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How to better use EX-P Gems

7 replies [Last post]
Sat, 10/30/2021 - 01:18
questccg
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The thing is... EX-P Gems are on the BOTTOM of the list of Crystals to gather and choose. They allow you to "Level Up" another Unit in the play area. In theory this is GOOD. But the reality is most players will FOCUS on gathering "Resources" for their Lord or Lady's Fervor (in order to WIN the game).

So here are some IDEAS about how to re-implement EX-P Gems:

1. When they are drawn from the bag, the winner of the battle keeps ALL EX-P Gems.

2. When they are drawn from the bag, they go onto a Tile as normal BUT each time a player picks ANOTHER Crystal from that Tile, he/she also collects ONE (1) EX-P Gem too.

There are nine (9) EX-P Gems and having them in your stockpile until you use one or more of them sounds reasonable to me.

Which of these methods do you prefer and why!? If you have another method by which you could use EX-P Gems ... Feel free to share!

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Mon, 11/01/2021 - 07:46
#1
Juzek
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Consolation prize?

It sounds like the EX-P Gems are a lagging benefit, such as they will help you later, but not directly right now.

I think it would be good to use this as a catch-up mechanic, where they go to the player who ends up poorer in the resources department.

I'm not entirely caught up with your game mechanics, but something like "you can either take all the resources from the tile, and give all the EX-P gems to the other player, or you can select the EX-P gems and give the resources to the other player."

This way players can focus on what they want to - gaining resources, and as a result their competition gets stronger.

Also thematic, because people can learn from their losses, and generally learn more from a failure than a success.

This would go along with one of my favorite heuristics of "let each player decision have at least two opposing motivations"

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Mon, 11/01/2021 - 14:59
#2
questccg
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That sounds really NEAT!

If I understood correctly, it would be something like the following:

3. For each gem you collect, award one (1) EX-P Gem (if available) to the opponent of your choice. For each XP Gem you collect, award one (1) resource gem (if available) to an opponent of your choice.

Is this something along the lines of your "Consolation Prize"?! I think it is and I think it's very "strategic" also. Either you get further ahead and your opponent get's to "Level Up" one Game Tile (or Collect one EX-P Gem for future use) or the opposite happens.

These EX-P Gems would force players to decide on what should be done in terms of the Crystals collected. And if you are ahead and have no option but to collect an EX-P Gem, this also can HELP your opponent by allowing him/her to "catch-up" and collect a Resource Gem of his/her choice.

Real cool @Juzek... This is definitely very strategic... I really like it!

Juzek wrote:
This would go along with one of my favorite heuristics of "let each player decision have at least two opposing motivations"

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Mon, 11/01/2021 - 16:00
#3
questccg
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Secondary/Side Effect (unintentional)

I was just thinking if Player #2 is lagging Player #1 by 2 Resources ... And Player #2 can collect two (2) Resource Gems... And there are EX-P Gems in the mix.

What he is basically doing is making his opponent STRONGER but at the same time catching-up to him.

And so it's not a 100% balancing mechanic... There still are avenues which are a bit "unfair" to the trailing player who NEEDS the "extra" resources to catch up but also loses in terms of XP Gems because they get awarded to the opponent.

Still I think it is VERY COOL ... And I like it!

Note #1: I think I should change it just a bit... So that it IS a "Balancing Mechanic" and go with something like this:

3. For each gem you collect, award one (1) EX-P Gem (if available) to the player furthest behind (in scoring). For each EX-P Gem you collect, award one (1) resource gem (if available) to the player furthest behind (in scoring). If there is a tie in scoring, ignore this rule.

I think this is MORE in the spirit of BALANCING as well as having two (2) opposing motivations. But now it ensures that the weakest player (or lagging player for a lack of better terminology) is the one who earns the BONUS Gem(s).

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Tue, 11/02/2021 - 14:30
#4
Juzek
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I'm still not sure if I

I'm still not sure if I exactly understand the mechanics, but I'm happy to help!

I think you should test out the various rules, (just being rules and not components changes makes it nice) and see what is the most fun.

I think it may naturally balance well if the looser of the battle gets to keep all the EX-P crystals. See what craziness this adds to player motivations. Like, "when would a player want to loose for the crystals?"

Anyway, goodluck!

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Wed, 11/03/2021 - 16:52
#5
questccg
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No more bonus for a victory...

Juzek wrote:
Like, "when would a player want to lose for the crystals?"

Well previously the rule was that when you "conquered" an opposing unit, you would AUTOMATICALLY earn ONE (1) Crystal of your choice and the remainder of them would be collected by rolling dice. And EX-P Gems would ALSO go to the victor... Since it is all Stat-Based, there is no RNG it's just one player conquering the other.

But then I came to my senses and figured out that dice rolling (RNG) is bad for a "deterministic" game. In a way, it would be much better if the ENTIRE game was like 100% deterministic. And so I figured this out by requiring a Collecting Sequence (order of gathering) which forces players to move around the Play area to collect the Gems they need (in the correct order).

So no more the rule that the conqueror earns one (1) free gem.

Furthermore I decided that when you collect EX-P Gems you can keep them and use them when you want. This makes the game more strategic for a couple of reasons: 1> You choose when and 2> Your Avatar "warps" to that location.

This means that there is a movement benefit which can allow you quicker access from across the Area of play!

What I see with these NEW rules is that conquering is beneficial in that it provides players with gems they can collect. The Victor is awarded no bonus... which means that it's more acceptable to "trade" battles in order for there to be more loot in the Area of play.

Some extra explanations to show how the rules are different and the impact that it may have on the game!

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Fri, 11/12/2021 - 10:01
#6
larienna
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A random idea from a game of

A random idea from a game of mine:

Experience has 2 functions:

A) Cumulate enough points to unlock new stuff.
B) Spend immedieately to change your random results (rerolls, power up, etc)

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Sat, 11/13/2021 - 21:45
#7
questccg
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Yeah that makes sense but...

larienna wrote:
Experience has 2 functions...

Yeah but one of the KEY selling points is that the game is 100% deterministic. There is no RNG in the game aside from drawing Game Tiles and Crystals from a material pouch.

But generally speaking it is like function A>. The thing is that I want player to preserve their Ex-P Gems until they really want to use them on a Game Tile.

For now the two (2) primary races are "Humans" and "High-Elves"... And there is a conflict between them even if they are usually peaceful towards each other, sometimes there is conflict for various reasons (including vying for Power over the Nexus).

However in the future, I think USING Ex-P Gems to WEAKEN opponents will be possible with the "Stronger" races. Like for example the "Orcs" or the "Undead". Basically you OPPONENT can use Ex-P Gems to give -1 or -2 Attack Penalties. Currently with the two (2) races, Ex-P Gems give bonuses.

So they will have more value depending on how the opponent(s) builds their deck of Game Tiles (Units).

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