Family prestige

[tinpan70]

Hi. Wondering if anyone knows why the objective card that gives you points for prestige guests specifies no family on it? Are there prestige guests that share your family name? We got a bit confused by that one and Google not helping. Thanks.

[Jontia]

There aren't any Prestige guests that share the family name. And they wouldn't be family even if they did, it would just be a co-incidence.
I think it's just there to provide extra clarity, which just goes to show that when everything is already clear adding things for clarity just makes the whole situation more confusing.

[tinpan70]

Haha. Perfect thanks. Exactly what we thought. Why say no family if not possible.

[Jontia]

If I had to go out on a limb, it's because there is a corresponding card that scores for all guests. At that point it is worth clarifying that some of your gentry cards, which are guests at events are not guests for that objective card.

And then it feels worth adding the no family tag to the other card in the same category for consistency.

There are always rules lawyers out there that will argue 'it says it here, but not on this one so you can do it in the second case.'
Two distinct examples of such cases in Terraforming Mars and neither of them actively has people trying to win right now. Just confusion by leaving helpful reminders on in one place and off in another.

[tinpan70]

Yeah I see how that can happen. Great game with a very bad rule book. How many of each card isn't even mentioned, which would be very helpful when deciding what objectives to discard etc.

[Jontia]

Yeah I see how that can happen. Great game with a very bad rule book. How many of each card isn't even mentioned, which would be very helpful when deciding what objectives to discard etc.

I'm not sure what you mean. The rule book for the 2.3E base game is here and lists the number of starter, casual and prestige guest cards. And during the game the cards are out on the table in two seperate piles. What information are you actually looking for to help you decide what objective to keep? Perhaps I can help?

[tinpan70]

Sorry.,that should have read tiles, not cards. So if someone else buys a tile that's mentioned on your objectives, be helpful to know if any more in the bag.

[Jontia]

Sorry.,that should have read tiles, not cards. So if someone else buys a tile that's mentioned on your objectives, be helpful to know if any more in the bag.

The compendium version of the rule book is coming with a detailed tile listing that should match your expectations. That is a Kickstarter that's currently on the water and the designer is intending to release a digital version of the compendium onto BGG when backer have their physical copies in hand.

In the BGA UI, there's a button that lets you view the improvement tile bag and allows you to see exactly what's left in your game. You've caught me between games, so I can't go an verify the exact wording at the moment, but look for something like "view improvement tiles" in the section of the UI where you can spend reputation for money, refreshing servants or refreshing the builder's market.

In general, there are two copies of most tiles.
There is one copy of all level 5 tiles in the base game, and a second copy of those tiles in the U/D game. So a U/D game has 2 copies all level 5 tiles
There is one copy of all level 6 tiles.
There is one copy of all suites. (Heritage, Queen's and Lionheart, Parish Church)
There is one copy of the Renovated kitchen (U/D only)
There is one copy of each Hybrid tile (Babbling Brook and Green Room, Babbling brook is in an objective).

There are 6 high VP monuments. Of which player count + 1 are included in each game.
There are 4 low VP monuments used only for the "low vp monument variant" where the high VP tiles are removed. All 4 are included in every game.

The UI button is the bit I think you really want, given how you've described the problem. I promise you it is there somewhere. Hopefully I've narrowed it down close enough for you to find it.

[tinpan70]

Thank you. That is awesome. It seems you've learned all that from playing a lot and cudos to bga for making a peek option. Maintain it should be in the rulebook to make informed decisions of which objectives to discard but really appreciate the detailed explanation. Cheers.

[Jontia]

Sometimes you are forced into difficult decsions based on space. The rulebooks for Obsession are already pretty long, and even writing that out I can see the number of exceptions to the general rule that exist which makes it difficult to be susinct and accurate. And we're not including Characters or Bonus tiles in there.

As I said, the Compendium does layout all the tiles and provides details on what each one does. But just that section runs to 18 pages in the draft linked on the KS page. Choices and compromise are part of creating almost anything and sometimes those choices don't work out for everyone.

A digital implementation is quite different from a physcial one too. As owning the physcial box gives you a chance to look through the tiles during punch out, set up and packing away and will put you in a room with other people who are almost certainly more likely to answer questions compared to the often silent online games. So information that seems crucial trying to learn online can be less improtant playing in person. Again forming part of the balance and compromise.

Anyway, I'm glad the situation is resolved for now at least. I've gone and edited the previous post to mention there's only one copy of the two hybrid tiles (one of them is in an objective so seemed improtant to get right). Thought I'd mention it again in case you missed the edit.