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Author Topic: Interview with Donald X.  (Read 2127225 times)

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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4350 on: October 06, 2018, 02:14:13 am »
0

Now that Dominion is getting bigger and bigger (in scope), has the design philosophy changed about how similar cards can be to existing cards?

Are there any cards or mechanics that you'd want to show up with a higher probability in full random games?
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4351 on: October 06, 2018, 02:19:05 am »
0

When designing Acting Troupe and other cards that give out Villagers, did you have data on how many times a (cantrip) Village typically gets played in a game of Dominion?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4352 on: October 06, 2018, 03:20:09 am »
+5

Now that Dominion is getting bigger and bigger (in scope), has the design philosophy changed about how similar cards can be to existing cards?
It used to be a thing that, for any given novel idea, it would either be a mechanic and thus on a bunch of cards, or just be on a single card. Like, Tunnel does "when you discard this"; that's that. Even VP tokens were originally one card (Monument), expanded to three later because oops we are providing a pile of metal tokens to handle this.

But there I was working on Nocturne, and like, is it so bad to do another "when you discard this"? It wasn't so bad. It's not like Faithful Hound plays like Tunnel. So sure, having made so many expansions has had an effect.

You are asking this apropos of Ducat. Ducat has a new part; it's a new card in the same way that e.g. Port is. There was a playtester who didn't like that it's strictly better than Candlestick Maker, but it isn't, as pointed out at length in that thread. In your deck it's pretty similar to Candlestick Maker sometimes, but well did I mention it has another ability?

It's possible I would have been less inclined to do it if there weren't so many sets. I expect I said at some point, "man it's the 12th expansion." It was doing a bunch of things I wanted at once though, and we liked the card, and well it's not just the same as Candlestick Maker any which way.

Are there any cards or mechanics that you'd want to show up with a higher probability in full random games?
Possibly +buy should be a little more common.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4353 on: October 06, 2018, 03:20:46 am »
+2

When designing Acting Troupe and other cards that give out Villagers, did you have data on how many times a (cantrip) Village typically gets played in a game of Dominion?
No. We just played games with Villagers and saw what happened.
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4354 on: October 06, 2018, 05:07:09 pm »
0

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4355 on: October 07, 2018, 12:37:21 am »
+1

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4356 on: October 08, 2018, 06:43:48 am »
+1

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.
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greybirdofprey

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4357 on: October 08, 2018, 09:35:47 am »
0

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

Is it because of never working with data from the online implementation?
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ben_king

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4358 on: October 08, 2018, 10:25:41 am »
+17

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

Man, I really don't get why people continually antagonize Donald X.  It's almost like you all want him to stop answering questions on the forum again.
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Simon Jester

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4359 on: October 08, 2018, 10:35:30 am »
0

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

What data are you referring to even? And heh, isn't those tasks something for, you know, the forum dedicated to the game rather than the creator himself? If we found something worth noting he will notice, but otherwise digging through those kind of things isn't something I would want DXV doing if he isn't enjoying it for some reason. He has more important tasks to do. Like, you know, creating more cards and games..
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ipofanes

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4360 on: October 08, 2018, 10:51:14 am »
0

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

Man, I really don't get why people continually antagonize Donald X.  It's almost like you all want him to stop answering questions on the forum again.
Huh, I think this is an apt reaction, trying to rephrase the observation without the allegation that misgivings might play a role. My reactions to insinuations about how I treat my wife tend to be harsher.
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ben_king

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4361 on: October 08, 2018, 11:09:08 am »
+3

For those unfamiliar with the reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_question
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Awaclus

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4362 on: October 08, 2018, 11:26:11 am »
+10

Man, I really don't get why people continually antagonize Donald X.  It's almost like you all want him to stop answering questions on the forum again.

Donald X. is fine, why do people even complain about Donald X. They can't all be the least your-mom-joke-using game designer ever.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4363 on: October 08, 2018, 04:42:42 pm »
+14

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.
Those opportunities are opportunities to either generate work for myself or ask someone for a favor or both, and those reasons don't actually come up.

With Patrol, there was some concern that we were underrating how good it was in boring decks. And I took the opportunity to ask Geronimoo for a favor, and he simulated it for me. In the early days I simulated some cards myself, but Geronimoo has better simulation technology.

With e.g. Acting Troupe, I made a card, we played with it, I tweaked it, we played with it more. We were happy with it; there was no impetus to do more. When a card is working great, I never think, "but wait, I could generate more work for myself or maybe even ask people for favors."
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4364 on: October 08, 2018, 05:17:41 pm »
+3

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

Man, I really don't get why people continually antagonize Donald X.  It's almost like you all want him to stop answering questions on the forum again.

Not antagonizing him. If I get an obtuse non-answer I'll clarify why I was asking. Not every question in life is a soft ball.

The matter in question was quite well answered in the post before this one, IMO.
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greybirdofprey

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4365 on: October 08, 2018, 05:36:03 pm »
+2

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

What data are you referring to even? And heh, isn't those tasks something for, you know, the forum dedicated to the game rather than the creator himself? If we found something worth noting he will notice, but otherwise digging through those kind of things isn't something I would want DXV doing if he isn't enjoying it for some reason. He has more important tasks to do. Like, you know, creating more cards and games..

Or spending time with his family.
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Aleimon Thimble

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4366 on: October 09, 2018, 05:00:25 am »
+4

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

Man, I really don't get why people continually antagonize Donald X.  It's almost like you all want him to stop answering questions on the forum again.

Man, I really don't get why people feel that Donald X. should be shielded from all forms of criticism. It's almost like you all want him to have your babies or something.
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ipofanes

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4367 on: October 09, 2018, 05:23:12 am »
0

Given that Donald's occupied with developing new cards and not new strategies, there is a point in not using the "big data" from online implementation, since they provide only hindsight. Those data would be much more interesting to other members of the forum. I miss councilroom.

Yet I have the feeling that there are quite a couple of people around here who'd be more than willing to do "favours" to help with development of an expansion, so he should not be afraid to ask. Obviously there are possible issues with confidentiality/trust and relying on someone else's bona fide work to get done what pays his own bills.
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Oyvind

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4368 on: October 09, 2018, 06:38:08 am »
+2

What's your main misgiving about working with big data from the online implementation?
When did you stop beating your wife? I don't have misgivings about working with data from the online implementation.

You just don't seem to do it despite having plenty of good opportunities and reasons to do so.

Man, I really don't get why people continually antagonize Donald X.  It's almost like you all want him to stop answering questions on the forum again.
Huh, I think this is an apt reaction, trying to rephrase the observation without the allegation that misgivings might play a role. My reactions to insinuations about how I treat my wife tend to be harsher.

DXV has acknowledged that he can be rude. Like most of us, he's not a rock, and that means that he will react by expressing his immediate emotion from time to time. While this may or may not be considered rude, I can understand that people can react negatively to it. I once asked about something that he answered somewhere, and when I then asked him for specifics that would help me understand why he answered like he did (English is not my first language), I felt that he replied kind of rudely, and I honestly still think he did. BUT he still took the time to reply, AND he answered my follow-up question! I think that speaks to his credit.

As others have pointed out, we're pretty darn lucky to have the game's designer frequent these boards and actually replying to questions that can even be considered dumber than my admittedly stupid follow-up question way back when. He's probably tired of such questions and doesn't always think through the implications of his odd rude replies when people don't understand what he meant initially, or maybe he doesn't care. No, I don't think that he should be immune to criticism, and maybe he even deserves some, but if you're able to read between the lines, he usually answers all questions the first time around.

His reference to people beating their wives is NOT an insinuation that NoMoreFun has ever beaten his/her wife (or even that he/she has a wife). It's to tell NoMoreFun that he asks something that cannot be answered truthfully with a direct reply, because the question implies that DXV has any misgivings about something he clearly hasn't got any misgivings about. The question had fallacies, and he addressed it by referencing the most common question associated with such questions. What I know, is that I want DXV and his occasional hot-headedness around, because the alternative would be way, way worse. Criticize him all you want. That's called freedom of speech, as is his right to reply rudely, if he so chooses. But I don't think it helps if you want replies to your questions in a thread that's called "Interview with Donald X.".

Edits: Fixed some typos (hopefully all of them).
« Last Edit: October 09, 2018, 07:25:57 am by Oyvind »
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4369 on: October 09, 2018, 02:11:23 pm »
+4

NoMoreFun's loaded question was crazy rude. My reply to him was pretty friendly given that.

What I should do is just ignore loaded questions. Which as I've said is also rude.
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GendoIkari

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4370 on: October 09, 2018, 02:41:18 pm »
+13

NoMoreFun's loaded question was crazy rude. My reply to him was pretty friendly given that.

What I should do is just ignore loaded questions. Which as I've said is also rude.

Do you ignore loaded questions because you are just mean, or because you enjoy being rude?
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faust

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4371 on: October 09, 2018, 03:09:41 pm »
+13

Not every question in life is a soft ball.
We're not doing investigative journalism in this thread, we are trying to have a friendly conversation with the designer of one of our favorite games.
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4372 on: October 09, 2018, 09:34:05 pm »
+3

Not every question in life is a soft ball.
We're not doing investigative journalism in this thread, we are trying to have a friendly conversation with the designer of one of our favorite games.

I'll phrase things differently next time. DXV gave a good answer
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4373 on: October 09, 2018, 09:48:19 pm »
+1

Given that Donald's occupied with developing new cards and not new strategies, there is a point in not using the "big data" from online implementation, since they provide only hindsight. Those data would be much more interesting to other members of the forum. I miss councilroom.

That's  something I disagree with. Big data, for example,  could reveal the dominance of certain strategies and ignorance of others,  or what kinds of cards have high "ragequit %"s, or trends like the perceived value of Silver and Gold. New cards could be designed to work well with overlooked existing cards, which really adds value to the game. The most popular cards (cards that get bought relatively high compared to their win %, or low rage quit %s) could be revisited to improve their chances of appearing in full random.

There's also immense value in doing simulations for cards that are likely to work well with a Big Money strategy (e.g. Patrol as DXV said) or are otherwise at risk of monolithic strategies, or compare far too favourably with similar cards.

Why not get super feedback and super playtesting? (that's not a question for anyone here)

I'm far more forgiving of duds now that expansions seem to be continuing indefinitely and people like LastFootnote are inside the tent,  but when you buy any product you would hope that as much effort as possible has been put in to ensure it's a good quality product.
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samath

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #4374 on: October 10, 2018, 12:39:29 am »
+3

Big data, for example,  could reveal the dominance of certain strategies and ignorance of others,  or what kinds of cards have high "ragequit %"s, or trends like the perceived value of Silver and Gold. New cards could be designed to work well with overlooked existing cards, which really adds value to the game. The most popular cards (cards that get bought relatively high compared to their win %, or low rage quit %s) could be revisited to improve their chances of appearing in full random.

There's also immense value in doing simulations for cards that are likely to work well with a Big Money strategy (e.g. Patrol as DXV said) or are otherwise at risk of monolithic strategies, or compare far too favourably with similar cards.

Why not get super feedback and super playtesting? (that's not a question for anyone here)

We're already doing all of this in the Dominion community with existing cards. (And you won't be getting big data out of playtesting games.) Geronimoo does interesting simulations, while markus attempts to answer interesting questions about usage of different cards, culling from the stats of thousands of games. Donald X. is aware of all of those discussions, and takes part in them from time to time on Discord. If these "big data" observations aren't influencing him in his card creation, that's mostly because we either haven't generated enough interesting insights or those insights don't indicate anything of relevance to new cards that don't exist yet. I would suspect that the insights have influenced him, though much more subtly than him thinking, "let me see how many times people play Villages they buy on average and set Acting Troupe to give that many Villagers."
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