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126

Dominion Isotropic / Re: People to avoid on isotropic

« on: March 12, 2012, 09:05:17 pm »

this attitude always baffles me.  It's like sitting down to play chess with someone, making your first capture and having them stand up and say indignantly. "You CAPTURED my PAWN? That is SO unsportsmanlike. What a jerk!"

Without defending that attitude exactly (especially the copping one part), I would note that there does seem to be a variance of opinion on the question of attack cards. Unlike in chess, where the players are immediately battling over the same space, it is possible, and indeed inevitable on certain boards, to play Dominion non-interactively. And there does seem to be a fair segment of who prefer to play that way.

This is probably in some measure a function of level; I think it's fair to say - and this was certainly the case for me and my friends - that starting out in the game you want to get a feel for using the cards and building a deck, and while you're doing that being buried in curses, coppers and three-card hands is not much fun. (I guess it's a bit like if your first game of football as a kid were tackle and immediate rush like 'real' football; you'd be so overwhelmed you'd never get a chance to learn how to set up and run plays, and would probably wind up hating the game pretty quick.) As one gains more experience and knows what one's doing a bit more, one comes to see attacks as simply a part of the game, and accepts that for example a curse-heavy game will be a different, more slogging kind of game than the more immediately appealing action-rich ones.

That said there are probably also some who never warm to the concept. Perhaps there could be at some point a separate room or forum for those who wish to play 'peacably', whether for training purposes or just out of preference? Of course those games couldn't be rated on the main leaderboard.

Or is the general feeling that trial by fire is best? In that case I suppose those who wish to avoid attack games could sort themselves out by level, or by using the card-constraints function...

127

Game Reports / Re: Dear My Opponent: I am Sorry

« on: March 12, 2012, 04:46:16 pm »

Dear SummerAnna,

I'm sorry that I made you sit through minutes of King's Court/Embassy/Hamlet combo clicking, only to follow that up with 9 possessions. I'm sure it wasn't fun for you. http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/11/game-20120311-143712-0f0692f8.html

I would've said "Mind if we switch computers? You play as me I'll play as you " if I had to face that.

Sounds like that calls for a new card:
REPOSSESSION: If you have two Goons, send them to repossess opponent's computer. Then finish whipping own your sorry butt playing as him.

128

Rules Questions / Re: Am I required to tell a forgetful player who played smuggler what I just bought?

« on: February 11, 2012, 10:30:31 pm »

 Because you didn't want the next guy to smuggle a Duchy! 

129

Rules Questions / Re: Am I required to tell a forgetful player who played smuggler what I just bought?

« on: February 11, 2012, 06:49:44 pm »

It seems the card does not give you a choice to smuggle or not, so once you've played it, you must gain a copy of the (or a) card your RHO bought if suitably priced. Thus the game cannot go on until you do so, so by extension it would seem mandatory for opponent to clarify what it is.

In that case I guess the conversation would be "I play a Smugglers. What card or choice of cards do I gain?"

130

Dominion General Discussion / Re: I have a problem

« on: July 16, 2011, 05:22:19 pm »

The leaderboard is part of the problem I think. Too much pressure to win and not just play for fun. I see my registered but unlevelled friends sign in and despair that my ranking will go down if I lose.

Astute observation. Are your friends unlevelled simply because they haven't played enough games yet, or is there some way to avoid having a level ranking?

131

Dominion General Discussion / Re: I have a problem

« on: July 16, 2011, 12:27:38 pm »

I love the responses here to this heartfelt plea.

But it does raise the one reservation I tend to have with Dominion, which I otherwise love: It sometimes seems a winning approach and a fun approach are not the same thing.

132

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Expert Advice for Novices: What did I do wrong??

« on: July 06, 2011, 11:23:15 am »

In this game, I mixed Chapel & Baron:
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110629-200820-850d4b3e.html

Just read through this game, and since this thread is asking for expert advice, thought I'd ask for thoughts about an endgame situation that arose in it. Namely, the double duchy buy on Turn 15 tko refers to.

Leading by one, with two provinces remaining, holding $11 and two buys - what's the percentage move, take the penultimate province, or go for the double duchy? (All else being equal, of course can depend somewhat on the deck situation; in this case looks like tko had just reshuffled, with both decks pretty strong, so the duchies less likely to encumber.)

I have no opinion on this, just curious what the sages would think! 

133

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Which is the card you hate the most?

« on: July 05, 2011, 05:08:47 pm »

I just played the most unspeakably unfun game with Possession. Now of course this was largely my own fault: I don't usually play with it, and thought I'd give it a try, and I did have some bad luck, drawing by all my gelt and the potion consecutively the first time around, thus getting jumped to it by opponent. But not having given a lot of thought to the card I also evidently forgot a seminal 'counter' post on theory's blog, Possession/Ambassador, and so the game became essentially a locus classicus for why those two don't mix. Oops.

But what really struck me about the game, as my opponent played three or four Possessions in one turn and sheepishly returned all my platinums - and ultimately my one unplayed Possession - to the supply, was how bad it felt for both of us. My opponent, obviously a very decent guy, seemed to feel almost as bad as I did. Doesn't that sound like the definition of a card to hate?

Of course it's all well and good to say the card can be defended against by a good player, that it's really not all that strong when countered correctly, etc. But the fact is almost by definition any game is not played only by experienced players, and while getting your butt whooped periodically is certainly a normal part of the learning process, it's hard to love a card that not only makes the loser never want to play again, but makes the winner feel like crap as well.

134

Rules Questions / Re: Throne room/king's court

« on: July 01, 2011, 11:54:00 am »

I never realized the wording difference between TR and KC. Seems kind of arbitrary. Has Donald ever mentioned why there's a difference?

He's mentioned he wishes he had worded TR like he eventually worded KC.

I guess that suggests amending TR to be voluntary like KC would be a legit variant for face-to-face play at least...

135

Dominion Articles / Re: Deck Control

« on: June 14, 2011, 12:27:05 pm »

Another question that occurs to a less experienced player is how exactly you cultivate the skills you capsulize as 'playing meticulously'. Do you train yourself to remember the cards, or does the ability develop naturally with many games played? Do you create a mental map of your deck and check off the cards as they are played? And are you able to do it while continuing to play at the speed Isotropic games tend to go? (I know I am often frustrated that little time for thought seems to be tolerated, though that's a separate topic.) I know serious bridge players remember pretty much all the cards as they go by - a skill so daunting to those who can't do it - but I'm not sure if they could tell you how.

136

Dominion Articles / Re: Deck Control

« on: June 14, 2011, 12:12:27 pm »

This is really interesting stuff. It might be worth stating clearly what is evidently the underlying point of your whole reshuffling discussion, which is: Cards that are in your hand or in play when you trigger a reshuffle mid-turn are omitted from that reshuffle, and will be lost for the next trip through the deck. I say this because while it's self-evident to you it took me a while to realize it, and comments like rod-'s suggest that it's more important even than I yet realize! I'd love to read more about this concept and see further examples of how it plays out or can be controlled.