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[Chorazin]

Played 3P Blood Rage last night, left overall enjoying it, but I got SAVAGED. The final scores were 123, 120, and 62. I was the 62. :/

One guy had a strategy where he wanted to lose all his fights, the other guy had a strategy to win all his fights, and I kinda got shafted because I couldn't work around either one. The card drafting is the most important thing in the game, IMO this is much less of an area control game than people think by looking at it. I feel like if you don't have a solid plan in mind from the first draft you might be SOL.

Gonna play it 4P next week, I'm hoping that will give room for more strategies.

 

[XShagrath]

Did you only buy that game? Cause Same Day Shipping only works on orders over $35 (not including shipping & tax. So you didn't get it if that was your only item.

I did get a book for my wife as well, so the order was over $35. I wonder if it was because I used some points from my Amazon card, which brought down the "out of pocket" to like $4. Then again, this just started here in Orlando this week, so maybe there's still some kinks in the system.

 

[Experien]

I did get a book for my wife as well, so the order was over $35. I wonder if it was because I used some points from my Amazon card, which brought down the "out of pocket" to like $4. Then again, this just started here in Orlando this week, so maybe there's still some kinks in the system.

Did the BOOK qualify? All items have to qualify.

That said, I've had same day delivery and it got delivered the next day so it isn't perfect yet.

 

[XShagrath]

Did the BOOK qualify? All items have to qualify.

That said, I've had same day delivery and it got delivered the next day so it isn't perfect yet.

Yeah, I made sure that both items qualified. It's not a huge deal, as I didn't plan to play it until this weekend anyways. I had just wanted to try out the same-day shipping.

To keep on topic, the 7th Continent Print-N-Play was uploaded yesterday. I printed out the cards at work today and will try to get them cut and sleeved to give that a go this weekend as well.

 

[Experien]

Yeah, I made sure that both items qualified. It's not a huge deal, as I didn't plan to play it until this weekend anyways. I had just wanted to try out the same-day shipping.

To keep on topic, the 7th Continent Print-N-Play was uploaded yesterday. I printed out the cards at work today and will try to get them cut and sleeved to give that a go this weekend as well.

I wanted to print them out but my printer is having trouble doing back and front printing so I gave up. Might give it another try but it is a little frustrating to say the least.

Give your thoughts!

 

[Femmeworth]

Shuffling with sleeved cards is bliss. (After I looked up the proper way to do it.)

 

[espher]

I printed the 7th Continent PnP and gave it a solo run last night. Did it on plain 8.5x11 paper and it worked fine since you have to do very little shuffling.

It's very, very short, as they note in the intro sheet. Doesn't cover a ton of the mechanics, but gives a sampler of the stuff most of the video previews have gone over - movement, random events, crafting, optional tests, and status conditions were the main topics covered. Win/loss is dicey because of the limited action pool (I managed to win but got some good draws), so you can get a couple of tries in in short order. The impact of different success/failure states on the game (as in, what you can stand to gain and lose, and how the map can change) is covered, and there are a couple of actions that are essentially 'wasted', so it kind of teases that not every tile is worth looking at (or is worth looking at but not right away).

I can definitely see how the game would scale up with the much, much larger card pool, though given that the PnP demo

Spoiler

really only covers two actual terrain tiles while having a larger number of numbered tiles

does make me curious as to just how large/small the actual map could potentially be.

I'm still interested in the game after playing it as I feel a lot of the meat of the game and interesting challenges are yet to come.

 

[swoon]

The Gallerist arrived today for me. it's is easily the biggest box in my collection. Stoked about jumping into it.

 

[Dryk]

Shuffling with sleeved cards is bliss. (After I looked up the proper way to do it.)

Only my copy of Star Realms is sleeved, and while I do enjoy shuffling sleeved cards the Star Realms deck (especially with 4 people) is so big that it's hard to do well.

 

[super-famicom]

Shuffling with sleeved cards is bliss. (After I looked up the proper way to do it.)

Got a link to a video for that?

 

[Phthisis]

Got a link to a video for that?

Cut deck in half, slide bottom corner of one pack into side/bottom corner of the other pack. Slowly push and feel the buttery slide of polypropylene in your hands.

 

[Lyng]

Funny watching the big podcasts and youtube boardgame video content creators going at each others throats on twitter last night.

This is the original tweet that sparked the argument. (Its about the horrible business model of T.I.M.E. Stories)

https://twitter.com/thedicetower/status/657184076667994112

 

[Blizzard]

Cut deck in half, slide bottom corner of one pack into side/bottom corner of the other pack. Slowly push and feel the buttery slide of polypropylene in your hands.

I feel like this would produce a weirdly regular distribution, though. I'm also perhaps more concerned that it would damage the corners or long edges of the cards pretty quickly by constantly pressing them against each other. I already had some sleeves with plastic threads hanging off presumably because of that sort of thing.

 

[mercviper]

I feel like this would produce a weirdly regular distribution, though. I'm also perhaps more concerned that it would damage the corners or long edges of the cards pretty quickly by constantly pressing them against each other. I already had some sleeves with plastic threads hanging off presumably because of that sort of thing.

If you do it right you can do perfect shuffles. Also, there's plenty of space in the sleeves plus you shouldn't be using much force to start the shuffle so damage isn't really an issue. I have never seen what you mention about plastic threads.

 

[Blizzard]

If you do it right you can do perfect shuffles. Also, there's plenty of space in the sleeves plus you shouldn't be using much force to start the shuffle so damage isn't really an issue. I have never seen what you mention about plastic threads.

Maybe my memory is failing me and they were just rough/scuffed edges instead of threads. It's an interesting shuffle method to try at least.

 

[BomberMouse]

Funny watching the big podcasts and youtube boardgame video content creators going at each others throats on twitter last night.

This is the original tweet that sparked the argument. (Its about the horrible business model of T.I.M.E. Stories)

https://twitter.com/thedicetower/status/657184076667994112

Care to explain what's the deal with the game?

 

[Lyng]

Care to explain what's the deal with the game?

Well the game will be released in episodes (much like a tell tale game).
The main gripe that some people (including me) have is that, not only does the core box only have one scenario, that given scenario can only really be played once and has a playing time of max 4 hours.
All this for 50$

 

[BomberMouse]

Well the game will be released in episodes (much like a tell tale game).
The main gripe that some people (including me) have is that, not only does the core box only have one scenario, that given scenario can only really be played once and has a playing time of max 4 hours.
All this for 50$

Is it a legacy type of game? Why can you only play it once?

 

[Lyng]

Is it a legacy type of game? Why can you only play it once?

Well kind off. ITs more of a story driven game. Most of the fun in the game is from revealing the story. Once that is done there is not really anything to play anymore.
Its much like the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective cases, except here is only one scenario, its shorter and the price is higher.

 

[ultron87]

That seems kind of crap. Unless the additional scenarios are going to be like, 5 dollars.

 

[Experien]

Is it a legacy type of game? Why can you only play it once?

The base game and each expansion comes with one scenario or mystery. To discover the full mystery, you have to play it 3-4 times to truly discover what is happening. You can play it again but you will know the answer to it.

You could wait about 6 months and replay it with 3 new people (it is highly recommended to play it with 4 ppl) and try not to tell everyone what is happening. That is what Rahdo is saying. It is like a DVD player. You buy the DVD player and comes with a DVD. You buy a DVD and you can only watch it for the first time once. You can rewatch it but it won't necessarily be the same. If you wait for a long time you could rewatch it and it might be a little new to you.

Base game is $50, Expansions is $30. you need base to play expansion so it comes with a board. So you could say Base is $20 plus a $30 story. Though you can get it cheaper online at other places so it is more of $35 for base.

 

[antiquegamer]

Funny watching the big podcasts and youtube boardgame video content creators going at each others throats on twitter last night.

This is the original tweet that sparked the argument. (Its about the horrible business model of T.I.M.E. Stories)

https://twitter.com/thedicetower/status/657184076667994112

I don't know what is with this game that generate so much hate. Don't like the business model don't buy it, that is how I approach CMON stuffs. Also the one dumbass make it seems like day one DLC is something new ... So many game by FFG have expansions come out with core game. Magic, Dicemasters etc are all pretty much a micro transaction of tabletop gaming.

TIME Story to me is like Telltales game you pretty much play it once to get the story. It's price pretty much the same way and I think some board game people stupidly think evil video game model is invading their turfs when in essence Magic the Gathering is pretty much the mother of all micro transaction gaming. A guy keep shouting about day one expansion when this is nothing new in modern boardgame.

To me TIME Stories is slightly better than Pandemic Legacy because at least with TIME Stories you can sell the game. Pandemic Legacy is pretty much like digital gaming and no used game sale.

 

[antiquegamer]

That seems kind of crap. Unless the additional scenarios are going to be like, 5 dollars.

What .. A pack of Magic is 3.99 how much do you think it cost to create contents?

I don't really get board game mentality of game should have infinite replay value just because it's board game. I paid $25.00 for Machi Koro and only play it a few times and none of the time I had any fun and the game will probably never hit the table again (same with Smash Up and few others). Just because the game can be replay doesn't mean it's worth replaying.

 

[espher]

What .. A pack of Magic is 3.99 how much do you think it cost to creat contents?

TCGs, CCGs, LCGS, and the like aren't a good comparable.

There's no secondary market/economy for the cards and (ostensibly) no competitive tournaments.

Also from a plays to dollars perspective it sounds like you'd get more out of a game of Risk/Pandemic Legacy than you would out of this one.

 

[ultron87]

What .. A pack of Magic is 3.99 how much do you think it cost to creat contents?

I don't really get board game mentality of game should have infinite replay value just because it's board game. I paid $25.00 for Machi Koro and only play it a few times and none of the tine I had any fun and the game will probably never hit the table again same with Smash Up and few others. Just because the game can be replay doesn't mean it's worth replaying if you don't find the game any fun.

That's a pretty different thing. I do buy Magic packs, but that's because it's my gambling vice (obviously every pack is going to contain a 20 dollar card) and/or because I want to draft with them.

Board games, fairly or not, have to stand up to a different price standard. They take up space on your shelf and stuff. But hey, it's cool. As long as they're up front with what the box is and isn't, and how much replay value it has, they can charge whatever the heck they want. Just probably not my jam.

 

[Gaming Truth]

I feel like this would produce a weirdly regular distribution, though. I'm also perhaps more concerned that it would damage the corners or long edges of the cards pretty quickly by constantly pressing them against each other. I already had some sleeves with plastic threads hanging off presumably because of that sort of thing.

If you loosely hold each half, they should fan out like a Bloomin Onion, making it really easy to intersect the two halves. That's how I shuffle and i *think* it's the same thing as what's being mentioned.

 

[antiquegamer]

TCGs, CCGs, LCGS, and the like aren't a good comparable.

There's no secondary market/economy for the cards and (ostensibly) no competitive tournaments.

Also from a plays to dollars perspective it sounds like you'd get more out of a game of Risk/Pandemic Legacy than you would out of this one.

I have a truck load of CCG, TCG in my garage and I would be surprise if I get any thing of worth. So are you saying it's ok for company to milk their customers if there is a secondary market or competitive gaming scene? I am not going to argue about fun as gaming taste is subjective and depend on people you play with. Even crappy game can be fun with good friends and family.

As for TIME Stories, I like what they are trying to do, but like Pathfinders card game (which is also extremely overpriced) I probably like the idea of the game more than the game itself. What I find annoying is the game is being judge solely because it meant to be play once or twice and the way it is being sold with add on pack. I still don't see the difference between this and game like LOTR or Pathfinders card games.

I am sure I will have more fun with Pandemic Legacy (I just got it and waiting for a game group since my wife and daughter hate Pandemic) I love the original and most of his games. That said TIME Stories is $34 , and I am sure I can put it on eBay for the same price today or may be even more as it is sold out on miniature market and get someone to buy it. I don't think I can sell my used copy of Pandemic Legacy as it is not replay-able by anyone.

 

[Lyng]

TIME Story to me is like Telltales game you pretty much play it once to get the story. .

My main problem is not that you only get one scenario and then have to buy more, like the telltale games, my problem is the prizing.
50$ for a 4 hour game is just not good value. That is also quiet alot more then what you pay for a tell tale episode, despite videogames beeing far more expensive to produce and develop.

Both Tom Vasel and others got really agressive towards any critizism towards the business model which I think is sad.
We should be able to critizise the bad business model (its a money grab lets be honest) without the "press" flying in to defend it with their lives.

Again the one scenario thing is not even that big of a problem, the money you pay for the very small amount of content is.

If people want to pay that much for so very little then the publisher has been very smart, I just think its a dangerous path for boardgames to move into.

And yes Magic has a shitty business model, but that doesnt make this any more right. Two wrongs dont make a right.

 

[Lyng]

That seems kind of crap. Unless the additional scenarios are going to be like, 5 dollars.

Far as I know they are going to be 25 a piece. So if you get the first two then thats about 12 hours of content for 100$

 

[joelseph]

And yes Magic has a shitty business model, but that doesnt make this any more right. Two wrongs dont make a right.

Excuse me?! Mtg encourages and cultivates a vibrant 3rd party resale market. That is win-win for everyone.

 

[Lyng]

Excuse me?! Mtg encourages and cultivates a vibrant 3rd party resale market. That is win-win for everyone.

Actually yeah that is true....


Anyways I am not touching TIme stories with a ten foot pole. THere was a french guy on bgg making a negative review of his first impression with the game, who then got abused on his personal facebook by the designer and some playtesters of the game.
Horrible.

 

[Karkador]

Actually yeah that is true....


Anyways I am not touching TIme stories with a ten foot pole. THere was a french guy on bgg making a negative review of his first impression with the game, who then got abused on his personal facebook by the designer and some playtesters of the game.
Horrible.

Link? I wanna see this

 

[Lyng]

Link? I wanna see this

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1435279/first-and-last-impressions-or-how-one-disappointed

 

[BomberMouse]

Ugh, disgusting. I agree that it's not a bad business model per se, but seems like a terrible value proposition for buyers.

Harassing users is a big no-no, even if they are "wrong".

 

[antiquegamer]

Actually yeah that is true....


Anyways I am not touching TIme stories with a ten foot pole. THere was a french guy on bgg making a negative review of his first impression with the game, who then got abused on his personal facebook by the designer and some playtesters of the game.
Horrible.

I am sorry that guy was a dick. Actually they were all childish.

Pathfinders card game is even worst 59.99 for base game and $20.00 a pop for 5 more scenario that all amount to the same thing not to mention a terrible story. We never even got through the first box because we were bore with it after 2 plays. I don't know if there was this much outrage and cry of money grab.

To me money grab would be making expensive add on to game that you know people will force to pay for or putting one rare in a box of 100 packs now that's money grab. Kickstarter CMON putting exclusive that you could only get by giving you your money first is "money grab". The pricing of TIME Stories may be poor to some but I wouldn't consider it money grab.

 

[Karkador]

Linear, scenario-based gaming is really nothing new (think about how old Choose Your Own Adventure-style game books are), and I think there's generally enough of a market for these types of games - but the caveat is that the format is rather disposable.

A few different trends seem to be colliding.

-The demand for campaign-style board games is definitely there.

- Board gamers tend to be meticulous about keeping their games in mint condition.

- Kickstarter is probably causing an upwards creep in the price and filler content of games.


A game like Times Stories would be perfectly acceptable as a set of cheap booklets or something that you play through and then get rid of. It's a pretty established style of game. But in 2015, everything needs to be ultra-glossy, and priced to feel exclusive.


They probably balanced the Quality vs. Disposability quotient better for Pandemic Legacy, but there are still tons of gamers who don't want to "damage" (in other words, play with) their pristine board game.

I think the idea of eventually ripping your disposable game apart is cool, and shakes up our current climate of how we think of our board games - but the materials have to be the right cost and quality.

 

[joelseph]

Excellent post Kark

 

[Affeinvasion]

I am sorry that guy was a dick. Actually they were all childish.

Pathfinders card game is even worst 59.99 for base game and $20.00 a pop for 5 more scenario that all amount to the same thing not to mention a terrible story. We never even got through the first box because we were bore with it after 2 plays. I don't know if there was this much outrage and cry of money grab.

To me money grab would be making shutting game that you know people will force to pay for putting one rare in a box of 100 packs that's money grab. Kickstarter CMON putting exclusive that you could only get by giving you your money first is "money grab". Their pricing may be poor but I wouldn't consider it money grab.

And Pathfinder adventure card game is pretty much dead now...

 

[antiquegamer]

And Pathfinder adventure card game is pretty much dead now...

Well they did release two more games so the first one must sell OK .. But yes I totally agree that market will dictate if this model is sustianable. So I don't understand why all the crying about this one game. If the game is not worth your money then don't paid for it and eventually no one will make this type of game.

 

[BattleMonkey]

And Pathfinder adventure card game is pretty much dead now...

The hype has gone, but I wouldn't call it dead. If anything it's similar situation to LOTR LCG, huge hype upon release, but continued support for years.

 

[mercviper]

And Pathfinder adventure card game is pretty much dead now...

lol. I'm still playing it...In fact, I need to scan in Deck 4 of S&S for TTS soon.

I set up a weekly game over TTS on Wednesdays with some friends out of town. We have 6 players, but I made that decision for two reasons.

1) I wanted to play every week, and I know IRL stuff comes up and games aren't a priority, so I took more players and told everyone if we had 4+ we'll still play and give scenario rewards to those that missed, which has worked out very well. We've only had a full party for maybe half the games and if we skipped every week we were short 1 or 2 it would kill momentum pretty hard.

2) Downtime isn't too much of an issue when we have 5+ since everyone can browse the internet during it.

I'm also playing a second weekly game on Sundays with 2 other players plus 1 from the weds group, and have an IRL campaign ongoing, but suspended currently due to scheduling conflicts.

Re:story

Yeah, out of the box it's really weak. If you want story you'll need supplemental information like the story guides posted on BGG, which is just a more accessible version of the story modules from the P&P game, since the ACG follows it to the letter. They really add a lot of flavor and we read prologues/epilogues for the IRL game.

 

[Femmeworth]

Watching a tutorial for making foam core inserts. I don't think I can do it. >_< Too much room for error and that don't jive with OCD.

Edit: Also too much of an initial investment given all the supplies you'll need, if you don't already do crafts.

 

[Dryk]

Watching a tutorial for making foam core inserts. I don't think I can do it. >_< Too much room for error and that don't jive with OCD.

I tried to build a simple cardboard box for my Small World expansions and it fell apart at the corners about five minutes after I finished it. It's a nice experience regardless of how it turns out.

 

[neorej]

Watching a tutorial for making foam core inserts. I don't think I can do it. >_< Too much room for error and that don't jive with OCD.

Edit: Also too much of an initial investment given all the supplies you'll need, if you don't already do crafts.

Did the same thing the other day. Honestly, even with the plans I have no idea where to start

 

[Experien]

Watching a tutorial for making foam core inserts. I don't think I can do it. >_< Too much room for error and that don't jive with OCD.

Edit: Also too much of an initial investment given all the supplies you'll need, if you don't already do crafts.

I don't have OCD but I am a perfectionist but it was't to bad. Plus the initial investment shouldn't be bad. Shouldn't be paying more than $6 for a BIG piece of foamcore, an exacto for a couple bucks and glue for a couple. Shouldn't be spending much over $10.

I have only foamcored one thing, it was Last Night on Earth: Timber Peak. It isn't perfect but everything is sorted and I have it a removed able tray.

My only issue with fc is that I can't cut completely straight lines for some reason. But it is close enough. I'd say start with a small game and see how you like it.

 

[disillusion386]

Yeah, making foam core inserts is fun. It takes practice, but after a few goes at it, you figure out what works and how to do it properly. If anything, being a little OCD helps with the process.

As for the initial investment, the most expensive thing I needed to buy was a self-healing cutting mat, and even that wasn't too bad.

 

[Apenheul]

lol. I'm still playing it...

Me too, after Rise of the Runelords we went straight into Skull & Shackles (which we greatly prefer over ROTRL) and meanwhile with another group I'm replaying ROTRL. None of us really get into the story or setting but we play because we like to resolve the scenarios and prepare our characters to deal with future scenarios.

Really concerning Pathfinder ACG there hardly is anything left to talk about on the internet anymore which is probably why the hype died down; criticism against ROTRL still pretty much stands against the later adventure paths as the core gameplay never really changed but they did make scenarios a lot more varied.

 

[espher]

I have a truck load of CCG, TCG in my garage and I would be surprise if I get any thing of worth. So are you saying it's ok for company to milk their customers if there is a secondary market or competitive gaming scene?

I'm saying they're not comparable.

The price/value proposition of board games/non-collectible card games vs. collectible card games is and always has been different. CCGs/TCGs are functionally now built and tested for competitive tournament play (usually for money or other prizes), and casual/friendly play is a secondary component. Product is priced accordingly and the gamble + trade nature of booster packs lends itself towards a different pricing model than what should ostensibly be a singular complete game purchase. I got out of CCGs because that price/value proposition was no a good one for me, since I no longer play competitively, though I do occasionally buy the pre-constructed decks for casual play and, hey, that pricing model is pretty comparable to what I pay for a boardgame that gives me a similar level of plays.

LCGs are, of course, slightly different because they remove that random element from the card acquisition and that's why I feel they're a good fit. They're still pricier "per component" than most board games, but that's in part because they still fill that prize-tournament/competitive angle of CCGs/TCGs. I've basically only bought the starter set for a few of those games because you still get a 'complete' game from those, and there's no strong compulsion or future obligation to buy the add-on content like there are with CCGs.

I don't have any strong feelings towards the TIME model because I'm not all that interested in the product but it's certainly a different model than most product in the same 'genre', especially with what seems like some limited capacity of replay for a given piece compelling you to continually buy add-on content - whether or not that add-on content justifies the price of admission is up to a given player, I suppose, much as it is with the Legacy games (they've been a hard sell for my group because of their disposable nature, as well, even if the actual 'price per game' is pretty cheap).

 

[antiquegamer]

Yeah, making foam core inserts is fun. It takes practice, but after a few goes at it, you figure out what works and how to do it properly. If anything, being a little OCD helps with the process.

As for the initial investment, the most expensive thing I needed to buy was a self-healing cutting mat, and even that wasn't too bad.

And sharp exacto blade will make life a lot easier.

 

[Gaming Truth]

I've been following a consistent pattern with all of my foamcore projects (no designs):
- measure and cut out a box base
- measure and cut out the four outer walls
- glue those pieces together
- lay out all of the things you want to store and how you want to store them
- measure, cut out, and install each compartment one at a time

One thing I learned after Instanbul and Suburbia though is: plan for space for expansions.