Dominion Strategy Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Pages: [1]

Author Topic: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]  (Read 10448 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

theory

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3603
  • Respect: +6121
    • View Profile
    • Dominion Strategy
The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« on: November 02, 2011, 04:42:26 pm »
0

Here's the link.

I like to keep the Donald X. posts in their own forum to make it clean and easy to read, but I thought I should open up a discussion on this since it's new and exciting.
Logged

timchen

  • Minion
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 704
  • Shuffle iT Username: allfail
  • Respect: +234
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2011, 04:56:41 pm »
0

One thing I find intriguing: I don't know if it is intended, but the number of card drawers are getting back. I felt we hit the lowest point when prosperity came out.

In this set, Stables is the card that I admire the most. It fundamentally changes the necessity of deck trimming. It is similar to Hunting party, but currently I don't feel it as overpowered.

Fool's Gold, on the other hand, is a bit too swingy to my taste. It may just be my own bad luck, yesterday I lost a game in which my opponent opened double FG, without any trashing available. There is minions. That shouldn't go too well with FG, I thought. He did get a third one.
Logged

theory

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3603
  • Respect: +6121
    • View Profile
    • Dominion Strategy
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2011, 04:58:00 pm »
+2

For what it's worth, during my [extremely] limited playtesting of the set, I really did think it had a Silver theme going on.  And this is fodder for a future article, but I think Hinterlands in a subtle way really does make Silver more relevant.
Logged

chwhite

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1065
  • Respect: +442
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2011, 05:02:13 pm »
0

For what it's worth, during my [extremely] limited playtesting of the set, I really did think it had a Silver theme going on.  And this is fodder for a future article, but I think Hinterlands in a subtle way really does make Silver more relevant.

Oh, I have been buying Silver way way more often since Hinterlands came out.  I've even been doing crazy things like buying Explorer.

Given the boost Silver gets in Hinterlands (through cards like Trader, Jack, Stables, Embassy, etc., and also through the lack of strong options for virtual money), I'm actually kind of disappointed this set didn't get the inevitable "1 VP per every X Treasures in your deck" Victory card.  I also wish Jack was weaker and Ill-Gotten Gains was actually a Treasure-Attack (just for the aesthetics of it more than anything), but those are my only complaints.

ED: Actually I guess if IGG was a Treasure-Attack that still wouldn't let Moat/Lighthouse block the incoming Curse, so never mind.  But the idea of a Treasure-Attack still seems like it would be fun, and I do kinda wish those cards could block IGG-given curses.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2011, 05:10:57 pm by chwhite »
Logged
To discard or not to discard?  That is the question.

dondon151

  • 2012 US Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2522
  • Respect: +1856
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2011, 09:53:37 pm »
+1

I don't know, completely blocking an incoming curse from IGG is a kick in the nuts. It's one thing to play a Witch and have your attack blocked; it's quite another to spend your buy on a gimped Silver for no effect.
Logged

LastFootnote

  • Adventurer
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7495
  • Shuffle iT Username: LastFootnote
  • Respect: +10721
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2011, 01:21:58 am »
+1

If Ill-Gotten Gains were a Treasure-Attack, it would actually be weaker. Every time you played it for coins, your opponents could reveal Secret Chamber or Horse Traders for benefit.
Logged

chwhite

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1065
  • Respect: +442
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2011, 01:26:11 am »
0

If Ill-Gotten Gains were a Treasure-Attack, it would actually be weaker. Every time you played it for coins, your opponents could reveal Secret Chamber or Horse Traders for benefit.

Yeah, I realized after I said it that a Treasure-Attack would have to be something that had an attack effect when you played it as a Treasure, not just on the gain.
Logged
To discard or not to discard?  That is the question.

rinkworks

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1316
  • Respect: +937
    • View Profile
    • RinkWorks
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2011, 03:01:13 pm »
+1

I enjoyed the "on buy" vs. "on gain" sections of the article.  Some of those broken game states that would result from having the wrong one hadn't occurred to me.  It really highlights how delicate the balancing of these cards are.  And how much harder it gets to consider all the different possibilities as more and more cards come out.

I also appreciated the write-up on Duchess, which I'd posted a confused query about earlier.

Finally, it's interesting to me that many of Donald's rejects still seem like pretty solid cards.  Just goes to show how we get the best of the best when the official sets are finalized.
Logged

ChaosRed

  • Duke
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 387
  • Respect: +13
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2011, 03:03:26 pm »
0

Finally, it's interesting to me that many of Donald's rejects still seem like pretty solid cards.  Just goes to show how we get the best of the best when the official sets are finalized.

Yeah agreed. I was struck by how the influence of his friends who play-test seem to have. Cards his group considered "boring" were left off, or changed. It was not enough for a card to be balanced, it had to be interesting as well.
Logged

philosophyguy

  • Minion
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 575
  • Respect: +299
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2011, 04:24:33 pm »
0

Does anyone know if Donald's playgroup ventures onto Isotropic on occasion? I ask because it's clear that they have a ton of experience with the cards, but I don't know how aggressive their group is in terms of optimizing their play. It would be really interesting to see how that group compares with the Isotropic leaders.
Logged

guided

  • Jester
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 940
  • Respect: +94
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2011, 04:39:01 pm »
0

Does anyone know if Donald's playgroup ventures onto Isotropic on occasion? I ask because it's clear that they have a ton of experience with the cards, but I don't know how aggressive their group is in terms of optimizing their play. It would be really interesting to see how that group compares with the Isotropic leaders.
isotropic is one of the main playtesting platforms. I don't know if any of them play with the general population.
Logged

brokoli

  • Saboteur
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1119
  • Respect: +786
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2012, 08:11:24 am »
0

Quote from: Donald X.
There was a popular card that I decided would be better in a later set, so I moved it there.

Jack of all trades ?
Logged

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2012, 12:20:18 pm »
0

Quote from: Donald X.
There was a popular card that I decided would be better in a later set, so I moved it there.

Jack of all trades ?
Yes.
Logged

kn1tt3r

  • Minion
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 585
  • Respect: +278
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2012, 09:18:36 am »
0

Sorry for dragging up this old thread, but there's a short comment (in the text about Noble Brigand) which I find interesting:

Quote
I replaced it with a card I stole from a later set. "A later set." There are only two sets after this one, and one of them is a latecomer with its own special thing going on. When I say "a later set," I mean the 8th set, which was originally the 4th set, back before I showed Dominion to RGG, when there were only five expansions

So first, since RGG changed the release order of the expansions (when the Base Cards thing came in), I presume this 8th expansion, which once was the 4th, is actually Dark Ages. So Noble Brigand was in Dark Ages originally?

And this "latecomer" mentioned here is probably Guilds, with "its own special thing going on"? I mean, it's still more than half a year away and Dark Ages is as hot as it can get (since many couldn't even play it yet), but it looks like there will be quite some room for wild speculations once 2013 is approaching...
Logged

Donald X.

  • Dominion Designer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6357
  • Respect: +25672
    • View Profile
Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]
« Reply #14 on: August 27, 2012, 05:57:19 pm »
+1

So first, since RGG changed the release order of the expansions (when the Base Cards thing came in), I presume this 8th expansion, which once was the 4th, is actually Dark Ages. So Noble Brigand was in Dark Ages originally?

And this "latecomer" mentioned here is probably Guilds, with "its own special thing going on"? I mean, it's still more than half a year away and Dark Ages is as hot as it can get (since many couldn't even play it yet), but it looks like there will be quite some room for wild speculations once 2013 is approaching...
Yes, Noble Brigand started in Dark Ages, and Guilds "has its own special thing going on."
Logged
Pages: [1]
 

Page created in 0.05 seconds with 20 queries.