#584076
I’m trying to analyse the game state as I see it from a fresh eye. I think (and this is my opinion only) that there are a few things ‘wrong’ at the moment.
I could be completely off-base with this however and I’m asking for opinions on what I have found/think. If I’m wrong – please let me know!
My views are based on assumptions that I’ve gathered from reading through articles, decks, forum posts and game reports.
From what I can see:
1. The game is over too quickly – lots of evidence and views seem to concur with this. A 10 turn game is a long one...
2. All decks that are posted have this in mind and are as efficient as possible.
3. This leads to draw decks that are virtually all Personnel as they are the most efficient in terms of gaining ground. There is also a lot of ways they play for free. So most cards, indeed most card TYPES (Equipment, most Events, Interrupts?) are instant binder fodder or see play only in the most select of games.
4. To maximise your drawing engine so that you can get all the Personnel cards you want out on Turns 0-2 (at most) there is a huge amount of Objectives/incidents/Events played on the table in the Seed Phase before play starts. This makes the game area cluttered and players having to refer to card X and card Y as they explain their set up to the opponent. This is a BAD thing for newer players
5. Then you have the Dilemma Phase and seeding. So if play is over in about 6-8 turns, it seems that most of your game time is setting up the table and all your seed cards before the actual game happens in a complete blur (with lots more ‘refer to card X so I can do effect Y, then see card Z so I can do effect XX etc). And 15 mins later the game is over! This seems a BAD thing?
A LOT of cards, mostly hugely thematic though, have been designed by the CC to speed up the game from where it was ‘play one, draw one’ – which I agree was way TOO slow. Decipher started this off way back when, and since then the CC has done a great job of doing ‘Continuing Mission’ type cards which lead to ‘Warp Core’ cards which basically move 1e to the ‘warp Drive’ rules of ‘play 2/draw 2’ which is probably balanced in terms of speed. They have also managed to get some starting Personnel and a Ship out in Turn 1 which was a real pain back in the day as you waited for your first Ship...
I have a feeling that there is now too many of these cards however that when combined together can give a draw/play engine that is out of control. BUT it’s necessary at the moment as you have to ‘keep up’ with the speed of the game, so....
Here is a list (in no particular order) of proposals to tweak the game, together with my reasoning to suggest them. I would like to gather opinions on which are feasible, which would make no difference, which are too far out, and which would cripple the game:
1. Only a maximum of 4 copies of any 1 card can be brought to the game by a player. REASON: I have seen decks where players have 12 of the same Tactic or event in a side-deck or 6 in a draw deck. This seems like the card is unbalanced so it is being exploited.
2. Only a maximum of 5 Objectives/Incidents/Events can be seeded at the start of the game. REASON: Speeds up start of game, reduces speed of some decks to make a longer game. Also some might find their way into draw decks reducing the proportion of Personnel in there.
3. Only a maximum of 60% of your Draw deck to be Personnel. REASON: This is a harsh one but it would slow the game down, give more variety and more theme to decks.
4. Artefacts - Not seeded but are closer to 2e in that they can be played when you complete a Mission with Archaeology. Acquisition or Anthropology. REASON: More theme and quicker seeding. Artefacts don’t see much play either for powerful cards. Perhaps they should be play for free? As a side note, I would look at banned Artefacts cards such as the infamous Horg’han and make them bonus point earners if returned to a Facility. Nice and clean and thematic.
5. Equipment – make ‘Equipment Replicator’ a straight rule. REASON: Equipment cards never come out of the binder.
6. Q’s Tent – Reduce capacity to 10. Anyone know why it was 13 anyway? REASON: Reduce a players’ reliance on downloading, more chance of varying cards appearing in a draw deck. I would prefer to throw it out entirely and replace it with a ‘Computer Core’ card that does the same thing in that its’ a store cupboard for downloading cards from, but we could have different ones for different Affiliations that can give some thematic flavour and automatic downloads if you say, initiate a Battle (Klingon), solve a Diplomacy Mission (Feds) etc..
7. Dilemma Side-deck - Via Doorway atop deck (similar to Dyson Sphere Doorway). Stock 30 Dilemmas here. When a Mission is first attempted draw X cards from the Dilemma deck where X = Points of Mission/5 So a 30 point Mission draws 6 cards. Place Dilemmas that cannot be played due to Space/Planet restrictions face up beneath Dilemma deck (so you shuffle deck when you have gone through it once). Place Dilemmas that CAN be seeded beneath the Mission in an order of your choice. We’d have to put some restrictions here otherwise players would ONLY play Planet/Space dual Dilemmas so there would be no mis-seeds, say 12 Planet/12 Space/ 6 Dual? REASON: Play starts quicker, we could also do some theming...
8. Increase Ship Staffing – Another way 2e got it better. Add a ‘Staff’ Icon to all Ships that already have a Command/Staff icon. REASON: Slows down play just a touch, more on theme.
I'd REALLY appreciate opinions on those - and if I'm wrong, let me know what you think. And if I've missed anything?
Thanks in advance
I could be completely off-base with this however and I’m asking for opinions on what I have found/think. If I’m wrong – please let me know!
My views are based on assumptions that I’ve gathered from reading through articles, decks, forum posts and game reports.
From what I can see:
1. The game is over too quickly – lots of evidence and views seem to concur with this. A 10 turn game is a long one...
2. All decks that are posted have this in mind and are as efficient as possible.
3. This leads to draw decks that are virtually all Personnel as they are the most efficient in terms of gaining ground. There is also a lot of ways they play for free. So most cards, indeed most card TYPES (Equipment, most Events, Interrupts?) are instant binder fodder or see play only in the most select of games.
4. To maximise your drawing engine so that you can get all the Personnel cards you want out on Turns 0-2 (at most) there is a huge amount of Objectives/incidents/Events played on the table in the Seed Phase before play starts. This makes the game area cluttered and players having to refer to card X and card Y as they explain their set up to the opponent. This is a BAD thing for newer players
5. Then you have the Dilemma Phase and seeding. So if play is over in about 6-8 turns, it seems that most of your game time is setting up the table and all your seed cards before the actual game happens in a complete blur (with lots more ‘refer to card X so I can do effect Y, then see card Z so I can do effect XX etc). And 15 mins later the game is over! This seems a BAD thing?
A LOT of cards, mostly hugely thematic though, have been designed by the CC to speed up the game from where it was ‘play one, draw one’ – which I agree was way TOO slow. Decipher started this off way back when, and since then the CC has done a great job of doing ‘Continuing Mission’ type cards which lead to ‘Warp Core’ cards which basically move 1e to the ‘warp Drive’ rules of ‘play 2/draw 2’ which is probably balanced in terms of speed. They have also managed to get some starting Personnel and a Ship out in Turn 1 which was a real pain back in the day as you waited for your first Ship...
I have a feeling that there is now too many of these cards however that when combined together can give a draw/play engine that is out of control. BUT it’s necessary at the moment as you have to ‘keep up’ with the speed of the game, so....
Here is a list (in no particular order) of proposals to tweak the game, together with my reasoning to suggest them. I would like to gather opinions on which are feasible, which would make no difference, which are too far out, and which would cripple the game:
1. Only a maximum of 4 copies of any 1 card can be brought to the game by a player. REASON: I have seen decks where players have 12 of the same Tactic or event in a side-deck or 6 in a draw deck. This seems like the card is unbalanced so it is being exploited.
2. Only a maximum of 5 Objectives/Incidents/Events can be seeded at the start of the game. REASON: Speeds up start of game, reduces speed of some decks to make a longer game. Also some might find their way into draw decks reducing the proportion of Personnel in there.
3. Only a maximum of 60% of your Draw deck to be Personnel. REASON: This is a harsh one but it would slow the game down, give more variety and more theme to decks.
4. Artefacts - Not seeded but are closer to 2e in that they can be played when you complete a Mission with Archaeology. Acquisition or Anthropology. REASON: More theme and quicker seeding. Artefacts don’t see much play either for powerful cards. Perhaps they should be play for free? As a side note, I would look at banned Artefacts cards such as the infamous Horg’han and make them bonus point earners if returned to a Facility. Nice and clean and thematic.
5. Equipment – make ‘Equipment Replicator’ a straight rule. REASON: Equipment cards never come out of the binder.
6. Q’s Tent – Reduce capacity to 10. Anyone know why it was 13 anyway? REASON: Reduce a players’ reliance on downloading, more chance of varying cards appearing in a draw deck. I would prefer to throw it out entirely and replace it with a ‘Computer Core’ card that does the same thing in that its’ a store cupboard for downloading cards from, but we could have different ones for different Affiliations that can give some thematic flavour and automatic downloads if you say, initiate a Battle (Klingon), solve a Diplomacy Mission (Feds) etc..
7. Dilemma Side-deck - Via Doorway atop deck (similar to Dyson Sphere Doorway). Stock 30 Dilemmas here. When a Mission is first attempted draw X cards from the Dilemma deck where X = Points of Mission/5 So a 30 point Mission draws 6 cards. Place Dilemmas that cannot be played due to Space/Planet restrictions face up beneath Dilemma deck (so you shuffle deck when you have gone through it once). Place Dilemmas that CAN be seeded beneath the Mission in an order of your choice. We’d have to put some restrictions here otherwise players would ONLY play Planet/Space dual Dilemmas so there would be no mis-seeds, say 12 Planet/12 Space/ 6 Dual? REASON: Play starts quicker, we could also do some theming...
8. Increase Ship Staffing – Another way 2e got it better. Add a ‘Staff’ Icon to all Ships that already have a Command/Staff icon. REASON: Slows down play just a touch, more on theme.
I'd REALLY appreciate opinions on those - and if I'm wrong, let me know what you think. And if I've missed anything?
Thanks in advance