Alma Mater | Rahdo's Final Thoughts
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 11 авг 2020
- Help Rahdo Run: / rahdo ❤️ Code of conduct: conduct.rahdo.com 🙂 And now...
A video outlining gameplay for the boardgame Alma Mater.
For more game info, boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2...
Part I: Gameplay Runthrough
• Alma Mater Gameplay Ru...
Part II: Final Thoughts
• Alma Mater | Rahdo's F...
One thing to add to my as a followup to this video, taken from a post by designer Tom Lehman (Mr Race for the Galaxy) on BGG (www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2480517/article/35590324#35590324):
_FYI, here's more detail and several more examples of Women in early European Universities:_
_Bettisia Gozzadini, lecturer, U. of Bologna, first women known to teach at a European university._
_Dorotea Bucca, chair medicine+philosophy over 40 years, U. of Bologna_
_Novella d'Andrea, prof of law, legal scholar, U. of Bologna_
_Bettina d'Andrea, prof. of law+philosophy, U. of Padua_
_Anna Morandi Manzolini, prof. of anatomy+modelatrice, U. of Bologna, member Br. Royal Society_
_Luisa de Medrano, taught Latin, U. of Salamanca_
_Francisca de Lebrija, lecturer, U. of Alcalá de Henares_
_Beatriz Galindo, scholar, U. of Salamanca, taught Q. Isabella+family (incl. Catherine of Aragron)_
So I stand corrected from at 12:36 of my video (happily so), but still stand by the thrust of my argument! Thanks for the additional info Tom, great stuff! :)
The opening draft has actually convinced me that I want to get this game - I actually love opening drafts (Blood Rage is my favorite game).
Passed Coimbra, but I am pretty excited by this one. Thanks for the video! :)
Same! The theme of this is more grabby to me.
Love the artwork😍
I love the theme in this game.
A randomized added tax for books on the dummies round cards would cause some interesting swings from players to dummy.
thanks for the video rahdo. i was waiting for it! indeed the comparison on the drafting with agricola is a bit unfair: here it looks much easier and faster and lighter and possibly less punishing. BTW, is there any compensation for the 2nd 3rd and 4th player? one reason for drafting could be to limit a first player mega-move, in case no other compensation are in place (like margraves of valeria where you have a similar drafting). what do you think?
yeah, it's not the end of the world, i'll admit i was whining a bit :) and no there's no built in compensation for later turn order, because that is part of the draft. if you get a more powerful card, it has a weaker initiative number, so if you take weaker cards, you'll end up going sooner :)
@@rahdo ahhh right you said it in the video and i forgot . thanks and ciao!
when I read the rules I was torn on the opening draft. On the mechanical front it is really cool how it works and it is genius...in theory; but I agree with you, I hate front-loading games, especially as I tend to prefer to wait until a few rounds in to start forming a plan, so to make me draft cards for a game I've never played before, making a strategy based on no board state, with no chance in hell of knowing your opponents plans, it ends up feeling sluggish and frustrating. It's like auction for turn order, in theory it's genius, but in practice most people just pass and it defaults to passing the 1st player marker to the right/left. Also my girlfriend is a very AP prone "have to maximise every turn" type of player and you end up with three people sat at the table looking at their phones or getting highly irate as she tries to solve a literally impossible puzzle that doesn't even matter that much as the game hasn't even started. Sometimes designers over think it, I'd even rather roll a die and go "looks like I'm starting here" or whatever.
Great review, seems to align with my thoughts when I read the rules
But drafting mitigates luck a lot and it's easily house ruled if it bothers you that much.
In games that are new to everyone, I just give everyone their initial cards and that's it 🤷♀️.
Also, there are several games which do drafting at the beginning - including Terraforming Mars.
Couldn't agree more with your arguments against starting with drafts. It particularly makes it a pain when teaching new players....forces them to make difficult choices before they really start the game :/
Could you incentivise player to player book purchasing by simply stating that the dummy player's books grants no VP?
interesting idea!
THIS should be called COIMBRA, not the other game! Coimbra has one of the oldest Universities in the World with 7 centuries....
yup, universities were a big deal in coimbra, but certainly a bigger deal here :)
I love the art on this and Coimbra but yeah the re-using of the art feels so lazy. How much does it cost to get a few more characters seriously. Besides that I'm pretty excited for this one
5:40 Wow! I never thought I would hear Rahdo complaining about card drafting!
Too bad to know that this one already left your collection.
What was the main reason you decided to use your shelf space for something else?
What makes Coimbra so much better for your taste that you kept that one instead?
dice drafting is one of my favourite mechanisms, and coimbra didn't strike as having missed opportunities with its 2p implementation
@@rahdo the Dice drafting. I should have known... 😎
Thank you so much for continuing your low-key advocacy. It means a ton to a lot of us.
awesome, thanks. and perfectly put "low key advocacy", i love it! :)
Totally agree with you on the card draft system. With 2 players, we just layed out a 3x3 grid and choose a row or column and the other player choses between the remaining rows or columns. Done. Super fast choice for 3 cards. Probably changes some things up but for us it works great. I want to play a game, not be put to work haha. Very high quality breakdown of the game btw, great work!
Great video Rahdo. I love how you have expanded your channel to include other views. Also, nice t-shirt & pin.
Nice shirt 👍🏾
Hi Richard. Why haven't you rated this game?
i don't rate games that i don't end up keeping. as for why we didn't keep it... shelf space mostly. every time i do decide to keep a game that means another game has to go (to the dice tower west convention library).
so why did this go over other games? tbh, worker placement is one of my least favourite euro mechanisms, and so a worker placement game has to do REALLY cool stuff with the workers. this game does really cool stuff elsewhere (with the books and the students and stuff), but the worker placement was fairly "straight foward" and in the end i just had to make room.
if it had stayed, i would have given it somewhere between and 8.1 and an 8.3 :)
@@rahdo Wow, thanks for the great, detailed answer!
Last week a reviewer said he will not play Endeavor because of the slavery-cards in the game, now I hear you say that you would mess with historical facts to get more diversity in the cards in this game... why??? What's next... banning all history-based movies, books and television-series. History is what it is, it has no use trying to deny or ignore it, humans have done horrible things to each other and men, women and children of all colours have suffered one way or another through history. Women did not have a lot of opportunity to get a higher education in the 'Alma Mater'-days so why would the designers add women? These days all designers of historical games do the effort to give the theme of their game a place in history, to inform us about those times, and that is great, because you learn something. The designers of Endeavor talk about slavery in colonial times in the rulebook, they decided not to ignore it in the game because it was part of those times and I believe that to be a good decision, better than just ignoring it. If you ban a game like Endeavor because of the slavery-cards, some other people will want to ban a game like Brass because it is about the Industrial Revolution and the Industrial Revolution started the pollution and subsequently the changes in the climat. That sounds ridiculous, but guess what my reaction was when I heard that reviewer say that he wouldn't play Endeavor because the game had slavery-cards.
re: endeavor, just because you're comfortable with certain subject matter doesn't mean other people have to. it's not on you to decide for them what they should or should not play.
re: this, yes inclusion in gaming is more important than historical verisimilitude, especially because the anachronisms can be easily addressedin the rulebook, creating a further opportunity for learning about real history. so that's a win win in fact.
re: slippery slope argument. not buying it.
It is not about being comfortable about a subject or wanting to play a certain game or not, it is about the reasoning behind it. Not playing Endeavor because it is in part about slave trade, but not having a problem playing a Viking in tons of games doesn't make sense. Vikings did not only kill, rape and plunder, they were also slave traders. So why is Endeavor bad, but Raiders of the Northsea fun, because that wasn't fun for those who lived in the countries raided by the Vikings, just as slavery in colonial times was horrible for the people who were victims of the slave trade.
@@pascalcallemien2498 it doesn't make sense *to you* but it doesn't have to. people like what they like, don't like what they don't like, and there's nothing wrong with that.
@@rahdo, no, absolutely not, but don't you think a reviewer should be objective? You are objective, you look at a game from all sides. When you say you will not keep a game because it is to aggressive you always say that it is because you do not like to destroy what your wife build up, you do not blame the game. That is the reason I love your reviews, you go out of your way to show us the whole game, and leave the rest up to us. That's the way it should be. And you do have a point: people like what they like and don't like what they don't like, so I will not be watching that reviewer anymore.
@@pascalcallemien2498 well, strictly speaking, there's no such thing as an objective review. if i were 100% objective, all i could talk about would be reporting facts like the cost, the number of cubes, etc. opinions are inherently subjective, and so that's the nature of a review. but yeah, i report all the time that a game is too grim for my wife, or too heavy for me, or whatever, but those are subjective calls that are unique to us... a game isn't too grim just because jen didn't like it. and by the same token, if someone is uncomfortable with subject matter like slavery or the way it's portrayed in one game vs another, there's nothing wrong with that. everyone has their own personal lines, comfort levels, etc.
4 ads during final thoughts?!
sorry about that! trying to work on a balance with youtube's insanity :( there's a whole thread on it here: www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2442395/article/35596147#35596147
i should add, definitely let me know if you see any other egregious example of overzealous auto-ads from youtube! :)
Rahdo, I noticed a bit of what feels like a small dissonance in your feelings. Please note this is NOT meant as an attack, as I 100% see where you're coming from :
In your review of Navada City you were quite upset at the exclusionary marriage rules (which, as noted, were for balance reasons and were acknowledged by the designer). You specifically called out that it was historically inaccurate. Here, you said "to heck with history" in order to be more inclusive. I think the distinction is that you were arguing that their exclusivity previously was based on a false view of history, so it wasn't needed, and here history shouldn't prevent inclusivity.
So you aren't contradicting yourself, but the two arguments require you to look at them with a lot of nuance (who knew that nuance could exist in 2020!). I think in both cases you're just arguing for people to feel included, which is an empathetic, kind point of view. Anyway, I don't really have a point, just ranting.... stay safe!
well if you go back and check the NC video, you'll see i mentioned that there was the "added bonus" of being historically accurate (or words to that effect), by which i meant that it's a 2 for 1: you can be inclusive AND historically accurate, so why not do it? but even if it weren't historically accurate, i would have still called for more inclusivity in NC, just like i did here :)
@@rahdo Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification. At any rate... needlessly being exclusionary is silly. If there's a real thematic reason, then a designer can decide if they want to do so (knowing that they will alienate part of the community) - but at least there's a basis. But when it's a random exclusion, or historically inaccurate exclusion, it's all but indefensible.
@@do_hickey exactly. that's why i said in this video "to heck with history"... make your game inclusionary, and then include a section of the rules where you talk about the decisions you made as part of development, and about the real history the game represents if needs be. everyone wins! :)
I really don't understand that "the heck with history" view... Tamper with history and mask what really happened just because we wanted it to have been different? Why don't wouldn't you put white people running away from black masters in The Underground Revolution? No way, man... What happened, happened and, imo, the publishers/designers would do everyone a disservice if they just went on and applied some cosmetics over the truth, just to please everyone who would rather play with some characters matching their own identity! For me it's totally fine (and I do it many times) to play a game, assuming a different gender than my own and a different color tone! Other than that I would consider myself male chauvinist or racist! My view on this is: if you can do it without masking reality, then, by all means, please include every possible different identities, genders, skin colors, eye colors, religions, beliefs, etc. But if you're doing a game that tells a story about a certain time in history, please, be true to what really happened, without any varnish and, please, talk about it openly! Enough with the politically correct!...
it's simple: make the games more inclusive so everyone can feel more welcomed at the table & include a section in the rules talking about the "real history". job done, win win.
This inclusivity thing bothers me. It's just a lot.
I remember when non-mexican people got angry on our behalf because they removed Mario wearing a sombrero from the Super Mario Oddyssey cover while we were like "Oh, well...".
I don't think about it at all and I'm just reminded about it when someone brings it up. Creators shouldn't be forced to be inclusive. In fact, this has led to shallow, stereotypical characters that are mindless and only repeat a word or two in their native language just to remind you that they're in fact from whatever country they're without a care about their background or culture.
If there's going to be a character of another country or something, it'd better be worth it and its existence in that space and time should be justified, not for the sake of just filling a quota =/.
Also, in this case, it's a missed opportunity for a history lesson. If someone asked why there weren't any female teachers nor students, people playing the game could have asked and learned about it, so we don't make the same mistakes from the past.
Sorry to be that person, I'd never been it and I know this isn't the space to be talking about this, but I just... Sorry 😔.
For this game, the opposite is true. They are not being historical accurate by only having white skin tones here. The Middle East and Africa were represented in universities during this time period. Tom Lehman does a much better job discussing this than I would ( www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2480517/re-alma-mater-representation# ). Of Note, the Medici's would probably be considered black by today's standards. Regarding women, Tom does name drop some women who did attend universities during this time period. Definitely not the norm, but it isn't historically accurate to say no women attended university in the 15th century.
The fact that you said "character of another country" suggests that you're viewing underrepesented people as outsiders. This is the problem. If underrepresented people were depicted more often, maybe we wouldn't make that mistake.
One other thing I wonder about in a 2P game... The dummy never buys books from either player, whereas in a 3P+ game (which is what the dummy is supposed to simulate, right?) it is very likely that *at least* one other player would buy from you fairly early on. I wonder if someone could come up with a way that the dummy would buy books from each of the 2 players, or maybe one of the players, each round.
For example, maybe at the beginning of each round he buys 1 book from each player, or from just one player (maybe from whoever became first player the previous round, or something like that). And then even further, it could be their most expensive book, their least expensive book, or a random book. Just a few thoughts. What do you think?
Anyway, I have had this pre-ordered for a while, regardless, so I can't wait to try it out. Nice video!
yes, i was pondering that myself after i filmed. i imagine it would be something like the card indicates how many books he'd buy at the start of each round, and he'd buy the cheapest ones available, and if there was equal cost, the VP value would be the first tie breaker, and the 2nd tie breaker would be... he decides to stop buying and forgoes buying any more. something like that would work very well i think and add a lot more dynamism :)
I had the same concern which is so far holding me back from pre-ordering. I was thinking the dummy cards that call how many books the dummy player places in their bookshelf could double as "buy (up to) X books from each player", maybe the same number, maybe a different one.
But then I was thinking maybe that could interfere with some of the game's strategies, maybe it's not always beneficial to place books on bookshelf for income (because you have another use for them) and you could miss out on juicy money - i.e. maybe it'd end up being a bit too random or swingy.
I like Rahdo's idea, sounds quite clever, but I wonder if it could also be a bit random/swingy for such a tight game.
I'm a bit sad about this because I really like this design team's works and this colourful production 🙁
@@MaruelZain indeed. tbh, the designers are sharp, and i imagine they considered including something like this and dismissed the idea (maybe after some play testing) :)
Love your videos, love too your shirt !
Nice shirt!
It is less so the reuse of art that bothers me but the repetition within the game that actively turns me away. Several students and teachers are the same people and it really deflates any sort of head cannon you bring to the game. When Leder games can make each card have a unique child (in Fort) and Stonemaier can afford a unique bird for each card (in Wingspan), I think we have to ask for more effort from others; especially when it effects theme.
I am sure Chris Quilliams would happily draw more unique characters in his style and so for me it is clearly budgetary and therefore short changing the consumer (Alma Mater is not a cheap game). Reusing art is just cheap and a bit lazy from the publisher in an industry where other publishers are doing more... Calling the production values brilliant here just supports their decision which is why I thumbed down the video. Other than that, top run through.
@@hudeduge9240 Why are you thumbing down the video and affecting Rahdo, when the design choice of the game is not his fault? He is just the messenger - showing you the game.
@@JJ_TheGreat good point but I hit the thumb down button as Rahdo is an influencer. He, at times, talks directly to the production or development team and a lot of his qualms have been resolved after a run through
As such, rahdo calling the production "brilliant" here supports the decision of the production team in cheaping out on the art for this game.
I hope that explains my reasoning to you. If only each other thumb down had similar explanations eh?!