08-29-2017, 05:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2017, 06:33 PM by GrimFinger.)
I now return to this game of Clash of Legends, as I issue turn orders for Turn #2.
1. Having deliberately waited until the last day of the current turn cycle, before attempting to issue turn orders (although I did peek at my turn results almost a week ago, as soon as I downloaded them, my experience was a fairly smooth one. Having now grasped how to actually issue turn orders for my kingdom, it then boiled down to that eternal question of: What to do, what to do, what to do?
BUT...and here's the catch, at least I now knew how to issue orders, at all, so when then face only with the issue of which specific orders to go with for the next turn, no great wall now lay between me and my kingdom. I could now function, as a player in this game of Clash of Legends. I despair not! Damn you! Damn you all to Hell, I am not out of this one, yet!
2. Nor should I be, seeing as how the game has only really just begun. A gaming experience is not just about wining or losing, nor even just about comprehending the rules and grasping the finer points of a game. Rather, the gaming experience also includes - and can hinge upon - being able to utilize the game interface, itself. Reading a rulebook is no substitute for interacting with an interface that is intuitive. The light bulbs in the player's head must go off. They must grasp what it is that they have to do. Conquering or being conquered in a game are rather inconsequential matters, when one can't seem to make it through the door and into the game, itself. The doorway of a game is its interface.
3. Having spent no real time of significance with the rulebook, last turn, a degree of surprise of the not-so-very-pleasant-kind happened upon me, when I read the turn results for Turn #1. Apparently, creating a camp requires population from an existing city, if one orders a city to create a camp. Well, duh! No real surprise there, after the fact, but it has all of the makings of bad news, if you were expecting a relatively uneventful turn - which I was.
4. More ominous, however, was the fact that I burned through so much gold, last turn. ACK!! Economics in games ever seem to be my eternal bane, it seems. So, in my orders for Turn #2, it's time to raise taxes, and a trip to the Clash of Legends Google Groups discussion area was deemed necessary. A quick glance or two later, and here I am, making the raising of taxes the first order of my next turn.
5. And did someone say, "Extra taxes?" Apparently, that's what I heard, from that little voice in my head urging me on. So, alas alack, the tax man cometh!
I don't think that not having gold will eliminate me from this particular scenario, but I have no real doubt that being bankrupt in this game will negatively impact my kingdom in other ways. The increased tax rate, as well as the nudging for extra taxes in some of my cities, will cause loyalty to the throne to diminish. Disloyal bastards!
6. So, once again I expend effort utilizing characters to Influence Own City Loyalty. what the Hell? No harm in trying to offset some of that negative impact that is about to hit my cities head on, is there? Yet, if I don't come up with more gold fast, my characters will be stuck issuing some rather lame orders, I suspect. At a bare minimum, the continued hiring of new characters will abate, and that is bad news for the Northmen kingdom.
7. I do have more characters to issue turn orders to, this turn, compared to last turn, so that gives me a little more leeway on what to do, and who to do it with. My visions of grandeur, however, get downsized, this turn, as I tried to greatly restrain my unbridled penchant for spending the kingdom's gold from its coffers.
8. Remaining ignorant of the game's rules punishes me, as a player. Even still, I carried on in that manner, to a large degree, heading into Turn #2, making only the barest of progress in this area, this time around. I have no doubt that soon - probably sooner than later, knowing how my luck in games goes - the enemy will be at the gates of my cities, and murdering my characters in cold blood.
9. The gold traps, as I call them, those negative consequences that attach to your kingdom's economic situation getting stood on its head, conjures up distant memories of playing both Middle-earth PBM and more recent memories of trying my hand at Fall of Rome. Back when I read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, my heart did not lie with the counting of coins. Granted, for some, the consequences of economic incompetence in-game add another dimension of play to a game. For myself, though, it is akin to being hung upon the Tree of Woe!
Oh, woe is me!
Alms for the poor! Alms for the poor, I say!
10. Grasping the concept of slots, for both characters and armies, in Clash of Legends was a seminal moment, for me. It cannot be overstated just how crucial this fundamental bit of understanding is to making the difference between staying in the game and just shaking my head at the game's interface and walking away. Game designers take note - You possess a degree of familiarity with your own game product that is unrivaled, and a unlearned newbie to your game(s) (or for someone who has not played it in a long time or for only a very short period of time, previously) does not enjoy the benefit of that very same familiarity. Assuming that a player will simply "get it" is a mistake of the first magnitude! The primary reasons that I walk away from new games that I try are:
ONE - A game interface that is not intuitive.
. . .and. . .
TWO - Not really grasping what to do, even after I read the rules (Far Horizons, anyone?).
11. The reading of a game's rulebook - and even several re-readings of it, at times - should not be mistaken for familiarity. The one does not necessarily guarantee the other. The key is not the right amount of hand-holding, nor forcing players to sit through several hours of "learning." The player, upon encountering your game's interface, should find a smooth transition, one wherein they can find their own way without the time-consuming drudgery of dreadfully boring rule readings sessions or having to listen to another player explain things from a vantage point of existing familiarity on their end. Can the player find their own way? Is what they encounter encouraging or discouraging to them?
12. Last turn, I uploaded my turn orders via the http://clashlegends.com/PbmSite/main.php page on the Clash of Legends website. For Turn #2, however, I took note of the Submit Actions button/link inside of the Counselor client software program, itself, the interface through which players issue orders to their respective kingdoms. A small thing, to be sure, but another step along the Path of Progress, from this player's perspective.
13. A variety of orders having been issued, now comes the wait. One of the benefits of waiting until the last day of the turn cycle to submit turn orders for the next turn is that the wait until you see your plans come to fruition or failure tends to be a short one.
As always, happy gaming!
The Northmen march on!
UPDATE:
14. When I did a review of my kingdom's finances after issuing my turn orders, I determined that major revisions were necessary. So, I am choosing to inflict upon my kingdom multiple whammies, by jacking up the tax rate dramatically, while simultaneously sticking it to my kingdom's subjects with calls for even more extra taxes.
As they say, the love of money is the root of all evil!
To me, though, I am trading one form of decimation for another. It's all still a gamble, at this point. Roll the dice on the next turn, baby!
1. Having deliberately waited until the last day of the current turn cycle, before attempting to issue turn orders (although I did peek at my turn results almost a week ago, as soon as I downloaded them, my experience was a fairly smooth one. Having now grasped how to actually issue turn orders for my kingdom, it then boiled down to that eternal question of: What to do, what to do, what to do?
BUT...and here's the catch, at least I now knew how to issue orders, at all, so when then face only with the issue of which specific orders to go with for the next turn, no great wall now lay between me and my kingdom. I could now function, as a player in this game of Clash of Legends. I despair not! Damn you! Damn you all to Hell, I am not out of this one, yet!
2. Nor should I be, seeing as how the game has only really just begun. A gaming experience is not just about wining or losing, nor even just about comprehending the rules and grasping the finer points of a game. Rather, the gaming experience also includes - and can hinge upon - being able to utilize the game interface, itself. Reading a rulebook is no substitute for interacting with an interface that is intuitive. The light bulbs in the player's head must go off. They must grasp what it is that they have to do. Conquering or being conquered in a game are rather inconsequential matters, when one can't seem to make it through the door and into the game, itself. The doorway of a game is its interface.
3. Having spent no real time of significance with the rulebook, last turn, a degree of surprise of the not-so-very-pleasant-kind happened upon me, when I read the turn results for Turn #1. Apparently, creating a camp requires population from an existing city, if one orders a city to create a camp. Well, duh! No real surprise there, after the fact, but it has all of the makings of bad news, if you were expecting a relatively uneventful turn - which I was.
4. More ominous, however, was the fact that I burned through so much gold, last turn. ACK!! Economics in games ever seem to be my eternal bane, it seems. So, in my orders for Turn #2, it's time to raise taxes, and a trip to the Clash of Legends Google Groups discussion area was deemed necessary. A quick glance or two later, and here I am, making the raising of taxes the first order of my next turn.
5. And did someone say, "Extra taxes?" Apparently, that's what I heard, from that little voice in my head urging me on. So, alas alack, the tax man cometh!
I don't think that not having gold will eliminate me from this particular scenario, but I have no real doubt that being bankrupt in this game will negatively impact my kingdom in other ways. The increased tax rate, as well as the nudging for extra taxes in some of my cities, will cause loyalty to the throne to diminish. Disloyal bastards!
6. So, once again I expend effort utilizing characters to Influence Own City Loyalty. what the Hell? No harm in trying to offset some of that negative impact that is about to hit my cities head on, is there? Yet, if I don't come up with more gold fast, my characters will be stuck issuing some rather lame orders, I suspect. At a bare minimum, the continued hiring of new characters will abate, and that is bad news for the Northmen kingdom.
7. I do have more characters to issue turn orders to, this turn, compared to last turn, so that gives me a little more leeway on what to do, and who to do it with. My visions of grandeur, however, get downsized, this turn, as I tried to greatly restrain my unbridled penchant for spending the kingdom's gold from its coffers.
8. Remaining ignorant of the game's rules punishes me, as a player. Even still, I carried on in that manner, to a large degree, heading into Turn #2, making only the barest of progress in this area, this time around. I have no doubt that soon - probably sooner than later, knowing how my luck in games goes - the enemy will be at the gates of my cities, and murdering my characters in cold blood.
9. The gold traps, as I call them, those negative consequences that attach to your kingdom's economic situation getting stood on its head, conjures up distant memories of playing both Middle-earth PBM and more recent memories of trying my hand at Fall of Rome. Back when I read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, my heart did not lie with the counting of coins. Granted, for some, the consequences of economic incompetence in-game add another dimension of play to a game. For myself, though, it is akin to being hung upon the Tree of Woe!
Oh, woe is me!
Alms for the poor! Alms for the poor, I say!
10. Grasping the concept of slots, for both characters and armies, in Clash of Legends was a seminal moment, for me. It cannot be overstated just how crucial this fundamental bit of understanding is to making the difference between staying in the game and just shaking my head at the game's interface and walking away. Game designers take note - You possess a degree of familiarity with your own game product that is unrivaled, and a unlearned newbie to your game(s) (or for someone who has not played it in a long time or for only a very short period of time, previously) does not enjoy the benefit of that very same familiarity. Assuming that a player will simply "get it" is a mistake of the first magnitude! The primary reasons that I walk away from new games that I try are:
ONE - A game interface that is not intuitive.
. . .and. . .
TWO - Not really grasping what to do, even after I read the rules (Far Horizons, anyone?).
11. The reading of a game's rulebook - and even several re-readings of it, at times - should not be mistaken for familiarity. The one does not necessarily guarantee the other. The key is not the right amount of hand-holding, nor forcing players to sit through several hours of "learning." The player, upon encountering your game's interface, should find a smooth transition, one wherein they can find their own way without the time-consuming drudgery of dreadfully boring rule readings sessions or having to listen to another player explain things from a vantage point of existing familiarity on their end. Can the player find their own way? Is what they encounter encouraging or discouraging to them?
12. Last turn, I uploaded my turn orders via the http://clashlegends.com/PbmSite/main.php page on the Clash of Legends website. For Turn #2, however, I took note of the Submit Actions button/link inside of the Counselor client software program, itself, the interface through which players issue orders to their respective kingdoms. A small thing, to be sure, but another step along the Path of Progress, from this player's perspective.
13. A variety of orders having been issued, now comes the wait. One of the benefits of waiting until the last day of the turn cycle to submit turn orders for the next turn is that the wait until you see your plans come to fruition or failure tends to be a short one.
As always, happy gaming!
The Northmen march on!
UPDATE:
14. When I did a review of my kingdom's finances after issuing my turn orders, I determined that major revisions were necessary. So, I am choosing to inflict upon my kingdom multiple whammies, by jacking up the tax rate dramatically, while simultaneously sticking it to my kingdom's subjects with calls for even more extra taxes.
As they say, the love of money is the root of all evil!
To me, though, I am trading one form of decimation for another. It's all still a gamble, at this point. Roll the dice on the next turn, baby!