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For those who don't know, forums.penny-arcade.com will be closing soon. However, we're doing the same kind of stuff over at coin-return.org with (almost) all the same faces! Please do feel welcome to join us.
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I wanted to immediately leave the table, but felt bad for the other players. But after the 3rd warning to the guy that he needed to chill, I apologized to everyone else before quitting on the 2nd to last round.
Good for you. Fuck taking shit from a stranger for hours because they don't like your moves in a board game!
I'm finishing up the 3 Twilight Wars games I have going, but I think I'm done playing this with online strangers, or at least people outside a little community like this one. Anonymity does crazy things to people.
We should really get a TW game going with people here, and document it in a thread like the old PbP games.
I get that saving setup time makes it appealing, but it's terrible. It all boils down to the 3 empty systems bordering Mecatol. No human would ever put an empty system in their own direct path to the center. People are going to use empty or red systems as obstacles to fortify their borders. If someone ever puts such a tile in a central path, it's because that slice is already shaping up to be OP. But that's in a draft mode where one of the things you can pick is...
...starting position. This alone makes any pre-generated map on TW unplayable. Starting position is HUGE! Oh, turns out I picked a race with no early game or combat abilities and I'm stuck between a Nekro/N'orr/Mentak. GG? At the very least, why aren't starting positions revealed first BEFORE race selection? Pick Jol-Nar only to get a surprise Nekro neighbor, something that anyone would avoid at all costs in a drafting game.
And all the empty Mecatol-adjacent systems just compound this problem. Half the board is funneled into the paths of other players at the 2nd ring. An early aggressive race funneled into you is death. It also only further increases the importance of Blue tech mobility.
Those maps with empty spaces near home or MR are fine imo. Aggressive races don't start with blue, and going ham against a neighbor early usually means you also lose terribly.
I think the premade maps are pretty great overall.
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wra
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Ask if you have questions!
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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Is there anything worthwhile to be found in "Absol's mod" or any of the codices?
Absol's agendas and relics are improvements imo but reasonable people can disagree. They're viewed as a variant like frankendraft or discordant suns.
I haven't looked hard enough at her techs to have much of an opinion
Like Powerpuppies said, the Codices should always be included unless you know what you're doing and are trying something strange deliberately.
I'm in my first game of Discordant Suns just as of yesterday, which is definitely interesting. (It adds like 20+ new fanmade factions.) I wouldn't recommend it until you're really familiar with the real game, but it looks like a lot of promise for more variety.
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Oh, cool! Which game is it?
Oh you're pupps!!!??!?!?
Thank the gods... I was worried you might be Yssaril in another game. His game with me as a neighbor.... isn't going so well. 😞
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wra
It's all done in discord, so yeah you have to join the server to play. Then you just wait for someone to start a game that sounds good to you and ask to join. Or start your own.
If you don't know how to play TI4, I'd recommend starting your own game and mentioning that'll it'll be in part a learning game for you. There aren't really any rules on what kind of games you're allowed to make as long as everyone at the table is on the same page.
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I'd say just jump on in, there's plenty of time between turns to look stuff up and if you aren't sure ask. While there is some hidden information (Action Cards, Secret Objectives), revealing your ACs or SOs isn't the end of the world. Usually your opponents are busy trying to accomplish their own plans and can't spare many actions to spoil yours, even if they know what you are trying to do.
Holy crap am I regretting ever playing with strangers. Same thing happened the one time I tried to play TTS with some Space Cats people.
There's all kinds out there..
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wra
Bluh? Seems way overly secretive to keep all that hidden. And then you can just trade away other players' notes. "Sure, our two nations signed a non-aggression pact, but we traded it away to Nation C for a stick of gum so it invalidated your invasion against them!" And the log doesn't even tell you that any transaction has occurred???
Plus I swear pairs of friends are joining games with permanent alliances in mind, or people with multiple accounts joining the same game. Have one game where everyone has 9-10 techs, yet the N'orr player somehow has 13. There is a Jol-Nar in the game and we can only conclude that he's been feeding N'orr tons of tech the whole game through Research Agreements. What player who's trying to win themselves be feeding N'orr THAT much tech?
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It's the straw next to the mountain that is randos being total spazzes, but I still hate it.
Naalu played their hero recently and after much thought I decided on my TA as xxcha.
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wra
Assuming PoK, your political Secret barely does anything as Xxcha
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So you're going to hold on to it until they launch a devastating move against you, whereupon you cancel it.
So no one is ever going to hand it out.
Could you trade away other players' notes in TI3? I can't remember.
The end effect is that notes might as well not exist in TI4. Trade agreement and Support are all you see, and Support is rightfully hated.
If I had to make non-balance changes, it would be not trading notes like that, and reworking the agenda phase so that you vote on which objectives come out rather than dumb agenda cards.
Ceasefire has always been optional. Basically, when a Note or AC tell you the timing window at the top of the card, that's just when you have the option to play it. But you're not forced to.
The exceptions are Support and Alliance, which must be played immediately.
I see pretty much every note except for Ceasefire getting traded a lot. There's a few faction notes that are rare too. Ceasefire is strong, but I think it's ok and good to have a card that is rarely traded. It gives it more impact when it is.
The Absol mod greatly improves the Agenda phase (imo), if you want to try that out sometime. Political Secrets notes are changed for the better, and nearly every Agenda actually matters now. It's a straight up upgrade. (Absol also changes other things, like techs, which I think are overall better but the Agenda phase is the real winner.)
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