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1

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: July 26, 2021, 10:08:33 am »

Why isn't Experiment just "+3 Cards, +1 Action, return to the supply?" Why does it need the bottom part at all? Similar question with Port. "It works with Academy and Adventures tokens" doesn't seem like a good enough reason.

Not all decks are thinned so much that you can always have both Experiments in the same hand, so 2 Experiments are frequently not the same as the card you describe.

Additionally, there's a bunch of cases beyond Academy and tokens that would care about multiple cards: trash for benefit probably being the most ubiquitous, but also cards that care about number of gains, etc.

And, I don't know if this is true or not, but my guess is that BOGO village was Port's whole shtick, so without the "when you buy this" trigger, it likely wouldn't have enough reason to exist.

2

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: March 05, 2020, 12:25:13 am »

With so many cards now, are there any unique ideas and mechanics tied to specific cards that you would want to have a higher probability of popping up in "full random"?

No, the things that I care about there are already in every set - villages, +Buy, interaction/attacks, $5's, cantrips, trashing, remodel/vault, draw.

I do however feel more leeway to make a new version of a unique card.

Do you have a ratio you want for these elements in every set? If so, have those ratios changed over the years at all?

3

Game Reports / Don't leave the game before you know it's really finished

« on: August 28, 2019, 01:20:27 pm »

Just played a game with peasant and ball. My opponent was ahead and used ball to drain the remaining peasants and end with a win. But they exchanged their peasant in play preventing the 3-pile.

I didn't think it was likely I'd win on my turn, so I suggested they undo. When I got no response I just played out my turn. When they didn't discard their cards I realized what must have happened: they left the game thinking they had a win, but it was still going.

Hope they don't mind an extra loss for being hasty .

4

Dominion Articles / Re: Glossary Update

« on: February 28, 2019, 01:44:48 pm »

I think this is a great list. My one recommendation of the to of my head is to adjust "dud" to not just be about the state of your hand at the start of a turn. A turn can dud out mid-way (eg you don't draw the right cards in the right order) or do people call this stalling? This also makes me think about whether knowing what it means to be able to "kick-off" should be included?

I also don't think village idiot should be in the glossary.

5

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: February 21, 2019, 12:59:20 pm »

One could argue that the existence of the supernatural, such as Werewolf, Witch, etc; dictates that it must be set in some other fantasy world, similar to Middle Earth.

Is magic real?

This question got me thinking: what is a curse thematically? They seem to imply magic, but lots of non-magical stuff gives them out: Mountebanks, Jesters, Hideouts, etc.

6

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Advice on my next expansion purchase?

« on: February 21, 2019, 12:20:57 pm »

TL;DR: I agree with Donald X. that Empires and Intrigue 2E sound like the best bets based on your criteria.

Here's a more detailed answer if you want:

I don't have a particular favorite playstyle. I like to trash down to a svelte deck where I get the same strong hand every time. I like to build an endless chain and draw 20 cards on a turn. I like to try weird things with Tacticians or Gardens just because, and get a thrill when they work and have a laugh when they blow up on me.

This screams Empires to me. Not only are there different cards that support different kinds of strategies, the huge thing is the landmarks. Some of these can create entirely different ways to play the game. So, if you like a variety of different playstyles, Empires for sure.

I appreciate what I'd call "reactive player interaction." I like the artifacts because how many flagbearers you need isn't dependent on some engine calculation but based on what your opponents are doing. I don't like the witch because it makes your opponent take curses, but because when my opponent buys one I'm left with an interesting decision - do I get a chapel to reverse the damage? Do I buy two and outrace him through the curse pile? Buy a cellar and just cycle over the garbage? Remodel them into Estates? I like games better when they contain reactive decisions like this.

I think both Empires and Intrigue 2e fit here (although a lot of expansions do really well on this count, Prosperity for example has a lot of non-attack player interaction). Gathering and split piles in Empires can lead to a push and pull between players as can some of the landmarks with limited VP available. Intrigue's attacks have variable modes that can allow for more interaction than more straightforward attacks, and things like lurker can create scenarios like artifacts do.

I tend to play with many people who will only play a few times, rather than the same people over and over. So accessibility is valuable to me.

So, I personally don't think Empires is as complicated as Adventures or Nocturne, but it is on the more complicated end of things. But, if Adventures is of an acceptable level enough that you've already bought it, then I wouldn't worry too much. Intrigue definitely has more straightforward effects on its cards, but one thing to think about is that its emphasis on variable effects can lead to some analysis paralysis for some players. If accessibility is really important, I'd push more towards Seaside or Hinterlands.

I like boards that offer you a few different ways to play them, rather than boards that scream a specific strategy and all the players are trying to see who can get that extra inch out of the engine.

Again, this screams Empires to me. I think Empires supports divergent strategies maybe more than any other set. Landmarks give different paths to victory, but so do Castles and most of the victory token cards. I've played multiplayer games with lots of Empires cards where everyone was taking a different strategy to scoring points.

7

Dominion Articles / Re: The Top 20 Best Designed Cards

« on: January 02, 2019, 01:19:36 pm »

Funny, because I consider Storyteller to be one of the poorer designs in Dominion. First, it made playing Treasures during your Action phase a standard thing (when before it was only the case for one obscure promo card), which weaked the distinction between Treasures and Actions considerably, to the point where now they feel almost interchangeable. It also misleads you by saying "+1 Coin" and then not giving you any coins.

I think this is the problem with the concept of "best designed." Without more clearly defined criteria, it doesn't actually mean anything.

That being said, I still find kieranmillar's write-ups interesting.

8

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Why is Possession hated so much?

« on: December 10, 2018, 11:23:14 am »

Keep in mind that people in this forum are going to generally be coming at things from a competitive standpoint. Possession can be a lot of fun if people aren't trying to maximize their win rate. Around the kitchen table, I've even used possession as a means for people to experience how fun playing a strong engine can be. I'll ignore it completely and build the best deck I can, and they buy possession and then get to try out my cool deck. It can also be fun to just throw possession in decks and not worry about protecting yourself from it.

If you are playing as competitive as possible, it can be fun when you figure out how to use it and other people haven't yet, but once everyone wraps their head around it, things can quickly became degenerate and unenjoyable. And you'll find particular card combos that make it oppressive.

9

Other Games / Re: Dungeons and Dragons

« on: November 18, 2018, 05:35:44 pm »

I also am no longer DMing D&D (I'm running a game of Urban Shadows), but I DM'ed a homebrew 5E game for about two years. I agree that too much prep time can be a real trap (it's part of the reason I'm playing a PBtA game now) and I also agree to get comfortable improving and allowing your players to add interesting bits to the world. This can be like the subplot cards Kuildeous is talking about, or simply asking them to flesh out the parts of the world your players' characters would know best ("You're part of the thieves guild? Okay, tell me about who runs it? Do they have any competition? Etc.) I find a collaboratively built world is always infinitely more interesting than one I just made, and the players can end up having more investment in it too.

Finally, the thing I hate most in D&D games is constant combat with trash mobs (You are attacked by 5 kobolds! [roll dice back and forth] Next encounter, you are attacked by SIX kobolds!) I find D&D can grind really slowly during combat, so I try to always plan for a narrative turning point in each encounter (the last remaining kobold pulls out a flask and chugs it, he grows 4 times his size!)

10

Dominion: Renaissance Previews / Re: Your reviews of the previews

« on: September 29, 2018, 11:40:20 am »

I'm too lazy to go card by card. But I just wanted to give a shout-out to Donald X for awesome work with these previews. I am really excited about this expansion in a way that I haven't been with some of the more recent expansions (I was really excited about Empires as it focuses on many of my favorite things in Dominion, but I'm not a huge fan of Adventures and still haven't bought Nocturne).

I really appreciate the focus on elegance and easy-to-understand mechanics in Renaissance. I play primarily with more casual (and often younger) players in person, so I appreciate the accessibility. This expansion also seems much less fiddly than Adventures can be and Nocturne looks to be. What's most impressive is that despite their "simplicity" I don't think any of these cards are boring. Most of them still provide unique experiences and decisions. And, I think the biggest testament to villagers being awesome is that now, after playing with them, I already miss them when they aren't available on the board. Ultimately, I think this is going to be one of the most refreshing expansions that's come out in a while.

Good work Donald and thanks! I look forward to seeing the rest of the expansion.

11

Dominion: Renaissance Previews / Re: Renaissance Previews #3: Villain, Ducat, Silk Merchant

« on: September 26, 2018, 11:36:10 am »

+cards +buy is usually a strong effect. Wharf, Margrave, Council Room, Tragic Hero, Ranger--even the weaker ones of the bunch are pretty okay.  You're probably sad if Silk Merchant is your only draw, or worse, if it's your only village.  But if you need +buy, Silk Merchant is there for you.

And that's not even talking about the on-gain effect, which seems particularly good in the opener.  Usually I don't like to get terminal-draw/terminal in the opener because collision rates are so high.

Admittedly, I haven't had a chance to play with today's cards, but I'm a little surprised people have been as down on Silk Merchant as they have been here.  Like trivialknot points out, +buy that draws cards is pretty strong. I mean, I consider Wharf and Margrave as both too strong (which is especially annoying with Margrave; too many decisions that it's not fun, but too good to just ignore), so much so that all the other +buy drawers have drawbacks!

Sure, +2 cards is significantly different than +3 cards, but I think the thing people are ignoring is how low the opportunity cost for Silk Merchant's buy is. Yeah, Silk Merchant probably won't be your primary draw card, but it's definitely not a card that you'll feel bad about picking up for the +buy. Often picking up that extra buy involves a momentary loss in consistency or efficiency, that I don't think will be there so much with Silk Merchant.

12

Dominion General Discussion / Re: I'm increasingly disappointed by games with no +Buy

« on: September 11, 2018, 09:42:35 am »

I also like periodic single province games because it can put more emphasis on when to start greening. In big engine games with lots of buys, it seems like you just keep building and building until you can end the game on a win.

13

Dominion General Discussion / Wiki etiquette?

« on: September 05, 2018, 08:10:15 pm »

I just happened to look at the wiki page for Basilica and noticed it had a strategy section. But it's like the worst possible advice:

If you draw a 2/5 opening hand, consider if it would be worth giving up a 5-cost buy to instead purchase a 3-cost action or a Silver to collect the victory points. Similarly, you could play at least 2 money and then buy a Copper.

However, in a Colony game, it might be smarter to ramp up your economy and gain the Basilica VP later instead of stalling during the first few turns.

I know for some the wiki's strategy advice is just a joke, but it seems like it's a lot of new people's go to resource. As a result I worry stuff like this could hurt people's enjoyment of the game. But I don't have any particular strategy advice to replace it though. So what do people recommend in cases like this? Just delete it? Add a note that this advice is suspect? Are there wiki best practices that cover this sort of thing?

14

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Question- What is an Engine

« on: July 26, 2018, 11:32:57 am »

The problem I have with the term "engine" is that with more expansions and better play, it's becoming increasingly clear that the vast majority of the time, an "engine" of some kind is the correct build on a board. That makes the term "engine" and discussing "engine" versus "not engine" mostly strategically useless because what the best engine will look like and the build path to achieve it on any given board could vary widely from kingdom to kingdom and be very complex or unclear.

Saying "build an engine" on a given kingdom almost amounts to saying something generic, like "play well". It's mostly vacuous and minimally useful once you are beyond the point of understanding this type of deck is possible to build and should be built often.

This is a good thing. Dominion is a better, more complex, more fun game when the correct strategy for a kingdom is not something super simple. But it means we should resist using "build an engine" to end, rather than begin, a discussion of strategy.

I agree with this at the highest levels of play, but I think a more simplified (maybe even less accurate in practice?) definition can still be useful to people learning to get better at the game. This is one of the things I was trying to get at with the "skill plateaus" article I wrote...and then never revised  . That people learn these principles and guidelines for play before discovering that stronger play actually requires progressively more complex and nuanced understanding of those principles and guidelines. But you need those oversimplified rules and definitions to even be able to recognize that.

For example, I initially didn't like Awaclus's definition because it seems to describe the ideal engine, not lots of engines in practice. But that ideal is much easier for a lower level player to wrap their head around than most of the definitions people have presented here, and many "less-ideal" engines are striving for that ideal but just make do with what they have.

I guess that means I'm just echoing what others have said here already: that we need more clarification on what this definition is for. What level of players is it directed at? What is it being used to better understand or teach? Who is expected to use it and when? Why does the definition need to be more standardized than the "gut feel" definition that many people probably generally agree on? Etc.

15

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Favorite Expansions in 2018

« on: July 17, 2018, 11:42:14 am »

I've not bothered ranking all the expansions, but Prosperity is definitely one I don't hate. It contains several of the game's signature cards!

Are there expansions you do hate? If so, why?

16

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Reactions

« on: July 17, 2018, 11:31:55 am »

1) My favorite reaction card is Diplomat. But my favorite reaction would be Watchtower's. It's so versatile, and I like reactions that can both protect you from attacks and be used strategically on your own turn.

2) Definitely Secret Chamber. But of still existing cards: maybe Beggar? I think the card is a lot of fun, but I honestly don't know if I've ever used the reaction before.

3) Probably Watchtower, but I find the non-terminal buy on Market Square to be really useful, and Hermit/Market Square is a cool combo.

17

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Why I'm quitting Dominion for the foreseeable future (not satire)

« on: July 11, 2018, 11:44:24 am »

I have literally no idea what you mean by "technically" here.

"Literally" is in-and-of-itself another abomination of modern English.

People's resistance to literally used as an intensifier is one of the tics of language prescriptivists that most bothers me. I get especially irritated when people try to correct it by saying "you mean figuratively." No, I don't; figuratively is not used as an intensifier. Furthermore, "literally" has been used in this way for ages (the OED's entries start in 1769) and this is now the most common use of the word.

Also, just for fun, here's Kurt Vonnegut on semicolons:

Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.

18

Dominion Articles / Re: How to be good at Dominion

« on: March 26, 2018, 09:22:34 am »

I just want to draw some attention to the concept that you have to keep challenging yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone if you want to get better at the game.

And I think just saying this might be more effective at accomplishing that goal than your article is. Part of that is because of how off-putting it begins. It doesn't matter how short or long it is when it starts with the statement: "Always keep in mind that winning is more important than having fun." For me, at best this makes you sound like you're out of touch with why many people play dominion (so then why would I listen to what else you have to say?), and at the worst it just makes you sound like a dick (so, again, I have no incentive to keep reading). Personally, I would have never read the whole thing if I wasn't already familiar with your eccentricities, Awaclus (and to be clear, this isn't intended as an insult. It means I kept reading because I think you often have worthwhile things to say even when the way you say them puts me off).

I think it could also help to start off this article with a clear "thesis" statement. I think something like "To improve at playing Dominion you have to keep challenging yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone. For this purpose, always keep in mind that winning is more important than having fun..." would have made that first sentence much more palatable even without revising it.

Otherwise, I agree with Chris is me's suggestions.

I think there is a problem with this strategy: if you're not having fun, there's a good chance you'll stop playing.

Sure, if you're not determined enough.

I'm confused by this. Why play Dominion if you're not having fun?

19

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Lets discuss hinterlands cards:tunnel

« on: March 14, 2018, 02:51:09 pm »

Tunnel at 5 also loses some functionality. At 5, people would only buy it for taking advantage of the gold gain. In the late game players would only buy it if the duchies had already run out. At 3, they can be cheap VP if you have less than 5 or multiple buys. In other words, pricing Tunnel at 5 makes it a much less interesting and versatile card.

20

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Why Dominion Sucks!

« on: March 12, 2018, 01:09:17 pm »

If you want to play designed kingdoms you should uh stop playing exclusively rated automatch.

Yeah, I feel like this is a "bug" of Dominion Online rather than Dominion the tabletop game. I think one of the best things Donald did was not be prescriptive about how to select kingdom cards. From the Dominion rules: "In later games, players can choose the 10 Kingdom cards using any method they agree on."

In other words, you might consider the presence of Silver and Gold as allowing for the possibility of full random, rather than limiting you to it.

21

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Favorite Expansions in 2018

« on: March 05, 2018, 10:23:26 am »

I guess I had better post my list since it might throw these results off somewhat. It's interesting how much my ranking this time around has changed from when I did this last year:

1- Empires
2- Intrigue 2nd ed.
3- Prosperity
4- Dark Ages
5- Guilds
6- Hinterlands
7- Alchemy
8- Adventures
9- Cornucopia
10- Dominion 2nd ed
11- Seaside

(I haven't played enough Nocturne to rank it)

What's wrong with cornucopia

For a small set it has a lot of cards that I find boring or uninteresting: Harvest, Fortune Teller, Farming Village. Young Witch is kinda fun for the extra card, but I don't really get excited when I play with it. Hunting Party is solid, but doesn't really excite me either. Hamlet is a good card, but the people I play with makes me not enjoy it being out (I've found more people fall for a village idiot trap with it than other villages, and at least one person I play with gets AP with it for some reason).  So that's about half the set that I'm kinda meh on.

I really like a lot of the remaining cards, though. Menagerie and HoP are some of my favorite cards, and Tournament and Jester can be great fun with my group. But as a whole, it seems to have a higher percentage of misses for me than most other sets.

22

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Favorite Expansions in 2018

« on: February 26, 2018, 02:48:52 pm »

I took people's responses here, ranking their favorite dominion expansions, and did some analysis on them. I included 11 people's responses, anyone who gave a ranking of their favorite 12 expansions, and the post seemed sincere (sorry alphabetical guy).  From these responses, the average ranking from best to worst was (with 1 being favorite and 12 being least favorite; so the average score is 6.5):

Tier 1 (1-4)

1.  2.68 Adventures (4.25 people rated this as favorite, [1 person ranked 4 as his favorite])

...

Tier 4 (10-12)

12 10.36 Alchemy (1 favorite; everyone else rated it 10-12th)

I guess I had better post my list since it might throw these results off somewhat. It's interesting how much my ranking this time around has changed from when I did this last year:

1- Empires
2- Intrigue 2nd ed.
3- Prosperity
4- Dark Ages
5- Guilds
6- Hinterlands
7- Alchemy
8- Adventures
9- Cornucopia
10- Dominion 2nd ed
11- Seaside

(I haven't played enough Nocturne to rank it)

23

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: November 28, 2017, 10:47:38 am »

Maybe it's just me, but the last few sets have seemed more flavorful than previous sets, and Nocturne seems like the most flavorful of all. The secret history also mentions a few cards that seemed to start with a card name and found mechanics that matched (Necromancer, Vampire, Werewolf, sorta Changeling, maybe more).

So, I was wondering has flavor become more important for you in design? If so, was that a conscious decision? If not, have more recent sets just become more flavorful because you've gotten better at naming cards?

(To be clear, I've never been one of those "Dominion is bland" people, but I still feel like there's been more resonant cards lately.)

24

Dominion General Discussion / Re: How to Win Less...

« on: November 14, 2017, 06:38:58 pm »

Stole this tip from LFN: Identify a card in the kingdom you think is most important, and challenge yourself to win without ever buying that key card.

Can you beat Witch without buying it? The engine without ever getting a Village?

This is one of my common strategies, and I haven't found that it makes the game any less fun for those involved.

If the people you are playing are okay with knowing that you are handicapping yourself, I've tried a couple variations on this too:

1) letting people know which card you think is most powerful on the board, that you are going to avoid it, but they are welcome to use it. This can work for less experienced players who might think you aren't buying a certain card because you think it's weak.

2) letting the other players pick the card that I can't buy. This can get other players into the habit of identifying key cards in a kingdom but only works if people are familiar with the game.

25

Dominion Articles / Re: Etiquette in Dominion Online

« on: October 31, 2017, 01:30:00 pm »

Generally I agree with these points, and think it's useful that such an article exists.

That being said, this rubbed me the wrong way:

Sometimes you are a lucky boy

Generally, I think it's a good idea to be as inclusive as possible, especially when discussing a hobby that is often assumed to be less welcoming to women.


On another note, when is it appropriate to discuss strategy, if ever? Sometimes I want to give advice because I genuinely want to help someone become a better player, but I can see how this might inevitably come off as condescending to some people. Is it just always a bad idea unless you are praising your opponent or criticizing your own play?