Board Games!

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Cosmic Encounter?

I've been running Play by Forum CE games on another site for a while, I'll set one up in the Mish Mash forums when those start winding down.

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I haven't used Vassal yet, and last I heard CE wasn't on there. Are you talking about the FFG version?

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Arkham's a great game, but I suggest playing with two characters each since two players total is a bit difficult.

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Ascension is terrible over two players since it's so random what comes out. So many games where all monsters come out or all buying cards come out or all high cost cards come out and you built your deck wrong only because of the randomness of the game. If you want an alternative to Dominion I suggest Penny Arcade: Gamers vs. Evil.

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It takes so very long to change your deck composition and the things on the board change so frequently it's often an exercise in futility.

But no one really should tell people what they should or shouldn't enjoy, if you like it then good for you, just not my cup of tea.

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The base game has pretty limited strategic options. Haven't played base in a while though. Big money plus a few support cards tend to do best. I've only really played 2 player though.

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I'm not actually too much of a fan of Catan, a bit too much randomness with the dice rolls, especially since the dice that came with the set does not like to roll certain numbers (I've kept track and it's definitely a statistically significant difference)

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I'm not actually too much of a fan of Catan, a bit too much randomness with the dice rolls, especially since the dice that came with the set does not like to roll certain numbers (I've kept track and it's definitely a statistically significant difference)

Dice rolls and randomness are not the problem with Catan. The problem with Catan is that its randomness can lead to people who literally cannot do anything, and that's no fun for anyone at that point. Some randomness in a game is actually something that will draw me to a game, as I like having to adjust to what's coming at me. But in Catan, there's none of that.

Well yeah, I mean the dice rolls are too important.

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I'm not actually too much of a fan of Catan, a bit too much randomness with the dice rolls, especially since the dice that came with the set does not like to roll certain numbers (I've kept track and it's definitely a statistically significant difference)

Mind throwing down the stats? I'm curious as to which numbers.

I don't have the stats on my computer, but it had to do with the numbers 9 and 10 (probably 11 too) not rolling nearly enough times, I didn't check the individual dice but I assume it's because the 5 wasn't rolling often enough. It was pretty strange.

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Anyone at gencon this weekend?

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I haven't played too much 7 wonders, maybe 15 or so games, but I find that the player who diversifies tends to win, minus the all in science strategy (which honestly is pretty easy for the players on either side of you to hate on)

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I forget, does Betrayal self balance as you add more people? Or is it the same no matter how many players you add?

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I am apparently successful at recruiting people to play/purchase Sentinels of the Multiverse... without owning any of it myself.

I am not. It was a complete flop at the Reckoning. Mostly because we played on a really easy mode.

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That was terrible at explaining what a "train game" is besides "complicated"

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Also: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/1927859/ ... e=original

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So, who's going to BGG.Con this year? I know of a few people who are going that have been on these boards in the past. Who else is in? It's always the highlight of my year - my wife and I make it a point to go every time. (This will be our 7th year, I think.)

Maybe, but I think I'd rather use my vacation days for MS meets.

Except the importance of how great dominion is!

Dominion is seriously 100% the best.

Please hit me up on AIM or Skype if you want to play, I have Goko and all the expansions + two promos (two of the three good ones)

Are you free at 1PM PST?

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Oh god, I wish. Not free until around 2 PM PST (work)

I'll defeat you some other time then.

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Reck, why haven't you gotten cosmic encounter yet ffs?

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I agree that Cosmic is very dependent on the playstyles of the people playing. If you have a good group that likes backstabbing and think solo wins are a lot more valuable than shared wins it's a beautiful game. If you have people who don't care if they share a win or not then it gets sorta dull especially if you have couples or other people who agree to team up no matter what.

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Forbidden Island is like Pandemic lite (by the same people IIRC). It's a bit easier to trust people to make their own decisions in FI than Pandemic though so you *can* play it in a way that's not totally feel like multiplayer solitaire. It's not exactly fun in that case, just something you can bear through for the enjoyment of the players who do like co-op games before you play the heavier game. At least that's my experience with the game.

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Cheery getting one shotted on turn 1 was priceless

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I don't think FD's really been in much outside of Geek and Sundry- she was in a Cheeto's commercial, she was one of the Potentials in the last season of Buffy, she was the star of the the Dragon Age movie, and she was the love interest in Doctor Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Plus she created/starred in the web series The Guild. Other than that, I can't think of anything she's actually really done.

She was in three episodes of Supernatural.

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And an imdb page.

That's cheating.

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Have you heard of the Inquisitor?

I haven't played with that variant, he seems a lot stronger than the Ambassador though, might be worth trying out.

Cosmic Encounter is perfect with the right group of people who love chaos. But with the wrong group it can get kind of dull when people just Negotiate constantly or over invite people to ally. Try to stick to 4-6 people to start, any more than that and the game gets weird where some people get too few turns (a side effect of new players inviting too many people to help), and 3 is a bit more boring? Still can be fun though.

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i like 7 wonders for larger groups because the amount of time is only marginally increased over smaller ones (since the time it takes is entirely based on the slowest player). Although tallying up points takes a bit.

There are a few phone aps that make adding up the score a lot easier for 7 wonders.

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7 people, 7 ipads!

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Would there be interest in a Tabletop Simulator Night?

Yep!

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Since no other time has been thrown out, how about Saturday at 8pm PST (which I think is early afternoon Sunday in Australia) for tabletop sim night? I'd be down for bsg or whatever but might need a quick rundown of the rules again.