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Author Topic: Interview with Donald X.  (Read 2127217 times)

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Jeebus

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5325 on: June 06, 2022, 04:52:42 pm »
0

Are you planning to remove all when-buy triggers up to and including Empires (like Defiled Shrine)?

It seems like you have changed your mind regarding making substantial functional changes on cards that didn't strictly need it according to the criteria you used to give. What kind of thinking went into this? I guess you don't see the negatives as that bad anymore. Does it have anything to do with online play, where people just play with whatever are the current versions, being a more important arena now?

Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5326 on: June 06, 2022, 05:36:25 pm »
+4

One thing I like about your writing is that you have a very distinct voice. I've been starting to do some writing recently and have been struggling to find my voice as a writer. Do you have any tips or stories about how you developed your writing style?
Not really. I think like anyone I started out with particular authors I liked a lot, that I mushed together into what I sounded like. As a teenager I wanted words like Ray Bradbury with little ironies like Douglas Adams (which he got from Vonnegut); then I wanted poetic lines like John Crowley. There are specific stories where I can say, that's me doing Kafka, or Salinger, or Murakami. You wouldn't mistake them for those other authors though. Song lyrics have probably made their mark on me too. And movies and poetry and cereal boxes. You can wonder, how much of an effect did Dr. Seuss or A. A. Milne have? I've sure capitalized an Important word on occasion. But then I look at an example of my writing, some paragraph I especially like, and it's hard to say where any of it came from. It's all just a breeze going by. Which is Lewis Carroll, except not quite.

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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5327 on: June 06, 2022, 05:37:10 pm »
+1

do you find it frustrating when something else uses 'dominion' in its title and messes with your SEO? or is that more jay's domain?

thinking specifically of the new jurassic park here
The movie doesn't bother me at all. It did suck when FFG thought it was reasonable to call a product Cosmic Dominion.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5328 on: June 06, 2022, 05:46:58 pm »
+4

Are you planning to remove all when-buy triggers up to and including Empires (like Defiled Shrine)?

It seems like you have changed your mind regarding making substantial functional changes on cards that didn't strictly need it according to the criteria you used to give. What kind of thinking went into this? I guess you don't see the negatives as that bad anymore. Does it have anything to do with online play, where people just play with whatever are the current versions, being a more important arena now?
I think both dominion.games and TGG hope to have "2022 errata" up at the same time as Hinterlands 2E. TGG has already done the work though I haven't gone over all of it. So I mean you'll see it all then, it's not that far off. I will answer that one question: I did reword Defiled Shrine.

It's not super interesting to try to figure out what I used to think about errata and why it changed. I'm changing things that I think are worth it today, whether old me agrees or not. For me it is not specifically tied to online play. Jay used to be more anti-errata, and I can't tell you what changed for him either. I guess it's fair to note that these days anyone can whip out their phone and look up errata if there's an argument.
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LibraryAdventurer

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5329 on: June 06, 2022, 06:25:40 pm »
+1

do you find it frustrating when something else uses 'dominion' in its title and messes with your SEO? or is that more jay's domain?

thinking specifically of the new jurassic park here

There's also the latest album by Skillet:

Jeebus

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5330 on: June 07, 2022, 04:07:37 am »
0

Are you planning to remove all when-buy triggers up to and including Empires (like Defiled Shrine)?

It seems like you have changed your mind regarding making substantial functional changes on cards that didn't strictly need it according to the criteria you used to give. What kind of thinking went into this? I guess you don't see the negatives as that bad anymore. Does it have anything to do with online play, where people just play with whatever are the current versions, being a more important arena now?
I think both dominion.games and TGG hope to have "2022 errata" up at the same time as Hinterlands 2E. TGG has already done the work though I haven't gone over all of it. So I mean you'll see it all then, it's not that far off. I will answer that one question: I did reword Defiled Shrine.

It's not super interesting to try to figure out what I used to think about errata and why it changed. I'm changing things that I think are worth it today, whether old me agrees or not. For me it is not specifically tied to online play. Jay used to be more anti-errata, and I can't tell you what changed for him either. I guess it's fair to note that these days anyone can whip out their phone and look up errata if there's an argument.

I guess I was not asking about how or why your thinking changed, but more what your thinking is now, specifically about those negatives that you have outlined in the past.
Do you mean that you think people playing physically with, let's say, the original Merchant Guild would check the errata on their phone and play with the new version?

Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5331 on: June 07, 2022, 03:06:11 pm »
+2

I guess I was not asking about how or why your thinking changed, but more what your thinking is now, specifically about those negatives that you have outlined in the past.
Do you mean that you think people playing physically with, let's say, the original Merchant Guild would check the errata on their phone and play with the new version?
I don't know if people playing irl use errata they don't have or don't; my best guess is that mostly they don't. What I was saying there is: in the 90s, two people might disagree on a rule, and they were just stuck disagreeing, and errata made this bad situation happen more often; and today, they can look up whatever it is on their phones; and this change in the world may for all I know be part of why Jay isn't as anti-errata as he once was.

My thinking on errata is, I should avoid using it in general, but use it whenever I'm making an important fix. Well; I've made lots of non-functional wording changes, or even wording changes that are only different in really exotic cases.

Changing e.g. Quarry to "this turn" isn't fixing a rules hole, but it's fixing "players get this wrong." It's improving the game, that's how I see it. And yet in most situations it's the same as ever.
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trivialknot

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5332 on: June 07, 2022, 06:48:53 pm »
+5

FWIW, we don't play with the errata, because the pre-errata rules are right there are on the cards, and what am I going to remember, the rules on some website, or the rules right in front of me?  The main issue is that if we ever have some rules question about, say, Band of Misfits, well the online faq pertain to a set of rules we're not using, so it's up in the air what we do about that.

And I guess in principle we still have the issue of, I Crown an opponent's Estate with the abilities and types of Caravan Guard, and use Way of the Mouse to play a Lurker to gain a Mandarin, and so on.  We'll live, somehow.
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Jeebus

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5333 on: June 08, 2022, 01:51:40 am »
+1

The main issue is that if we ever have some rules question about, say, Band of Misfits, well the online faq pertain to a set of rules we're not using, so it's up in the air what we do about that.
(You could have my rules document handy (either digitally or physically), since it has info about both old and new versions.)

chipperMDW

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5334 on: June 08, 2022, 02:58:38 pm »
+2

Does Prosperity 2E make any changes to the method for deciding whether to use Colony/Platinum?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5335 on: June 09, 2022, 01:32:51 pm »
+6

Does Prosperity 2E make any changes to the method for deciding whether to use Colony/Platinum?
No.
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5336 on: June 11, 2022, 01:03:26 am »
+1

When and how do you decide whether an expansion should be 300, 400 or 500 cards? Does it relate to the additional components (e.g. tokens, mats)?
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NoMoreFun

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5337 on: June 11, 2022, 01:07:29 am »
0

Does Prosperity 2E make any changes to the method for deciding whether to use Colony/Platinum?

In developing Prosperity 2E
  • Were changes considered to the rule? (e.g. even one Prosperity card puts Colony and Platinum in the game, allowing for cards that specifically reference them)?
  • Were they ever considered for the chopping block?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5338 on: June 11, 2022, 04:10:00 am »
+3

When and how do you decide whether an expansion should be 300, 400 or 500 cards? Does it relate to the additional components (e.g. tokens, mats)?
Jay would just repeat to me (if I asked), that I should make the expansion as good as it can be and then he'll deal with what cost or whatever that means. But I do nevertheless take into account the tokens/mats; they're an extra cost, and it's nice if the expansions are the same price.

There's no special time I decide the size. I work on the set and gradually have more cards and more of an idea of what tokens/mats/landscapes/non-supply cards are in it. At some point I feel like, this wants to be this many cards. These days the size tends to be as large as it can be while including the other components.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5339 on: June 11, 2022, 04:10:52 am »
+2

Does Prosperity 2E make any changes to the method for deciding whether to use Colony/Platinum?

In developing Prosperity 2E
  • Were changes considered to the rule? (e.g. even one Prosperity card puts Colony and Platinum in the game, allowing for cards that specifically reference them)?
  • Were they ever considered for the chopping block?
I didn't ever consider changing that rule or dropping those cards.
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joefarebrother

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5340 on: June 11, 2022, 12:49:31 pm »
0

For Seaside 2E did you consider fixing the accountability issue on treasure map?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5341 on: June 11, 2022, 05:20:27 pm »
+2

For Seaside 2E did you consider fixing the accountability issue on treasure map?
No.
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5342 on: June 16, 2022, 08:43:18 pm »
+4

Wrt the Masquerade errata, what was (or were) the main point(s) of removing the pin from the game? Was it too powerful, too disheartening to experience, too likely to result in long games, simply a thing that Masquerade was not supposed to do, something else, or some combination of different problems?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5343 on: June 17, 2022, 12:55:14 pm »
+4

Wrt the Masquerade errata, what was (or were) the main point(s) of removing the pin from the game? Was it too powerful, too disheartening to experience, too likely to result in long games, simply a thing that Masquerade was not supposed to do, something else, or some combination of different problems?
The biggest thing was, I was making Intrigue 2E. I had the chance to tweak cards. After that, the main factors were how often it came up for how the experience went, and how little fixing it otherwise changed. Fixing it had no effect on most games, except you know, the text is longer. The text being longer didn't seem so bad. The experience was being locked out of the game. How often, well it was King's Court / Masquerade / some Militia. Not so often really, though more common than I'd like for something that locks you out.
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Imrahil3

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5344 on: June 28, 2022, 04:57:43 pm »
+6

2nd editions seem to be a pretty tumultuous event, with all of us opining on which changes we think are good or bad, mourning the loss of our favorite weak, complicated, or unfun cards, and generally complaining about things we don’t like. Some of these changes - like the change to Bonfire - can require change for reasons that aren’t immediately noticeable to most of us. I, personally, was pretty disappointed at the change to Bonfire, said as much in the preview thread, and never stopped to consider that maybe the designer of the game had good reasons for changing it the way he did.

On that note, is there a way that we can get answers to our burning questions in a way that’s more helpful/less hostile? Would it be nice to have a mega thread devoted specifically to 2E questions where we ask “Why did Bonfire change this way?” Should we just be more polite and give you the benefit of the doubt as we ask? Stop clamoring and just wait for the secret history?

Or do you not even enjoy discussing the minutiae of every errata and want us to just let it be?

Thanks for all your hard work in making the game the best it can be. I’m sorry if any of my comments have been annoying to read or sound ungrateful.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2022, 04:59:07 pm by Imrahil3 »
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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5345 on: June 28, 2022, 05:40:43 pm »
+1

Great question! I for one will say that many of us share the same feelings as described in @Imrahil’s well worded comment.

I’ve decided to hold any further errata beef at this point until after preview 3, and probably even the Hinterlands 2E secret history in case the errata get further mentioned there.
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5346 on: June 29, 2022, 02:56:43 am »
+2

2nd editions seem to be a pretty tumultuous event, with all of us opining on which changes we think are good or bad, mourning the loss of our favorite weak, complicated, or unfun cards, and generally complaining about things we don’t like. Some of these changes - like the change to Bonfire - can require change for reasons that aren’t immediately noticeable to most of us. I, personally, was pretty disappointed at the change to Bonfire, said as much in the preview thread, and never stopped to consider that maybe the designer of the game had good reasons for changing it the way he did.

On that note, is there a way that we can get answers to our burning questions in a way that’s more helpful/less hostile? Would it be nice to have a mega thread devoted specifically to 2E questions where we ask “Why did Bonfire change this way?” Should we just be more polite and give you the benefit of the doubt as we ask? Stop clamoring and just wait for the secret history?

Or do you not even enjoy discussing the minutiae of every errata and want us to just let it be?

Thanks for all your hard work in making the game the best it can be. I’m sorry if any of my comments have been annoying to read or sound ungrateful.
Thanks; I can type up a summary of why the errata happened.
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BlackHole

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5347 on: June 29, 2022, 04:51:32 am »
0

I really like that you managed to slowly but surely shift the gameplay such that turns of other players don't feel as "watching them do their thing" any more (which was always fine and so on. But still). Well done!
I mean, non-attack player interaction is one thing, but it never felt as active to me as these days, where you can literally play (i.e. optimising your starting hand, attack) on their turns, and not only passively being thrown some interactions at. The more so, it's especially (also) the old sets that are changed in this direction, so it's really Dominion itself that changes for me. How did that development come about? When did it became clear it will turn out like this?
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Donald X.

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5348 on: June 29, 2022, 01:17:10 pm »
+1

I really like that you managed to slowly but surely shift the gameplay such that turns of other players don't feel as "watching them do their thing" any more (which was always fine and so on. But still). Well done!
I mean, non-attack player interaction is one thing, but it never felt as active to me as these days, where you can literally play (i.e. optimising your starting hand, attack) on their turns, and not only passively being thrown some interactions at. The more so, it's especially (also) the old sets that are changed in this direction, so it's really Dominion itself that changes for me. How did that development come about? When did it became clear it will turn out like this?
I'm not sure if I agree with your thesis, or exactly what it is, but also I don't really have an answer. I keep trying to make the sets good in all the ways; you get better as you go along.

Playing Reactions on other players' turns is just the best way to do Reactions; they were like that in 2006 and then I made the mistake of changing them due to Moat. Finally these days we have Reactions the way they should have been, except slightly worse since the rulebook can't just say, here's how all Reactions work, and then save me some text on the cards.

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dz

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Re: Interview with Donald X.
« Reply #5349 on: June 29, 2022, 04:06:45 pm »
0

Statement and not a question: the 2Es and errata have been great, shrug off any online protestors.

Were there concerns that for some Allies (specifically Trappers Lodge and Family of Inventors), you would only use the starting favor, and then ignore it for the rest of the game?

Why does Territory have its when-gain? Especially with Warlord, it feels quite rare to be able to gain Golds from it.

Were you surprised that Clashes have gotten a lot of hate? And what are your thoughts on them now?

In your experience, which published non-removed cards are the most annoying irl? Honestly Triumph just seems impossible irl (both in keeping track of number of cards gained and running out of tokens).

Were there concerns that the reworded Butcher is too concise? Granted, it's a difficult ability to phrase, but it still seems easy to misunderstand.
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