Another aspect of the game which was brought up was "Player Elimination". Some less experienced players felt that the game favored veteran gamers. In all honesty, we are really surprised by the POSITIVE feedback experienced gamers have given us so far!
But we are NOT ignoring feedback/comments that ALL our playtesters have been giving us. We want to make the game as GREAT as possible. And so I come to you all to discuss "Player Elimination".
In a scenario such as "Spacewars", the goal is to be the last player standing. What this means is you MUST destroy all your opponents. In this particular case, it is impossible to exclude player elimination.
However in the "Tradewars" or "Days of Glory" scenario, it would be POSSIBLE for a player to LOSE a certain amount of quickSilver instead of being eliminated. Perhaps something like lose one "Galactic Achievement" in the "Days of Glory" scenario or 50 qS in the "Tradewars" scenario BUT gain +1 Tradeships (to offset the loss of position). And your Homeworld would only have HALF the amount of HP (9 out of 18).
These are two (2) possibilities. I will need to think some more about these. So far I was content to let my mind reflect upon these two alternatives to "pure" player elimination...
Tell me what you think!
Comments
Other possibilities!
The other idea that I have in my mind, is transforming eliminated players into "Spare Pirates" where they can unleash their *frustration* on the players who eliminated them from the game...
This is MAYBE something I might consider for the game's Expansion. The thing is this introduces NEW cards and new mechanics to the game. And to be really honest, at this point I am looking to reduce any amount of modifications to the game unless it's something that I see as being a "problem area" of the game (like missions or The Derelict scenario).
This concept is like a mosquito and a cow. The cow keeps having to swat the mosquito from landing and biting the cow. That's sort of what I am leaning towards *annoyance* versus actual threat. That's not to say that the Space Pirate cannot execute his revenge - but it gives eliminated players a small role...
To be determined. This also is a new thinking thread!
Zombie Pirates...
Kris,
I'm not sure those eliminated necessarily want to return to the game in another capacity. If this is some of the feedback you've received, I'm frankly surprised, but nothing is beyond comprehension when it comes to such a wide variety of gamers. However, I know that Eurogames tend to steer clear of "player elimination" and while I appreciate the mechanic, you may simply want to strengthen 'partnerships' or 'alliances' in the game to eliminate the chances of, well, player elimination.
Boston Playtest feedback
I am still working with notes from the Boston Playtests. We resolved most issues from the Philadelphia playtests which was mostly in regards to player roles and re-tooling starships, crews and weapons/missions. I am still waiting for feedback from the Florida tests to see what they have to say...
But a couple of players in the Boston group wanted something OTHER than player elimination: either they could still have a role in the game or that they would not be eliminated so quickly.
My guess these are very novice players ... But it's still nice to *explore* the ideas that can come from trying to mitigate player elimination and see what are the options!
Just going through the data I have - and trying to address the issues/ideas that were put forth...
I want people to understand that when they PLAYTEST the game - we are giving them a voice in HOW/WHAT is going to be developed. Their feedback is important because it helps us understand what players feel are the weak points of the game and issues that may need to be addressed...
And in Boston, player elimination was one of those issues...
So I am thinking about what can be done - with minor modification to only the rulebook (and not to the cards themselves)!
Good for you!
Kris,
I'll make sure to let the Florida play-testers know that they have more than simply a critical feedback-related voice ~ development decisions are in their hands, as well.
Cheers,
Joe