by DanteEdmundo
Game Rule writers please take note what is fun and not fun in a game:
It is so frustrating to be excited about purchasing a new board game, and then as soon as you set up, have to spend an hour looking up the details on a single rule. I know I could just make my own "house" rule, but my gaming habits really make me inclined to play a game how it was intended, not how I decide to play a game on the spot.
Playing solo I decided to pick Bruenor the Dwarf Fighter for the first solo game, having read so many comments that playing Drizzt is OP for the game (I guess Hasbro wants you to play Drizzt on the first game so you win - making you feel happy regardless of how EASY it might be- which to me is a McDonald's corporate mindset.)
Now Bruenor has the "Clan Battlehammer Shield" card with the "Stance" token to be placed on it. Easy enough.
RULES: (Again McDonald's corporate mindset: make the rules as short as possible and apparently, don't revise depending on what any new beginner player could tell you in the first hour of play. In addition, if you go to the corporate WEBSITE for the game have no tab at all that says FAQ to game etc. and eventually direct user to a forum where he/she must search. Sigh.)
UTILITY POWERS rules I quote:
"Unless the card states otherwise, when you use a Utility power, you flip it over and cannot use it again until some other effect allows you to flip it back up."
Now get this, many of the UTILITY POWER cards actually say at the bottom "Flip This Card Over After Use". WTF?
If the highly colorful rulebook on glossy paper that supposedly has been worked over and shortened to HELP players play the game and make it an enjoyeable experience - if this supposedly highly truncated set of rules makes the rules EASIER - says Unless said otherwise, you flip the card over - then why state it on multiple Utility cards??
OK. Then I begin to think, we'll maybe I'm NOT SUPPOSE to flip the STANCE card. Even though you actually USE the card by placing a Stance token on the card which according to the Utility Power rules means you FLIP THE CARD unless the card STATES OTHERWISE. This card doesn't state otherwise.
But then there is the question of, well does the Stance Token get used up as a Shield when in combat - which seems like the most logical conclusion. One use for a UTILITY POWER card is what the rules imply.
So.
I spend an hour searching and ended up reading many confused player's on the STANCE rule here. I tried going to both the HASBRO and WoTC website for answers - but just was dumped into another forum. No FAQ for the game - which I give an F- for any game company today that doesn't have a quick website game faq available. I mean come on - it's 2013 and the Internet has been around since 1970s? And you don't have an FAQ for your board game easily available?
I finally find the answer to my one question. Here it is - as far as I can ascertain:
1. Nothing removes the Stance token, you just place it on the card, it just remains on the card.
2. The UTILITY POWER card does not flip, despite the rules saying the card should flip unless it says otherwise.
I know, who would have even guessed? First solo hour at Drizzt. Hoping it will get better ...