OnTableTop – Home of Beasts of War

Reply To: Is it time for some more critical analysis of rule sets

August 4, 2019 at 4:38 pm #1421720

oriskany

60771xp

@elessar2590 – regarding Darkstar – you may be more right that you know. From 2012-2016 we played that game with a different set of rules, different warship record sheets, etc. It grew to the point where it was unplayable (300-400 points light cruiser battles were taking 6+ hours). In 2017 I resigned myself to break out the designer’s scalpel and start cutting. It took a year before I finally started, I was terrified of cutting out any one the complexities. Trust me, the system people play now is the GREATLY slimmed down, simplified, fast-play format. Gives you an idea of how it used to be. But as a designer it comes down to … it still has to be a game that people actually want to play.

To kind of bring this thread back on topic, I sat down my players at the time, @gladesrunner, @aras , Jeff Porro, others … and straight out demanded: HURT MY FEELINGS NOW. 😀 What parts of this game do you honestly NOT like? When in the turn sequence are you looking at your iPhone? When I say there’s a game on Saturday and you decide sometimes you DON’T want to come, please tell me WHY.

We took a “critical analysis of the rule set” as the thread suggests.

Those parts of the turn sequence that the players found tedious or frustrating or confusing, I pulled out, re-worked, and slipped back in. And those we have what is actually Darkstar 2.0 today.

The old game would still be collecting dust in the closet now if we HADN’T taken that critical review.