Username: Lady Melinda (posting using my husband's forum account)
I cannot emphasize enough how important my first priority is. I don't want to read a game log; I want to enjoy the game.
Yes's in order of priority:
I cannot emphasize enough how important my first priority is. I don't want to read a game log; I want to enjoy the game.
Yes's in order of priority:
- Better animations when cards are gained/bought/played/...
Yes! Yes! Yes! The biggest problem with the game right now is the animations. Your opponents' cards are upside-down, and they move too fast to be able to track. This results in constantly having to read and decrypt the game log. Here are some specific suggestions:- When a card is played or bought, animate it to the center of the screen, large, rightside-up (i.e., not upside down), and hold it there for a fraction of a second. Doesn't have to be long, just enough for the player to register what is going on. Then animate the card to where it is supposed to go. The only possible exception to this might be end-of-turn discards of remaining hand. Discards (and trashes) at other times are more important, but end-of-turn discards are usually a bunch of kingdom cards. But I wouldn't mind terribly if they, too, were animated to front and center, too. I want to be able to follow the game without having to read the log.
- Don't show opponents' cards upside-down. I know you're trying to simulate the experience of sitting across the table from your opponent, but in face-to-face, the game moves more slowly, and you have time to process what you're looking at upside-down. The online game moves faster, and keeping the cards rightside-up would help us.
- When a card is played or bought, animate it to the center of the screen, large, rightside-up (i.e., not upside down), and hold it there for a fraction of a second. Doesn't have to be long, just enough for the player to register what is going on. Then animate the card to where it is supposed to go. The only possible exception to this might be end-of-turn discards of remaining hand. Discards (and trashes) at other times are more important, but end-of-turn discards are usually a bunch of kingdom cards. But I wouldn't mind terribly if they, too, were animated to front and center, too. I want to be able to follow the game without having to read the log.
- Better visualization of split piles, Archive/Crypt contents, Prince targets, ...
Yes. - A bot with a setting for different play styles
Yes. As a player, I may learn from the different bots with different styles, and I may have to switch up my own strategy to adapt to different bot styles. As a bonus, a setting where a bot's style is chosen at random and not revealed to the human players. (As a double bonus, once you have data on which bot styles work better with which cards, have the bot choose its style based on the cards in the Supply!) - A strong bot.
Yes. But strength cannot come from cheating. The advantage of playing a strong bot is that sometimes you learn from it. - Option to hide the log
Conditionally yes. Once changes are made to animations to enable you to follow the game without reading the log, the log only becomes necessary if you happened to look away when something happened. In face-to-face, you can ask your opponent what he just played, and the game log fulfills that function in online play. - iPhone app (or just improved compatibility?)
iPad yes, iPhone no. I don't know that the screen size of a phone is large enough to contain the playing board. However, iPad is my primary Dominion-playing device. Whether it is a separate app or better touch-screen compatibility of the web client, it doesn't matter. It's not bad as it is; it could be better. - Option to invite specific players to your table
Yes. - Options for undo settings
Only for mistaken buys. Playing on an iPad, occasionally it will purchase a card you're pressing on just to read it. So long as no intervening action takes place, undoing the buy shouldn't be too disruptive. Most other possible Undo's would be clunky or disruptive, so I'd rather have to live with my mistakes than reduce the overall enjoyment of the game.