Do you keep an item log?
You know, a running item count so that you know if your opponent has a scroll or pot left, or if you've killed all their healers.
I used to keep one for my league matches only, but I've come to realise that I kinda dread playing league matches because of all the tedium. Now I'm thinking if I ought to just play without keeping a log, even if it means that I'm at a disadvantage. If I'm not having fun, what's the point of playing, right?
I'll still keep an item log for the tournament, even though I have no chance of winning. ;) And yes, this is kinda linked to the idea of having an inbuilt item log, but that's another matter - how many of you out there are keeping item logs?
Well, I actually just use Notes on my iPhone. I mean, I already have my iPhone there, right? And if you sync it with Gmail or something, it transfers over to my iPad too.
Ah hell. I use this:
Oh and in case it's not quite completely obvious, the letters stand for Knight, Archer, Cleric, Wizard, Ninja, Potion, Spell, Helmet, Shield, Sword.
Yeah that is just a bit too much hassle for me to bother with. Making one little stroke with my pen I could tolerate though. Because how many times have I been at the end of a really tight game and thought "Ok.. If I do this and he doesn't have a potion, I win. If he does, I lose." I just hear the Dirty Harry monologue in my mind - "I know what you're thinking, did he use 1 pot or 2? To be honest, in all the excitement I kind of lost track myself. So the question you've got to ask yourself is, do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"
Basically if you REALLY want to increase your win ratio you have to track the decks manually which as noted is a huge hassle so I only do it when I play people I know and really want to beat. =)
Otherwise in general pub play it's just for fun and I don't care if I lose, just like to try and pull off cool moves.
I played against one guy a few times - Javaseed is his s/n - who just used the in-game chat, and sent a msg whenever he or I used a scroll/potion/bomb, or whenever a unit died. It was a pretty simple code; he'd put an 'm' in front of the note if it was his own army's unit, otherwiwse the default was he was talking about my stuff. This is the most efficient, hassle-free method I've heard of, and I'm *still* too lazy to do it.
Because how many times have I been at the end of a really tight game and thought "Ok.. If I do this and he doesn't have a potion, I win. If he does, I lose." I just hear the Dirty Harry monologue in my mind - "I know what you're thinking, did he use 1 pot or 2? To be honest, in all the excitement I kind of lost track myself. So the question you've got to ask yourself is, do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"
Darnit Lookit55, that's like VERBATIM SixOkay's argument against item tracking. They're never gonna do it if you keep talking about all the fun and excitement you're having! ;-)
I've never bothered to track items in a game yet, though there probably are a few games that could have ended differently had I done so. I might do it for tournament games, but I play games (even league games) mostly casually. If it were an in-game option, I'd definitely enjoy it.
I've yet to track items as I'm too lazy and busy while working or playing but there have plenty of games where I wished I had. I would love to see this as an in-game feature.
Big no here. It would make a difference sometimes, but that much effort would suck the fun out of it. I wish Robot would do it, but enough ink has been spilled on that topic already.
All they have to do is make it so clicking on your door (not dragging something to it, just clicking) will give a pop-up stating what is left in both your deck and the opponent's deck/hand. Would help new players as well, since they could see that they only get ONE ninja, so they might be a bit more careful with it in their first few games.
Personally, I am not a fan of implementing this into the ui. If someone takes the effort to track it, then they deserve the satisfaction of thinking "My opponent has 2 reinforcements left... and I know exactly what they are Mwa Ha Ha Ha!!"
But to reach the end of a game you've been playing over the course of a week and go "ok he's got 2 reinforcements left and I just killed his fully buffed ninja - do I need to stomp? Oh, he just has two helmets. Looks like I win" seems very boring to me
Personally, I am not a fan of implementing this into the ui. If someone takes the effort to track it, then they deserve the satisfaction of thinking "My opponent has 2 reinforcements left... and I know exactly what they are Mwa Ha Ha Ha!!"
But to reach the end of a game you've been playing over the course of a week and go "ok he's got 2 reinforcements left and I just killed his fully buffed ninja - do I need to stomp? Oh, he just has two helmets. Looks like I win" seems very boring to me
-1, I actually like strategizing
But to reach the end of a game you've been playing over the course of a week and go "ok he's got 2 reinforcements left and I just killed his fully buffed ninja - do I need to stomp? Oh, he just has two helmets. Looks like I win" seems very boring to me
I actually think this is a very compelling counter-example for the pro-integrated deck count crowd.
(Which is to say: yeah, games would de facto end up ending earlier on the basis of an asset count, rather than actual gameplay, and I think that would suck)
I wish Robot would do it, but enough ink has been spilled on that topic already.
Don't even get me started on this.... <daydreams>
Darnit Lookit55, that's like VERBATIM SixOkay's argument against item tracking. They're never gonna do it if you keep talking about all the fun and excitement you're having! ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELHMi083dao&feature=fvst
This is why you track your opponent's items! Every time I think "Eh, I'm preeeetty sure he used both his scrolls" I end up dead in a river.
When i play league game. I will track all items. I relize if using chat to log, the eailer chat msg will get "push" away.
I've never bothered using a log, but there are certainly times at the end of some games where I really wish I had! There's no way I'd bother with the hassle of using an excel sheet for every game I play, but I have toyed with the idea of just printing a piece of paper that has 40 lines of
K K K A A A C C C W W W N P P S S H H H Sh Sh Sh Sw Sw Sw
on it, and each time a unit/item is used, just crossing it off with a pen. Just leave a space for the opponent's name so you know which game is which, and you could quickly and easily track 80 games on one sheet of paper, front and back. The drawback of course is having to carry a piece of paper around, but whatever. Beats excel.
For games against teams other than council, I'd just keep it simple and cross off a K when a void monk was deployed, an A when a necro was, a C when a priestess was, etc.