Rules Team Rulings 02-DEC-11

johannes wrote:

A card that was a staple in the TWDA for years is certainly not wallpaper. It was for a while when the ever present Villein hosed it, but now it has been restored to exactly what it was before. I am sure we are going to see it played a lot now again and also you don't need certain cards to win. Look at Matt Morgan, he can win with everything, because he just plays a lot better than you. Stop complaining and start learning.

That issue aside, the V:EKN is working hard to keep this game well and alive and this was a big step to help the players. Yet there are people who don't appreciate anything, and that makes me angry.

I agree 160%.

johannes wrote:

That issue aside, the V:EKN is working hard to keep this game well and alive and this was a big step to help the players. Yet there are people who don't appreciate anything, and that makes me angry.

This guy is beneath your energy and your anger. I wish I could say he was just a troll.

While my preferred solution would have been "print more Villeins", I think the single word errata to Villein was the most elegant possible. I also really like that it wasn't (exactly) on the poll.

Conversely, people can beat me constantly no matter what cards I use!

Seriously, Minion Tap was never wallpaper at any time. This step was not necessary although I can see reasons why people may think it good. Say Minion Tap will be somewhat more usable now than it was before. I used to hang out in the Magic the Gathering newsgroups for about 10 years or so after that game was created and the VtES newsgroup as well. One thing I discovered is that there's no limit to what someone or other will say about a card. I would encounter posts people made about how a card I thought was absolute wallpaper, someone else would insist was a God card that should be banned, and vica versa. If you argue about a card long enough, sooner or later someone will come along with a completely different perception of it than your's.

Fred

The guy complaining about Minion Tap still being wallpaper is perhaps trying to say that Villein is still more competitive than Minion Tap, and if a card is more competitive, it makes the other card wallpaper.

I am not saying at all that I agree with him, however. Villein may be better than Minion Tap in many decks, but Minion Tap it is NOT wallpaper now. This is a welcome change for those us who want to use Minion Tap in casual play and/or who do not want to pay extra money to replace all our Minion Taps with Villeins.

Minion Tap is great for political decks and fine for casual pool retrieval. Heck, this means my Assamite/Assault Rifle/Minion Tap/Clandestine Contract/Provision of the Silsila deck might be mildly effective!

Thanks to Pascal and the rules team for their thoughtful changes. It is good to see VEKN's active efforts to improve and update the game.

I really appreciate the "Ballot" change to Priscus votes. a very elegant change to clear up a lot of confusion when they interact with certain cards.

Villein's errata is interesting. It acknowledges that there has been power creep in the game, but doesn't try to "rewind" the game to pre-villein. I think I like this change. (also, on the rare times someone did play a Minion Tap, it was a little bit of a hassle to count every single villein on the table to calculate the cost)


now let's get back to discussing which cards should be f'ing bann'd...

Haze wrote:

I really appreciate the "Ballot" change to Priscus votes. a very elegant change to clear up a lot of confusion when they interact with certain cards.

Yes, because the term "vote" had two meanings: Votes cast in the referendum (including the Priscus block's three votes) and votes cast in the Priscus subreferendum.

I wonder if this changes how any cards actually function? I did some spot checks in Pascal's errata document, and it looks like everything works as you would expect it to: Prisci can be Bribed and and have their ballots Telepathically Counted, and they lose their ballot in a Free States Rant.