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Author Topic: Interview with Donald X.  (Read 2127674 times)

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theory

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #600 on: January 31, 2013, 11:05:36 am »
+2

This is a fun puzzle.  In our previous discussion on this subject, I liked v3ck's definition of the sets:

The sets are really defined by how they put Curses in your deck.

Base: Witch
Basic curser

Intrigue: Torturer
Curser with a choice

Seaside: Sea Hag
Curser that affects the next turn

Alchemy: Familiar
Curser that costs a Potion and is better than a basic curser

Prosperity: Mountebank
Curser that gives treasure cards

Cornucopia: Young Witch
Curser that increases variety

Hinterlands: Ill-Gotten Gains
On-gain curser

I suppose it falters with Dark Ages, though. 
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SirPeebles

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #601 on: January 31, 2013, 11:11:18 am »
+23

I suppose it falters with Dark Ages, though.

Dark Ages Ruins everything  :'(
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #602 on: January 31, 2013, 11:13:21 am »
+3

But Cultist is perfect! It's a Witch that uses different 'base' cards (Like Shelters), has to do with trashing, and does a weird thing! It's Dark Ages in a can.
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AJD

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #603 on: January 31, 2013, 12:04:07 pm »
+3

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.

Sage and Mint, obviously.
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LastFootnote

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #604 on: January 31, 2013, 12:24:02 pm »
0

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

It's interesting to me that you chose Bank for Prosperity, considering it would have been an Alchemy card if the sets had come out in the intended order. If Philosopher's Stone were in Prosperity instead, would that still be your pick for the set?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #605 on: January 31, 2013, 03:45:02 pm »
0

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)
This seems too much like busywork. In the desert island scenario I would try to pick cards suited to playing other games, because I will not want to play endless games of "Dominion with these ten cards." I would take Rats because there are twenty and Knights because there are 11 different cards there. If I take Young Witch do I get an extra pile? If Black Market do I get a Black Market deck? I take cards with different colors. Probably I don't take into account "will this make for a good game of Dominion" at all.

I teach people the game with 5 cards from the set I'm testing and 5 from the other set I brought today; if I go easy on them at all it's by not including anything in game one that requires remembering a wording change I haven't printed out. I want to make a good first impression but don't feel like I have to do anything special to do that.

You can try to pick 10 cards to show off as much of Dominion as possible; go for it.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #606 on: January 31, 2013, 03:55:24 pm »
+1

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

It's interesting to me that you chose Bank for Prosperity, considering it would have been an Alchemy card if the sets had come out in the intended order. If Philosopher's Stone were in Prosperity instead, would that still be your pick for the set?
Lab is a vanilla card that you buy a lot (so, better than a vanilla card you want less often). Nobles is a victory card that does something and has a choose-one. Wharf is a duration card where the effect is the same next turn (well as written, obv. not using an action on Wharf makes it different). Golem gets in the action chaining theme and the slow to resolve unintended theme, and has potion in the cost. Bank is a treasure, cares about treasures, and costs $7. Fairgrounds cares about variety in your deck directly, which is the broadest form of the variety caring-aboutness. Haggler doesn't have a when-gain for itself, but gives everything a when-gain. It when-gains the most. Graverobber upgrades cards and involves the trash.

Philosopher's Stone might not have cost $7. If it didn't I might pick Hoard - a treasure, involves treasures, costs $6 at least. I would represent treasures-that-do-things over costs-$7 and VP-tokens.
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SirPeebles

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #607 on: February 02, 2013, 04:40:53 pm »
0

Sorry if this has been asked already, but why did you have Trusty Steed "discard" your deck when you gain 4 Silvers?  On the whole, I suppose that gets the Silver to you a bit quicker, without going so far as to top deck them.  But what was the thought process?  Perhaps I should be asking why you added 4 Silvers to the "discard" option.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #608 on: February 02, 2013, 05:30:44 pm »
+3

Sorry if this has been asked already, but why did you have Trusty Steed "discard" your deck when you gain 4 Silvers?  On the whole, I suppose that gets the Silver to you a bit quicker, without going so far as to top deck them.  But what was the thought process?  Perhaps I should be asking why you added 4 Silvers to the "discard" option.
I wanted four options, and they needed to all be different. +2 Buys was paired with +2 Actions at one point but I only wanted one prize to give +buy. Anyway it wasn't cutting it as a separate option, even though there's a certain something to just mirroring Pawn. So, a 4th option, and well gaining cards is a go-to thing there, as a very basic thing you can do that's worth doing, and gaining Silvers is a simpler version of it. It was four Silvers to be enough to feel it and you flip your deck so that you get to them and your Steed faster. You don't get a Trusty Steed turn one, you often don't see it many times, which is why Tournament puts Prizes on your deck.

I am happy with the Silvers option, I pick it sometimes. If I were making the Prizes today I might put +3 Actions on Bag of Gold and then replace the +2 Actions option on Trusty Steed, I don't know what with.
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GendoIkari

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #609 on: February 02, 2013, 05:34:46 pm »
+1

I don't think you weighed in on this yet....

For City, 1/2/3, or 0/1/2?
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SirPeebles

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #610 on: February 02, 2013, 05:36:42 pm »
+1

Sorry if this has been asked already, but why did you have Trusty Steed "discard" your deck when you gain 4 Silvers?  On the whole, I suppose that gets the Silver to you a bit quicker, without going so far as to top deck them.  But what was the thought process?  Perhaps I should be asking why you added 4 Silvers to the "discard" option.
I wanted four options, and they needed to all be different. +2 Buys was paired with +2 Actions at one point but I only wanted one prize to give +buy. Anyway it wasn't cutting it as a separate option, even though there's a certain something to just mirroring Pawn. So, a 4th option, and well gaining cards is a go-to thing there, as a very basic thing you can do that's worth doing, and gaining Silvers is a simpler version of it. It was four Silvers to be enough to feel it and you flip your deck so that you get to them and your Steed faster. You don't get a Trusty Steed turn one, you often don't see it many times, which is why Tournament puts Prizes on your deck.

I am happy with the Silvers option, I pick it sometimes. If I were making the Prizes today I might put +3 Actions on Bag of Gold and then replace the +2 Actions option on Trusty Steed, I don't know what with.

It's the option I use the least often, but I used it several times just now in a Feodum game.  My Bands of Misfits acted as Tournaments until I got the Trusty Steed, then they acted as Scavenger to topdeck Trusty Steed for more Silver.  It was fun, and made me wonder if I should take the Silver more often.
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Max Boomtown

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #611 on: February 02, 2013, 05:44:30 pm »
+10

Right here, Gendo:

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.
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #612 on: February 02, 2013, 07:21:54 pm »
+3

Right here, Gendo:

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.

Did you seriously create your username to tie-in with this post?
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #613 on: February 03, 2013, 09:05:17 am »
0

It's the option I use the least often, but I used it several times just now in a Feodum game.  My Bands of Misfits acted as Tournaments until I got the Trusty Steed, then they acted as Scavenger to topdeck Trusty Steed for more Silver.  It was fun, and made me wonder if I should take the Silver more often.

This is a wonderful story to relate, but does it work as a strategy? Given 3/4 openings, your opponent will have the first card to play as a tournament two turns ahead of you, which sounds as if the Trusty Steed may be handed to someone else later in the game.

Then again, I can see the point that you'd rather play another card than Tournament later in the game when the decks are rife with Provinces. I just cannot see playing this strategy and counting on having a Trusty Steed later. Also, heading for Provinces should collide with heading for Feodums.
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soulnet

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #614 on: February 03, 2013, 09:26:34 am »
+1

Then again, I can see the point that you'd rather play another card than Tournament later in the game when the decks are rife with Provinces. I just cannot see playing this strategy and counting on having a Trusty Steed later. Also, heading for Provinces should collide with heading for Feodums.

To get Tournament going you usually need to rush to the first province, but after 1 or 2, you can switch to Feodums, or whatever, especially if behind. This strategy switch can be great, for instance, if the opponent got Followers first being the only available Curser and you "settled" for Trusty Steed, because the extra economy of the Silvers will really help your clogged deck and it will make it easy to reach $4 for a Feodum despite the extra Curses, while your opponent will probably struggle to get 6 or 7 provinces with his extra Estates.

On top of that, if there is Trash for Benefit, rushing for provinces is completely compatible with switching to alt-VP strategies that score big (especially with Apprentice).
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SirPeebles

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #615 on: February 03, 2013, 09:47:27 am »
0

I certainly wasn't stocking up on Feodums and Silvers before Trusty Steed.  I was leaving my options open, since there wasn't great engine potential, but I could see myself potentially getting some high value Feodums if I got Trusty Steed while my opponent tried to finish the Provinces solo.  One of the nice things about Band of Misfits is that it can give you that flexibility.
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philosophyguy

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #616 on: February 05, 2013, 12:12:32 am »
0

This may have been asked already, but how do you play IRL? Assuming you're playing somewhere that requires you to take the cards with you, rather than having them right in your living room or whatever: do you just take a couple of expansions with you or do you carry the whole shebang?
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #617 on: February 05, 2013, 12:39:41 am »
0

This may have been asked previously, but what is your favorite type of person to work with?
Also, what is your favorite Pokemon?
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #618 on: February 05, 2013, 12:45:46 am »
+3

Man, it's getting to the point where I can answer some of these questions.

This may have been asked already, but how do you play IRL? Assuming you're playing somewhere that requires you to take the cards with you, rather than having them right in your living room or whatever: do you just take a couple of expansions with you or do you carry the whole shebang?

He usually plays with 2 boxes at once, the one he's testing and another one. He'll start off with 5 cards from each, then rotate some out after each game.

Also, what is your favorite Pokemon?

Since I am regularly on the internet, I have seen names of pokemon, and have seen images of them, but I do not really have enough information to make an informed decision here. Is there one that makes copies of itself while destroying things?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #619 on: February 05, 2013, 01:01:42 am »
+1

This may have been asked already, but how do you play IRL? Assuming you're playing somewhere that requires you to take the cards with you, rather than having them right in your living room or whatever: do you just take a couple of expansions with you or do you carry the whole shebang?
I carry the base cards plus either two large expansions, or a large expansion and two small expansions. If it's two large sets I deal out 5 from each, otherwise 5 from large sets and some amount from the small ones. In the Dark Ages days I would sometimes bring it by itself or with one small set.

After each game I take out four cards and add four cards, except when a particular card is staying in because testing is focusing on it.

For the most part if we're playing with Prosperity we use Platinum/Colony, and if we're playing with Dark Ages we use shelters.

In my living room I still just play with 2-3 sets, but Black Market can be a set not being used. In the early days we played with everything, but once I had several expansions I've mostly just played with two at once. Except online, where I typically just forced 3-5 cards from the set being tested, except for games using ten from that set, and the rest are random.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #620 on: February 05, 2013, 01:14:10 am »
+1

This may have been asked previously, but what is your favorite type of person to work with?
I'm not sure what you're looking for here, what the types of people are.

I like playtesters who are fun to hang out with. It's good if some of them are good at games but they don't all have to be. They have to like my kind of game, but that's not something I have to check for, they filter themselves. I like to have some people I see all the time, so I can count on getting somewhere, and some people I rarely play with, so I see lots of different people try the same game.

I like game publishers that look at games promptly and communicate clearly. I like them to suggest things I should have thought of that make the game better. I like them to offer up everything for endless proofreading.

I don't really have enough experience with co-designs to say anything there.
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #621 on: February 05, 2013, 02:22:32 am »
0

That is what I was looking for, thank you :)
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #622 on: February 06, 2013, 10:51:27 am »
+1

Would you play one game of Dominion with me on iso, just so I can cross it off my bucket list? Bonus points if I could record it. ZOMG I would just DIE.
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ednever

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #623 on: February 06, 2013, 11:18:43 am »
0

Would you play one game of Dominion with me on iso, just so I can cross it off my bucket list? Bonus points if I could record it. ZOMG I would just DIE.

Idea:
Something like the above for charity. DXV names sine charity. Anyone who donates more than X gets a game with him on iso (or goko) on a specific day. Or anyone who donates more than X gets a name in a hat, and one person gets a game with him on iso.

(just throwing it out there after reading that last message. Definitely not trying to put pressure on DXV. Sometimes talk of charities can do that)

Ed
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #624 on: February 06, 2013, 08:20:40 pm »
+3

Would you play one game of Dominion with me on iso, just so I can cross it off my bucket list? Bonus points if I could record it. ZOMG I would just DIE.
It won't be anything special - the cards don't sparkle when I play them, the screen doesn't smell like cinnamon. You'll have the same chair you have already. Any amusing stories I tell, you'll know already from the secret histories and the TV movie.

I've played a few people on Goko; just whoever was on and wanted to play. I can make the trip to isotropic, but these days it will be like after midnight Pacific time.
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