Feedback for Arena mode for 7 Wonders

[Gunslinger99]

Please don't call a game broken just because a god-like player is not guranteed to win

Haha, OK I like to use the word "broken" but I exaggerate . Let's say rather that for me there is a "flaw" in the 4p design that is not present in 3p and 5p.

[N_Faker]

There are some elements in 3P 7W to master that are not present in 4P 7W but it's not so much the other way around.

What elements?

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From the posts up to this point only the poor distribution of grey cards in 4P has been noted, which seemingly isn't an issue in 3P and 5P.

[Gunslinger99]

Mainly it is the concept of relative thinking and the gestion of war. I'll redirect you to my guide once I publish it, if you're interested.

[Gunslinger99]

Also when you play a resource in 3p, it is available for everyone. When you don't play it, it is unavailable for everyone also. This sentence is false as soon as you add a 4th player because the player in front of you can play a resource that is now available for everyone EXCEPT you. This is an enormous difference between 3p and 4p, and high level 3p players use this to their advantage. At 4p, the player in front of you will pick some resources and you cannot do anything about it.

[N_Faker]

Also when you play a resource in 3p, it is available for everyone. When you don't play it, it is unavailable for everyone also. This sentence is false as soon as you add a 4th player because the player in front of you can play a resource that is now available for everyone EXCEPT you. This is an enormous difference between 3p and 4p, and high level 3p players use this to their advantage. At 4p, the player in front of you will pick some resources and you cannot do anything about it.

As resources/players being 'out of range' is an intentional design point of 7Wonders. Shouldn't this be kept for competitive play?

[Gunslinger99]

It's valid. My point is just to say that to me, 3p is More valid. It's a bit like if every 10th round of chess, the creator decided to arbitrary remove one black and one white piece. "come on, it's fun, that's how chess was designed!" and now a player says "but... Wouldn't it be more competitive if we kept all the pieces?" and then he's answered "no, no, it was no designed that way".
Sorry for this lame example I couldnt find better in 10 minutes

[sprockitz]

Every game with more than 2p is guaranteed to have some luck. I’ve played tons of 7w 3p at the table and there are still a lot of things that aren’t skill (the other 2 always chose to buy off each other instead of me which keeps me lower on coins...we play leaders and cities so it is a bit different...but they know I’m the stronger player in general so they tend to attack my strategy more.

With 4p the military can make a big difference...not having to fight the strong guy or getting to fight a weaker military can easily make a 5-10 point difference over the course of the game.

[sprockitz]

Every game with more than 2p is guaranteed to have some luck. I’ve played tons of 7w 3p at the table and there are still a lot of things that aren’t skill (the other 2 always chose to buy off each other instead of me which keeps me lower on coins...we play leaders and cities so it is a bit different...but they know I’m the stronger player in general so they tend to attack my strategy more.

With 4p the military can make a big difference...not having to fight the strong guy or getting to fight a weaker military can easily make a 5-10 point difference over the course of the game.

Also i would say in general multiple ladders aren’t ideal but for maybe 2-3 of the most popular games they might be viable. Player count for Stone age, puerto rico, 7w... and 6nimmt (tac v prof) are the only 4 i would consider. But as 7w is premium it might deserve special attention to keep the paying customers happy.

[Pinta]

Also when you play a resource in 3p, it is available for everyone. When you don't play it, it is unavailable for everyone also. This sentence is false as soon as you add a 4th player because the player in front of you can play a resource that is now available for everyone EXCEPT you. This is an enormous difference between 3p and 4p, and high level 3p players use this to their advantage. At 4p, the player in front of you will pick some resources and you cannot do anything about it.

...And high level 4p players use this to their advantage. I fail to see how this is different.

[Gunslinger99]

Because at 4p you are much more a victim of the hand distribution. Suppose you have no Glass beginning of age 2. The glass appears in the hand of the player to your left. Then 3 players have the chance to stash it to screw you. And the player in front of you may simply play it also. There is nothing you can do, maybe only play the Forum if someone else didn't play it.
At 3p, if someone stash the Glass, there is no Glass for everyone (not taking the Forum or Alex stage 2 into account)