Craig Van Ness Q&A Thread

[Astroking112]

I think an important thing to keep in mind is that the game was never designed specifically for tournament play. As a kid, I always had a ton of fun using Taelord with my one squad of Omnicron Snipers on castle sieges, but I also played 700pt+ games. Since nearly a decade has passed since the cancellation, most of the casual fans have left, which skews our perception as to the value of certain units. Hatamoto Taro paired with Samurai against knights in a large game is horrifying, for example, and I'm sure that Deathwalker 7000 being able to explode and deal a ton of damage (even if he almost never will) showed up in playtesting.

While there are certainly some units that I wish I could confidently take to a tournament (Hatamoto Taro probably being the most prominent one, since I love the Samurai and his theme), not every unit can be balanced in a 400-600pt tournament format, and I don't think that was the designer's intention. That said, I am also very curious if there are any units that Craig thinks could've been improved.

On this topic, @Craig Van Ness , can you shed any light on the playtesting process? I'd love to know how many games playtesters would play on average, if you felt like time/a quick schedule ever inhibited the tests, or anything else that you can share.

[Talyn]

Before the change over to D&D, was Aquilla originally intended to be a mostly bug/insect/creature themed General? That seemed to be the direction before things had to change.

[quozl]

Aquilla started with a shaolin monk and then in Wave 9 had native americans and a dwarf.

[Talyn]

Point taken lol

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Any idea what that may have looked like?

I would have loved to see a larger version of the ruined warehouse from the Marvel set.

Terrain Line for Hobby-
This terrain line could be almost anything.
I think a pack where you can just get more tiles would be ideal.

Also, theme packs.
More packs that relate to the current story.
So when we came out with Swarm of the Marro, we could of introduced multiple Marro structures and maybe ruined structures of a city in Valhalla that the Marro destroyed.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by UberQ9

I agree that the rules are very well-designed. My primary gripes with the game are more with the design of specific units rather than the system itself. As a kind of follow-up question, are there any specific units that you think could have been designed better? The general consensus in the community seems to be that the Deathreavers are too strong or too cheap points-wise, and that Deathwalker 7000 and Hatamoto Taro are both very hard to make useful, but I'd like to see your take.

Yes- some units are a bit powerful and some units are not great for tournament play. We tried to do the best we could with the time we had to deliver the product.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Astroking112

I think an important thing to keep in mind is that the game was never designed specifically for tournament play. As a kid, I always had a ton of fun using Taelord with my one squad of Omnicron Snipers on castle sieges, but I also played 700pt+ games. Since nearly a decade has passed since the cancellation, most of the casual fans have left, which skews our perception as to the value of certain units. Hatamoto Taro paired with Samurai against knights in a large game is horrifying, for example, and I'm sure that Deathwalker 7000 being able to explode and deal a ton of damage (even if he almost never will) showed up in playtesting.

While there are certainly some units that I wish I could confidently take to a tournament (Hatamoto Taro probably being the most prominent one, since I love the Samurai and his theme), not every unit can be balanced in a 400-600pt tournament format, and I don't think that was the designer's intention. That said, I am also very curious if there are any units that Craig thinks could've been improved.

On this topic, @Craig Van Ness , can you shed any light on the playtesting process? I'd love to know how many games playtesters would play on average, if you felt like time/a quick schedule ever inhibited the tests, or anything else that you can share.

I set up a playtest forum, with groups from all over the US. I think there were about 6-8 groups. Also, participation varied, some groups were very active, others would chime in not as much. Each unit had a thread and all changes were tracked. Some of the early playtesters transitioned into freelance game designers for Heroscape.

Timing was always a factor. We tried to plan ahead as much as possible, but sometimes things change, schedules change, line plans change.

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness

Terrain Line for Hobby-
This terrain line could be almost anything.
I think a pack where you can just get more tiles would be ideal.

Also, theme packs.
More packs that relate to the current story.
So when we came out with Swarm of the Marro, we could of introduced multiple Marro structures and maybe ruined structures of a city in Valhalla that the Marro destroyed.

Thank you!


Any chance there is any artwork or sketches of the Marro structures or the ruined city?


Building and structures would have really taken Heroscape to the next level.


Thanks for giving us all not just a special game but a special community.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Thank you!


Any chance there is any artwork or sketches of the Marro structures or the ruined city?


Building and structures would have really taken Heroscape to the next level.


Thanks for giving us all not just a special game but a special community.

Hasbro owns all the sketches.

Thanks for the kind words. I can't take credit for building the community, the fans made it, and it is special in many ways.

[chaoserver]

Hey Craig- I looked to find a shifting realms thread/FAQ on here and couldn't find it.

First of all, me and my friends love the game. We've played at least 15 games and have enjoyed the variety, the learning process, and the perfect balance of it being a game that takes thought and strategy without being convoluted or insanely lengthy is a treat. Its weird that there isn't more buzz about such an amazing game, considering how superior it is to the vast majority of games I've played and that the production quality is very on point. My girlfriend and I have quite a following of around 280k people on instagram and I am definitely going to plug, and get her to plug it to get it some of the hype is truly deserves.

Praise aside, I had a few questions, some of which I am pretty positive I know how they work but just wanted to clarify.

1. When a task refers to having a dragon card, it specifically means a dragons move card, and a protector will not count, correct?

2. The Gold shrine has you draw two story cards. Although you only keep one you still technically draw two. Does this somehow count as your two per turn? I'm assuming not due to how weak it would make the building.

3. Almost positive about this one, but if you have multiple dwarf protectors and the dragon kills a unit- Because its mandatory I know you have to destroy one, but you just choose and destroy one as opposed to them all fizzling and you losing all of the points?

4. For the land lubber card you need a total of four units correct? Two in each location?

5.Do both the units for daring settlers need to be in the same same space?

6. Lastly, the rules state that if you are ending the game by drawing a card from the Annuna deck, you can use the effect of the annuna card you draw before the game ends. If you draw a "later" card, are you unable to use it, or does this game ending effect override that rule.

[caps]

What are the odds we get a 5-6 player expansion for Shifting Realms?

[Dad_Scaper]

@Craig Van Ness , would you mind a separate Q&A here for Shifting Realms?