We've been using the following options for almost a year and really miss them now that we can't play live.
1. Equal turns
Yes, we are an experienced group.
We don't mind that it affects strategy of whether you buy the last Province or not.
The game already has that mechanic.
This tempers the huge 1st player advantage by offering duchies, etc. It's actually very interesting.
2. Approximately 3.5 to 4 Provinces per player
We prefer the game length of the 3 player game which has this ratio.
Whenever we use Colonies, we would use the same number of them as Provinces, but that's not as important.
3. No attack cards
This one is only for when one member of our group plays.
This could be a great option for newbies to learn with.
Could any of these become options that you could select in the online arena?
Thanks!
p.s. I tried to post this in Feature Requests, but couldn't
You can already kind of do the no-attacks thing by using your Familiar Cards settings (mark all attacks as unfamiliar and check the box "respect familiar cards" in the table settings).
As for the others, the game designer, Donald X, has expressed opposition to allowing most of these sorts of house rules on the website. While it's a bit frustrating, the devs have made it clear that they won't do anything without Donald X's blessing.
I would love to see Donald speak up here and tell us what his objections are to "house rules" on this site? If the paying customers want the feature, why not?
I always play equal starts and equal turns IRL. We use phantom Provinces as well. It makes the game play much more fair.
You guys should listen to your customers. Or let Isotropic go back online that had most of these features already. Thanks.
Do us customers get to have a vote?
Because as a customer who pays just as much as you do I'd much rather see resources spent on bettering my Dominion playing experience for example through a better timer or through easier table settings for tournament play rather than implementing some other game.
Could Donald reconsider adding popular options now that the Covid keeps us from playing IRL?
I like all of these options! Some of our group members also don't like the attack cards, and just find it more fun without. But also IRL we also played with extra provinces, which allows time to really get a nice complex engine up and running. Nice to have the option. I can certainly understand not wanting to antagonize the creator! Might be interesting to discuss further. I own quite a few of the real expansions.