Looks good. Going through tutorial. Then i got to the slaughterhouse. Is this realy necessary, especially in 2012? Is the designer living in a bubble created in 1863?
Couldn't it be a vegetable or fruit farm, koala bear sanctuary? I love how its called 'Abatoir'. Then you read the description and it says "all cattle being slaughtered..." Nice! Not even an attempt to tone it down. Like 'kaiserschnitt'. (the king of cuts = c section) Classic German/Euro. Could not have used the word 'processed'?
Yes, it's just a game, but it's still really disappointing to see gameplay involving slaughterhouses, especially if you are vegetarian and a part time Peta undercover agent. This is the kind of building I take photos of from the inside, so it's a bit grating to have to use it this way. Maybe I can talk to Uwe about making a game based on what I've seen.
Fun fun fun! Rosenberg could not think of any kind of substitute? The playtesters demanded it? "good game, Uwe, but it is missing something. There is no killing, no slaughtering, no building where i can process hides to give to my wife to wear when we go to Octoberfest."
It was deemed essential for gameplay? i know rosenberg is German and many Germans get ill at the very thought of vegetables, but this is called 'living in a bubble design'. I am German, lived there, and all my relatives and family are the same way with meat. It is as essential to them as water. More so, actually. It is part of the same problem we had with Agricola. Does every one of Rosenberg's games involve animal slaughter in some way? Is this his passion? "I can't get enough meat! I need to create more games that let me think of meat, how to kill it, process it, wear it, buy it, sell it...what is that you say? Turn the building into a potato farm? Are you mad? Where is the fun in that?"
Here is how this played out. I went through tutorial with my wife. We got to the slaughterhouse description, which I read aloud. She was not impressed. Turned her off the entire game immediately, before we even played it once. If I get her to play it now she is already predisposed to never use the slaughterhouse or buy it.
Sure it is a small part of the game, one of many buildings, but why put it there in the first place? Why turn off what is potentially a large part of your customer base with such an outmoded gaming mechanic/function? Maybe include an option to switch that building into a potato farm or kitty playground. Anything that makes it easier to bring more people into the gsme. I have friends that run a rescue farm for animals. Do you think they are ever going to show enthusiasm for playing a game that incorporates a cattle slaughterhouse?
Like I said, the game itself looks like fun, but is marred by this completely unnecessary building. It could have been anything else. So Codito, how about considering this for your next update.
Right now I'm concerned with our current game where we were both playing chicken 'refusing' to buy/destroy anything from the center row, until your last turn. Sigh. I'm having flashbacks to the last few turns of our first game already...
