Did something change with how the buildings are randomized for games with both expansions on?
I used to play a fair amount on here and would select random buildings with both expansion, the results were truly a random assortment of buildings.
2021 example: https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=153962345
(only noble related building is the Chapel)
2022 example: https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=239537198
(only Chapel, Zoning Office, Royal Supplier, Jeweler)
Now, after coming back and renewing Premium largely to play with the expansions again, the implementation appears to work differently. The game currently randomizes the normal building board using the base-game buildings and Expansion I buildings, but then always adds the full Nobles building set separately in addition to that randomized board.
I understand why this may have been changed. The official Nobles rules say to place the Noble buildings above the game board, and the Deluxe rules describe them as being “in addition to the other buildings.” So I can see the argument that the current implementation better reflects the official setup: a full normal building board, plus all Noble buildings available separately.
That said, I really preferred the older implementation where the Nobles buildings were simply mixed into the broader random building pool. It created much more dynamic games. Some games might have only one or two Noble-related buildings, some might have several, and the nobles themselves did not always dominate the strategic texture of the game in the same predictable way.
I am not necessarily arguing that the current version is wrong under the official rules. But I do think the older “fully randomized” version was a valuable variant, especially for players who enjoy higher building variety. It would be great to see that return as an option, even if the current official-style setup remains the default.
Something like this would be ideal:
“Official Nobles setup: add all Noble buildings separately”
and
“Fully random expansion buildings: mix Nobles buildings into the random building pool”
That would allow players who want the official Nobles setup to keep using it, while also restoring the more dynamic random-building variant that used to exist.
Am I the only one that misses the original implementation of "random"?
I used to play a fair amount on here and would select random buildings with both expansion, the results were truly a random assortment of buildings.
2021 example: https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=153962345
(only noble related building is the Chapel)
2022 example: https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=239537198
(only Chapel, Zoning Office, Royal Supplier, Jeweler)
Now, after coming back and renewing Premium largely to play with the expansions again, the implementation appears to work differently. The game currently randomizes the normal building board using the base-game buildings and Expansion I buildings, but then always adds the full Nobles building set separately in addition to that randomized board.
I understand why this may have been changed. The official Nobles rules say to place the Noble buildings above the game board, and the Deluxe rules describe them as being “in addition to the other buildings.” So I can see the argument that the current implementation better reflects the official setup: a full normal building board, plus all Noble buildings available separately.
That said, I really preferred the older implementation where the Nobles buildings were simply mixed into the broader random building pool. It created much more dynamic games. Some games might have only one or two Noble-related buildings, some might have several, and the nobles themselves did not always dominate the strategic texture of the game in the same predictable way.
I am not necessarily arguing that the current version is wrong under the official rules. But I do think the older “fully randomized” version was a valuable variant, especially for players who enjoy higher building variety. It would be great to see that return as an option, even if the current official-style setup remains the default.
Something like this would be ideal:
“Official Nobles setup: add all Noble buildings separately”
and
“Fully random expansion buildings: mix Nobles buildings into the random building pool”
That would allow players who want the official Nobles setup to keep using it, while also restoring the more dynamic random-building variant that used to exist.
Am I the only one that misses the original implementation of "random"?