Neat my Aeons End wave 5 pledge shipped. Plus a fortuitous eBay coupon let me grab Marvel Champions for $25 shipped. As it turns out i like a particular style of card game a lot, solo or multiplayer.
Fun fact. I've never played LoL, but I have played Legends of Runeterra (Riot's CCG) and the little girl in the video is a character who started in a short story before being brought into the story canon in LoR. She actually has three different cards showing her progression in the story. Pretty neat!
Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Has anyone bought from Boardlandia before? They have a really good deal on Great Western Trail right now.
Has anyone bought from Boardlandia before? They have a really good deal on Great Western Trail right now.
Their store is 30 minute from me. I go there all the time. It's probably my favorite FLGS in my area.
High-five fellow NE Wisconsin buddy! Boardlandia is also my favorite local store; I've been known to order something from them and wait a week to get it even when I know one of the other local board game shops has the game in stock on the shelf.
One thing to be aware of about Boardlandia, they usually take a couple days longer to ship than the big online game stores. They don't keep much stock on hand but instead everything that's "in stock" according to the website is actually just a standing open order with their distributors. So if you order from them, they first ship it from their distributor to their store, and then they send it on to you.
Just putting in a good word here. The industry I work with does this for our products with some of our best brick and mortar retailers. It allows retailers to stock what they can realistically afford, while not missing a sale on something that's out of stock. In a lot of cases, they'll dropship directly from the distributor's warehouse because it's usually a lot cheaper on the initial shipping, as well as not paying for shipping twice.
But even if it does mean waiting a couple extra days, typically this is still a huge benefit to the local retailer so I would encourage anyone to wait the extra couple days if it means ordering from a local retailer.
BBG users be like, "Oh man, have you SEEN those sick fucks over at PA?" :biggrin:
the thing that really rumbles my johnnies about BGG is the large number of users who rate games they've never played, like
"I don't like games with dice. Will not buy. 1/10"
"looks cool but I'm not into the Vietnam War. 5/10"
"I disagree with the stats of Yamato shown in the picture of the countersheet. 2/10"
Or all the 'Rating high/low to counter the low/high ratings'.
BGG ratings aren't generally very useful, but there are thankfully some users that write good reviews.
Oh, come and shake me 'till I'm dry
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited September 2020
I lost faith in the system when I became curious about ratings of a game that hadn’t been released yet. Why even let people review it gif it isn’t out? You are either a play tester in which case the final game might change, or a designer in which case you probably are biased, or finally you are someone who hasn’t played it so why are you rating it?
Reading the justifications for their ratings did not help.
Then again, the rating system is very helpful with respect to the GeekBuddy Analysis feature. When you limit the ratings to people you know, then you can get a very good feel for things because you know what they like and they are less prone to be goosey with the ratings.
Bgg ratings have become like oscsars: there is a very limited demographic doing almost all the rating and they like very specific kinds of games. Those being ameritrash kickstarter games with miniatures
Then again, the rating system is very helpful with respect to the GeekBuddy Analysis feature. When you limit the ratings to people you know, then you can get a very good feel for things because you know what they like and they are less prone to be goosey with the ratings.
This yeah, Geekbuddy analysis makes it all worth it. I forgot about it because I haven't had much reason to go on that site for months.
I use it 99% for the Hot Deals forum and even that is its own special little slice of bullshit. The 1% is for contests, which I've actually won a couple so I still do them.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Well I waited too long and Boardlandia went out of stock. Has anyone used this site? https://www.gamenerdz.com/
Well I waited too long and Boardlandia went out of stock. Has anyone used this site? https://www.gamenerdz.com/
I can’t comment on gamenerdz but Funagain Games (https://funagain.com/) has Great Western Trail for 30% off and I have bought (too) many games from them over the years.
Maybe I just didn't take the necessary time to understand it during the few physical games I played? I would realize the genius once I sat down with many more games in the digital?
I really, really tried. I've spent a dozen hours this last week going over each of the factions in game after game and reading online strategies. I just don't see the genius or fun.
Every faction is just frustrating. The cats are frustrated by being the primary punching bag from the start with everything they do constantly torn down. The birds are frustrated by little tiny missteps causing them to collapse. The alliance is frustrating to play against. The vagabond is frustrating to play against, and frustrating to play as once a group wises up to smacking him down early.
Winning strategies really aren't that apparent.
It's one of the most awkward teaching and learning experiences I've ever seen in a board game. You could make a drinking game out of every time the teacher says, "Actually, you can't do that." Constant letdowns for new players when they discover their plan falls apart because yet another little rule they didn't realize ("But I do have roosts I can recruit from. What do you mean I still go into turmoil if I have available roosts but all my warriors are on the board??!")
The card/crafting system feels like it was imported and grafted on from a totally different game.
Games where you have to sit and wait for other players to take an entire full "move everything" turn is something that should have been obsolete 15 years ago and is painful to sit through today. Every other board game has wised up to each player taking small actions over the course of a round.
The winner is up to the table making a minuscule miscalculation on who can pull ahead to 30 points the "final round" if not left alone. When I win, it's no more satisfying than losing. It's an unfun tension worrying that one of the 3 other players will tear down my chance to win next turn, and when they don't and I win it feels more like chance than any devious planning. So much so that my quitting point came when I knew enough to start winning games. Up until then, it was "I just don't know it well enough. It will get more rewarding when I do." Then I won and found out nope.
It's one of the rare instances where I'm in complete agreement with SU&SD's review.
I can sort of see the earlier comparison to a COIN game. At least with COIN games though, everyone knows what they're settling into.
MrBody on
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
Root isn't for everyone, and I've probably said before that I think this is often just a matter of how long most of us have been playing games now. Innovation is harder the more popular the hobby is and the larger the space becomes. There will always be lots of games that are interesting for new players, and Root has it's biggest strength in it's production values. That isn't a coincidence. So many of the really hit games of the past few years follow similar tends - a not entirely amazing game with a really excellent coat of paint. And let me stress that there isn't anything wrong with that. The longer you're in this hobby the more likely you know what you enjoy, and the more you should understand to not just believe whatever is the new hype. You're not going to like every game. It's cool to give something an honest shot, but we have so many good games to choose from now that it's kind of silly not to spend your time on the ones that really click with you.
I know a bunch of people who absolutely love Root and play tons of it that aren't the noobs bamboozled by a fancy coat of paint strawmen you're conjuring. It's absolutely a "don't attack me attack him" politicking game, and I think a lot of the skill ceiling is from learning to correctly parse which factions are actually threatening to win and need to get bopped. I can't speak to it much beyond that since I personally didn't really like it too much, but calling it a mediocre noobie thirst trap is underselling it a lot from what I've seen.
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
Entirely unrelatedly, Marvel Champions is super fun and I definitely ordered all of the expansions for it. I don't know how much more I'll get beyond Rise of the Red Skull, but we'll see. We'll see. The next big box is Groot and Rocket Raccoon, which certainly appeals. Once you're bought in its so easy to justify $15 a month lol. It's like you can't afford NOT to buy the new packs.
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
Entirely unrelatedly, Marvel Champions is super fun and I definitely ordered all of the expansions for it. I don't know how much more I'll get beyond Rise of the Red Skull, but we'll see. We'll see. The next big box is Groot and Rocket Raccoon, which certainly appeals. Once you're bought in its so easy to justify $15 a month lol. It's like you can't afford NOT to buy the new packs.
I... uh... may have bought the entirety of Marvel Champions three times so far. One set for my personal use, and two as gifts.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
Entirely unrelatedly, Marvel Champions is super fun and I definitely ordered all of the expansions for it. I don't know how much more I'll get beyond Rise of the Red Skull, but we'll see. We'll see. The next big box is Groot and Rocket Raccoon, which certainly appeals. Once you're bought in its so easy to justify $15 a month lol. It's like you can't afford NOT to buy the new packs.
I... uh... may have bought the entirety of Marvel Champions three times so far. One set for my personal use, and two as gifts.
I swear LRR needs an entire bookcase dedicated to just stuff you've sent them.
I know a bunch of people who absolutely love Root and play tons of it that aren't the noobs bamboozled by a fancy coat of paint strawmen you're conjuring. It's absolutely a "don't attack me attack him" politicking game, and I think a lot of the skill ceiling is from learning to correctly parse which factions are actually threatening to win and need to get bopped. I can't speak to it much beyond that since I personally didn't really like it too much, but calling it a mediocre noobie thirst trap is underselling it a lot from what I've seen.
You mistake me. It is exactly that kind of game you're describing. It was also massively over-hyped and an extremely hit or miss title. Of course some people will like it. I'm saying that a little research and willingness to not immediately buy into the latest hotness goes a long way once you've experienced what a lot of genres are like, and you shouldn't expect to enjoy literally everything of repute.
I know a bunch of people who absolutely love Root and play tons of it that aren't the noobs bamboozled by a fancy coat of paint strawmen you're conjuring. It's absolutely a "don't attack me attack him" politicking game, and I think a lot of the skill ceiling is from learning to correctly parse which factions are actually threatening to win and need to get bopped. I can't speak to it much beyond that since I personally didn't really like it too much, but calling it a mediocre noobie thirst trap is underselling it a lot from what I've seen.
You mistake me. It is exactly that kind of game you're describing. It was also massively over-hyped and an extremely hit or miss title. Of course some people will like it. I'm saying that a little research and willingness to not immediately buy into the latest hotness goes a long way once you've experienced what a lot of genres are like, and you shouldn't expect to enjoy literally everything of repute.
This phrasing is a lot different from your original post, which also bothered me quite a bit. But I see what you're saying now.
Board gamers (and honestly most consumers of media) aren't good at recognizing the importance of subjective taste.
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
Entirely unrelatedly, Marvel Champions is super fun and I definitely ordered all of the expansions for it. I don't know how much more I'll get beyond Rise of the Red Skull, but we'll see. We'll see. The next big box is Groot and Rocket Raccoon, which certainly appeals. Once you're bought in its so easy to justify $15 a month lol. It's like you can't afford NOT to buy the new packs.
I just bought it. I already have a lot of Arkham's first three cycles, so I don't entirely know why I need another LCG...
I'm debating sleeving it, too, but these FFG games pile up cards fast.
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
I know a bunch of people who absolutely love Root and play tons of it that aren't the noobs bamboozled by a fancy coat of paint strawmen you're conjuring. It's absolutely a "don't attack me attack him" politicking game, and I think a lot of the skill ceiling is from learning to correctly parse which factions are actually threatening to win and need to get bopped. I can't speak to it much beyond that since I personally didn't really like it too much, but calling it a mediocre noobie thirst trap is underselling it a lot from what I've seen.
You mistake me. It is exactly that kind of game you're describing. It was also massively over-hyped and an extremely hit or miss title. Of course some people will like it. I'm saying that a little research and willingness to not immediately buy into the latest hotness goes a long way once you've experienced what a lot of genres are like, and you shouldn't expect to enjoy literally everything of repute.
This phrasing is a lot different from your original post, which also bothered me quite a bit. But I see what you're saying now.
Board gamers (and honestly most consumers of media) aren't good at recognizing the importance of subjective taste.
Heh, I apologise. It's my bad for trying to put something like that together on my phone on a cabin's weak wifi. Too slow to type out, too lazy to revise because too slow to type out. I definitely agree the original post is missing a paragraph at least. 😅
Root is by no means a game for everyone. As it's been covered already, the hype and shiny paint make it seem like it's a vastly different game than it really is. For better or worse, a lot of the balance comes from the table talk/politicking and just in general the players keeping the balance. That isn't inherently a bad thing, but there are plenty of people that don't like that type of thing.
Keeping the Vagabond in check can kinda be a job for everyone else collectively. If not, he can potentially just run away with it and nobody can do anything about it. As MrBody mentioned, early on it seems like just beating down the Cats is a good move. But if you just outright smack them down so hard that they're effectively out of the game from the start, then they are no longer around to keep other factions in check, especially the larger ones like Moles or Birds and then they can run away with it. So you come to learn that that isn't exactly the best move either.
The game is all about maintaining the ecosystem on the board. If you disrupt that ecosystem too much by dumping on one person too heavily, it will quickly shift to favor one player that can then run away with it. Part of the hard part here is basically what the SUSD review covers, you have to know how all the factions work and score to really effectively do this. Anyways, as noted, it's not for everyone, but there is more depth than it seems to it as well. However a lot of that depth is seen the most when playing with a group that is all very familiar with the game. If you are constantly playing with new players the game can very easily suffer.
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
Entirely unrelatedly, Marvel Champions is super fun and I definitely ordered all of the expansions for it. I don't know how much more I'll get beyond Rise of the Red Skull, but we'll see. We'll see. The next big box is Groot and Rocket Raccoon, which certainly appeals. Once you're bought in its so easy to justify $15 a month lol. It's like you can't afford NOT to buy the new packs.
I just bought it. I already have a lot of Arkham's first three cycles, so I don't entirely know why I need another LCG...
I'm debating sleeving it, too, but these FFG games pile up cards fast.
I just use ultra pro penny sleeves. They're not great but they exist and they're cheap. When you're dealing with a game that's going to end up with thousands of cards that cheapness really adds up.
Posts
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Fun fact. I've never played LoL, but I have played Legends of Runeterra (Riot's CCG) and the little girl in the video is a character who started in a short story before being brought into the story canon in LoR. She actually has three different cards showing her progression in the story. Pretty neat!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
Their store is 30 minute from me. I go there all the time. It's probably my favorite FLGS in my area.
High-five fellow NE Wisconsin buddy! Boardlandia is also my favorite local store; I've been known to order something from them and wait a week to get it even when I know one of the other local board game shops has the game in stock on the shelf.
One thing to be aware of about Boardlandia, they usually take a couple days longer to ship than the big online game stores. They don't keep much stock on hand but instead everything that's "in stock" according to the website is actually just a standing open order with their distributors. So if you order from them, they first ship it from their distributor to their store, and then they send it on to you.
But even if it does mean waiting a couple extra days, typically this is still a huge benefit to the local retailer so I would encourage anyone to wait the extra couple days if it means ordering from a local retailer.
the thing that really rumbles my johnnies about BGG is the large number of users who rate games they've never played, like
"I don't like games with dice. Will not buy. 1/10"
"looks cool but I'm not into the Vietnam War. 5/10"
"I disagree with the stats of Yamato shown in the picture of the countersheet. 2/10"
BGG ratings aren't generally very useful, but there are thankfully some users that write good reviews.
Reading the justifications for their ratings did not help.
This yeah, Geekbuddy analysis makes it all worth it. I forgot about it because I haven't had much reason to go on that site for months.
I bought Jaws of the Lion from them, and don't have any complaints.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
I can’t comment on gamenerdz but Funagain Games (https://funagain.com/) has Great Western Trail for 30% off and I have bought (too) many games from them over the years.
Maybe I just didn't take the necessary time to understand it during the few physical games I played? I would realize the genius once I sat down with many more games in the digital?
I really, really tried. I've spent a dozen hours this last week going over each of the factions in game after game and reading online strategies. I just don't see the genius or fun.
Every faction is just frustrating. The cats are frustrated by being the primary punching bag from the start with everything they do constantly torn down. The birds are frustrated by little tiny missteps causing them to collapse. The alliance is frustrating to play against. The vagabond is frustrating to play against, and frustrating to play as once a group wises up to smacking him down early.
Winning strategies really aren't that apparent.
It's one of the most awkward teaching and learning experiences I've ever seen in a board game. You could make a drinking game out of every time the teacher says, "Actually, you can't do that." Constant letdowns for new players when they discover their plan falls apart because yet another little rule they didn't realize ("But I do have roosts I can recruit from. What do you mean I still go into turmoil if I have available roosts but all my warriors are on the board??!")
The card/crafting system feels like it was imported and grafted on from a totally different game.
Games where you have to sit and wait for other players to take an entire full "move everything" turn is something that should have been obsolete 15 years ago and is painful to sit through today. Every other board game has wised up to each player taking small actions over the course of a round.
The winner is up to the table making a minuscule miscalculation on who can pull ahead to 30 points the "final round" if not left alone. When I win, it's no more satisfying than losing. It's an unfun tension worrying that one of the 3 other players will tear down my chance to win next turn, and when they don't and I win it feels more like chance than any devious planning. So much so that my quitting point came when I knew enough to start winning games. Up until then, it was "I just don't know it well enough. It will get more rewarding when I do." Then I won and found out nope.
It's one of the rare instances where I'm in complete agreement with SU&SD's review.
I can sort of see the earlier comparison to a COIN game. At least with COIN games though, everyone knows what they're settling into.
I’m starting to remember why CCGs are evil.
*looks at the growing pile of cards from the four booster boxes of Flesh and Blood that he’s picked up over the last month or two...*
...but what if it was five....
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Entirely unrelatedly, Marvel Champions is super fun and I definitely ordered all of the expansions for it. I don't know how much more I'll get beyond Rise of the Red Skull, but we'll see. We'll see. The next big box is Groot and Rocket Raccoon, which certainly appeals. Once you're bought in its so easy to justify $15 a month lol. It's like you can't afford NOT to buy the new packs.
I... uh... may have bought the entirety of Marvel Champions three times so far. One set for my personal use, and two as gifts.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
I swear LRR needs an entire bookcase dedicated to just stuff you've sent them.
You mistake me. It is exactly that kind of game you're describing. It was also massively over-hyped and an extremely hit or miss title. Of course some people will like it. I'm saying that a little research and willingness to not immediately buy into the latest hotness goes a long way once you've experienced what a lot of genres are like, and you shouldn't expect to enjoy literally everything of repute.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
This phrasing is a lot different from your original post, which also bothered me quite a bit. But I see what you're saying now.
Board gamers (and honestly most consumers of media) aren't good at recognizing the importance of subjective taste.
I just bought it. I already have a lot of Arkham's first three cycles, so I don't entirely know why I need another LCG...
I'm debating sleeving it, too, but these FFG games pile up cards fast.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Keeping the Vagabond in check can kinda be a job for everyone else collectively. If not, he can potentially just run away with it and nobody can do anything about it. As MrBody mentioned, early on it seems like just beating down the Cats is a good move. But if you just outright smack them down so hard that they're effectively out of the game from the start, then they are no longer around to keep other factions in check, especially the larger ones like Moles or Birds and then they can run away with it. So you come to learn that that isn't exactly the best move either.
The game is all about maintaining the ecosystem on the board. If you disrupt that ecosystem too much by dumping on one person too heavily, it will quickly shift to favor one player that can then run away with it. Part of the hard part here is basically what the SUSD review covers, you have to know how all the factions work and score to really effectively do this. Anyways, as noted, it's not for everyone, but there is more depth than it seems to it as well. However a lot of that depth is seen the most when playing with a group that is all very familiar with the game. If you are constantly playing with new players the game can very easily suffer.
Steam ID
I just use ultra pro penny sleeves. They're not great but they exist and they're cheap. When you're dealing with a game that's going to end up with thousands of cards that cheapness really adds up.