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[tolenmar]

Just a little while ago, I finished playing on Goko, with the basic set.
I don't remember the entire layout, but of course there were witches, labs, markets...
There were no 3 point cards aside for silver, and only the cellar for 2 points. And there were gardens.

Of course, I draw 3 copper for my first hand, buy a silver. My opponent spends the first few turns buying throne rooms and witches. I start grabbing gardens.  I just can't seem to get more than 4 coins together at a time, which as you know only gets worse with every green card I buy. I figure, if I'm going to get hit with a ton of curses (I hate throne room/witch), I may as well try to get some advantage from it. So whenever I can't afford anything, or have multiple buys, I also grab coppers.

It worked.  I'm still not sure how it worked.  I ended the game on three piles, with 8 curses, and 6 gardens worth 6 each.  Total score 60 points vs. 19.  The computer had an engine running pretty quickly, but never seemed to get it going on the provinces.

I even took a screenshot of the scoreboard, I was so surprised.  Normally, I only win about 1 in 3. I thought this was going to be one of my losses.

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Having said all of that, I wish I could get better at this game. I love it, I have fun, but I just can't seem to pull a win. Well, not often, you know what I mean. I've played, a lot. I've read what advice I can find here and other places, I even try what everyone suggests I try and it still seems like I'm going nowhere.

Of course, part of the problem is that the advice is almost always written for people who have multiple sets. I only have the base set, so telling me to grab watchtowers or watch out for Goons (as examples) does me no good.  I do plan next week to finally get Intrigue, but over on Goko...well, I don't do  "Pay to play" so that will always be basic set.

I taught my son to play the day Dominion arrived at home.  Even he walks all over me 75% of the time. I just don't get it...

[Drab Emordnilap]

There's actually an article on this very site about strategies to use for just the base set; it's worth a read:
http://dominionstrategy.com/2011/06/19/guide-to-the-dominion-base-game/

[eHalcyon]

There is also an article about building the optimal engine for the First Game set:

http://dominionstrategy.com/2012/07/30/building-the-first-game-engine/

As far as sets go, why not play on isotropic while it's still around?

[tolenmar]

1: I haven't played on iso yet because of lack of experience (I know, the best way to get experience is...)
2: I am a bit shy about starting up new games with people I don't yet know.  In that respect, I'm kind of odd.  I mean this is the multiplayer age after all. I still lament how most FPS's don't program bots for me to fight anymore...
3: When I did look at iso, I wasn't impressed with the interface. First impressions and all that.

[jonts26]

1: I haven't played on iso yet because of lack of experience (I know, the best way to get experience is...)
2: I am a bit shy about starting up new games with people I don't yet know.  In that respect, I'm kind of odd.  I mean this is the multiplayer age after all. I still lament how most FPS's don't program bots for me to fight anymore...
3: When I did look at iso, I wasn't impressed with the interface. First impressions and all that.

Iso doesn't look great and the interface takes some getting used to. But most people who really like dominion probably tend to be function over form types anyway, so it's usually a non-issue after a few games of getting used to it. As for starting a new game, there's automatching. You let iso choose an opponent for you. All you have to do is select accept. And you don't even have to talk to the person if you don't want. Pretend he's a bot.

[Qvist]

1&2: I think you could should propose a game with some of use here in the forums. Most of us won't deny that, I think.
3: You could get used to by playing some solo games or watching some youtube videos of WanderingWinder, AdamHorton, jsh, Robz, me (to name a few). This would also help improve your game.

Also, you might want to look into the wiki, e.g. http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Gardens

[qmech]

1: I haven't played on iso yet because of lack of experience (I know, the best way to get experience is...)

I find it easier to play games with cards from all sets than cards from only Base.  I think that's probably because there's less variation in Base set Kingdoms, which means skillful play require making finer distinctions.

In fact, I never played Base only, as the person who introduced me to Dominion had Base and Intrigue.  We then added Seaside and Alchemy as they came out, before moving onto Isotropic after that.  That's an advantage that some of us have: we picked the cards up in small chunks as we went along.  I don't know how you'd get up to date quickly if you bought the Base set today and wanted to play on Isotropic as soon as possible.

[tolenmar]

I'm playing base set only because I haven't acquired the others yet.

I went and looked at Iso again, and I think once I learn all of the controls, I could get used to it. 
It sucks that solitaire is completely solo, no bots at all...

[Ozle]

1&2: I think you could should propose a game with some of use here in the forums. Most of us won't deny that, I think.

Couple of problems with that,
1. He only plays with Base set, willing to bet a lot of people on the forum would turn that down.
2. A lot of people on the forum play people only within their own skill range (which is understandable because its not that much fun just hammering them. )

Yes and I know there are exceptions to both these , but im willing to bet its the normal rather than the edge case.

So its a good idea, but he would probably have to pre-arrange said games.