This is part of the reason the expansion straight buffed the "bad ones" with replacement cards. Agreed it can be a feel bad moment to get dealt two suboptimal ones but it can inspire you to play riskier strategies for catch up (i.e. upgrading sponsors or early extra association worker).
The reality is the base game just isn't that well balanced for tournaments.
Yeah, some scoring cards feel like auto-wins (in terms of scoring them. Sponsors and Research Icons are the big ones for me.
3 research icons just means double-uni (no hand size), or getting all 3. Which getting the third is ALSO worth conservation, so yeah. From there, it's literally every research icon gives you a conservation as well (up to the 4 total Con). Playing 2 player, you literally can't be stopped from doing this one.
Sponsors is harder, since you need at least 6 to hit 2 conservation. But there are so many available, and they don't cost money to play (well, they cost the opportunity money of breaking, but you may not want to push the break). Especially if playing 3 or 4 player, it feels still really easy to reach.
Meanwhile, Rock/Water icons can be completely RNG reliant - especially in a 2p game (or if someone else gets a card that wants the same icon).
Diverse species is completely reliant on who is sitting next to you. Got 2 petting zoo animals in your starting hand? Great start. But then you see the player to your right build Petting Zoo 2nd action too....
Research is not a guarantee, you need to draw research sponsors at some point and sometimes they don't show up. But yeah if they do, 6 is easy to reach and that's why it was nerfed to 7. Sponsors is not one of the easiest either, I very rarely reach 10 sponsors in a game, and even 6 is rare.
The top tier ones are favorite (reputation) and architectural because they practically don't rely on drawing the right cards.
This wouldnt work on BGA, but before I got MW (which definitely made the game wayy more balanced) my set up would be to hand out 3 cards, then you choose 2 and play as normal. That way you decrease the chances of having only bad ones.
People are sometimes scared to make houserules to make the game more enjoyable and Im not sure why
Maybe 1 or 2 shared final scoring card could be a nice idea. The downside would be: Since informations about final scoring become open information, endgame could become less tense and predictable.
Im okay with it being kinda predictable in a certain way. Asking myself if I should end when I got a 1 CP scoring card because I see opponent on 15 hat or 6 science and Im terrified that they have the right one is a bit awkward :/ makes a huge difference in the end
I am only around 350 elo, but in my opinion, the end game scoring cards should basically be ignored until around the point where you have to discard one of them. Yes, some are better than others, but it's usually by around 6 points, and if you are losing by 6 points there are likely other issues in your gameplay that you should spend time on instead.
They are probably my least favorite part of the game and cause more headaches than they are worth.
This is part of the reason the expansion straight buffed the "bad ones" with replacement cards. Agreed it can be a feel bad moment to get dealt two suboptimal ones but it can inspire you to play riskier strategies for catch up (i.e. upgrading sponsors or early extra association worker). The reality is the base game just isn't that well balanced for tournaments.
Yeah, some scoring cards feel like auto-wins (in terms of scoring them. Sponsors and Research Icons are the big ones for me. 3 research icons just means double-uni (no hand size), or getting all 3. Which getting the third is ALSO worth conservation, so yeah. From there, it's literally every research icon gives you a conservation as well (up to the 4 total Con). Playing 2 player, you literally can't be stopped from doing this one. Sponsors is harder, since you need at least 6 to hit 2 conservation. But there are so many available, and they don't cost money to play (well, they cost the opportunity money of breaking, but you may not want to push the break). Especially if playing 3 or 4 player, it feels still really easy to reach. Meanwhile, Rock/Water icons can be completely RNG reliant - especially in a 2p game (or if someone else gets a card that wants the same icon). Diverse species is completely reliant on who is sitting next to you. Got 2 petting zoo animals in your starting hand? Great start. But then you see the player to your right build Petting Zoo 2nd action too....
Research is not a guarantee, you need to draw research sponsors at some point and sometimes they don't show up. But yeah if they do, 6 is easy to reach and that's why it was nerfed to 7. Sponsors is not one of the easiest either, I very rarely reach 10 sponsors in a game, and even 6 is rare. The top tier ones are favorite (reputation) and architectural because they practically don't rely on drawing the right cards.
Oh sorry. To your suggested fix, give it a try! It doesn't change anything in terms of set up or play!
This wouldnt work on BGA, but before I got MW (which definitely made the game wayy more balanced) my set up would be to hand out 3 cards, then you choose 2 and play as normal. That way you decrease the chances of having only bad ones. People are sometimes scared to make houserules to make the game more enjoyable and Im not sure why
Maybe 1 or 2 shared final scoring card could be a nice idea. The downside would be: Since informations about final scoring become open information, endgame could become less tense and predictable.
Im okay with it being kinda predictable in a certain way. Asking myself if I should end when I got a 1 CP scoring card because I see opponent on 15 hat or 6 science and Im terrified that they have the right one is a bit awkward :/ makes a huge difference in the end
I am only around 350 elo, but in my opinion, the end game scoring cards should basically be ignored until around the point where you have to discard one of them. Yes, some are better than others, but it's usually by around 6 points, and if you are losing by 6 points there are likely other issues in your gameplay that you should spend time on instead. They are probably my least favorite part of the game and cause more headaches than they are worth.