Feature Request: Drafting

[kofzor]

My playgroup has played over 200 games offline since Essen 2021. After a few games, we found that the starting hand may bestow some with wonderful combinations whereas others may find themselves stuck with implausible cards.

Hence, we decided to draft our start hand, 2 per turn:
You get 8, keep 2, pass rest to neighbour (we usually do clockwise, with subsequent games, rotating)
Get 6, keep 2, etc.
Until you kept 8 cards.
Then you choose 4 to keep.

My playgroup has recently also found themselves on BGA.
We were wondering if drafting of starting hand could be a feature for playing Ark Nova?

[TotocheBalai]

Hello, when i play IRL, i always use drafting system. 1 card by 1 card but same thing 2 by 2. No idea if it could be implemented in BGA but it would be a great option at the beginning of the game for sure!

[Wrathberry]

My playgroup has played over 200 games offline since Essen 2021. After a few games, we found that the starting hand may bestow some with wonderful combinations whereas others may find themselves stuck with implausible cards.

Hence, we decided to draft our start hand, 2 per turn:
You get 8, keep 2, pass rest to neighbour (we usually do clockwise, with subsequent games, rotating)
Get 6, keep 2, etc.
Until you kept 8 cards.
Then you choose 4 to keep.

My playgroup has recently also found themselves on BGA.
We were wondering if drafting of starting hand could be a feature for playing Ark Nova?

we drafted a lot too, but we kinda came to the conclusion that its nearly waste of time. you basicaly always have some agency with your starting 8.
we feel like drafting makes more broken starts, which we didnt like at some point.

i mean, im not against it as an option. if people want to draft, let them draft, but i really think its overrated by some people .

[Tyrfang]

A starting hand draft might be excessive, but I think the initial scoring cards should be drafted.

I just played a game where I started a few points behind, because I was given the choice of Conservation and Climbing Zoo but my opponent got Favorite Zoo.

I also think there's a slight first player advantage - a draft might shift it to 2nd player if it's a 1/2/1 draft, and the 2nd player picks first.

[Wrathberry]

A starting hand draft might be excessive, but I think the initial scoring cards should be drafted.

I just played a game where I started a few points behind, because I was given the choice of Conservation and Climbing Zoo but my opponent got Favorite Zoo.

I also think there's a slight first player advantage - a draft might shift it to 2nd player if it's a 1/2/1 draft, and the 2nd player picks first.

how do you want to draft 2 cards? that absolutly makes no sense^^. also you have 2 cards, why didnt you choose the other if you think that climbing zoo is that bad?

[JDansp]

I think the best drafting option from my experience is pick 1, discard 1. Getting the 2 best cards from a hand and then complementing it with another strong 2 cards is just busted

[Wrathberry]

I think the best drafting option from my experience is pick 1, discard 1. Getting the 2 best cards from a hand and then complementing it with another strong 2 cards is just busted

I completly agree Here.

Even a Pick 1 at a time felt too Busted often. Picking 2 at a time will ne even stronger

[pjt33]

how do you want to draft 2 cards?

They already said: draw 4 cards; second player takes one; first player takes two; second player gets the last one. I'm not sure how it would extend to 3+ players.

also you have 2 cards, why didnt you choose the other if you think that climbing zoo is that bad?

They said what both of them were: Conservation and Climbing. It's certainly fair to observe that it's easier to max out Favorite Zoo than either of those.

[kofzor]

I think the best drafting option from my experience is pick 1, discard 1. Getting the 2 best cards from a hand and then complementing it with another strong 2 cards is just busted

But if that applies to every player, wouldn't it be equal again?

My argument is that by sheer luck of the draw you could end up with 8 'unplayable' cards, whereas someone else gets a "godlike hand".
Hence the idea that people get to choose from more cards, e.g. with 4P and 2 (closed) draft at a time they would see 8+6+4+2=20 cards rather than 8, but so will everyone (out of a pool of 32 cards=0.625). For 3P it'd be 18 (out of 24 = 2/3).

For 2P I am not certain that it would make sense, as you'd see 8+6=14 out of the 16 initial cards.
Likewise, for tournaments it'd be debatable.

I simply request this as a feature for games with my friends with whom I've played 100s of offline game with drafting.

As for drafting the final scoring cards, I don't see much merit in it, because you may still end up regretting your choice.
Obviously some final scoring cards are way easier than others, but drafting them just seems a bit unnecessary.

[ylathor]

I am actually opposed to drafting:
- picking 4 out of 8 is sometimes an interesting puzzle. You can chose cards with synergies, craft your early game strategy
- also there is some luck in the game anyway, which cards show up, are drawn randomly. End game goal cards have varying difficulty etc. so it might even out in the end
- the variance is higher, which is bad for really competitive environments, but can be a nice challenge.

But as an option it would be fine