tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6932441.post114193698980734457..comments2023-06-13T06:15:10.688-04:00Comments on WAGS Chronicles II : The WAGSENING: I Don't Want the Whole City, Just Your HalfShemp Duchamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12143427949411525615noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6932441.post-1142002176523383942006-03-10T09:49:00.000-05:002006-03-10T09:49:00.000-05:00Excellent post, K-man. I'll step up to do the INWO...Excellent post, K-man. I'll step up to do the INWO half of the evening.<BR/><BR/>Two things, lesser first:<BR/><BR/>Shemp did NOT lose through poor vitae management. The Ventrue clan have a Resiliance ability, which means any Vitae loss only has a 50% chance of actually occuring. I was spending Vitae left and right to maintain first place. Knowing that you would likely be prudent enough to NOT get in Vitae trouble, I needed to end up with the most points to win. Which I did, barely. After that, it was a 50/50 die roll, which unfortunately, went against me. If I hadn't taken that calculated risk, I think that I would have ended up third at best. Beneath Ventrue dignity, that is. CALCULATED RISK!<BR/><BR/>2) I hated this game for the first round, because it was way to fiddly and confusing, I thought. Each round got better, though, as the logic behind the phases and actions became apparent. By the end, I was really enjoying it. Especially pleasing was the overall closeness - I think things will tighten up even more in future games. Can't wait to play again.<BR/><BR/>BONUS Third Item:<BR/><BR/>Reminds me of Power Grid, in a way. One player is clearly in the lead each turn, and things are clearly more difficult for them (in terms of turn order,etc.) then the other players. It helps keep things tight, and forces a little more strategic thinking on the players. One doesn't necessarily want to get out in the lead - Planning a couple of turns ahead will become vital. I like that, because it works to reduce the dread "analysis paralysis", IMOO, anyway.<BR/><BR/>Cheers, and good job on the post again. Mine will follow -- soonish, or something.<BR/><BR/>Slacker Shemp.Shemp Duchamphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12143427949411525615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6932441.post-1141964596380583942006-03-09T23:23:00.000-05:002006-03-09T23:23:00.000-05:00Kozure,Your memory is excellent! I couldn't recoun...Kozure,<BR/><BR/>Your memory is excellent! I couldn't recount events that clearly unless I videotaped them...<BR/><BR/>Vampire seems to be a good game. I was a little put off at first by my inability to grasp the rules, but as time went on I came to realize that they are actually quite simple! The event cards which came out like wildfire at the beginning gave the illusion of a much more complex game than it is. I still hold that against the game to a certain extent, as it seems like an otherwise reasonably elegant game is clouded by all the special abilites and card text. A further strike against it is that despite all this card text, the game remains surprisingly abstract. You storytelling is very nice to read, but I felt nothing like this while actually playing the game. Arkham Horror, for all it's faults, does a better job of immersing players in a develloping story line.<BR/><BR/>Don't get me wrong, by the end I liked the game. Though luck plays a significant role, I think that there is a lot of room for good play to carry the game. Compared to Arkham horror, Vampire shows a lot of restraint as a game design. Gameplay centers on a few important game mechanisms which work together to give players real choice and real control over their destiny and strategy. I'd actually compare this to Way Out West... another game which combines an abstract strategy game with a level of randomness and chaos which feels a little incongruent but remains fun.<BR/><BR/>I'm looking forward to playing this one again, with a clearer idea of what I'm trying to do from the beginning (and hopefully with fewer events at the start). I'm defintely now looking forward to revisiting my Jyhad CCG (IMHO better than any other horror game I've played, including this one... though that could be my fond memories talking. It did feature player elimination and was rather long and wordy...)<BR/><BR/>..oh, and I think that if the 3rd place player (me) had won through unlikely die rolls, it would have been just fine!Agent Easyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459988517741244059noreply@blogger.com