" to what it is.

Intrigue: Masquerade is a good example of a nontrivial card that didn't change. It was carefully built to make the most of passing a card left. Secret Chamber started as "victory cards are also Copper this turn" for $4.

Seaside: Several of these were good to go - Merchant Ship, Caravan, Bazaar, Warehouse. None of these had so many versions; maybe Outpost has the record here. I'm going to say this set was the easiest.

Alchemy: Potion never changed. Vineyard just went from $4 to $P. Maybe Philosopher's Stone had the most versions; the oldest one was an action for $3, +1 buy, +$1 per 4 cards left in your deck (did not count discard).

Prosperity: Platinum never changed. The $7's all just changed in cost, plus the "may" on King's Court; Expand I think spent the most time as is. A bunch of discard attacks tried out for the Goons slot; that version may not have had multiple versions, but it feels like the most work went into that slot.

Cornucopia: Remake and Hamlet never changed. Remake got more playtesting focus. Tournament took the most work, but Horn of Plenty also has a long history, starting with "+$1 per card you played this turn" in Intrigue.

Hinterlands: Cache survived unchanged from the first month or so of Dominion, and even got to keep its name. The Margrave slot ate up the most time, depending on what you count. For a long time there was a discard attack that hit you the turn they bought it. There were multiple versions and well hooray they're gone. Margrave itself descended from another attack tried in a couple versions that didn't work out. Then Margrave itself didn't change once I had that particular card, but it was a focus of testing because of the old-Crossroads / Margrave deck.

Dark Ages: Probably this set took the most work over all. This set was last, so ideas that sounded good but hadn't worked out trickled down into it, to be worked on one last time. And it changed themes and is large. What month are the fewest children born in? February. Anyway Armory and Altar are cards that never changed. The Knights probably took the most work, although there was certainly some time spend on a bunch of these.

Attacks take the most work, both playtesting/changing and also just thinking of good ones that feel new. Very basic effects are easy to think of, but some of my initial cost guesses were way off, and sometimes the simple cards didn't start simple. Some of the easiest things I listed were Seaside's "do something basic but next turn also" and Prosperity's "do the big version of something basic." "Choose one of these basic things" wasn't hard either. Whereas "care about variety," you can quickly list the basic approaches (variety in your hand, in play, in your deck), but the cards didn't just happen.
Logged

SirPeebles

  • Cartographer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3249
  • Respect: +5459
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #581 on: January 29, 2013, 04:40:17 pm »
0

You've mentioned just now and in the past that Witch used to require you to pay $1 to give a Curse.  Did this require you to play virtual money like Woodcutter first?  Or could you pay with treasure during your buy phase?  Or maybe it was effectively free if you hadn't gained coins from actions yet?

Did the ABC Action-Buy-Clean structure exist since the first night?
Logged
Well you *do* need a signature...

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #582 on: January 29, 2013, 04:49:03 pm »
+1

You've mentioned just now and in the past that Witch used to require you to pay $1 to give a Curse.  Did this require you to play virtual money like Woodcutter first?  Or could you pay with treasure during your buy phase?  Or maybe it was effectively free if you hadn't gained coins from actions yet?
You got to play treasures right then, as with Black Market.

Did the ABC Action-Buy-Clean structure exist since the first night?
Well yes and no. Day one, the rules were, "on your turn, you may play one action, then you may buy one card, then discard everything and draw a new hand." And getting to buy a card or pay for something let you play treasures. Calling it "ABC" and calling them phases was something Valerie and Dale did.
Logged

werothegreat

  • Adventurer
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8172
  • Shuffle iT Username: werothegreat
  • Let me tell you a secret...
  • Respect: +9625
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #583 on: January 29, 2013, 05:04:37 pm »
+1

So, Dominion was always medieval themed, but if Jay dropped by today and asked for a retheme ("anything except castles and knights and whatnot"), what would you want to do with it?  Are there any mechanics you'd play with to suit this theme?
Logged
Contrary to popular belief, I do not run the wiki all on my own.  There are plenty of other people who are actively editing.  Go bother them!

Check out this fantasy epic adventure novel I wrote, the Broken Globe!  http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Globe-Tyr-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00LR1SZAS/

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #584 on: January 29, 2013, 05:23:38 pm »
0

So, Dominion was always medieval themed, but if Jay dropped by today and asked for a retheme ("anything except castles and knights and whatnot"), what would you want to do with it?  Are there any mechanics you'd play with to suit this theme?
I expect I would be handed the theme too. I expect it would be a pure retheme and I would just pick ~25 cards that went together well; either I would try to keep it simple or that wouldn't be an issue. If I was expected to make new cards, well probably they would be unexciting; I have gone over this topic before, there are good reasons to stop making expansions and switch to spin-offs.

I pick themes for games all the time. If I'm picking a Dominion retheme theme, the question is, well what is there to consider here? Who is this retheme for, why are we doing it. Like I said odds are the theme has been chosen and that's the whole point. Hobby Japan did rethemes; they had licenses, they used them. If the idea is "we need kids to play Dominion" then I would be thinking, what's a good theme for kids. And so on. There is no in-a-vacuum automatic theme. When I could have whatever I wanted, I picked medieval. The most common theme among my games is 20s gangsters, I have been over that already.
Logged

heron

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1055
  • Shuffle iT Username: heron
  • Respect: +1183
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #585 on: January 29, 2013, 07:36:00 pm »
0

Why are so many of your games themed off of 20's gangsters?
Logged

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #586 on: January 29, 2013, 08:00:31 pm »
0

Why are so many of your games themed off of 20's gangsters?
- An early game had that theme and established a lot of goodwill towards that theme among my friends.
- Sometimes a game descends from another game, and sometimes more than one does, and sometimes the ancestor game had 20s gangsters.
- They lend themselves well to dungeon crawl type stuff without just doing D&D flavor.
- Bad guys are good flavor in general - gangsters, pirates, monsters, mad scientists, imperialists.
- You get to name all of the gangsters.
- Big Miller's Crossing fan.
Logged

ipofanes

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1439
  • Shuffle iT Username: ipofanes
  • Respect: +776
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #587 on: January 30, 2013, 03:29:43 am »
0

So, Dominion was always medieval themed
Is it really? At least some of the artwork (eg Monument, many Seasides images) hints at later ages, and platinum was not assigned any value in the Middle Age.
Logged
Lord Rattington denies my undo requests

thirtyseven

  • Duke
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Respect: +475
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #588 on: January 30, 2013, 04:47:06 pm »
+14

How to you refer to Cities when no piles are empty, when 1 pile is empty, and when 2 piles are empty?
Logged
I'm only a mid-level player, so I may be wrong...

sudgy

  • Cartographer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3431
  • Shuffle iT Username: sudgy
  • It's pronounced "SOO-jee"
  • Respect: +2706
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #589 on: January 30, 2013, 05:14:48 pm »
+1

How to you refer to Cities when no piles are empty, when 1 pile is empty, and when 2 piles are empty?

Oh man, this is hilarious.  I was thinking, "I wish I could upvote this five times," and when I did someone else did at the same time too, so it looked like I did it twice...
Logged
If you're wondering what my avatar is, watch this.

Check out my logic puzzle blog!

   Quote from: sudgy on June 31, 2011, 11:47:46 pm

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #590 on: January 30, 2013, 06:05:38 pm »
+3

How to you refer to Cities when no piles are empty, when 1 pile is empty, and when 2 piles are empty?
In the past I usually just said "boomtown," regardless of the number of empty piles. If I wanted to refer to the number of empty piles I said how many, or something like "they didn't get going" or "the Menageries ran out," you know. I mean the empty pile may well be part of this story.

Okay I am looking through old posts on the secret forums. In one place onigame says "+2/+2;" in another Locus says "at max;" and once I say "super Boomtowns." Every other place the number of empty piles was either spelled out or not mentioned.

So, if we're your role models, and you decide against spelling it out, there's no special term to let you know it hasn't upgraded, but with one empty pile it's +2/+2 and with two it's max or super.
Logged

soulnet

  • Mountebank
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2142
  • Respect: +1751
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #591 on: January 30, 2013, 06:15:56 pm »
0

Mad scientists are bad guys? I feel offended and sad.
Logged

eHalcyon

  • Adventurer
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8689
  • Respect: +9187
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #592 on: January 30, 2013, 06:17:18 pm »
+10

Mad scientists are bad guys? I feel offended and sad.

Shouldn't you feel... mad?
Logged

michaeljb

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1422
  • Shuffle iT Username: michaeljb
  • Respect: +2113
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #593 on: January 31, 2013, 01:02:10 am »
+3

I propose that we adopt "super Boomtowns" for when there are 2 empty piles.
Logged
🚂 Give 18xx games a chance 🚂

Davio

  • 2012 Dutch Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4787
  • Respect: +3412
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #594 on: January 31, 2013, 02:12:06 am »
+1

Don't know if this question has been asked yet as I'm sure you've been asked what your favorite card is a gazillion times, but this is a tad different.

What do you think is the card that embodies the spirit of Dominion best? Say someone where to ask you "Dominion, what's that all about?" and you could only show him one card, what would it be?

My pick would be Grand Market as it has all the vanilla bonuses, but also shows "hey, we can do wacky things with cards (no-Copper requirement)".
Logged

BSG: Cagprezimal Adama
Mage Knight: Arythea

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #595 on: January 31, 2013, 03:13:02 am »
+2

What do you think is the card that embodies the spirit of Dominion best? Say someone where to ask you "Dominion, what's that all about?" and you could only show him one card, what would it be?
Well I haven't made any cards specifically so they'd sum up Dominion in one card, so I can only fail here. Which letter in Davio best sums you up as a person? We want the real Davio; that letter has to really embody your spirit.

The list of ideas for Golem included having it take turns with its own deck. "If you have a Golem deck, take a turn with it; otherwise, set one up. / At the end of the game, combine your Golem deck with your deck." There you go.

Dominion is a game of building a deck. You have resources, abilities, and VP, and they all go in your deck. Your options are on the table and vary from game to game. There aren't any cards that communicate enough of this to bother. Show someone Grand Market and they've got no clue what this game is about. It might as well be Curse.

I can pick a poster child for each set though.

Main: Laboratory
Intrigue: Nobles
Seaside: Wharf
Alchemy: Golem
Prosperity: Bank
Cornucopia: Fairgrounds
Hinterlands: Haggler
Dark Ages: Graverobber

I can see arguing for Village, Apothecary, or Squire.
Logged

Davio

  • 2012 Dutch Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4787
  • Respect: +3412
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #596 on: January 31, 2013, 04:05:57 am »
0

Well, I didn't mean to trap you here, I was just wondering what card would be a prolific Dominion card. Maybe the example with someone who doesn't know the game isn't so hot, it probably works better with people who already know the rules.

Like my parents, they have played a couple of games with me, but they haven't created any overly complex engines nor do they understand why I like the game that much. So I could show them Grand Market for instance and say "well, a card like this has a bit of everything you look for when you want to combine cards with each other, you can play another card off it with the +1 Action, you can draw a new card to replace the one you just played, it even gives you an extra Buy and 2 coins so you can easily get more cards! But there's a caveat, you can't spend any Coppers to buy it"

That's how I meant it, not that I thought that all of Dominion could be summed up in one card. Hey, I know that the game is about combining different cards, I was just looking for poster children as you rightly concluded. I thought it would be a fun different way to look at cards other than the usual "what's your favorite?"
Logged

BSG: Cagprezimal Adama
Mage Knight: Arythea

soulnet

  • Mountebank
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2142
  • Respect: +1751
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #597 on: January 31, 2013, 10:49:20 am »
0

Main: Laboratory
Intrigue: Nobles
Seaside: Wharf
Alchemy: Golem
Prosperity: Bank
Cornucopia: Fairgrounds
Hinterlands: Haggler
Dark Ages: Graverobber

I can see arguing for Village, Apothecary, or Squire.

The fact that there is no Attack, no Curse-interaction card and no Reaction on this list, just reinforces the point of "no card sums up Dominion".

How about a Kingdom? What condiments should a Kingdom have to try to people get a feel at the greatest percentage of the game from just one game? (or better, several games with the same Kingdom). I'm not asking for a simple Kingdom, but the contrary:

Which 10 Kingdom cards would you take to a desert island? (assume you can take an unlimited supply of base cards)

EDIT: You can take Dominion partners as well, but just to play Dominion with them.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2013, 10:52:44 am by soulnet »
Logged

SirPeebles

  • Cartographer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3249
  • Respect: +5459
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #598 on: January 31, 2013, 10:59:24 am »
+6

How about a Kingdom? What condiments should a Kingdom have to try to people get a feel at the greatest percentage of the game from just one game? (or better, several games with the same Kingdom).

I would suggest a card like Cultist which can jam Curses or Ruins into your opponent's deck.  You should have a card like Tournament which allows you to relish in your lead.  But also a card like Saboteur which provides the new player an opportunity to ketchup.  Colonies mayo may not be a good idea, depending on how much time you have for your game.
Logged
Well you *do* need a signature...

Drab Emordnilap

  • Torturer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1832
  • Shuffle iT Username: Drab Emordnilap
  • Luther Bell Hendricks V
  • Respect: +1886
    • View Profile
Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #599 on: January 31, 2013, 11:02:02 am »
+6

My new stage name is Max Boomtown.
Logged

Pages: 1 ... 22 23 [24] 25 26 ... 225  All
 

Page created in 0.144 seconds with 21 queries.