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201

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Neat card interactions that were useful in the game you found them in.

« on: December 24, 2017, 06:11:34 am »

Rocks + Transmogrify can be neat if there are reasons to gain Silver (like Catapult or lack of better non-Gold +$).
Throne Room variants + Nobles also works. Four Nobles gets your handsize to 7, but you can get your handsize to 8 with two Nobles and a Throne Room.

202

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Neat and potentially useful card interactions

« on: December 24, 2017, 06:03:08 am »

I mean, sure, but like, University combos with Highway no better than it does with, say, Treasury.

Sometimes there are actions that cost $6+ on the board so that isn't always true. More importantly though Treasury is a really nice card with University and Highway is no worse. I don't think University/Highway is an amazing combo or anything (unless Kings Court or something is on the board). I was mainly disagreeing with JThorne saying that they almost belong in the "annoying and potentially harmful" thread, which obviously isn't true.

Right, I am an idiot. University specifies 'action'. I was looking for a non-terminal anything gainer to combo with Highway for gaining several Provinces each turn. Artificer requires either a lot of Highways or a lot of discards, Vampire works, but Bat doesn't gain, Devil's Workshop only lets you do it once each turn, Cobbler is played at start-of-turn, Wish is hard to get.

203

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Magic Lamp is the dumbest card-shaped thing

« on: December 23, 2017, 11:17:01 am »

For people who have actually played with Wish: how does it compare to Overlord?
Aside from the obvious differences like Wish being one time only, getting them, Wish getting non-actions and $6-costs.

Well, there are really no other differences than the obvious ones.

But how do they play? How much of a difference do those differences make?

204

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Magic Lamp is the dumbest card-shaped thing

« on: December 23, 2017, 05:27:29 am »

For people who have actually played with Wish: how does it compare to Overlord?
Aside from the obvious differences like Wish being one time only, getting them, Wish getting non-actions and $6-costs.

205

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Magic Lamp is the dumbest card-shaped thing

« on: December 22, 2017, 03:00:47 pm »

It is a larger consideration, but you don't buy Leprechaun until you can do that consistently. You start the game with Magic Lamp in your deck.

Do you not? $3 looks like a good price for a card that gives you early Golds in exchange for getting Hexed a bit. Leprechaun/Night Watchman, for example, looks like it would be a strong opening.

The problem is that you don't want to get Hexed and you don't really want too many Golds either, and Leprechaun itself is a terminal stop that doesn't give you any money.

But Gold is such good trash-for-benefit fodder.

206

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: December 22, 2017, 02:59:36 pm »

Also, a few pages back in this very thread http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=5799.msg732653#msg732653.

Do you ever draw inspirations from other games for your cards?

I don't mean "do you rip off other games" but rather are any cards intended to be secret cameos or homages?

Walled Village and Governor are openly homages to Carcassonne and Puerto Rico respectively.

That's true, although Walled Village doesn't imitate Carcassonne in any way, it just has that title. Governor does imitate Puerto Rico.

I don't think there are any secret cameos/homages. I blab that stuff. You could read all the Secret Histories to see if I'm forgetting one. I'm not thinking of one. Okay Chariot Race has the War mechanic. Mountain Pass has bidding, I got that from games with bidding. Keep has area control.

That was probably it. It probably lodged in my brain somewhere and then popped up, masquerading as a spontaneous thought.

That's telekinesis.

207

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Neat and potentially useful card interactions

« on: December 22, 2017, 02:57:55 pm »

I just flooded my deck with cellars and tunnels and it worked.

Also, highway + university.

208

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: December 21, 2017, 08:30:25 am »

To ask a rather general question, what is your experience with playtesters and "minigames", such as Windfall/Leprechaun/others?

Also, now that Nocturne is released, is Rats still your favourite card?

209

Dominion General Discussion / Re: New German Promo 'Abbruch'

« on: December 20, 2017, 05:47:16 am »

Just got my Dutch one in the mail.
They gave it to me for complaining about translation errors to their customer service.

210

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Nocturne: a minor ergonomic gripe

« on: December 19, 2017, 06:50:20 am »

@OP
Worst come to worst, you can always grab a sharpie or pen, and write it onto the card itself (although I would research which ones to uses to leave minimal smudging).

Right, I'm gonna have to figure this out when I get Nocturne.

I usually go with 'if two or more kingdom cards require it, it goes in box X, if only one card requires it, it goes next to the card'.
So boons, hexes, states, spirits, wishes in box X, heirlooms next to their respective cards, lost in the woods with fool, bat with vampire, zombies with necromancer.

I would assume game owners would just put away Heirlooms with their respective Kingdom cards in the same pile/slot section.  So for example: 10 Pookas + 6 Cursed Gold, or 10 Trackers + 6 Pouches in the same storage slot (assuming it'll fit... esp. with sleeves )

I use folders with sleeves so I'm just gonna put 10 Pookas in one and 6 Cursed Gold in the one next to it.

211

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Fool is a pity

« on: December 19, 2017, 06:47:49 am »

I acknowledge the fact that it tries to be balanced for 2-4. It just doesn't always succeed. Why do you reckon the 2-player option is the standard for competitive play?

It's cute that it's possible to play with 3 or 4 players, especially for casual players. But it just doesn't work nearly as well.

By the way, this is not meant as a criticism towards Dominion in general, because I still think it's the second best 2-player board/card game in the world (after chess).

People like to compete online with 2 players because it's faster and there's less luck.

I have endlessly played Dominion with 3-5, thousands of games. You aren't going to convince me that it doesn't work.

Chess is a great example of what not to do in a board game.

I almost always play with 3 players (sometimes 4, rarely 2), and I can confirm that it works really well. I can understand that competitive is 2 players though, fewer decks means fewer stuff to track, fewer random factors, faster games and all piles are divisable by 2.

212

Dominion Articles / Would like a settlers/bustling village article.

« on: December 17, 2017, 06:17:11 am »

I've played a bunch with this split pile and although I'm more advanced than expert, I do have some thoughts on and experiences with settlers/bustling village, and I would like to see an article on them from someone with a bit more grip on the card. Some of this may be obvious. Exceptions apply.

Anyway, things I've noticed:

-Settlers is not a good opener. If you draw it on turn 3 or 5 you'll usually have nothing in discard, so it's just a cantrip. If you draw it in turn 4 it's usually a peddler. However, the average value of your deck will probably still be under $1 at this point, so it's still worse than Silver (not taking into account what Settlers and Silver does later in the game), because the card you draw has an average value under $1 (3 estates, 7 coppers, 1 other card). There's probably 12 cards in your deck after your second turn, so the probability of drawing it in your fourth turn is 5/12 (I think).
-Settlers and Bustling Village are useless in each first turn of your reshuffle (smaller decks make this happen more often).
-Bustling Village gives a lot of actions.
-Settlers is a less-reliable Peddler if you keep your coppers.
-Settlers and Bustling Village are quite order-dependent.
-There are not a lot of them.
-I think I'd usually prefer two cheap villages over one Bustling Village - higher chance to draw them with my +draw action.
-They get quite a bit better if you can control what's in your discard pile.
-They work very well with Dungeon. A single Dungeon play lets you put two of six cards in discard on your current turn, and two of seven cards in discard on your next. It can stay in play during the reshuffle to ensure your Settlers/Bustling Villages aren't 'dead' next turn, and if it causes the reshuffle you'll still have two cards in discard.

-In my experience, they do not seem to be great. In an engine I don't want Copper. With big money I don't want too many action cards to prevent dead-drawing. These cards seems better for large decks (smaller chance to get them in your first turn after a reshuffle), so when there are junkers or no good (Copper) trashing. You can get Bustling Village as a village if there are no other (cheaper) villages, but that would require for the Settlers to be bought/gained. They obviously work better with good sifters (which also make Coppers less problematic), and I think they work especially well with Dungeon.


I usually misthink something in long stuff like this so feel free to leave your thoughts about these cards.

213

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Tom Vasel Nocturne Review

« on: December 17, 2017, 05:23:34 am »

(pre-game shuffling is rare in Dominion besides your own deck)

Randomizer cards.

I assume most people use an app.

I wrote my own Java application because I couldn't find a randomizer application with the functionality I wanted.

214

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Tom Vasel Nocturne Review

« on: December 16, 2017, 10:55:27 am »

My theory is that with Fool's Gold / Tragic Hero / Small Castle, you're trashing it for another card, so it's like exchanging it for a card that you think is better - that feels like a good thing to do. For Mining Village / Hermit, you're trashing it for a one-off effect, and although that can be worth it, it can feel like you trashed a useful card for something that doesn't have a lasting effect.

Agreed.

215

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Tom Vasel Nocturne Review

« on: December 16, 2017, 05:48:57 am »

Finally, he definitely gets some of the strategic subtleties wrong, such as his comments about how it can be hard to get your Tragic Hero to upgrade into a treasure (whereas most Dominion players are trying to figure out how to keep that from happening). Once again, that's understandable for someone who's not as into Dominion as the people on the forum. "The card can turn into a treasure, so that should be my goal with it." Don't hold that thinking against him. And he does at least mention that it's an easy way to get Platinum.

I see that happening with Fool's Gold too. Also with Champion (no Diadem). Or playing Small Castle too early.
Oddly enough I barely see people trashing their Mining Village/Hermit.

I think "if it costs more, it is better" is an oft-used heuristic for new players. And it's not that bad of a heuristic, it just can't keep up as you progress.
I also commonly see "you should buy stuff experienced players are buying" and "you should buy things you don't have yet", the former of which helps in identifying the difference between what you're doing and how those cards should be used well, and the latter of which helps in experimenting with cards to find their strengths/weaknesses.

216

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Nocturne: a minor ergonomic gripe

« on: December 16, 2017, 05:38:35 am »

Right, I'm gonna have to figure this out when I get Nocturne.

I usually go with 'if two or more kingdom cards require it, it goes in box X, if only one card requires it, it goes next to the card'.
So boons, hexes, states, spirits, wishes in box X, heirlooms next to their respective cards, lost in the woods with fool, bat with vampire, zombies with necromancer.

217

Dominion Articles / Re: Bard is not weak

« on: December 16, 2017, 05:33:45 am »

So...

Bard is like Baron?

They both share cost, type, first three letters, let you hit $5 early, and they can be bad.

218

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dutch second edition Dominion is in stores.

« on: December 16, 2017, 05:27:52 am »

I don't have that experience, it looks weird but that's really the only thing. If i mix my english cards with the dutch cards of my friends, some people say "Hey, half of these cards are in english, why is that", and then we have to give a short explanation, but that's that. I really don't mind. Maybe i even like the weirdness.

If you ever ended up mixing Dutch and English base cards, you could get some interesting interactions with things that care about a card's name!

Are there two different cards which have the same name in two different language?
Like Magpie being "Cardname" in German, and Cultist being "Cardname" in Finnish.

What do the rules say about mixing languages? Nothing, as far as I know.

219

Dominion: Nocturne Previews / Re: Nocturne Initial Impressions

« on: December 15, 2017, 08:10:42 am »

So honestly, I'm actually sort of glad that the Dutch translation probably won't be here for another year.

The 999 games customer service told me they would print errata cards in spring, so maybe Nocturne will also happen then.

And then we'll have to wait another half year for Nocturne errata.

220

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dutch second edition Dominion is in stores.

« on: December 15, 2017, 08:08:55 am »

'Oude bekende' for 'Familiar' is a pretty bad translation, yes. Although to be fair, how would you translate 'Familiar' in Dutch? I don't think our local folklore has a word for familiar spirits... Maybe something like 'Totemdier' (totem animal) would be closest.

Come to think of it, familiar spirits are also in the Bible. The King James Version of the Bible has 15 references to familiar spirits. The Dutch Statenvertaling of the Bible often (but not always) translates it with 'waarzeggende geest' (literally: 'fortune telling spirit'). Still a somewhat awkward translation.

Perhaps the best translation is given by http://www.mijnwoordenboek.nl/vertaal/EN/NL/familiar - 'Huisgeest' (house spirit).

I like it.

Also, I have no problem with oddly ordered cards, even before I got my own storage solution.

221

Dominion Articles / Re: Poacher

« on: December 14, 2017, 08:16:24 am »

I like how straightforward this is.
Do you want to add synergies/anti-synergies/competing cards or leave it as is?

...the article goes into quite a lot of detail of the kind of cards it works with, the kind of boards that hurt it, and other variants of the same concept? What’s missing?

If you mean like, specifically the bulleted list form, eh, people should read.

I mean like City and Tower, which also track empty piles, what to do/buy if there are similar cards on the board (Peddler, Oasis, maybe Mill/Merchant). Maybe Adventures tokens (not how Adventures tokens influence emptying piles, but the fact that Poacher and tokens synergize quite well).

Especially what happens when Poacher and City are both on the board is quite interesting.

But again, the article doesn't have to go in-depth about specific card interactions.

222

Dominion Articles / Re: Secret Passage: Cute Tricks and Creativity in Dominion

« on: December 14, 2017, 07:01:23 am »

I'd like some math on what to do when you have more than one Secret Passage and you want specific cards next turn.
Suppose I have just played a Laboratory and now I have three Secret Passages, and three cards I want next turn.

Deck: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Hand: c1 - c2 - c3 - sp1 - sp2 - sp3
Play: (leaving out Laboratory for clarity)

Play Secret Passage and draw two cards. Suppose I want c1, c2, and c3 in my next turn.

Deck: 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Hand: 1 - 2 - c1 - c2 - c3 - sp2 - sp3
Play: sp1

I place c1 under the fourth card of my deck.

Deck: 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - c1
Hand: 1 - 2 - c2 - c3 - sp2 - sp3
Play: sp1

I play another Secret Passage and draw two cards.

Deck: 5 - 6 - c1
Hand: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - c2 - c3 - sp3
Play: sp1 - sp2

I place c2 under the second card of my deck.

Deck: 5 - 6 - c2 - c1
Hand: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - c3 - sp3
Play: sp1 - sp2

I play my third and last secret passage and draw two more cards.

Deck: c2 - c1
Hand: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - c3
Play: sp1 - sp2 - sp3

I place c3 on top of my deck.

Deck: c3 - c2 - c1 - 7
Hand: 1 - 2 -3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Play: sp1 - sp2 - sp3

Looking at this it's basically just "place the card you want next turn under the [insert amount of draw you have left in your hand]th card of your deck." Unless of course if your draw gives you more draw, in which case Secret Passage rewards you for careful deck-tracking. This, of course, changes if you want to specifically place cards on top of your deck or on the bottom.

I still need to get my hands on secret passage though, Dutch second edition Intrigue is not in stores yet.

223

Dominion Articles / Re: Poacher

« on: December 14, 2017, 06:47:02 am »

I like how straightforward this is.
Do you want to add synergies/anti-synergies/competing cards or leave it as is?

224

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dutch second edition Dominion is in stores.

« on: December 13, 2017, 12:20:03 pm »

did they do that thing again where they put the cards in the exact same order as the english version, so there's no logical alphabetical order and it's terrible to find where the card is you're looking for?

That alone is enough for me to never buy the dutch version.
(+ it's probably more realistic i play with someone who doesn't understand dutch then with someone who doesn't understand enough english)

Yeah, they did that too. I think Seaside is the only one where they actually sorted it properly. Although I use my own storage solution instead of 11 boxes, but before my storage solution it wasn't much of a problem for me because I know every translation by head ('oude bekende'. *shudders*).

I mostly go with Dutch because it's a lot cheaper for me and I can claim them as my Christmas package.

225

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dutch second edition Dominion is in stores.

« on: December 13, 2017, 11:50:36 am »

I just received a response from 999 games.
They are planning to re-print cards with errata in spring, and they offered to send me the Dutch Dismantle for my  troubles.

They may not be the best at translating but I do like their customer service.