Post originally by greg hallam at 2004-04-21 06:39:02
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This is a shameless plug, but it is opportune seeing as this review was posted - I have an unpunched, unplayed copy of the original Eon version plus all nine expansions, again all sealed... (yes, I'm not kidding)- they are a duplicate set I bought over 20 years ago. I wil be putting them up for sale on Ebay in the next coupla weeks (i am currently in the process of moving).. keep an eye on RPG's auction forum, I will post an announcement when they go up on ebay.
Post originally by Black Paladin at 2004-04-21 06:47:25
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> Second, the components implicitly limit the
> game to four players because you can't fit any
> more systems around the warp (nor do you have
> space for more players on the mothership)
Actually, according to the rulebook, this isn't true. You can rotate the way you put the system pieces against the warp in order to fit a total of six. (I've done this, moving systems around the board; it works.) And when the game was first released, Hasbro was already talking about releasing the 5/6-player expansion (although that seems to have fallen by the wayside in the meantime).
Your point about the mothership is valid, though. Who knows, maybe there will be a new mothership in the expansion?
Post originally by Andrew Heywood at 2004-04-21 08:04:08
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I don't really recall, but aren't there little nubs on top of the sort of spherical part of the mothership where you could stack pieces, thus allowing six players?
Post originally by Darrin Bright at 2004-04-22 05:41:09
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Something else I was hoping you'd mention... although the artwork is in most cases gorgeous, the alien power cards are double-sided.
When I did some research on the previous editions, I discovered many players like to play with multiple and hidden alien powers, even up to five at once. From what I understand, the previous editions had alien powers had at least one side blank so that you could play them face-down or at the very least pick them out randomly.
When we played the AH version, it was hard to pick randomly with the alien's name printed on both sides. It could be done... as could hidden powers... but I would have appreciated it if the AH designers had paid more attention to some of the features of the previous editions.
The selection of alien powers also seemed rather limited (20), given the number they had to choose from in previous editions. I guess a smaller number is easier to address game balance, but then they put in Virus, which is so unbelievably powerful in this version that even if the other players band together it's still a cakewalk.
The absence of Flare cards, either the disposable Mayfair versions or the more permanent Eon versions, also sucks out quite a bit of the original flavor of the game. I've been tempted to hunt down the previous editions and use those rules and cards with these components, but as you pointed out, the four-player limit makes this difficult. Someone has already suggested combining two sets and some spraypaint for an 8-player game, but I'm curious what they did about the order disks.
Post originally by Scottenkainen at 2004-04-22 08:56:33
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What intrigued me most about this review was the assertion that Shannon's group of friends almost never has less than four people per game session! Is this common? I find myself waiting months just to get four players for any non-D&D game.
Post originally by Shannon Appelcline at 2004-04-22 11:27:09
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I just shuffled up the powers to randomize them, then dealt one each, and didn't even think about the double-sided issue.
But, yeah, it's clearly an issue, for that initial randomization if nothing else. It'd also make hidden powers very hard to do as you suggest.
I don't think they were trying to balance the powers, because the powers can't be balanced. There's some that are implictly great, and some that comparitively suck. Because the game is about negotiation and alliances, good players will balance the strong powers, e.g., by not inviting Virus to ally. It's not my experience that the Virus, or other strong powers from other sets, like Tripler, have a cakewalk.
I'd have to guess that there are only 20 powers because (a) they didn't want to confuse the average Toys 'R Us shopper with too many choices -and/or- (b) they couldn't afford to put in too many because of the overproduction of the power cards.
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