51
General Discussion / Re: What's your username mean
« on: October 29, 2012, 04:24:10 am »
I like 80's music. I am a chemical engineer. Name seemed to fit.
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52
General Discussion / Re: "You think too much"
« on: October 29, 2012, 04:21:13 am »
My brain can't not think. I am always thinking about everything and anything, and I thrive at work when I have multiple projects to put my teeth into (like, 3 or 4 in parallel).
At home, I just keep going and going. The only way for me to get relaxation is by "drowning" my brain in one task, such as watching a movie, play a game, household chores (doesn't really work well, unless it's building something), or participate in sports.
I went to a psychologist to treat my claustrophobia (it really sucks when you can't be in a closed metal tube filled with chairs and lots of other people when you have to travel large distances) and she tried two approaches. One approach failed completely: she tried to make me "not think". I have no idea how to do that. She was saying things like, "close your eyes, sit relaxed, concentrate on your hand, feel it getting heavier, etc." I decided this wouldn't work for me when I caught myself thinking: "my hand has a constant mass, and I am not moving it. Therefore, its weight is constant, so it can't get heavier. No wait, scratch that, maybe the temperature in the room has just risen, then I will probably send more blood to my extremities to cool my body down, and..... wait, that's not the intention of this exercise."
(The other approach consisted of a method regulating my thoughts; this helped tremendously and I am proud to say that I can now fly without going into blind panick. Still don't like it, and still tend to avoid cramped or crowded places, but it's progress... Who would have thought that not all psychologists are quacks?)
Thinking rules.
At home, I just keep going and going. The only way for me to get relaxation is by "drowning" my brain in one task, such as watching a movie, play a game, household chores (doesn't really work well, unless it's building something), or participate in sports.
I went to a psychologist to treat my claustrophobia (it really sucks when you can't be in a closed metal tube filled with chairs and lots of other people when you have to travel large distances) and she tried two approaches. One approach failed completely: she tried to make me "not think". I have no idea how to do that. She was saying things like, "close your eyes, sit relaxed, concentrate on your hand, feel it getting heavier, etc." I decided this wouldn't work for me when I caught myself thinking: "my hand has a constant mass, and I am not moving it. Therefore, its weight is constant, so it can't get heavier. No wait, scratch that, maybe the temperature in the room has just risen, then I will probably send more blood to my extremities to cool my body down, and..... wait, that's not the intention of this exercise."
(The other approach consisted of a method regulating my thoughts; this helped tremendously and I am proud to say that I can now fly without going into blind panick. Still don't like it, and still tend to avoid cramped or crowded places, but it's progress... Who would have thought that not all psychologists are quacks?)
Thinking rules.
53
Other Games / Re: A bunch of games I learned recently
« on: October 19, 2012, 09:50:11 am »
6nimmt! has the best fun/laughs to rules ratio of any game I've ever played.
Not to mention an extremely favorable fun/$ ratio. I bought my copy for 5 euro, and have played many, many games. Embrace the chaos! Even better: cause the chaos! Then again, I'm one of those people who kept purposely picking up the diseases in the Atomic Bomberman videogame and laughing my ass off as 5 players including myself died in a sea of short fused thrown bombs...
54
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Spy/Ghost Ship
« on: October 19, 2012, 06:43:57 am »
Robz, I really think there is another 4 coster, which also gives you an action back, that is just so much better than spy against ghost ship, and I am really surprised you didn't think of it.
55
Other Games / Re: Looking for lunchtime games (easy and mess-proof)
« on: September 18, 2012, 05:36:16 am »
Take 5! is loads of fun, easy to pick up, easy to add players in the middle of a match (chaos reigns anyway), not too serious (won't put off inexperienced players), playable up to 10 players, short so you can "add one more game" or "damn I have a meeting now". I have yet to come across anybody who didn't like it.
It does use cards, but it is a very cheap game ($10-ish or lower), so if all players pitch in a few dollars/euros after a coffee-disaster you can replace the game.
I wish I could convince colleagues to play games during lunchtime... oh well.
EDIT: Take 5! is the name on the box on my shelf. In Germany it is called 6 Nimmt! On BGG it seems that Take 5! refers to another, related game? Anyway, it is the game where everybody simultaneously selects a card from hand, by putting it face down on the table. Then they are flipped over and added to the play area in ascending order (i.e. not necessarily player order), a player whose card adds the 6th card to a row must take the previous 5 cards in the row with the associated negative VP. That's the game I'm talking about.
It does use cards, but it is a very cheap game ($10-ish or lower), so if all players pitch in a few dollars/euros after a coffee-disaster you can replace the game.
I wish I could convince colleagues to play games during lunchtime... oh well.
EDIT: Take 5! is the name on the box on my shelf. In Germany it is called 6 Nimmt! On BGG it seems that Take 5! refers to another, related game? Anyway, it is the game where everybody simultaneously selects a card from hand, by putting it face down on the table. Then they are flipped over and added to the play area in ascending order (i.e. not necessarily player order), a player whose card adds the 6th card to a row must take the previous 5 cards in the row with the associated negative VP. That's the game I'm talking about.
56
Other Games / Re: What other games are as good as Dominion?
« on: September 10, 2012, 08:31:18 am »The game lends itself to really big combo's which are very fun to play.Weird, I found the opposite about Ascension. (To be fair, I've only played it on the iPad vs an AI.)
There are very few cards that draw 2 or more cards, so you can't draw even a small deck. So your big combos are limited to tiny decks with lots of cantrips. But trashers mostly just trash one card at a time, so it takes ages to get to this deck size even if you are lucky enough to get an early trasher. And your opponent wants cantrips too, so it's not easy to load up on them.
The only reliable exception I've seen is the Storm of Souls expansion when the Enlightened event is up, when you can smack Fanatics to go through a ton of cards in one turn.
It is true that there are not many cards that draw loads of cards, and that trashers don't trash many cards. But this is completely offset by the fact that dead draw doesn't exist, there is no need to buy any cards that are completely dead (Estates, Duchies and Provinces in Dominion) and there are loads of cards that draw one card (no really, if you missed them, you had a messed up game). The constructs (these are like durations, except they stay out) help you to keep a slim-enough deck. It is true that often you don't draw your whole deck; but is that really necessary? In Dominion it is a good thing usually, because it guarantees consistency, but in Ascension the Center Row (the marketplace) keeps changing so much that consistency doesn't really pay off anyway. Perhaps you made the mistake I make too often: can't afford/want to buy anything from the center row, buy a bunch of Heavy Infantry and/or Mystics, such that I get bogged down and return to step 1: can't afford/want to buy anything from the center row.
In Dominion that might happen as well: you are trying to build an engine, have 3$ and a buy, do you buy a silver, a herbalist, a chancellor, or do you take the secret option: nothing? Heavy Infantry and Mystics have pretty much a similar effect on your Ascension deck as a silver has on your Dominion deck!
I only own base (Chronicle of the Godslayer) and Return of the Fallen (and my telephone can only be used for old-fashioned stuff, such as talking to people who are not near you
, and by the end of the game I am usually chaining stuff up, barring the rare circumstance where I completely messed up, or where I loaded up on constructs too much and someone else manages to keep killing sea tyrants and corrosive widows, or similar situations. Please do note: everything I talk about is 2 player. Haven't played more than a handful of games with >2 players, and none with experienced opponents.EDIT: what I don't think came across good enough: it's still chaining even if it doesn't draw your whole deck.
57
Other Games / Re: What other games are as good as Dominion?
« on: September 07, 2012, 06:47:07 am »I played Ascension a couple weeks ago and was dazzled by how it somehow managed to combine every aspect I hate about Dominion into a standalone game.
Opinions vary... which "aspects you hate" are you talking about? Ascension was my first deck builder and I still really like it...
It is not such a luck-fest as people claim - otherwise my wife wouldn't beat me this often! (i.e. better players win more than their fair share, but much less than 100% of all games)
Apart from the deckbuilding mechanic, it is quite different from Dominion though, I agree with that. There is no such concept as "actions" or "buys" - you can play any card you have from your hand any time during the main phase of your turn, and can buy or gain as many cards as you can afford. This makes for very quick ramp up of decks, and it eliminates dead-draws. You can switch between buying and drawing etc. and back again for as much as you like...
In Dominion you purchase "cards that do stuff (which might also give you money)" and "cards that just give you money", both of which will help you get "cards that don't do stuff, but provide points". In Ascension, almost all cards provide effects, points as well as currency. There are two types of currency: runes and power. You spend runes to acquire new cards for your deck, and power to kill monsters. Each cards is worth points but it's not dead, it "does stuff" (i.e. give you runes and/or power, as well as draw, gain, trash or throne-room-like effects, or anything I haven't thought of now). Killing a monster will get you bonuses as well and will give you point tokens; this is a limited supply and the game ends when this supply is empty.
The supply works different from Dominion as well - there are always 6 randomly dealt cards in a "marketplace"; if you buy, kill or gain one, then that card is immediately replaced, so that you can also get its replacement during the same turn. All cards in the game are shuffled in one giant deck, which you don't typically run through during a game, so there is no guarantee that all your combo pieces will come up; the winner is mostly determined on reacting accordingly (and yes, you can win if the opponent gets turn 1 Arbiter of the Precipice and you don't). If there is nothing worthwile to buy or kill, there is a giant stack of vanilla money or power givers, as well as a limitless supply of a vanilla type of monster as consolation prizes.
The game lends itself to really big combo's which are very fun to play. Which is also its biggest weakness because these same combo's are a lot less fun to observe (ref: village-smithy-village-smithy-etc....-"Then I'm done with my action phase, so I'll play 7 coppers, and buy..., an..., (pause to think)..., I know, another village!"
)In addition, there is a world of difference between 2 players and more-than-2 players. There are a few monster-killing-effects that provide player interaction, but the bulk of the interaction is through the marketplace from which you can buy cards. In that respect, it's not so much a deck-building game as it is a "prevent your opponent from building a cohesive deck" game. i.e., you win not so much by what you get yourself, but by what you deny your opponent. And of course, this creates an unbalance with >2 players: either the one sitting to the left of the weakest player wins, or one player denies anything useful to his left neighbour while also eliminating himself - such that player 3 wins.
I hear this is completely undone by using the 2v2 team rules provided you have 4 players; but I haven't tried those. After a few hundred games of Ascension, Dominion was gifted to us and it was the "new thing". In addition, the medieval-kingdom theme fares a lot better than the fantasy-world-elves-and-other-creatures-killing-monsters theme with our group of friends, so it takes loads of effort to get this game onto the table...
Oh well, just wanted to share my point of view.
58
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Powered-up Thief
« on: September 03, 2012, 05:22:00 am »
Here's an idea, without mucking too much with the basic thief:
what if thief may place one of the revealed cards back on the deck?
That way, you also tack a spy/rabble-ish effect on, which might just make it acceptable.
Or maybe make it mandatory, otherwise it might become too good at $4, when bought mid/late game. Or not. I haven't thought this through very well.
PS: so what I mean: you are still forced to trash coppers but you also get to put a green card on top.
PS2: sorry for reviving this, apparantely I clicked a link in a different thread and ended up in this one, while forgetting about clicking anywhere. Again, sorry.
what if thief may place one of the revealed cards back on the deck?
That way, you also tack a spy/rabble-ish effect on, which might just make it acceptable.
Or maybe make it mandatory, otherwise it might become too good at $4, when bought mid/late game. Or not. I haven't thought this through very well
.PS: so what I mean: you are still forced to trash coppers but you also get to put a green card on top.
PS2: sorry for reviving this, apparantely I clicked a link in a different thread and ended up in this one, while forgetting about clicking anywhere. Again, sorry.
59
Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Opening Estate
« on: August 29, 2012, 04:11:08 am »...Upgrading into a choice $2...
All the other stuff you mention seems correct, but this not so: if there is a $2 you want, you wouldn't have opened 5/nothing regardless of estate vs. shelter; you would have just bought the $2 you want. This is still a more logical approach than buying nothing now, and hoping your upgrade and hovel collide on a future turn. If you want more than 1 of the $2 card (you can't have enough Pearl Divers! :p) you can buy one now and then upgrade into it later. If you don't want 2 of them, then still do this, you're not forced to play them (barring a few, what are they called, oh yeah "edge cases"
, you double the probability of having it in hand when you need it, and not playing it makes it no more a dead card than the hovel is (again, barring "edge cases").So except for this nitpicked-split-hair: For the rest: good call!
60
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: variant on embargo
« on: August 28, 2012, 01:45:45 am »Copper has both of these on, how much does it cost? 1 or 0? Because if you do Tax first, and Subdue after, it costs 0, in opposite order, 1.I don't think it works like that. I think you calculate the total cost, then, if it's less than 0, go "whoops" and bump it up.
Razorborne, that was the idea indeed... (I especially like this description
So a pile with both a Tax and a Subsidy token, will cost (Base Cost + $1 - $1 = Base Cost). If you then play this card, remove the tax token, flip it over and re-place it as a Subsidy token on the very same pile, this means there are now 2 Subsidy tokens on the pile, and thus it costs $2 less (but never less than $0) (so subsidizing copper or curse will have no effect, but taxing it will).Any ideas on how to make that more clear?
61
Variants and Fan Cards / variant on embargo
« on: August 27, 2012, 12:35:17 pm »
Hi,
Now that I made my first post in the Band-Of-Misfits-Rules-Questions-Thread, I might as well add in a second post while I'm at it.
I have been thinking about a variant card on embargo. I first came up with a card similar to the one in this thread:
http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=486.msg6659#msg6659
(didn't want to revive an old thread)
In that thread, some very good points against it were made, most importantly the possibility for deadlock state: nobody has any money, coppers cost >0 which leads to infinite game. Second most importantly: the semi-deadlock state of "green cards cost heaps, nobody wants to or is able to finish the game", which leads to un-fun situations. So I kept thinking about it, and I might actually have an idea that might work, although it's very far from the Embargo starting point. But before I get around to testing it, I might as well post it here to see if I make a glaringly obvious mistake. So:
Lobbyist
cost 0
Remove a Subsidy or Tax token from any pile. Then, place a Subsidy or Tax token on any pile.
----
Setup: place two Tax tokens on this pile.
It would work as follows:
you create exactly two tokens; Each has Subsidy on one side, and Tax on the other. The Subsidy token reduces the pile's cost by 1$ (but never less than 0$), the Tax token increases cost by 1$. The tokens stack. This results in:
- The card starts at 2$ (nice pickup on a spare buy or useless turn) but playing it will make it easier for the opponent to also get one with a spare buy.
- a maximum cost increase (or decrease) of 2$ is possible on any pile (because there are only two tokens)
- note that this gives a maximum variation of 4$ if you switch both tokens from tax to subsidy or vice versa in your own turn!
- If both tokens have been moved, you can always pick up this card for 0$, so that infinite game is less likely
- If a token has been moved, the card is in someone's deck so the infinite game problem is relieved more (that's why I removed the trashing bit)
- it will give fun combo's with TFB's
- with a surplus of actions, you can really get a tactical game, where you end your turn by a +2 increase of province cost, or maybe you first -1 the Torturer pile, Workshop a Torturer, then +1 the Torturer pile before ending your turn, thus messing with your opponent's ability to get Torturers
- that's why I didn't give it a +action; it seems that that would overpower it.
I am still uncertain about several things:
- The name sucks. Lobbying is a post-Medieval term so it doesn't fit the theme. Any suggestions?
- maybe a single tax/subsidy token is better? In that case, should it still have base cost 0$?
- Did I really stop the infinite/un-fun game state problem associated with these tokenized-cost-alteration-shenanigans?
- anything I didn't think of?
thanks for discussing!
Now that I made my first post in the Band-Of-Misfits-Rules-Questions-Thread, I might as well add in a second post while I'm at it.
I have been thinking about a variant card on embargo. I first came up with a card similar to the one in this thread:
http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=486.msg6659#msg6659
(didn't want to revive an old thread)
In that thread, some very good points against it were made, most importantly the possibility for deadlock state: nobody has any money, coppers cost >0 which leads to infinite game. Second most importantly: the semi-deadlock state of "green cards cost heaps, nobody wants to or is able to finish the game", which leads to un-fun situations. So I kept thinking about it, and I might actually have an idea that might work, although it's very far from the Embargo starting point. But before I get around to testing it, I might as well post it here to see if I make a glaringly obvious mistake. So:
Lobbyist
cost 0
Remove a Subsidy or Tax token from any pile. Then, place a Subsidy or Tax token on any pile.
----
Setup: place two Tax tokens on this pile.
It would work as follows:
you create exactly two tokens; Each has Subsidy on one side, and Tax on the other. The Subsidy token reduces the pile's cost by 1$ (but never less than 0$), the Tax token increases cost by 1$. The tokens stack. This results in:
- The card starts at 2$ (nice pickup on a spare buy or useless turn) but playing it will make it easier for the opponent to also get one with a spare buy.
- a maximum cost increase (or decrease) of 2$ is possible on any pile (because there are only two tokens)
- note that this gives a maximum variation of 4$ if you switch both tokens from tax to subsidy or vice versa in your own turn!
- If both tokens have been moved, you can always pick up this card for 0$, so that infinite game is less likely
- If a token has been moved, the card is in someone's deck so the infinite game problem is relieved more (that's why I removed the trashing bit)
- it will give fun combo's with TFB's
- with a surplus of actions, you can really get a tactical game, where you end your turn by a +2 increase of province cost, or maybe you first -1 the Torturer pile, Workshop a Torturer, then +1 the Torturer pile before ending your turn, thus messing with your opponent's ability to get Torturers
- that's why I didn't give it a +action; it seems that that would overpower it.
I am still uncertain about several things:
- The name sucks. Lobbying is a post-Medieval term so it doesn't fit the theme. Any suggestions?
- maybe a single tax/subsidy token is better? In that case, should it still have base cost 0$?
- Did I really stop the infinite/un-fun game state problem associated with these tokenized-cost-alteration-shenanigans?
- anything I didn't think of?
thanks for discussing!
62
Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Band of Misfits rules questions
« on: August 27, 2012, 11:54:58 am »
Hi,
I just joined the forum specifically to post this
I have been lurking for a while now, and never had anything worthwile to add, but I think I actually have a suggestion that will resolve a lot of (maybe even all?) TR debates. Here goes nothing:
"Choose an action card in your hand. Put it into play, then execute its action twice."
(or thrice, in case of KC; that would also need a "you may" clause in the obvious place)
("resolve" instead of "execute"?) (definitely not "play", because one might confuse that for "I can't do this because I don't have another copy of the chosen card in hand")
I figure with this wording, any issue would be resolved:
- BOM can't be put into play without converting it into "whatever".
- Feast gets trashed, you gain a card, you can't execute the trashing bit, then you gain a card
- Treasure map gets trashed with a copy in hand, you qualify for the golds, then you must trash a copy in your hand if you have one, but this time you don't qualify for the golds.
- TR or KC just gets executed twice/thrice
- Mining Village gives you +2 action, + 1 card, then you may trash it immediately, if you do, you qualify for getting +2$, then it gives you another +2actions +1 card; now you may trash it immediately, but if you did on the previous run through, you can't because you did so already, so you can't qualify for +2$.
Anybody looking for a mental model, I guess this would be it. I think this would only leave the behavior with durations up to the rulebook.
This thread was a fun read!
I just joined the forum specifically to post this
I have been lurking for a while now, and never had anything worthwile to add, but I think I actually have a suggestion that will resolve a lot of (maybe even all?) TR debates. Here goes nothing:
"Choose an action card in your hand. Put it into play, then execute its action twice."
(or thrice, in case of KC; that would also need a "you may" clause in the obvious place)
("resolve" instead of "execute"?) (definitely not "play", because one might confuse that for "I can't do this because I don't have another copy of the chosen card in hand")
I figure with this wording, any issue would be resolved:
- BOM can't be put into play without converting it into "whatever".
- Feast gets trashed, you gain a card, you can't execute the trashing bit, then you gain a card
- Treasure map gets trashed with a copy in hand, you qualify for the golds, then you must trash a copy in your hand if you have one, but this time you don't qualify for the golds.
- TR or KC just gets executed twice/thrice
- Mining Village gives you +2 action, + 1 card, then you may trash it immediately, if you do, you qualify for getting +2$, then it gives you another +2actions +1 card; now you may trash it immediately, but if you did on the previous run through, you can't because you did so already, so you can't qualify for +2$.
Anybody looking for a mental model, I guess this would be it. I think this would only leave the behavior with durations up to the rulebook.
This thread was a fun read!