This is exactly why Possession is interesting. If there is a strong engine combo on the board, it is often part of a dominant strategy, but Possession nudges you slightly in the direction of greening early making the decision a lot more difficult and making the game quite different than if Possession were not on the board.Interesting? That wasn't my argument. My argument is that Possession discourages every other fun strategy in the game. Possession forces players to buy victory points early thereby forcing them to wade around in the greening phase far too long for a single game of Dominion to be fun.
It can change a game significantly even if neither player touches it. If I make the adjustments necessary I am normally very happy when my opponent buys possession since they will often see a hand full with at least one Duchy.
This is mitigated somewhat on isotropic simply because we don't have to fiddle with real cards-- but in real life games, greening early on Duchies becomes a complete slog that every player wishes would come to an end.
My argument isn't that Possession is uninteresting: My argument is that Possession is an ill-conceived card on the grounds that it is not fun to play with.
You could just score as if you're playing a tennis set. (To be pedantic, as if you're a man playing the fifth set at a non-US Open Grand Slam.)
First to six wins. Coin flip to see who starts with first place. Regardless of who wins, you alternate seating order. You must win by 2 games. Ties do not count and are re-played.
There's a non-zero possibility you end up with Isner-Mahut. More realistically, that won't actually happen.
The reason we have never discussed this before, I suspect, is because there has never been a way to fix seating order until now.
Where the analogy breaks down is that different Kingdoms reward P1 differently. It'd be like playing a tennis match that starts on clay and then switches to grass midway through the set.
What's important to note is that the actual advantage P1 has varies from kingdom to kingdom.
With cursers, the P1 advantage can be huge and with a plain BM mirror, it's probably not so big.
So if there's no way to quantify this advantage and distill a "handicap" we should perhaps always play the same setup twice with both players starting one game. If both players each win a game, you could average out the points.
Obviously, this is not ideal, because it may lead to situations that a player doesn't want to end the second game on a win after losing the first one, because he has less points. Still, I think playing the same setup twice is a decent starting point.
I really like the idea of playing each set of cards twice swapping who starts the game (not averaging scores though ... a win is a win). Along with helping even out first player advantage it brings an additional "skill" into the mix. The traditional "different random setup for each game" emphasizes the the skill of analyzing the setup and coming to a good "first approximation" of the best strategy. Playing the same set again emphasizes learning from that first game and potentially altering or refining the strategy and perhaps the nitty gritty details of executing it.
Interesting idea. The games would have to be something like:
Player A as P1, Set 1
Player A as P2, Set 1
Player A as P2, Set 2
Player A as P1, Set 2
So as not to give either player an advantage being second on each board, and gleaning strategies in that way.
Thanks Axxle. Embedded:but... but... it's so much fun!
It's just an oligopoly. I'm sure they can do it through price signals.Trader-x. Again, the collusion is fine.
I'd think you'd need Conspirators for that...
Donald X. tried to explain the interaction between Ironworks and Trader with a blue dog.
http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=880.msg13340#msg13340
or more specifically:
http://boardgamegeek.com/article/7743728#7743728
But yes, this will be more in the 350 comparisons range, not 175.
Domino OnionDomoingo Boingo?
and when n I don't know...
If you opened the log then it should be in your browser history. Failing that, I'm afraid you're out of luck.
Instantly rematching someone after taking a beating is actually very beneficial to your level. Going first is HUGE.
Sure, the first turn advantage is huge. But what is more important, much more important, is to take a deep breath and relax. Your status as belonging in the first-seat pool will not change if you go to the bathroom, check Facebook, look over the log, check f.ds, and then go start another match. As long as you are still signed in to Isotropic, you will still get first turn. Instantly rematching has you playing while your emotions from last game are still lingering. You are not properly focused on the current game. And that is the problem.
I think it's easier to find a kingdom that favors the first player than a kingdom that favors the second player. Let's try that:Noble Brigand-Big money.
Smugglers, ... ?
Otherwise Trusty Steed.
Increase or decrease deck size? why not ironworks?No, because then that list would contain Chapel, Remodel, Workshop, Bureaucrat, Upgrade, Feast, Trading Post, Embargo, Salvager, Explorer, Lookout, ect. ect.
