TOPIC: New Newsletter

1 GP woody.

Do any of us (besides Laz) really care one way or the other what his token does or doesn't do? It doesn't affect us in any way right? So we are just arguing this to argue it right? Not saying that is a bad thing or a good thing just making sure I understand what we are doing here. Please carry on because it is entertaining as I have no skin in this one at all.

Disbeeleaf wrote: Can I get a refund on our three charms of awareness and rod of nil tongue that were cool when they came out and are now pretty much dog poo?

Wait! You actually thought the Rod of Niltongue was cool at some point?

jedibcg wrote: Do any of us (besides Laz) really care one way or the other what his token does or doesn't do? It doesn't affect us in any way right? So we are just arguing this to argue it right? Not saying that is a bad thing or a good thing just making sure I understand what we are doing here. Please carry on because it is entertaining as I have no skin in this one at all.

Actually it does affect people, in several ways:

1. Volunteers (DM's, player coaches) may often have to interact with the Artifact. A lot of artifacts have ambiguity and Jeff has declined to answer lots of rules questions regarding artifacts.

2. An Artifact's abilities may set a bar, standard, or ceiling regarding the effects of future proposed tokens. In the past, there have been numerous claims that "we can't print proposed token XXX because it will step on the toes of artifact YYY!"

3. Unless TD definitely rules that Artifacts can never be used in a future, hypothetical PvP or competitive scenario, there is the potential (however miniscule) that one could end up directly competing against an artifact holder and the artifact's effects would have a direct impact on you.

Actually on this point - does anyone recall whether artifacts were in effect during that Golden Ticket PvP event back in 2011? If so, then you actually do have a CONCRETE example where artifact powers were DIRECTLY RELEVANT to other (opposing) players!

4. Some people are concerned about the sanctity / balance of the overall TD game. Even though overpowered artifacts are limited to a handful of individuals, it risks the integrity of the game, just like how some people dislike the "honor system" and how it can facilitate cheating.

Incognito wrote:

jedibcg wrote: Do any of us (besides Laz) really care one way or the other what his token does or doesn't do? It doesn't affect us in any way right? So we are just arguing this to argue it right? Not saying that is a bad thing or a good thing just making sure I understand what we are doing here. Please carry on because it is entertaining as I have no skin in this one at all.

Actually it does affect people, in several ways:

1. Volunteers (DM's, player coaches) may often have to interact with the Artifact. A lot of artifacts have ambiguity and Jeff has declined to answer lots of rules questions regarding artifacts.

2. An Artifact's abilities may set a bar, standard, or ceiling regarding the effects of future proposed tokens. In the past, there have been numerous claims that "we can't print proposed token XXX because it will step on the toes of artifact YYY!"

3. Unless TD definitely rules that Artifacts can never be used in a future, hypothetical PvP or competitive scenario, there is the potential (however miniscule) that one could end up directly competing against an artifact holder and the artifact's effects would have a direct impact on you.

Actually on this point - does anyone recall whether artifacts were in effect during that Golden Ticket PvP event back in 2011? If so, then you actually do have a CONCRETE example where artifact powers were DIRECTLY RELEVANT to other (opposing) players!

4. Some people are concerned about the sanctity / balance of the overall TD game. Even though overpowered artifacts are limited to a handful of individuals, it risks the integrity of the game, just like how some people dislike the "honor system" and how it can facilitate cheating.

Count me in on number 4, it's why I've been against having artifact tokens from the start.

Joshua Baessler wrote: Don't further complicate the system by doing loot draws in the Epilogue room, please. It's nice now that there isn't a crowd when we enter the room, and if we did start doing that, the mix should be identical. We can't assume all new players won't want monster bits just because some new players don't want them.

We can agree to disagree on that, I don't think three treasure draws per person will be too much in the epilogue rooms, and it will cut down on the lines for the treasure draws outside. I think splitting is better than a combined approach.

However by guaranteeing three treasure draws for everybody we will have even more treasure draws in 2016 than in 2015, so I think the trophy mix should be an even smaller percentage.

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Joshua Baessler wrote: Don't further complicate the system by doing loot draws in the Epilogue room, please. It's nice now that there isn't a crowd when we enter the room, and if we did start doing that, the mix should be identical. We can't assume all new players won't want monster bits just because some new players don't want them.

We can agree to disagree on that, I don't think three treasure draws per person will be too much in the epilogue rooms, and it will cut down on the lines for the treasure draws outside. I think splitting is better than a combined approach.

However by guaranteeing three treasure draws for everybody we will have even more treasure draws in 2016 than in 2015, so I think the trophy mix should be an even smaller percentage.

The trophy percentage seemed too low this year, I'd prefer it a bit higher next year.

I wonder if Jeff might introduce other uses for treasure coins again, like being able to spend them on merchandise like buttons or mugs, or spend them on games or activities. That would offset the increase in treasure coins.

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Joshua Baessler wrote: Don't further complicate the system by doing loot draws in the Epilogue room, please. It's nice now that there isn't a crowd when we enter the room, and if we did start doing that, the mix should be identical. We can't assume all new players won't want monster bits just because some new players don't want them.

We can agree to disagree on that, I don't think three treasure draws per person will be too much in the epilogue rooms, and it will cut down on the lines for the treasure draws outside. I think splitting is better than a combined approach.

However by guaranteeing three treasure draws for everybody we will have even more treasure draws in 2016 than in 2015, so I think the trophy mix should be an even smaller percentage.

I agree, it should be a smaller percentage but the same percentage in all boxes.

Jeff's proposed mix for the monster bits was higher going forward. This was mentioned in the LL forum.

Maybe it shouldn't be done by percentages, but by tickets.

Something like:
One trophy per ticket.
One "special" per 10 tickets.
One 10k GP bar per 2000 tickets.
Then fill up the vats 60/40 with rare/uncommons for the number of treasure chips you anticipate getting handed out.

That way the supply of trophies stays fairly constant, regardless of changes in policies or the introduction of any new greed tokens. But, you have the flexibility to increase supply as TD expands and demand grows with it.

Brad Mortensen wrote: Maybe it shouldn't be done by percentages, but by tickets.

I'd be OK with that, it would become another type of completion token really. And since you get three treasure stamps whether or not you solved the rooms, now you get the monster trophies whether or not you killed the monster.

Of course I'd still prefer to actually get the trophies of the actual monsters you killed, but I seem to be in the minority in thinking that such a system is feasible.

Brad Mortensen wrote: Maybe it shouldn't be done by percentages, but by tickets.

If people are concerned about runs being purchased & "farmed" for the treasure, I think this would only exacerbate the situation.