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The Empire at War ... The Gamers Guild => Other Fantasy Games ... => Topic started by: GamesPoet on September 19, 2019, 11:16:09 AM
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So I'm hearing there's a strong tendency for 9th Age to be a game where those who enjoy competition are thriving.
Is that who is primarily playing this game system :icon_question:
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It went in that direction for the first few years, because the Project prioritized game balance and prevention of abusive play. I think that benefits competitive and casual players alike, but some thought it made the game bland.
After the release of version 2.0 of the game though, the Project has shifted focus towards supplemental material that's meant to provide a more varied game experience for those who want it, material that isn't meant to be tournament-legal and thus not creatively constrained by such considerations. I'm talking about material like new scenarios, terrain generation rules, magic rules, and supplemental army books.
T9A is meant to be a big tent, and the meticulously designed and balanced tournament game was always simply meant to be a foundation for all kinds of other things that could cater to a wide range of player preferences.
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It's less about the rules and more about the gaming scene that is competitive or less competitive. In my experience, T9A gamers tend to be much more competitive than I am. Then again I'm allergic to competitiviness, especially of the RAW WAAC approach. So I'm probably not the right person to judge how competitive a scene is.
I know of less competitive people who play T9A. But most of the people who want less competition or at least clearer/easier rules from a fantasy game tend to gravitate towards altogether different games.
Similarly, people who like Warhammer Old World tend to choose one of the older editions - be it nostalgia, the right feel for the game, or the availability and interesting game role of units they have readily painted. In this respect, it's clear that T9A supports competitive gaming better than other Warhammer editions, which then again support other kinds of gaming (Old World 'historical', nostalgic/friendly, total destruction, beer&pretzels, etc.). No wonder, since the makers of T9A are mostly ETC veterans, and the top of competitive players from two continents.
In tournaments, naturally, the competitiviness gets to the front. It seems there are not so many T9A players (compared to old Warhammer Fantasy or 40K), so those who want to max out with this game will find their way to the tournaments, making the public T9A scene more competitive.
But who nows how people play in the small clubs and garages?
-Z
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Core rules + 16 AB are balanced for tournaments.
In addition, there are already several supplements, not intended for competition. These include today 3 derived factions, 1 series of scenarios, 1 magic variant, 1 terrain variant.
In addition, there are two games for beginners: the quick starter, and a pirate-themed initiation game.
Besides all these official production, there is plenty of material produced by the community, which can be found on the website under the denomination "Homebrew".
This includes no less than ~62 factions covering new themes, plus ~35 variants of the official factions.
There are also Homebrew rules variants, with scenarios, multiplayer rules etc.
All these Homebrews are by far much less tested than the official rules, but they testify that many players appreciate T9A for other reasons than competitiveness.
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I'm still painting only metal for T9A , but have yet to play one game lol, shit's intense with work and 2 kids