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Fine. I don't have time to offer a complete list, but here are a few:

1) I should be able to play against more than one AI opponent at a time. If there's a way to do this, it's not obvious, and it should be. Don't tell me the point is to play other humans. Screw that. I can do that at home with my actual friends. Online, I like to play quick games to kill time during lunch at work and I have no patience for playing against an opponent who disappears for five minutes mid-game (and yes, that's happened more than once).

2) The display is ENORMOUS on my 24" monitor. I'm sure it looks fine on a phone, but it should be scalable or resizable or have a setting for max width. Yeah, I could resize my browser, but why should I have to? I have ten tabs open and the others display cleanly and correctly.

3) The hand of cards should look like a hand of cards, NOT stacks with a notification number. This rule can be negated when the hand reaches a certain unwieldy size. Visual cues are important. "The stack" is not a good visual cue. Again, I'm sure this was designed with a phone in mind, but the grownups have real computers.

4) "Autoplay treasures" makes no sense as a label. "Play all treasures" is more descriptive of what it actually does. "Autoplay" sounds like a setting that makes the treasures...well..autoplay. And it should be in the center of the screen, because it's important.

5) A card like Pearl Diver gives me one option: Topdeck. Where is the Bottomdeck option? If it's there, it's again not clear. Why would that be hidden? (I know; you're supposed to ignore it and click the next card, but BAD UX. Cripes. These people wouldn't last ten minutes at the Google.)

6) What is the point of the cards sliding up and down the screen when it's the other players' turns? Are there any other games that do this? Is there maybe a reason why is isn't a common design choice?

7) I should be able to turn off the card sequence crap on the right. Sheesh, it looks like an IRC channel from 1995.

8) All the card piles should be the same size, and the coin/VP stacks should be somewhere more central than the northwest corner.

9) The background screens are ridiculous. They remind me of the DOS Tetris game I had as a kid, only that was some kind of a Russian circus. It doesn't make it look hi-tech; it makes it look cheesy.

10) End Turn should not be way off to the right. Fine if you're on a phone; it's a long haul if you're dragging a mouse pointer around the screen. Again...important = center and easy to reach.

This is off the top of my head. Don't get me started on the subscription plan, which is a deal killer for me just on principle. Yeah, I can afford it, but bad enough Adobe and Microsoft are pitching this pay-as-you-go stuff. I need them. I don't need ShuffleiT's lame online web game. I just want to play a few hands of Dominion while I eat my burrito dammit. Which is what I used to do. I'd pay for all the stuff again if the game didn't suck, but only once.

I'm glad you guys like it. Someone should. I had no love of Making Fun, but after some fits and starts the monkeys typing Shakespeare had at least come up with something usable. This site reminds me of something one of my professors once said: you could make a hammer with a curved handle, and you could probably learn to use it, but it wouldn't be a good hammer and it would never be as useful as a hammer with a straight handle.

You guys have learned to live with the curved handle and that's fine. I refuse to do so. As professional developers, ShuffleiT should have higher standards, but sadly, they're not alone in the world of crappy software development. Again, I can't do enough to stress the importance of learning a little UXD. Start with the book "The Design of Everyday Things." And read up on Fitts's Law for cryin' out loud.

Those are my helpful comments. Any more time spent on this and I'd need to send someone an invoice. All my best to you guys. Maybe I'll play you in person some day, but it won't be here.

I tried the new version of Dominion when it went live. It sucked pretty hard and I was told by several people that I should just wait; that the beta testers had already seen huge improvements and it was only going to get better.

Four months have passed, tried it again. Nice to see that it's still utter crap. I offer the following recommendations:

1) The developers should read a few books on UX design before they ever try this again. Maybe take a class at HFI or N/Ng. The '90s are over. Y'all put more effort into the unnecessary background art than you did playabilty. To borrow a quote I once read on Twitter: SAD!!!

2) Whoever owns the parent rights to Dominion, whether that's Rio Grande or Donald X. or someone else, should fire these incompetent dorks before they do any more damage to the brand. Making Fun had its problems, but I used to play the digital version 3-4 days a week. Since the start of 2017, I hardly think about Dominion any more. Most of my friends have given up on it as well.

I'll pay whatever you want. Somebody from the future just make a good effing game. PLEASE.

Sincerely,

Peter

I'm old enough to remember a time (and I realize this is the point where the developers stop reading my post, if in fact any of them started) when you didn't release a product until it was ready to go. We've somehow moved into this half-assed beta world, in which you throw some half-cooked spaghetti at the wall, get people to eat it, and then make the sauce.

I'm fine with beta stuff. I've been a beta tester and provided what I believe was helpful feedback because the developers used my suggestions. But in those cases, I signed on to be a beta tester and I knew what I was getting into.

In this case, I did not. I purchased an app and some expansions and they *stopped working completely* two days ago. Now from one point of view, it could be considered magnanimous for the developers to "grant me access" to a game that another developer got paid for. But as a consumer I've been forced to make a switch I didn't want or request. You didn't make a better mousetrap, you (and Rio Grande) stole the mousetrap I had been using and want me to dance for a new one. And be happy about it.

On the other hand, I'm also young and practical enough to know that digital stuff isn't forever. I'll forgo my extended rant about the idea of paying for a toaster only to have the manufacturer "revoke my license" to use it six months later. Believe me, I can go on and on about that one, but that's the world we've made and now we have to live in it.

I will, however, make a deal with the developers: build a quality app I can pay for. Once. Make the expansions cost a few bucks and charge me for the ones I purchase. Once each. Include an AI that makes the app playable offline. I'll pay your one-time fees--no complaints, I'll play with your toy, and I'll leave you alone unless I decide to purchase further expansions or find any significant bugs I believe you should know about, at which point I'll submit a report so you can improve your app, make it more desirable to future purchasers, and cement your reputation as an active and responsive developer.

Regarding the subscription model, save it for those folks who who wish to compete against other humans. Personally, I find online play to be tiresome, especially when another player decides to walk his dog mid-turn. But operating and maintaining the online servers is a legitimate expense and should be paid for accordingly.

This is what I would prefer. I suspect such a model would go a long way to soothing the complaints of others as well. I can play Catan on the bus. I can play Carcasonne on the bus. I can't play Dominion on the bus, but I would be willing to pay for that privilege.

Also, seriously, the UI ain't great. To respond to the other poster...yes, UI can be a matter of taste, but there are also general UX principles that are best not ignored. I believe "The Design of Everyday Things," by Don Norman, should be required reading for developers. Remember: the gas pedal goes on the right and the brake pedal goes on the left. Switch them at your (and everyone else's) peril.

Pete

I'm sure these are all answered somewhere, but frankly, I have no desire to dig around the forums. I'm not a gamer and I'm not a chatter. I just like to play tabletop Dominion with my friends and I purchased the online game to work on my chops and kill time during my lunch break.

1) I see the word "subscription" being bandied about. I have a subscription for my purchases through 2017? Does that mean at the end of the year I will be required to start paying a monthly fee? Because if it does, I can guarantee you I'll be done playing electronic Dominion on Dec. 31, 2017. Guarantee. Bad enough that Adobe is hitting me for a subscription these days and M$ is trying to go that route as well. I'm not paying a subscription fee to play a board game.

2) Your interface needs work. This is not just "I liked things the old way and now I'm sour grapes." Well, there's a bit of that, but seriously...two clicks to trash a card? Scroll through the dialog to see what's been trashed? Scroll through the dialog to see what just happened when I played a card that affected other cards? Are you serious??? And why are the action buttons not grouped together? Has anyone at your company ever studied UX design? (I have.) You may want to look at the version of the game yours has replaced and steal a few ideas from those guys. I had minor issues with them, but this is a whole new world of bad choices.

3) No app? Is one in the works? One of my biggest complaints with the old version was not being able to play it without an internet connection.

I might have included a few comments on the bots, but I followed your directions and started what I thought was a 3-person game and it turned out I was the only one playing in a 1-person game. I didn't even know that was possible. Amusingly pointless, although I guess it had the advantage of trying things out in a no-pressure, fun-free environment.

I'm assuming the game is in some kind of active development and this is basically a beta right now. I'll probably play a few more games in the next few days, but my impulse is to hang things up for a few months to see what you guys come up with when the game is a little more "for real." Honestly, I'm not one of those guys who just wants to dump on people. I'm sure you've done your best so far, but coming from the other version (which again, had some issues), I find this variant pretty disappointing. Given the shift in vendors, I guess I had been hoping for some kind of upgrade.

Best,
Pete