Starting is OP

[Tovkov]

I think it would be nice to reduce the advantage of starting.

For example by having 5 hand cards for the starting player.
Or by having 7 hand cards for the non-starting player.
Or by having 5 points for starters for the non-starting player.
Or by having one tree spaling for the non-starting player.

Is this an idea?

[Cos-]

I've played this game a lot of times, and not noticed an advantage to being first. Can you explain why you think it's such a big advantage that you'd like it to be handicapped?

[haiduk]

Starting is worse 100% of the time so i don't really know what you're talking about.
Revealing cards for your opponents with your first tree is bad.

[Helbiii]

I rather be 2nd player as well and I played this game a lot.
As said by haiduk you don’t want to reveal first tree.

[Tovkov]

thanks for the replies.. i believe you. would be interesting to see stats on this

[Cos-]

I'm interested to know why you thought there was an advantage to being first in this game, in the first place.

Not only did you think there was an advantage, you seemed to think it was a HUGE advantage. Can you explain what gave you that impression?

[Tovkov]

Did not think it was a huge advantage, sorry if topic title is misleading.

it felt like an unfair advantage that could be balanced out quite easily..
i am surprised others thought it is not an advantage. Or maybe even a disadvantage!?
My gut feeling is still that it is an advantage -maybe of a few points- to start

In the absence of more data, and since I am not very good at the game myself, I trust the above expressed impressions of a balanced game though

[podo78]

if you think that, you havend played enough
going second is always beter

[Takeda007]

The first player only feels “OP” if they open with the Douglas Fir and trigger the bonus replay effect. In some cases, starting with the Oak Tree can also be strong, again if the replay bonus is available.
Otherwise, the first-player advantage is fairly balanced, drawing 2 extra cards at the start adds tempo, but it comes with the risk of revealing a valuable card with their opening tree.

[Cos-]

Did not think it was a huge advantage, sorry if topic title is misleading.

it felt like an unfair advantage that could be balanced out quite easily..
i am surprised others thought it is not an advantage. Or maybe even a disadvantage!?
My gut feeling is still that it is an advantage -maybe of a few points- to start

In the absence of more data, and since I am not very good at the game myself, I trust the above expressed impressions of a balanced game though

Okay, so "OP" doesn't really represent what you thought, but you did think there is some advantage to playing first. I still don't understand, at all, why you thought that. What is the advantage you saw in playing first in this game?