Council of Sauron

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Sauron
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 550
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:27 pm

Would there be interest by any in the community in helping me form a Council of Sauron? This would be a splinter group from the CoE where we try to correct problems that exist within the game and play in a more structured ruleset for tournament play?

I don't feel like putting up the fight anymore since all people tend to do it laugh things off or make jokes at my expense. Well I'm tired of it and I'm going to put my money where my mouth is.

I also hereby resign as a non-voting member of the NetRep Team.

I am also pulling my prize support for online tournaments (I will still send out owed prizes)

I am also pulling the GCCG files from my server in 1 months time, please take the time to update and find a new file server to host the GCCG files.
Last edited by Sauron on Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bandobras Took
Rules Wizard
Posts: 3109
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:30 pm

Depends on what you see as a problem in the game.

Currently, my problems in the game are, in no particular order:
Avatar Parity
Inconsistent Rulings
Slow CoE Action (never mind slow games, for the moment)

If a Council were set up that actually were dedicated not just to adjusting, but balancing the game, and using an actual organized set of principles to make rulings, I'd be all for that.

Enforcement of, say, time limits, in order to better the metagame would be part and parcel of such a council. If such a theoretical council set its sights too low, I fear that the situation would become all too reminiscent of Animal Farm, and we would eventually end up with an unchanged situation.
The game is flawed, but this does not mean it cannot be loved.
Sauron
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 550
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:27 pm

Bandobras Took wrote:Depends on what you see as a problem in the game.

Currently, my problems in the game are, in no particular order:
Avatar Parity
Inconsistent Rulings
Slow CoE Action (never mind slow games, for the moment)

If a Council were set up that actually were dedicated not just to adjusting, but balancing the game, and using an actual organized set of principles to make rulings, I'd be all for that.

Enforcement of, say, time limits, in order to better the metagame would be part and parcel of such a council. If such a theoretical council set its sights too low, I fear that the situation would become all too reminiscent of Animal Farm, and we would eventually end up with an unchanged situation.
I'm going to have to sit down and write it all out. But those are some of the things I intend to correct.
Mordan
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:29 pm
Location: Tellin (Belgique)

the success of a council is measured by the number of people participating in it.

time limits will not work without an apparatus for computing it. like a chess-clock.

and what would be the rule if say Player A takes 60 minutes of game and player B only 30 minutes? Player A loses 0-6?

Or would it be like in chess with a tweak : Each player has 40 minutes. If those minutes are consumed before the 80 minute mark, player loses 0-6. After that there is one turn left for each player according to the equal turn rule.
Mordan
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:29 pm
Location: Tellin (Belgique)

Bandobras Took wrote:Depends on what you see as a problem in the game.

Currently, my problems in the game are, in no particular order:
Avatar Parity
Inconsistent Rulings
Slow CoE Action (never mind slow games, for the moment)

If a Council were set up that actually were dedicated not just to adjusting, but balancing the game, and using an actual organized set of principles to make rulings, I'd be all for that.

Enforcement of, say, time limits, in order to better the metagame would be part and parcel of such a council. If such a theoretical council set its sights too low, I fear that the situation would become all too reminiscent of Animal Farm, and we would eventually end up with an unchanged situation.
what is Avatar Parity?
Sauron
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 550
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:27 pm

Mordan wrote: what is Avatar Parity?
Why is Balrog > Saruman?

Why is Radagast / Pallando > Gandalf

etc.

Why aren't the different avatars better balanced.
marcos
Council Member
Posts: 2032
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:41 pm
Location: Córdoba, Argentina

Hoarmurath > any other RW
Mordan
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:29 pm
Location: Tellin (Belgique)

I'm afraid you can't fix that without many ripples effects. There are so many cards.

Radagast and Pallando will always be the best wizard because of card advantage.

Hoarmurath because of its unleashed card.

I would offer a free-market solution that will make the balancing automatic.

Each card has a price. For the sake of the argument, say the price on gccg. Therefore a deck also has a price. So picking expensive cards like Radagast will make your deck more expensive.

Now you have to invent a ratio multiplicator for computing the tourney points. Make expensive deck less interesting.

For example:

A Deck more expensive than another deck cannot win 0-6.

Winning with a less expensive deck gives a +1 bonus TP.
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Bandobras Took
Rules Wizard
Posts: 3109
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:30 pm

That was exactly the argument when printing the game in the first place, though METW was actually rather refreshing for having strong commons.

Here's the problem: the only way to keep such a model alive is by printing new sets for new strategies. Obviously, a company wishes to do this in order to drive sales and profits.

There is no longer any company here. There is no legal right to actually issue new cards for sale.

If price and a no proxy rule were to be enforced on GCCG, all it would is make sure newcomers don't have access to good cards and therefore lose.

The issue of a ripple effect is precisely why an active and vigorous Council is necessary and has been frustratingly absent. A group of dedicated people who observe tournament scene stagnation and act after each tournament to fine-tune what needs tuning.

Radagast and Pallando don't have to always be the best Wizard. Consider simply if Saruman's abilities didn't require him to tap. Pulling a spell back to your hand every turn is extremely strong, especially one like Vanishment.

Hoarmurath Unleashed is arguably misruled, anyway, but what if the WK Unleashed were a permanent-event? What about Dwar Unleashed? What if Adunaphel could untap during the organization phase, allowing double sideboarding?

If choosing an avatar were a difficult choice, there would be next to no stagnation in the tournament scene; it would be metagame -- "Hmm . . . Radagast is great for card draw, but Gandalf has a nice defense against hazard short-events . . . do I want more points or safer points?"

All of these are just ideas tossed out. Avatar parity will probably be hard to accomplish, yes.

But that doesn't change that it needs to be done in any closed system such as this game, and for approximately ever since ICE went belly-up and stopped doing it with new expansions, nobody's picked up the slack.
The game is flawed, but this does not mean it cannot be loved.
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