Board Game Arena

I know that there are some birds that are excluded from arena as people see them as too powerful when you get them early on (Chihuahuan Raven, Common Raven, Franklin's Gull, Killdeer, and Wood Duck). The thing is… I kinda miss playing them.

I would love it if there was an arena where these birds could only be played after round 1 (this was the rule on the Wingspan Tournaments discord server and it felt pretty balanced back then). I know that this would take some work from @paramesis so I understand that it might not happen but it could make for an interesting arena. What are your thoughts?

people "see" them as too powerful because they are too powerful.

would you rather just flip a coin to see who wins? if someone draws a power bird and the other doesn't it's game over assuming both players know the basics to the game. Why make it a total luck war?

EtherealPeartree wrote: ↑09 July 2025, 06:51 I would love it if there was an arena where these birds could only be played after round 1 (this was the rule on the Wingspan Tournaments discord server and it felt pretty balanced back then). I know that this would take some work from @paramesis so I understand that it might not happen but it could make for an interesting arena. What are your thoughts?

No. There is not going to be two Arena versions of the same game that only differ by one option.

If you really love this so much and want it in a competitive environment, you are premium and free to create a tournament using whatever options your heart desires. Or you can become a Wingspan guru and try to convince the other gurus to vote to allow them in future seasons.

Also, just as the option to remove the powerful birds had to be approved by the publisher, an option to make them playable only after round 1 would also have to be approved.

ZenVee wrote: ↑10 July 2025, 03:18 people "see" them as too powerful because they are too powerful.

would you rather just flip a coin to see who wins? if someone draws a power bird and the other doesn't it's game over assuming both players know the basics to the game. Why make it a total luck war?

I agree that they are very powerful in the first round but they aren’t as game breaking when played in the other rounds. The people at the wingspan tournament discord have the stats to back it up.

It is also pretty much game over when someone has a food producing card and a tucking card at the start.

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑10 July 2025, 03:49

EtherealPeartree wrote: ↑09 July 2025, 06:51 I would love it if there was an arena where these birds could only be played after round 1 (this was the rule on the Wingspan Tournaments discord server and it felt pretty balanced back then). I know that this would take some work from @paramesis so I understand that it might not happen but it could make for an interesting arena. What are your thoughts?

No. There is not going to be two Arena versions of the same game that only differ by one option.

If you really love this so much and want it in a competitive environment, you are premium and free to create a tournament using whatever options your heart desires. Or you can become a Wingspan guru and try to convince the other gurus to vote to allow them in future seasons.

Also, just as the option to remove the powerful birds had to be approved by the publisher, an option to make them playable only after round 1 would also have to be approved.

I would be really interested in seeing the conversation about the publisher approving the changes to the arena on here. Is it on here somewhere?

Thank you for providing avenues for other ways of playing the game on these servers.

I do not know how to create a tournament on here but it would be interesting to see if it is even possible to restrict the fab 5 to be used only in the second round. I will have to look into it.

As for the guru option, I am fairly new to the servers here so do not know where to even begin being a guru to have influence.

I just checked the tournament setting and there is no way to delay having the powerful birds being played in the options (it’s either all in or remove all). Perhaps that could be an ask for the developer. Thanks for interacting with this post.

EtherealPeartree wrote: ↑10 July 2025, 08:01 As for the guru option, I am fairly new to the servers here so do not know where to even begin being a guru to have influence.

Go to the bottom of the page: F.A.Q.
Search "guru": https://boardgamearena.com/faq?anchor=f ... agamegurus

EtherealPeartree wrote: ↑10 July 2025, 08:01 I would be really interested in seeing the conversation about the publisher approving the changes to the arena on here. Is it on here somewhere?

In this thread they discuss the publisher approving an option to remove the Chihuahuan Raven, Common Raven, Franklin's Gull, and Killdeer.

EtherealPeartree wrote: ↑10 July 2025, 08:13 I just checked the tournament setting and there is no way to delay having the powerful birds being played in the options (it’s either all in or remove all). Perhaps that could be an ask for the developer. Thanks for interacting with this post.

That's because there aren't any super-secret options for house rules for tournaments that aren't available elsewhere. In other words, there are no extra variant options available in tournaments that aren't available in a regular game or arena game. A tournament is simply a structured series of matches all playing the same exact variant options. And as I mentioned before, delaying the playing of the powerful birds would be a house rule, so it wouldn't have been implemented anyway without publisher approval.

I totally agree with Zenvee on this one. The luck factor should not be higher then it currently is. I think the game is fine as it is and the 'adding in the 2nd round' is not adding much to the game (but that is my opinion). As a skilled player i lost so much games against wood duck. I prefer to never see that bastard again :p