MArcomage

There was a discussion about the big advantage, when a player is allowed to go first.

In the first version of MArcomage, the player who was challenged always got to play first. Later, we changed it to a random pick from both players, however according to my analysis, it may be an advantage to go first.

Of course, it depends on the deck and play style, some decks may exploit this adavantage more, some less. That is why I got this idea:

Starting bonus
--------------

Starting bonus can be

- first turn (you go first)
- bonus resource
- bonus wall
- bonus tower
...

When you send/accept a challenge you will also pick a starting bonus. When both players will pick the same bonus, it will be decided randomly which one will get it, and the other player will get some different bonus.

The idea behind it is to let the decks that want to go first choose bonus "First turn". On the other hand, decks that don't need to go first can choose some bonus that might be more interesting for them. So the second player will get some compensation for not going first.

The bonuses and their ammount are not clear, so this is only a rough idea.

There is also possibilty of making it very simple - first player will be picked randomly and the other player will get some stock bonus automatically, so no bonus picking is necessary.

i like more the idea to select the bonus. and just to make it simple add the "Random Bonus" option to the bonus selection point :P

and to make it more clear and to improve the "challenge initiative" (because there are a lot of players that don't to challenge too much and prefer be challenged) the player that challenges select his bonus and the other player gain a random one.

The one who doesn't start getting like 1 or 2 more in start stock is good.

Picking the bonuses could be a lot of fun, but I think it's better for the game to not have it.

Such a starting bonus is too minor thing to make extra complications in game.

I like the idea... but I'm not sure I agree that an additional choice option is the right way to implement it.

I think that the person who doesn't go first should get a stock bonus, and just leave it at that.

I agree with Endovior's assertion. Granting 2 or 3 stock to the player going second is enough to offset the disadvantage. Altering starting height for the wall or tower causes several card conditions to change. (Fanatic, Shrine, and Elven archer all come to mind immediately as affected cards with low enough cost to be played first-turn. In the case of Fanatic, the player going second would see added tower height as a disadvantage without having the opportunity to prevent its use by the first player.)

Good point DPsycho :)

I think I will just add 2 stock to second player. After some analysis I think the "selecting bonus alternative" would just complicate things.

Implemented in https://netvor.sk/trac/arcomage/changeset/573