by chally
garygarison wrote:
Soledade wrote:
Also the priests and the cult tracks in the cult board are absolutely expendable. There's no need of that in the game.
So in your opinion, they are...superfluous?
:laugh:
Superfluous or not (I've lost track of the definition), they contribute greatly to my enjoyment of the game:
1. The heavenly favors (whatever they are called), permit players to permanently tailor their abilities to their strategy. In the absence of these favors, the players are stuck with their racial asymmetries and one-turn-only Bonus card asymmetries.
2. The end-round cult track bonuses give a nice counter-incentive to players implementing their plan. Because the cult tracks also provide end-game points, the end-round bonuses are a strong enough pull to force players into competition on the tracks earlier than they might otherwise.
3. The priests provide a necessary fourth currency that is hard enough to come by to prevent players from increasing their spade and shipping efficiencies too early.
4. The cult tracks are currently the only way to acquire power during the round (that is not dependent upon your opponents). I have utilized that mechanism (i.e., I have advanced on the cult tracks exclusively to acquire power) in each of the six games I've played.
If these aspects of the game were absent, even if compensated for by alterations to the other mechanisms, I am fairly sure I would miss them.