http://fortressat.com/ Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:47:11 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79386 [b]Hatchling:[/b] That's certainly a baptism of fire. I'm not so brutal when teaching a game to people who haven't played it before. After the first game however... But as I was typing that I thought, it's also a difference of player styles, your group sounds more hardcore, whereas most of the ones at the local game club are more casual so being too underhanded seems a bit unfair. Notahandle Tue, 08 May 2012 19:10:54 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79384 I laughed when someone (MB?) said that ios gaming would have a serious impact on gaming, but now I can see it. I have ordered an ipad just to be able to play games like T&E more easily with more players. Once they start putting out direct conversions (i.e. you see the board on your ipad as it would look on your table), and once the display technology gets so its bigger, or is routed through your TV, it will open up multiplayer gaming to a huge audience who don't fit into the "gaming group" stereotype that seems to be the norm for most boardgame enthusiasts. I can't wait to be honest. ldsdbomber Tue, 08 May 2012 17:53:44 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79369 If only politicians would sit and play economic games...maybe they'd actually understand things. SuperflyTNT Mon, 07 May 2012 20:16:46 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79368 Great interview Matt! Keep these coming. Imperial is one of my games to play more. I've only got a chance to play three games, but I have enjoyed them all. It is a good for people who say that "dice hate them." This games allows me to get the interaction I crave and removes the randomness that some people hate. Truly a rarity in board gaming. Dair Mon, 07 May 2012 19:08:30 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79367 Notahandle wrote: "Even in a learning game?" I tell people not to trust me to encourage them to think for themselves. But I was mostly on good behaviour that night, and giving people good advice...to the aggravation of other players who were hoping to get away with something. But genuinely helping others also, it is true, helped me advance my standing in the game. It was ambiguous, and (to veer back toward the game design) that was the point I was trying to make about Imperial: that there are many levels in this game that allow interests to converge or conflict in surprising, interesting and sometimes mind boggling ways. That's what I love about it so much. Hatchling Mon, 07 May 2012 18:38:13 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79363 [b]Hatchling wrote:[/b] [b]"[/b]they are new to Imperial ... As usual I was game explainer, and as usual I often needed to offer clarifications and suggestions to people...but I always warn them that once the game starts I will often, but not always, try to get them to make bad moves.[b]"[/b] Even in a learning game? [b]"[/b]At one point I realized that even when I tried to help people, I'd still piss them off.[b]"[/b] Hardly surprising is it? The only information you're providing them that can be relied on is the rules explanation before the game. Once the game starts they're clearly having to question your motives. Notahandle Mon, 07 May 2012 14:28:46 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79361 [quote]As a student of economics I had to learn the mantra of supply and demand, the invisible hand of the market will secure equilibrium anywhere. All this theoretic stuff may not have to do much with reality, but was certainly helpful for my game designs.[/quote] And John Maynard Keynes enters the room! Actually I'm in complete agreement, and one of the things I like about boardgames is that they can provide a nice microcosm of economic effects in action. Simple games can show the basic economic principle of supply and demand in action. Bigger, more complex games provide opportunities to take that to the next level. Games like Imperial allow for personalities to screw with economic theory. A country in ascendancy can be cut down to size by someone cashing out on its position, and that's a valuable lesson to learn as well. The Invisible Hand is alive and well, but sometimes it's responding to supplies and demands that aren't visible to the naked eye. By the way I owned Imperial 2030 for a year before I finally convinced my buddies to try it. They loved it, and as luck would have it I couldn't make it to game night for the next three weeks. So they bought a second copy. They played that copy with their other group and two more copies were purchased by that extended group. Tell your publisher to keep printing copies. S. Sagrilarus Mon, 07 May 2012 13:35:37 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79360 good interview, the only Mac game i've played is Navegador, which i didn't like much. I'm really interested in playing either of the Imperial games though. DukeofChutney Mon, 07 May 2012 13:09:32 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79359 I played a 6-player game of Imperial a couple of nights ago. The people are really nice and fun and they love games. But too much player interaction sometimes brings out some darkness in them. And so given that they are new to Imperial, and Imperial will always put that interaction on the table, the game ended up having an atmosphere that sort of reminded me of the insanity in [url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xqc3r3uKJY]Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? [/url]. And we weren't even drinking too much. Under the veneer of friendly dinner party simmered some anger, resentment and barely-restrained violence. As usual I was game explainer, and as usual I often needed to offer clarifications and suggestions to people...but I always warn them that once the game starts I will often, but not always, try to get them to make bad moves. And since I lost control of Italy about a third of the way into the game, and had enough bonds to try to play the 'control no country' gambit, I needed to steer people to play the way I wanted to them to play. Anyway, my metagaming almost got me lynched that night. I pissed off people who knew what I was doing. I also pissed off people who didn't know but were just paranoid because the options and dynamics of the game are so variable. At one point I realized that even when I tried to help people, I'd still piss them off. It was like we were all trapped in a cloud that gave every interaction some venom. Or maybe it was just me being irritating (that is always the last thing I suspect). Either way shit got real, and I couldn't stop enjoying myself in the middle of this insanity. At one point one of the players who was losing miserably would just do the opposite of what I'd suggest he do. Then I used reverse psychology to try to get him to do the opposite of the opposite of what I wanted him to do, so he just did something totally random and baffling. I was in stitches, but he was basically telling me to fuck off, and it was his way of flipping the board. I won by about 15 points. Saying goodbye that night was awkward. The guy I think I pissed off still hasn't replied to the email I sent the next day trying to check in to make sure everything is okay. Hahaha. You know a game is great if it makes it possible for things to fly off the table like this. But next time I think it would be prudent for me to use a subtler way of cajoling people. Hatchling Mon, 07 May 2012 11:22:08 +0100 http://fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3245#josc79358 Great choice! Very enjoyable. But no love for The Princes of Machu Picchu? That game has more theme than the others, so ought to have a greater appeal to F:ATties. Notahandle Mon, 07 May 2012 09:47:32 +0100