Hmm, from the graphic design alone I'm glad I held onto my Avalon Hill copy.
I'm sure this was all the rage in graphic design back then, but nowadays it seems quite poor. But I guess it's a matter of taste.
And one of functionality. The original board was no masterpiece and had a large share of flaws but I think FFG has another instance of muddled clutter of the magnitude of Chaos in the Old World. (Does every token need to be bedazzled so??)
Hmm, from the graphic design alone I'm glad I held onto my Avalon Hill copy.
I'm sure this was all the rage in graphic design back then, but nowadays it seems quite poor. But I guess it's a matter of taste.
And one of functionality. The original board was no masterpiece and had a large share of flaws but I think FFG has another instance of muddled clutter of the magnitude of Chaos in the Old World. (Does every token need to be bedazzled so??)
Personally I find the board of Chaos very easy to read (easier than I thought initially actually). My latest problem with FFG components was with the new Game of Thrones, the Martell player pieces just totally blend with the background...
No, Rex only lasts 8 turns, apparently, so that's the end of the game. (Dune lasts 15 turns, and the Guild default victory there is at the end of the 15th turn.)
No, Rex only lasts 8 turns, apparently, so that's the end of the game. (Dune lasts 15 turns, and the Guild default victory there is at the end of the 15th turn.)
OOOOH, I thought the Hacan card had a 5, but its an 8...my bad. Now they seem more balanced.
Being an old AH Dune fan I was on the fence with this one despite all the great because the board is really disappointing, but, since it apparently comes with a really sweet model of the Normandy I guess I'm in.
As an aside: How does the sand storm work? It looks like the base is designed for hexes, but I don't see where it would fit. With the spider web flow chart approach, I'm not seeing how sectors are carved up.
As an aside: How does the sand storm work? It looks like the base is designed for hexes, but I don't see where it would fit. With the spider web flow chart approach, I'm not seeing how sectors are carved up.
At a guess the sand storm (now-bombardment) would move around via the numbers for each area. Noting that there are some areas with the same numbers that are adjacent.
As an aside: How does the sand storm work? It looks like the base is designed for hexes, but I don't see where it would fit. With the spider web flow chart approach, I'm not seeing how sectors are carved up.
At a guess the sand storm (now-bombardment) would move around via the numbers for each area. Noting that there are some areas with the same numbers that are adjacent.
However, only one of them doesn't have what looks like a "shielded" icon. This would ensure that no matter which number is selected, one area is always bombarded.
Turns out Esseb did touch the flag. Don't tell him I said so though.
Hector131 wrote:
Really digging the Normandy model.
Rex board looks functional too.
I just got my Normandy model when I got the game, and it happened to be on the table at the time
I like the board design, I think it looks really nice, and yes the bomardment fleet moves around based on the order of the numbers. (from 1 - 18, then back to 1)
BTW you all probably know this, but as a reminder: ME3 demo with some multiplayer features comes out on 14th of February. To spend the Valentine's Day like a boss savior of the Galaxy.
Speaking about something on-topic from a change, I don't particularly like the map either. Reminds me of Defenders of the Realm, and I don't really like the style there, either.
I don't know why they strayed from the hemispheric board. It would have looked so much better and fit the theme of a "continent sized" city better as well. It must have something to do with the Sol Fleet movement. As much as I love the TI universe, I'm going to have to wait on this one to see if its different enough from Dune to warrant a purchase. So far the mechanics look almost identical.
Turns out Esseb did touch the flag. Don't tell him I said so though.
I really live the board, but have never played the original game (just read about it on here). Seems like it is mostly the old Dune crowd who doesn't like the new shiny board (looks very nice on my table!)
The first thing I thought when I clicked was "Final days of an empire? What a wild direction to take Arkham horror into! Bring the fight to the Ancient ones, huh?" And "Does this go above Kingsport, or below Innsmouth?"
So how do we contact Octavian to let him know this thread has been overrun with haters who contribute nothing to productive criticism of this game?
Fair enough. My attempt at productive criticism. The pictures within the circular borders for each region are Gorgeous. But the borders contain them in a way that I feel minimizes their presence. It contains their ability to be awe inspiring which I think they might be if the illustrations were allowed to extend outward a little more. If the board was designed more like a map with regions, each region could be the entire illustration for each location with the boarders ending at the adjacent or connection locations, similar to the regional illustrations on a small world map. Maybe they don't even have to be connecting, maybe the illustrations could just fade into the background if they just cut out the ugly circle borders.
I sold/lost my Dune game long long ago and have regretted it since. This game intrigued me, but oh my god it is so ugly. Maybe I'll get past that one day and purchase it before it goes out of print like my long lost beloved Dune.
I really live the board, but have never played the original game (just read about it on here). Seems like it is mostly the old Dune crowd who doesn't like the new shiny board (looks very nice on my table!)
I feel there is justice to the 'I want it to feel like a world' line of criticism, irrespective of how one feels about the art. In many respects they had a better situation for presentation than Dune, thematically, because a city at least is generally flat and has borders. So I do find myself empathising with those who do not want to play on a flowchart. It has worked for some ACW games, where the train lines were very important, and of course for various rail or economic games, but I really feel that the high concept of a Space Civilisation Power Struggle Game set on a single planet calls for an area map rather than a chart.
They've gone for an interesting, dense, baroque style. It has some merit, although I find it in places cluttered feeling. Worst for me is that I sense a dissonance between the dense sci-fi realism and the abstracted systemic resolution. It still feels very much of an FFG production: high quality, of course. I'm really going to have to ponder this one.
Credit to them for making the rules available as a pdf, I have to say.
The original map was great, and drew direct inspiration from the source:
I'm sure the Herbert estate is to blame, but I feel bad for FFG on this one. Rex may be a fine game and all (though I don't care for the graphic design), but it's reaching a small fraction of the potential audience. Personally, I have no connection (or desire for a connection) to the TI3 universe, so I'll stick with my English-converted Descartes edition of this great game.
1) Not rely on someone else to have an old copy of the game 2) Not pay out the ass for a copy via eBay 3) Not spend countless hours fabricating what I am sure is an excellent home-brewed version of the game, and also at around the cost of the retail version and with likely lower-quality components
will buy and play Rex instead.
How many times must we reiterate that this release was designed to deflate the price-inflated second-hand market and take advantage of the still-existing demand?
Rex was not primarily sold to those who already own Dune. If it manages to sell well in that group too, that's wonderful, but not FFG's core group it intends to sell to.
Rex was not primarily sold to those who already own Dune.
I don't doubt you. I was just sharing my opinions on (a) the remarks above about Dune's map, and (b) my personal stance on Rex. I'm not trying to get you to reject Rex; I hope you enjoy it.
Had the theme remained Dune I would have bought it (even with fugly new graphics), despite owning a decent version of Dune. More generally, I suspect that the intersect of people clamoring for Dune and those who eventually wind up even considering Rex is going to be much smaller than FFG hopes it will be. The demand is for Dune, not for Not-Dune. I doubt Rex has much impact on the second-hand market at all.
1) Not rely on someone else to have an old copy of the game 2) Not pay out the ass for a copy via eBay 3) Not spend countless hours fabricating what I am sure is an excellent home-brewed version of the game, and also at around the cost of the retail version and with likely lower-quality components
will buy and play Rex instead.
How many times must we reiterate that this release was designed to deflate the price-inflated second-hand market and take advantage of the still-existing demand?
Rex was not primarily sold to those who already own Dune. If it manages to sell well in that group too, that's wonderful, but not FFG's core group it intends to sell to.
Your argument presents a false dichotomy. A correctly designed map would be one that appealed to both Dune owners and the new audience. It is irrational to rule out of hand such a design as impossible.
1) Not rely on someone else to have an old copy of the game 2) Not pay out the ass for a copy via eBay 3) Not spend countless hours fabricating what I am sure is an excellent home-brewed version of the game, and also at around the cost of the retail version and with likely lower-quality components
will buy and play Rex instead.
How many times must we reiterate that this release was designed to deflate the price-inflated second-hand market and take advantage of the still-existing demand?
Rex was not primarily sold to those who already own Dune. If it manages to sell well in that group too, that's wonderful, but not FFG's core group it intends to sell to.
Oh man, if it deflates the price for the original Dune, that'd be awesome, then I can pick up a copy of that.
1) Not rely on someone else to have an old copy of the game 2) Not pay out the ass for a copy via eBay 3) Not spend countless hours fabricating what I am sure is an excellent home-brewed version of the game, and also at around the cost of the retail version and with likely lower-quality components
will buy and play Rex instead.
How many times must we reiterate that this release was designed to deflate the price-inflated second-hand market and take advantage of the still-existing demand?
Rex was not primarily sold to those who already own Dune. If it manages to sell well in that group too, that's wonderful, but not FFG's core group it intends to sell to.
Oh man, if it deflates the price for the original Dune, that'd be awesome, then I can pick up a copy of that.
I want Rex because it's a re-release of a board game, not a re-release of a map. Why is the art style of the map so troubling to some people that it is, in fact, affecting their purchase decision? Are your sensibilities that fragile?
I mean, I could more empathize if the game was cheaper / less intricate/ truly looked like ass - there's plenty of PnP solutions for Dune out there, and if you wanted the original game, it's there if you're willing to pay out the nose for an eBay copy or bother fabricating your own. But Rex also has some long-needed improvements to the rules as well as some tightening of the mechanics that make for faster, more streamlined play.
Am I to guess that the only way this would piss off the "mappers" even more is if FFG actually got the Dune license and still decided to print the map this way? I doubt that they would have done so.
Remember, this game is now about locations in a city, not a planet. Locations in a city lend themselves to the graph style. Are you suggesting a style like that shown in Ankh-Morpork is more pleasing to your eye and improves playability?
Remembering that this is a board for geeks and passionate people, I can only assume that a tiny minority of the game's intended market actually cares, and is attempting to vehemently decry the game in an attempt to feel vindicated in their displeasure over a publisher who they feel has personally slighted their hobby somehow.
I hope that the game will be awesome, and depending on the reviews I might or might not get it, as an independent game with similar mechanics to my copy of Dune. A bit like having both Pandemic and Forbidden Island in the same collection - rather different games but nevertheless with huge similarities.
bhz1 wrote:
Remember, this game is now about locations in a city, not a planet. Locations in a city lend themselves to the graph style. Are you suggesting a style like that shown in Ankh-Morpork is more pleasing to your eye and improves playability?
To me, yes I love the Ankh-Morpork board, and I don't like boards in the style of Defenders of the Realm or Arkham Horror, consequently I don't like the style of this one Not sure whether the comparison to Ankh-Morpork is beside the point though. I think the issue for purists is rather the question whether it'll be a planet (it was and won't be) or a city (it wasn't and will be).
Remembering that this is a board for geeks and passionate people, I can only assume that a tiny minority of the game's intended market actually cares, and is attempting to vehemently decry the game in an attempt to feel vindicated in their displeasure over a publisher who they feel has personally slighted their hobby somehow.
Erm, no. It is an unhelpful rhetorical gambit to characterise this as some kind of crusade against FFG.
I just don't like the conceptual and visual design of the board. It really is that simple. I wanted to like it, but I don't. It is off-putting enough to change a buy decision into a wait and see.
1) Not rely on someone else to have an old copy of the game 2) Not pay out the ass for a copy via eBay 3) Not spend countless hours fabricating what I am sure is an excellent home-brewed version of the game, and also at around the cost of the retail version and with likely lower-quality components
will buy and play Rex instead.
Or better, buy Battle for Baghdad instead of Rex. From what I can tell, BfB is a more interesting reimplementation of Dune, and goes one better and attempts to invoke the tension and drama of the modern day Middle East.
BfB also plays reasonably well with only 4, and plays in 2-3 hours (if playing time matters .. in my case I'm fine playing long games).
Hmm, from the graphic design alone I'm glad I held onto my Avalon Hill copy.
I'm sure this was all the rage in graphic design back then, but nowadays it seems quite poor. But I guess it's a matter of taste.
And one of functionality. The original board was no masterpiece and had a large share of flaws but I think FFG has another instance of muddled clutter of the magnitude of Chaos in the Old World. (Does every token need to be bedazzled so??)
I find the newer board much more functional... the Dune version has the appearance of a Risk board covered in Vaseline.
Remembering that this is a board for geeks and passionate people, I can only assume that a tiny minority of the game's intended market actually cares, and is attempting to vehemently decry the game in an attempt to feel vindicated in their displeasure over a publisher who they feel has personally slighted their hobby somehow.
Erm, no. It is an unhelpful rhetorical gambit to characterise this as some kind of crusade against FFG.
I just don't like the conceptual and visual design of the board. It really is that simple. I wanted to like it, but I don't. It is off-putting enough to change a buy decision into a wait and see.
BHZ, I don't think that's a rational assumption.
I have been curious about this game as I've been hearing about Dune for years, and I was interested to see what REX looked like. I don't have any animosity toward FFG at all, I'm just interested to see what they've done with the concept.
Since FFG's verions of Dune it looks like this, I'll just spend my money elsewhere. If you're still super excited about the game, more power to you, but there are tons and tons of games out there competing for my time and money, and when a game looks like such a mess to me, it makes moving on to the next one a very easy decision.
I love the Ankh-Morpork board, and I don't like boards in the style of Defenders of the Realm or Arkham Horror, consequently I don't like the style of this one 
