Add me to the Eclipse wet blanket brigade. The game is just not my style – while I liked the action/research mechanics and the mechanics that felt cribbed from Through The Ages, I found the whole military angle of the game to be overdeveloped. I’m generally far to the “mechanics” side of the “theme-mechanics” axis though unless you’re talking full-fledged grognardian wargames though.
I think it’s highly rated because if you do like the theme and don’t mind the mechanics, it’s a pretty elegant streamlining of a class of boardgames that normally take 12 hours just to set up it feels like.
JoshL
5202
Ha, well, I will personally apologize for that, since NT is my only 10-rated game on BGG. The major downside of it is that the rules are very opaque and it takes 2 or 3 games (at best) before you really understand what is going on. Now that I’m past that point, though, I find it the most engrossing, nail-biting game I’ve ever played. It looks fantastic and even with some slow play it can be finished in an evening.
But, yeah, it’s a big wall to climb just to find out if you’re going to like it. If you figured out you didn’t like it after one game, you saved yourself a lot of time!
My friend and I hated the combat system. It felt like a complex version of Stratego. I guess we’re too much dice and combat results table guys. The game looks nice on the table though.
BGG has generally lead me toward good games, but I feel the hype surrounding Ascension isn’t as deserved as I thought. The game has almost zero player-player interaction and the only competitive element - acquiring cards before other players - is entirely determined by the randomness of the center cards. It’s just as much fun single player as it is multiplayer, which is depressing as that should never be the case. It’s nice as a casual affair with the girlfriend on a rainy day, but I’d really rather play any other game.
In a way you guys have tempered my interest in Eclipse, as I was suspecting some sort of horrendous initial learning curve similar to Civilization that rewards you with a lovely game. I’m not sure it would be suitable for the Qt3 London meet based on what I’ve read and the somewhat sickening setup time.
Yeah, you maybe have to take those recommendations in context. Ascension is great as an iOS game because of the way they did asynchronous play (which was better than almost every other game at the time) and because you can take a turn quickly without ever having to put things on pause to wait for the other player(s). I definitely recommend it as a time killer on the phone but I have no interest in the actual game.
JM1
5206
There needs to be a portable version of Warhammer: Invasion (and no, not using one of the online deck/table things).
Agreed, but also without CCG aspects mirrored in a microtransaction format.
Yeah but the problem with all of those Magic type games is that you either have to play live or every time anyone does anything you have to pause the game and ask everyone else if they want to play interrupts. Are there any async versions of Magic that are any good on the PC?
I agree. I really liked W:I, but stopped trying to keep up with the packs about halfway through the second set (mostly because I’m trying to keep up with the LOTR CCG)
I was going to get Eclipse (would probably hate the “Eurofication” of it), but then learned an iOS version is coming, so I’m going to get that. At least that way I’ll be able to try it over the internet and if I hate it less money is lost!
The LCG card games (Warhammer Invasion, A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, etc) by FFG would make fantastic iOS games. Unfortunately, I think It’d be a cold day in hell before FFG would covert them though.
JM1
5212
Ish. You don’t need them, and they differ from CCGs in one major way - you know exactly what you’re buying.
Did you read my reply, though? I’m wondering if the reason it hasn’t happened is because they wouldn’t make great iOS games because of interrupts, which isn’t a problem with Ascension and Dominion. Every time you play a card or take an action in those games you have to wait for the other player to pass on interrupts. You could potentially code it to skip that step if the other player was unable to interrupt but that could be exploited. I was wondering if anything similar had been done for Magic on the PC but I did some searching and couldn’t find anything.
That’s a good point about the interrupts. Maybe it wouldn’t work out for MP after all. Still, I’d like to be able to play against an AI, since I have no one to play with anyway. Hell, I can’t even complete a game of Nightfall (have 4 games going for over two weeks and still on the first fucking rounds in all of them) and that has far less interrupts than the LCGs.
It would be fine in live head to head play, it’s just Asynch that interrupts (and to some extent Nightfall) where that kind of play is frustrating. Heck, the MtG apps on Xbox/PC only allow a limited window for interrupts or actions.
True, but my experience with trying to find people online to play a live game with (and actually finishing without rage quitting or whatever) is close to my odds of getting struck by lightning.
All right! Fantasy Flight just posted the rules for Infiltration and I can’t wait. Looks like a mini shadowrun in a box!
You’re up! It’s us and two random dudes because QT3 hates being cool guys.
FFG just announced a new/old game… Netrunner as a LCG. I think I still have some old Netrunner cards around here somewhere.
Ooooh. I loved Netrunner. Honestly, I feel like all the old Deckmaster games were better than Magic, but Magic is what took off. -sigh-
