The TGDRT website is back up, with a brand-new episode #12 along for the ride!
Jon and Dirk are joined by designer David Heron to discuss his work on the Legend of the Five Rings CCG (Collectible Card Game). Along the way, they examine the business side of building a CCG. The discussion then shifts to deckbuilding and drafting games, with a particular focus on Dominion and 7 Wonders and the design flaws that prevent Dirk and David from enjoying them. At the end of the episode Jon teases a big announcement that will be made next week.
We had some scheduling difficulties, so it was great for David to come on with short notice. Despite that, the episode turned out great, with some really interesting discussions.
And yes, I have some exciting news dropping next week. Stay tuned!
– Jon
Hi Jon – I just listened to this podcast and really enjoyed it. I too have dumped a bunch of time into limited M:TG. My local store solves the problem of people just drafting rares and playing for 2nd/3rd by having a rare redraft at the end of the tournament. All the rares/foils are redrafted in place order, going through until all the rares and foils have been redrafted. If the draft was prize supported, the prizes are also in the pool eg. first place is picking between 1 rare or 3 packs.
You should look into getting Dirk into a cube draft, I think he’d really like that format.
Great Episode!
cnahr
/ February 1, 2013Dirk and David don’t like Ascension? That makes me sad. The excellent Playdek port is my most-played multiplayer game on the iPad by far, if you have one you should buy it!
Arjan
/ February 4, 2013Thanks again. It is nice, as always, to hear your opinions. Discussing the ‘why’ of popularity of games like Dominion and Ascension would have been interesting. Different people different tastes, but apparantly a large majority likes these deckbuilding games, even though they have flaws. Could you guys zoom in on that some time?
In greater perspective: how many flaws are ok if it makes a game shine on a certain aspect? Is there a sweet spot or is it always a balancing act?
To add my player experience about Dominion and Ascension: I love interactivity which isn’t present as much in these games (relatively). But somehow I still like them, especially Ascension on the iPad as cnahr writes. I like to play them as the patience-cardgame: zoning out, entering this state of *almost* thinking nothing while playing.
Again, great stuff, both the podcasts and the articles.
Greetings from the Netherlands
Dominik
/ February 4, 2013Great episode, though I was hoping to hear a little more discussion about Ascension. It’s by no means perfect, but I think it tackled (or at least tried to) a few of the issues with Dominion that were mentioned. For example, to prevent the “optimal strategy for these 10 piles” they only have a few random cards available for purchase at a time and those change whenever a player buys one.
The iPad version is indeed quite good, though I recommend playing the Storm of Souls expansion if you are going to give it a go. It’s far better and also more balanced than the original in my opinion.
So, what was the name of the abstract game David and Dirk couldn’t think of?
Jon Shafer
/ February 4, 2013http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Burm