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Outback Crossing Review

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What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

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30 Jan 2019 11:32 - 30 Jan 2019 11:33 #291106 by Ah_Pook
You can definitely play regular pandemic on the legacy board after youre done, as long as you didn't tear up any city cards while playing. Just ignore the stickers and stuff. I think it's a less than great way to play regular pandemic, but it is possible.
Last edit: 30 Jan 2019 11:33 by Ah_Pook.
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30 Jan 2019 11:41 #291112 by Jexik
I've NOT been playing keyforge for a couple weeks. I kind of slowed down on it after online kinda burned me out. There's definitely a hierarchy of decks, even with how important skill is in the game. And getting a good deck is entirely a crapshoot, unlike being able to buy singles in a CCG or what you want in an LCG.

Core gameplay is great, it can just be ruined by being overly competitive.

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30 Jan 2019 11:58 #291117 by RobertB

Ah_Pook wrote: You can definitely play regular pandemic on the legacy board after youre done, as long as you didn't tear up any city cards while playing. Just ignore the stickers and stuff. I think it's a less than great way to play regular pandemic, but it is possible.


You're right. I was thinking, "Play the game you end up with in December."

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30 Jan 2019 12:22 #291125 by Gary Sax

Jexik wrote: I've NOT been playing keyforge for a couple weeks. I kind of slowed down on it after online kinda burned me out. There's definitely a hierarchy of decks, even with how important skill is in the game. And getting a good deck is entirely a crapshoot, unlike being able to buy singles in a CCG or what you want in an LCG.

Core gameplay is great, it can just be ruined by being overly competitive.


Virtually every outlet I listen to or read about games on has had exactly the same sentiment re: burning out on it completely after a lot of good times.

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30 Jan 2019 12:50 #291134 by charlest
I know it's early days, but I've already quite enjoyed stepping away from it for 3-4 weeks and then coming back and playing a few rounds with a deck I'm not 100% familiar with.

I think the discovery aspect is so important that the more competitive side of the game can obscure if you don't position your experience correctly.
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30 Jan 2019 13:27 #291139 by Jexik
The core game is fun and compelling... and I think it'd be really degenerate and unfun if you could just make your own deck of 36 cards. You'd see a lot of the same stuff. It needs the scarcity and oddities of how decks are made.

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30 Jan 2019 17:00 #291167 by jeb
We have vanilla PANDEMIC, so no need to keep that big honking box. We took the guts though, and put them in the vanilla box.

RISK LEGACY, by contrast, is just a fancy RISK game at the end.

I am going to play some more KEYFORGE soon. I agree, take breaks, then get back in and try new stuff out. I like that some decks kind of suck. Makes things fun.

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30 Jan 2019 17:48 #291171 by GorillaGrody
Just played my first game of Nightvault. It was great. I’ve never vacillated so sharply on a game as I do on this game system. A month and a half ago I was ready to sell off my complete Shadespire set. I held off only because I’d painted everything, and because it was useable in AOS.

My opinion of the game then is that it was a mechanical, gamey wankfest in which nothing much happens over the course of 45 minutes. My opinion today is that it’s a tight, tense game that doesn’t sacrifice thematic coherence.

I know that the rules tweaks since the old edition, like the changes to the roll-off, helped a little. Nonetheless, I have no idea what my next game will be like or how I’ll react to it.

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30 Jan 2019 17:54 #291173 by Erik Twice
I don't think one can truly play Keyforge at the same level you do with the typical card game. In fact, it's a bit of a strange demand because kind of the reason it was designed like this was to provide a card game experience without the lifestyle attachment of Magic, Netrunner and the like.

This is not to say there's no depth to the game, because there is. And I have a friend who is playing Keyforge like he played Netrunner back in the day. There's no less depth in the game than there is in a Standard Magic deck. But I think the really cool thing about the game is how you can pick up a deck, play and have fun without all the work and effort a typical card game requires. And it's not dumbed down.

I also think, and I don't say this in a bad way, that many people simply are not the kind that would play these games over and over and it's normal for them to burnout.

Regarding better and worse decks, it's true, though I think it's part of the appeal. It's like having anti-synergetic card, it's very fun to have those sprinkled in decks or be forced to run a "bad" creature instead of 4x of every staple.

--

Talking about card games, I have some big plans. I miss serious lifestyle CCG/LCG play. I really do. I miss being able to play a game a lot and learning and talking about strategy and all the fun that comes with it. I went to Barcelona to play Netrunner and I had more fun talking about the game than I have at the club playing the average euro. And more than being fun...it's fulfilling. I feel good and I think it adds a lot to my life in a way casual boardgaming doesn't.

First, I asked some ex-Netrunner players to teach me to play Legend of the Five Rings. It's the game they play now and actually the game they played before Netrunner came out. I liked playing with them and I can, at least, give the game a try.

Second, I asked my FLGS for a big stack of Magic chaff and I have like 600 cards to use as proxies. I'm going to build a Magic cube (360 cards, semi-powered) and then decide what to do with the rest. I've also been thinking about attending draft tournaments. They cost 12€ and I can probably get some of the money back so it doesn't seem too bad. I really like drafting in Magic: Arena.

Third, I'm not sure about VTES. On one hand, I really, really want to get into it and play, if only ocasionally. On the other, I just don't have any money to do it. Sure, it's not a lot but I'm unemployed and I have to choose, I can't get into L5R, VTES and get another boardgame at the same time. I know I wouldn't be able to play VTES every week, so I should prioritze it less.

I keep thinking that, if I could get some money by writing I could have enough to support my gaming expenses but alas, that's difficult to achieve.

--

I want to sell my copy of Terraforming Mars. I just don't think there's more juice for me to squeeze out of it. I've played it a lot and it no longer holds my interest. It's not a game with much interaction and I feel I've seen it all. It might be a bit unfair of me to say it's a game with a low skill cap because, well, I've played it 150 times.

I'm not sure my approach to teaching 18XX is the correct one. There are actually guys at the club who love these games but...they don't show up to play. So yeah :/

I also need to play Dune.
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30 Jan 2019 18:45 #291178 by Michael Barnes
Re: Keyforge burnout- here’s the thing. I bought 20 decks without realizing that a) the decks are NOT balanced at all and there are some truly garbage ones, b) that playing one deck repeatedly is pretty boring and c) it really needs to be played in a large, regular group like at an FLGS. The mechanisms and gameplay are great. But the product is kind of specifically designed and marketed for a certain kind of play that I’m not really that into.

I sold all of my decks, not because I’m done with it...but because when I do want to play it again, I’ll just pick up a deck, play with it a bit, and probably toss it in recycling. I kind of feel like that’s where this game is, and when I realized that future releases will pretty much bury the original set...the fact that these decks are sort of designed to be disposable and played in a finite, community environment came to me.

I’d really rather play battle deck Magic. Or Speed Duel Yu-Gi-Oh with the new 20 card starters.

In other news- I’ve played a few games of Quest for El Dorado with the Hexes and Heroes expansion. El Dorado fans, you may proceed with adding this to your game. It’s great. Adds a little nastiness and some cool new cards.

Really fixated with Runebound 3rd Edition right now.
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30 Jan 2019 18:47 #291179 by Gary Sax
fwiw, my comment wasn't intended to be too scathing. At its price point I don't really see it as a huge negative that Keyforge would get you a ton of plays before you're ready to stop. Not every game has to be the Last Game You Ever Buy.
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31 Jan 2019 09:02 - 31 Jan 2019 09:54 #291219 by charlest
Last night I got back to my Netrunner: Terminal Directive campaign, losing the second game to Weyland (I won the first). I'm up against it now because I triggered two of those caution things on the bottom of the campaign mat and have to put some negative cards in my deck. I think my deck overall is a little money starved as I could have won the last game with more credits.

Loving the game again and so happy I bought back in recently. The limited card pool of TD is also a boon, allowing both of us to re-experience the game and limit our options.

The legacy elements themselves are neat, but they don't tie in well to the gameplay. There's no coherent narrative within play, it's all external and we're merely hitting check boxes (achievements) to unlock a new paragraph. It would have been much more effective with special scenarios or cards reflecting the narrative where the running/defending actually had story context. It's really just normal Netrunner with a smaller cardpool where a sideboard tells you to do certain things to unlock more card sets.

Pirate Tricks hit the table again, this time with four, and it was splendid. This may be my favorite trick taker. The synthesis of bidding on your hand of cards combined with randomized scoring objectives for the round really causes a strategic conundrum that supersedes the actual trick taking in terms of enjoyment. Really great and better than Shifting Realms, Soaring Rhino's first release.

Volt, the re-release of Emersen Matsuuchi's robot battle game from a few years ago, is a bit dull. It's a 30 minute skirmish game that's kind of battlebots without the charm. You program movement/shooting with dice simultaneously and then resolve. There are some modules which add different weapons and utilities which try and spice it up, but overall it's a bit bland and ends extraordinarily fast. It really gives off a feeling of whether a game actually happened. Compare it to Shadespire/Nightvault and it feels plucked from another dimension devoid of color.

Add this to Wildlands as another skirmish game which doesn't really offer anything unique. All of the rough edges are gone and it's merely a pleasant game that is easily learned and plays very quickly. You'll get it to the table and check off a play, but that's about it.

Thankfully, we closed the night with John Company. This was my third play and I think the first where we didn't get a rule wrong. We're still sticking with the Early Company/Standard scenario, not going full crazy with the full company stuff.

It was fantastic as each other play was. I was the Hastings family which receives an extra die when rolling for actions in the Presidencies. I leveraged this to convince others to place me in those positions to help the company. Early game wasn't bad as I was able to conquer Madras and setup a Governorship which I gave to a player in exchange for preferential promotion treatment that turn.

Unfortunately, I couldn't roll to save my life for Sailing (delivering goods) and we hit a rough mid-game where I blew two 3 dice rolls and a 2 dice roll (you need a 1-2 on a single die to get a success). I did manage to fail a sailing roll, rolling box-cars, and get ousted from my position right before the company collapsed. This left other players holding the bag and I received no negative points.

Unfortunately I still had a promise out at that point which I thought I would be able to retrieve as the Chairman, but my Chairman position lasted for a single turn only. I ended up tied for second place and losing by 2 VP.

I wanted to play the game again right afterward. I want to play it now. Hell, I could be content playing John Company, Dune, and Fire in the Lake every week I think.
Last edit: 31 Jan 2019 09:54 by charlest.
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31 Jan 2019 10:41 #291231 by Jexik

Erik Twice wrote: I don't think one can truly play Keyforge at the same level you do with the typical card game. In fact, it's a bit of a strange demand because kind of the reason it was designed like this was to provide a card game experience without the lifestyle attachment of Magic, Netrunner and the like.


I think the experience I'm looking for is really something more like Legacy MtG or getting back into X-Wing 2.0. Main issue with X-wing like all minis games is the setup and carrying it all around. MtG is prohibitively expensive, since I think I'd like to play Black and Blue.

After the first few decks I got with Keyforge, the next couple were pretty disappointing aside from getting the name. One is almost completely unplayable and serves as a nice foil to give new players a shot.

Your talk about LCGs reminds me of back when I played Heroscape, of all things. The game was surprisingly deep and I was far from the best at it.

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31 Jan 2019 18:17 #291258 by Msample

charlest wrote: Last night I got back to my Netrunner: Terminal Directive campaign, losing the second game to Weyland (I won the first). I'm up against it now because I triggered two of those caution things on the bottom of the campaign mat and have to put some negative cards in my deck. I think my deck overall is a little money starved as I could have won the last game with more credits.

Loving the game again and so happy I bought back in recently. The limited card pool of TD is also a boon, allowing both of us to re-experience the game and limit our options.

The legacy elements themselves are neat, but they don't tie in well to the gameplay. There's no coherent narrative within play, it's all external and we're merely hitting check boxes (achievements) to unlock a new paragraph. It would have been much more effective with special scenarios or cards reflecting the narrative where the running/defending actually had story context. It's really just normal Netrunner with a smaller cardpool where a sideboard tells you to do certain things to unlock more card sets.

Pirate Tricks hit the table again, this time with four, and it was splendid. This may be my favorite trick taker. The synthesis of bidding on your hand of cards combined with randomized scoring objectives for the round really causes a strategic conundrum that supersedes the actual trick taking in terms of enjoyment. Really great and better than Shifting Realms, Soaring Rhino's first release.

Volt, the re-release of Emersen Matsuuchi's robot battle game from a few years ago, is a bit dull. It's a 30 minute skirmish game that's kind of battlebots without the charm. You program movement/shooting with dice simultaneously and then resolve. There are some modules which add different weapons and utilities which try and spice it up, but overall it's a bit bland and ends extraordinarily fast. It really gives off a feeling of whether a game actually happened. Compare it to Shadespire/Nightvault and it feels plucked from another dimension devoid of color.

Add this to Wildlands as another skirmish game which doesn't really offer anything unique. All of the rough edges are gone and it's merely a pleasant game that is easily learned and plays very quickly. You'll get it to the table and check off a play, but that's about it.

Thankfully, we closed the night with John Company. This was my third play and I think the first where we didn't get a rule wrong. We're still sticking with the Early Company/Standard scenario, not going full crazy with the full company stuff.

It was fantastic as each other play was. I was the Hastings family which receives an extra die when rolling for actions in the Presidencies. I leveraged this to convince others to place me in those positions to help the company. Early game wasn't bad as I was able to conquer Madras and setup a Governorship which I gave to a player in exchange for preferential promotion treatment that turn.

Unfortunately, I couldn't roll to save my life for Sailing (delivering goods) and we hit a rough mid-game where I blew two 3 dice rolls and a 2 dice roll (you need a 1-2 on a single die to get a success). I did manage to fail a sailing roll, rolling box-cars, and get ousted from my position right before the company collapsed. This left other players holding the bag and I received no negative points.

Unfortunately I still had a promise out at that point which I thought I would be able to retrieve as the Chairman, but my Chairman position lasted for a single turn only. I ended up tied for second place and losing by 2 VP.

I wanted to play the game again right afterward. I want to play it now. Hell, I could be content playing John Company, Dune, and Fire in the Lake every week I think.


We rarely rolled less than three dice, often four or five.

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31 Jan 2019 22:51 #291266 by charlest
We have typically rolled 3, which by odds should be a success most of the time. When we were hurting for revenue had to take some risks

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