Arguments over Scape

[jschild]

Originally Posted by Jordo02

Anyone here ever fight with their family or friends on this game? Haha, seems like it happens all the time. I try to just let it all go because it is just a game after all!....but I also try to defend it too. They always say "That character is faaar too over powered for the points" and I always just try to let them know that there is always a character that can bring down another character. All in how you strategize. We play random generated armies so sometimes you can get the shaft I know by getting terrible squads or heroes). That is just the risk we choose to take. I always say lets draft that way you can counter the other player. Just always seems like when I win the game in unbalanced and unfun but when they win... "it was a good game and they hope to play again soon." Haha. Anyone else have arguments with their sibblings or friends?

Anytime someone complains about someone being too overpowered, let them play it the next game, and build a counter army against it. That's the best way to stop some of the talk (although then they will just blame the dice probably).

My wife would always pick Hulk and Iron Man, until I started using ranged squads to kill them and cripple her army (though Iron Man can be deadly, he can easily get close to his points if played well, while Hulk rarely does unless you are playing hero heavy armies.

[Granite-M]

Probably not exactly what you were asking about, but...

Back in 2006 I was a senior in college playing a lot of Star Wars: Epic Duels, an earlier CVN joint. My friends and I were crazygonuts for the game, played it constantly, and even came up with a Batman: Epic Duels custom master set we were pretty proud of. When I started seeing commercials for HS, I thought "Man, that looks awesome. Even if the game is no good, I could totally use those figs for some Epic Duels customs."

So I started drooling over it and whenever we were at Walmart, I would ogle the box and hem and haw and pace back and forth. Of course, $40 for a game I had no idea the quality of was a bit steep for a poor college student. Then, in November my then-girlfriend of eight months surprised me by getting it for me as a birthday present. Blammo! New game to play constantly! Lots of fun was had, many more nights were spent with friends in dorm lounge, playing the RotV scenarios.

Jump ahead about two years. It's around 2008 or so. A couple hundreds of dollars have now been spent on HS, girlfriend and I are still together, now living in Raleigh. I'm trying to get new people interested in the game, and am playing it at a local coffeehouse. I haven't discovered Heroscapers yet, so this is generally a miserable failure, and it's pretty much just me and girlfriend setting up and playing every week. And eventually she gets tired of it.

So that's where the argument comes in. I'm bored and desperate to get my gaming fix, and girlfriend has had enough. We go back and forth a little bit, and there are some pretty good skirmishes, though not the fun kind involving dice, more like the unpleasant kind involving gritted teeth and pointed fingers. It's not an easy thing when you love a person and want to spend time with them, but they're just not as into the game (or whatever) as you are.

Ultimately it came down to this: I love my girlfriend and she loves me. But I don't try to convince her to play 'Scape with me anymore. That's a sucker's game anyway: if you have to convince someone to do something with which they're already familiar and in which they don't have any interest, it's just not going to happen. In return, my girlfriend accepts that I am a geek, and I am going to go off and play with my geek toys with my geek friends. Trying to win a fight in this situation isn't going to happen; mutual acceptance of individual quirks, on the other hand, works great. I may like Heroscape, but I love my girlfriend and I love domestic tranquility way more.

So, in summation: yes, I have fought with a loved one over 'Scape. And I didn't win the fight. But I won a whole lot more but simply letting it go.

[ChilliDog]

There was a small falling out that's now famous among my scape group that came about when my friend was having a hard time understanding line of sight. He claimed that since he was behind the jungle bush he couldn't be hit by another player's ranged attack. I tried to tell him in the nicest way possible that he was wrong but he still got the defense bonus from the bush. He's a stubborn gamer and tensions were high all night.

I remember going inside at one point to get food and he stopped and looked at me throught the screen door asking quite sarcastically "Hey Dan, can you see me now?" He was flustered about that, and later I had to call him out on a dice rolling discrepancy. He rolled on the table, which isn't flat so the die got stuck in one of the divets. He wanted to count it as a skull, I suggested he re-roll it just to be fair since that's our general house rule. He didn't take it lightly but eventually gave in.

The night ended with him calling a player out on a die roll, big argument, everyone was involved, he grabbed my Q10 and walked off telling me I could get it back when I admitted that I was wrong haha.

This is the night that persuaded us to type up official house rules that we edited countless times, and had everyone sign. Haven't had a problem since, we covered a decent amount in that little "contract."

[Jexik]

Originally Posted by Jordo02

Anyone here ever fight with their family or friends on this game?

Just realized that I didn't really answer the question posed in the OP. My friends and family rarely get in arguments with me about Heroscape. It's a pretty relaxed game to us. Those who play regularly are all pretty well versed in the rules and play many other games together too.

*

[A_Train]

I've never been in any sort of fight over Heroscape, but I only play with friends and family, never a "real" tournament or anything.

[Jexik]

Originally Posted by A_Train

I've never been in any sort of fight over Heroscape, but I only play with friends and family, never a "real" tournament or anything.

I know I probably say this a million times, but most "real" tourney games are pretty relaxed.

The main event at GenCon is probably the only thing that even approaches the level of jackassery found at your average Friday Night Magic event.

I've found very few bad eggs.

[A_Train]

Originally Posted by Jexik

I know I probably say this a million times, but most "real" tourney games are pretty relaxed.

The main event at GenCon is probably the only thing that even approaches the level of jackassery found at your average Friday Night Magic event.

I've found very few bad eggs.

Oh I know, they usually sound like quite relaxed, fun, social events. I just don't have any access to them, so I thought I would add that on as a disclaimer to my claim of having no arguments over Heroscape.

[wriggz]

When I first started running tournments, I was very concerned about sportmanship. I even went as far as tell one of the supporters to keep an eye on things if it got "hairy". We have never once had any thing more than a ruling inqurey, no less an disagreement.

I really could not imagin having an all out arguement over the game. There is really very little rule interpretation (which is amazing given the number of units and powers out there) and if your really stuck anyone with a internet connection can come here and get the question answered.

[Jexik]

Originally Posted by wriggz

I really could not imagin having an all out arguement over the game. There is really very little rule interpretation (which is amazing given the number of units and powers out there)

That's an interesting point.

While many who don't really "get" heroscape scoff at its simplicity, it's quite an asset when it comes to avoiding disagreements which can bog down tournaments.

Most of the people who argue about LoS* (like that screen guy) just don't know the rules, and have probably never read the rulebook.

[Harlax]

Originally Posted by Jexik

I know I probably say this a million times, but most "real" tourney games are pretty relaxed.

The main event at GenCon is probably the only thing that even approaches the level of jackassery found at your average Friday Night Magic event.

I've found very few bad eggs.

I have never had anything like a bad experience at a GenCon Tournament.
A bit of intensity, sure, but not more than that.

(Jotting down the term "jackassery" for future usage )

[dok]

There was actually a moment in my last match at the last tournament where Elginb and I marveled at the fact that a single intervening jungle brush did, in fact, block LoS of one of his figures. The angle was just right, I guess.

There actually was one argument at our last event - the first time things got at all heated. I actually don't know what the specific rule that set things off was, but the basic issue was one guy who knew the rules was being a stickler, and the other guy was a relative newbie and was tired of being told he was wrong. In the end the newbie just decided to resign the game.

The only real rules dispute I've ever had in the game that lasted more than 10 seconds was in my second game ever, where we argued about whether... wait for it... wait for it... special attacks received bonuses or not.

[airdroppers]

I think you need to play this game around 100 times to realize that there is no point in arguing. It's just a game. You can't take it personally when your figure dies.

It was the odd number games (e.g 3 player) that got annoying. Half the time was spent on arguing if you should attack this or person or that person. And then it followed by complaints on how your getting ganged up on. 2 on 2 solved that problem though.

When I started playing, I got upset when I was getting terrible luck and my opponent was creaming me because of it. Now, I realize it's Heroscape and that's what happens in Heroscape.