Expansions - Need em, Skip em, and Why?

Before my massive game purge a couple years ago, I had expansions for nearly everything I bought.

But Arkham Horror ruined it for me, at least as far as my cynicism regarding how FFG handles their expansions. Just too much, as I sucked it all up and it ruined the game for me, essentially. Too. Much. Damned. Stuff.

With my reworked collection, I am very selective about which expansions and why. Any game I own that I am obsessive about, I can pretty much guarantee that I will purchase the expansions for it. Any and all.
But even Wiz-War 1st expansion took me awhile to buy. I love that game like no other, yet there was just something off about the entire package despite there being many good ideas here and there inside. The second expansion is simply a compulsory no brainer.

The expansion for Lords of Waterdeep somehow, and inexplicably, killed my interest in that game. I really wish I could peg why that was. Maybe after so many plays, the game play seemed nearly rote, despite and in spite of the additional content.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig is great, but I have no inclination to buy the expansion. It, like the waterdeep expansion, seems to add new things that I feel are frivolous. And I dont want Mad King Ludwig to be ruined like waterdeep was for me.

But FFG has definitely made me cynical and more than cautious of expansions. Especially if its for their games. Currently Wiz-War is the only game by them that I own, but battlelore has been tempting me and thats just another foray down the expansion rabbit hole with that game.

I think I would rather devote my money and energy on Arena of the Planeswalkers than battlelore. Both great games, I just find Arena/Heroscape more compelling.

Heroscape... I think I have spent more on that game than nearly any other, bar 40K.
But unlike 40K, Heroscape is worth chasing down everything for it and spending the dough.

Colorcrayons wrote: Before my massive game purge a couple years ago, I had expansions for nearly everything I bought.

But Arkham Horror ruined it for me, at least as far as my cynicism regarding how FFG handles their expansions. Just too much, as I sucked it all up and it ruined the game for me, essentially. Too. Much. Damned. Stuff.

With my reworked collection, I am very selective about which expansions and why. Any game I own that I am obsessive about, I can pretty much guarantee that I will purchase the expansions for it. Any and all.
But even Wiz-War 1st expansion took me awhile to buy. I love that game like no other, yet there was just something off about the entire package despite there being many good ideas here and there inside. The second expansion is simply a compulsory no brainer.

The expansion for Lords of Waterdeep somehow, and inexplicably, killed my interest in that game. I really wish I could peg why that was. Maybe after so many plays, the game play seemed nearly rote, despite and in spite of the additional content.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig is great, but I have no inclination to buy the expansion. It, like the waterdeep expansion, seems to add new things that I feel are frivolous. And I dont want Mad King Ludwig to be ruined like waterdeep was for me.

But FFG has definitely made me cynical and more than cautious of expansions. Especially if its for their games. Currently Wiz-War is the only game by them that I own, but battlelore has been tempting me and thats just another foray down the expansion rabbit hole with that game.

I think I would rather devote my money and energy on Arena of the Planeswalkers than battlelore. Both great games, I just find Arena/Heroscape more compelling.

Heroscape... I think I have spent more on that game than nearly any other, bar 40K.
But unlike 40K, Heroscape is worth chasing down everything for it and spending the dough.

I can't actually see what the problem is that you see (with both expansions and FFG) - if you like a game you either will play it as is or you will look to see if the expansion adds something that you would like to that game, and if you don't like the game will then you won't worry anyway ... I'm probably just being too simplistic
It's likely, from many of the responses here, that people fundamentally either don't like expansions as an entity or don't mind them and will take them or leave them (and some just buy them anyway to give them more of the experience ! ... guilty, Arkham being an example).

Ooh, ooh! Can I do my FFG expansion rant again? It's been like 10 months and Colorcrayons started it! Also, I've been playing Mice and Mystics all day, and THAT is how you do expansions right.

Southernman wrote: I can't actually see what the problem is that you see (with both expansions and FFG) - if you like a game you either will play it as is or you will look to see if the expansion adds something that you would like to that game, and if you don't like the game will then you won't worry anyway ... I'm probably just being too simplistic
It's likely, from many of the responses here, that people fundamentally either don't like expansions as an entity or don't mind them and will take them or leave them (and some just buy them anyway to give them more of the experience ! ... guilty, Arkham being an example).

In short: I like expansions. I just find few games that are worth the extra effort and expenditure.

Arkham was my "pokemon" of boardgames. (gotta catch em all!) That experience taught me, through a large expense, that many games can actually not benefit from being expanded. Anything beyond one or two expansions for Arkham, and it's just spending money for the sake of it, without any real returns in entertainment.

I loved Waterdeep. Happy to buy the expansion. But that expansion killed my enjoyment.

To me, it really appears that a lot of what FFG produces are designed to be expanded, for either the short or long term. I can't blame them, there is money to be made there. But a lot of what they sell just isn't my cuppa any longer. They still make a hell of a lot of good games, but their most enticing designs seem to be stuff they licensed from elsewhere, and not their inhouse designs. Wiz-War, Cosmic, Dungeonquest, Talisman, etc. I am very much not a Konieczkarian.

Colorcrayons wrote:

Southernman wrote: I can't actually see what the problem is that you see (with both expansions and FFG) - if you like a game you either will play it as is or you will look to see if the expansion adds something that you would like to that game, and if you don't like the game will then you won't worry anyway ... I'm probably just being too simplistic
It's likely, from many of the responses here, that people fundamentally either don't like expansions as an entity or don't mind them and will take them or leave them (and some just buy them anyway to give them more of the experience ! ... guilty, Arkham being an example).

In short: I like expansions. I just find few games that are worth the extra effort and expenditure.

Arkham was my "pokemon" of boardgames. (gotta catch em all!) That experience taught me, through a large expense, that many games can actually not benefit from being expanded. Anything beyond one or two expansions for Arkham, and it's just spending money for the sake of it, without any real returns in entertainment.

I loved Waterdeep. Happy to buy the expansion. But that expansion killed my enjoyment.

To me, it really appears that a lot of what FFG produces are designed to be expanded, for either the short or long term. I can't blame them, there is money to be made there. But a lot of what they sell just isn't my cuppa any longer. They still make a hell of a lot of good games, but their most enticing designs seem to be stuff they licensed from elsewhere, and not their inhouse designs. Wiz-War, Cosmic, Dungeonquest, Talisman, etc. I am very much not a Konieczkarian.

That sounds all pretty sensible, and Arkham (from the responses here) is a game that people either love expanding or don't - very black and white.
And as for being a Konieczkarian, that came from a discussion about the man and his abilities here quite a few years ago, the only game of his I own is Lord of the Rings with most of my shelves being being with titles from FFG and Galeforce9 plus other spurious AT games.