Lower Starting Life: Tried it?

[Nitz]

I know on some other boards there has been some discussion of the game length and shorting it up.  As a general rule I don't think this is necessary as I believe 2 things to be true.  

1) As people play the game more, it will speed up because the fact is that it's a rich and complex (in a good way) game that will reward and encourage replay.  

2) Many people's assumptions on how long the game should take are based on limited plays and preconceived ideas of how long this game should take because it uses cards.  If a game takes 2 hours and you expected it to take 1 hour having never played it, that doesn't mean it took too long.  It might mean your playing a Mage Wars and not another game.

Still, I can see a desire to occasionally play a shorter game.  Sometimes I might only have an hour, and I want to get a game in and feel like it will finish.  As a Warmachine player, a normal game will take 2-2 1/2 hours.  If I only have an hour, but have a hunkering to play Warmachine, I can simply adjust the points level down from 35 to 25 or even 15.  To translate this to Mage Wars I see adjusting life totals as a better solution that adjust deck point totals.  Have any of you tried lowring both mage's life totals by X?  If so, how did it go and how much did you adjust it?  Does the lower starting total break some parts of the game?  Maybe no one has experimented with this yet since the game is so new, but I thought I'd ask.

[piousflea]

Might try it in some games tomorrow. Not sure if it would still be balanced, as certain strats like Mana Drain would be much weaker if you were very fragile.

[Nihilistiskism]

This is an idea I've tossed about with a friend, and I just don't think it works because of how the core mechanics are costed. You get X mana, and that is directly linked to how your mage is designed to function. You get X points in your spellbook, and that is directly linked to how the game is designed to function.

The game gets faster by natural evolution. As you learn what works and what doesn't, and begin to perceive threats as or before they occur on the board, you get faster. Very often I know a turn ahead what 2 spells I'm pulling from my book as I currently evaluate the board of this turn. I know what they are, and where they are, and if it doesn't go my way, then I learn that in such a situation I should be more aware of X options to the opponent.

I think that should probably apply to most players. Play more = get better = get faster.

-nihil

[goofy]

Me and a friend has been play since gen con and the games are going 35m to a 1 hour.

[piousflea]

Me and a friend has been play since gen con and the games are going 35m to a 1 hour.

I think it depends a lot on your playstyle. If you have a very passive playstyle ("Mana Drain Wizard", "Priestess that sits back and builds more and more Temples") then games will take longer. If you have two beatdown decks (Beastmaster vs Warlock!) then games will be very short.

[SeanDeCoy]

Most of my games with playtesters or design team members take between 35 minute and an hour and a half.

Although, the Mage Wars staff had a tournament last Christmas and no game went to time (I think we have a 50 minute time limit).

That being said, we all know the cards really well and have very aggressive strategies. But overall, I think you're right, knowing your strategy speeds the game up an incredible amount.

We're doing our best to keep game times down for new players by suggesting they play the apprentice mode first (a limited spellbook, a limited sized arena, and limited stats).

[Shad0w]

The biggest thing that slows games down is being overwhelmed by the number of choices.

[Nitz]

You guys are right.

My brother and I played a second "Full" game last night and it clocked in at 90 minutes, and that was with totally reworked decks that we were somewhat unfamiliar with.  Man, what a great game you guys have produced.  Sorry for gushing, but It really is a blast to play.