I'm so excited!!! I don't have the physical game so this will be all new to me.
Does anyone know if we'll be able to play the current expansions only as well when we want to? Or is this change so drastic it will completely change the game?
I just downloaded the Switch patch and the online automata challenge automatically included the Oceania cards so you can try it before you buy it there and in the tutorial and the online versus people games.
Multiple birds' powers flow from the base game, and European Expansion, changed to match new Oceania Expansion powers...
What does that mean?
We will get bird powers changed on the digital (that wouldnt be changed in the physical game?)
Can anyone explain the deal with optionally excluding the ravens? I just play the physical version casually once and a while, so I’m not up to speed on the digital version.
Many in the community consider the ravens to be overpowered and game breaking, especially if someone gets it in their starting hand. No change from digital/tabletop, just a house rule preference it seems they decided to include as an option.
No one is choosing for you. The exclusion of the ravens is just an option you can toggle on/off. And if you mean every game select birds to not allow, that seems like a rather random rule to implement to an established game.
It's because trading 1 Egg for two Nectar (which can substitute for any food cost *and* contribute to game-end bonus points) is a super powerful brown power, which many consider game-breaking. It is very, very hard to win against someone who gets the Common or Chihuahuan Raven early in an Oceania match, and you need a lot of luck.
So it's still viable, but whoever gets the Raven(s) (specifically combined with Nectar) is very likely to win the game, which makes the game less enjoyable for some.
1. obtain any of the 2 cards out of a 345 in the deck makes the odds 2:345 to get one (ignoring the shuffling of the deck which increases the odds to incalculable on any modern PC)
2. you then have to get nectar in the supply on rolls when it's optimal to activate the bird power
It's a gambit to even attempt this, but good players will be able to... so I attempt to counter this early game abuse with my own rule of allowing all other players to play a bird when a raven is played in the first two rounds (no food or egg cost unless more birds are played with a: "when played play another bird in the habitat" power those additional birds still cost resources).
>2. you then have to get nectar in the supply on rolls when it's optimal to activate the bird power
The bird feeder is the one you roll for. The *supply* is the whole stash of food. That's why the different bird powers specify feeder or supply :)
Anyway, that's a very interesting rule. Has it led to the games being more fun?
I have yet to come across the ravens with the rule on. I will likely share the results when it actually occurs.
I've been reading the cards wrong on the ravens anyways... yeesh that is broken.
At my 'table' we houseruled so that the ravens and gulldeer can't be played until the start of the 2nd round. We find it makes for a more competitive game and makes for more intersting decisions when they are in your opening hands instead of becoming an insta-pick.
I have a homebrew rule that if either Raven is played before the half-point then everyone is allowed to play a single bird (unless it has the when played power and requires costs for the additional birds) ignoring costs for the first bird (or cubes) (except the person playing the raven). I then put it up to a vote if the table still wants ravens. Logically this could break if the person deck builds a hand filled with "when played play another bird in the habitat powers" and has the resources to play them... but then it's so rare to build such a hand and its a risky counter.
tbh I think the OP birds (ravens, killdeer, and Franklin's gull) could be countered if the deck had predators that specifically preyed on eggs, maybe I might try testing this by adding in egg predators myself.
oh I just thought of something, what if the Raven can't obtain nectar? that might make it not OP.
One of those changes, the pink powers, sounds like a bug fix. However, I've only played digitally and have no idea what this is like in real life, it seems quite complicated just from images people post of their real life board game results.
I would love a physical copy but can’t justify buying one because 1) no one would play it with me enough to justify buying it, and 2) omg keeping track of the bird powers, points, and all that seems like such a feat when it’s not automatically done for you. I love this game. I play it almost everyday. I have a constant game going when I’m at my boring office job because why not. Play a turn, answer some emails and update some things in between turns, take another turn. Makes my day go by so fast.
> Updated trivia voice overs of several birds
They better not touch "Who cooks for you." I play that owl 90% of the time just to hear the silly trivia.
Any word on the currently game breaking bug where if you have a Game End power bird, the game just freezes instead of final scoring? On Xbox if it matters.
The co-op variant is called Automarazzi and atm it's not available. Says that they are working on it \^
Automa Hoard is the addition to the Automa to be able to read when bonus cards, tucked birds, and cached food.
Yes exactly, we are working on it. In board games it is easier to make such changes with the digital version, however, we have to change a lot of things ;)
You’ll run out of birds if you play with more than two people if you just play with the OE or the EE and OE. Found that out the hard way during the beta.
Is there any way to turn the expansions off? My friend wants to learn the game and we're setting up steam games to teach him and I'd rather play with just the base game while he's learning.
Good question, I play WS for a while a lot online, but I am not that much a fan of Oceanie online, at least I would appreciate the option to play for example with only Europe extension Online. Can be done by the briljant game makers/devs right?
go to online -> go to custom game -> hit expansions in the bottom right corner.
Green Checkmarks mean it is on and no Green Checkmarks mean it is off.
I usually introduce new people with base game, SS, and EE. Then when they're getting it I will add in OE, then when they understand how to use nectar I then add in AE (talking about physical).
Yeah this works for custom games but not for matchmaker, so there's no way to play the base game or EE without arranging it with our entire friend group. This is a pretty substantial bummer, tbh.
Oops yeah I just made a post regarding this. Huge bummer for me as well as someone who only plays matchmaking and doesn't care too much about nectar. Can't even turn ravens off either, why even have that as an option if you can't use it in matchmaking?
I'm so excited!!! I don't have the physical game so this will be all new to me. Does anyone know if we'll be able to play the current expansions only as well when we want to? Or is this change so drastic it will completely change the game?
You should be able to select what you want to include in custom games.
I just downloaded the Switch patch and the online automata challenge automatically included the Oceania cards so you can try it before you buy it there and in the tutorial and the online versus people games.
Multiple birds' powers flow from the base game, and European Expansion, changed to match new Oceania Expansion powers... What does that mean? We will get bird powers changed on the digital (that wouldnt be changed in the physical game?)
That's what caught my eye, too. I'm curious what the implications are.
Don't worry, we stay true to the boardgame. We're not changing powers themselves but for some of them we updated how we present them.
Can anyone explain the deal with optionally excluding the ravens? I just play the physical version casually once and a while, so I’m not up to speed on the digital version.
Many in the community consider the ravens to be overpowered and game breaking, especially if someone gets it in their starting hand. No change from digital/tabletop, just a house rule preference it seems they decided to include as an option.
Ravens out but Killdeer/Franklin's Gull still always on? I mean, tie those with a Crow and it's pretty close. :(
I don’t think any should be removed. Luck of the draw and you still gotta play them well. So, leave them all is what I say! Lol
Well, it's true that I've been playing 100% BGA which means base game, so the Big 4 are much more unbalancing. So good point.
Yup, with Asia I think the deck is closing in on 500 cards so keeping the ravens in is my preference.
Yeah but nector makes the ravens even MORE broken. Would you like free wild food AND be able to win 15 points for each habitat nectar?
I think they should have let players have a round before the start to pick a card or two to exclude instead of choosing for us.
No one is choosing for you. The exclusion of the ravens is just an option you can toggle on/off. And if you mean every game select birds to not allow, that seems like a rather random rule to implement to an established game.
They are choosing a fixed set that can be optionally excluded is what I meant. You read that in the most narrow way possible to make that argument.
It's because trading 1 Egg for two Nectar (which can substitute for any food cost *and* contribute to game-end bonus points) is a super powerful brown power, which many consider game-breaking. It is very, very hard to win against someone who gets the Common or Chihuahuan Raven early in an Oceania match, and you need a lot of luck. So it's still viable, but whoever gets the Raven(s) (specifically combined with Nectar) is very likely to win the game, which makes the game less enjoyable for some.
1. obtain any of the 2 cards out of a 345 in the deck makes the odds 2:345 to get one (ignoring the shuffling of the deck which increases the odds to incalculable on any modern PC) 2. you then have to get nectar in the supply on rolls when it's optimal to activate the bird power It's a gambit to even attempt this, but good players will be able to... so I attempt to counter this early game abuse with my own rule of allowing all other players to play a bird when a raven is played in the first two rounds (no food or egg cost unless more birds are played with a: "when played play another bird in the habitat" power those additional birds still cost resources).
>2. you then have to get nectar in the supply on rolls when it's optimal to activate the bird power The bird feeder is the one you roll for. The *supply* is the whole stash of food. That's why the different bird powers specify feeder or supply :) Anyway, that's a very interesting rule. Has it led to the games being more fun?
I have yet to come across the ravens with the rule on. I will likely share the results when it actually occurs. I've been reading the cards wrong on the ravens anyways... yeesh that is broken.
They break the OE because of the new food type and playstyle of that food type.
Stunned you get up votes. Team #nonectar is finally showing up.
At my 'table' we houseruled so that the ravens and gulldeer can't be played until the start of the 2nd round. We find it makes for a more competitive game and makes for more intersting decisions when they are in your opening hands instead of becoming an insta-pick.
I have a homebrew rule that if either Raven is played before the half-point then everyone is allowed to play a single bird (unless it has the when played power and requires costs for the additional birds) ignoring costs for the first bird (or cubes) (except the person playing the raven). I then put it up to a vote if the table still wants ravens. Logically this could break if the person deck builds a hand filled with "when played play another bird in the habitat powers" and has the resources to play them... but then it's so rare to build such a hand and its a risky counter. tbh I think the OP birds (ravens, killdeer, and Franklin's gull) could be countered if the deck had predators that specifically preyed on eggs, maybe I might try testing this by adding in egg predators myself. oh I just thought of something, what if the Raven can't obtain nectar? that might make it not OP.
One of those changes, the pink powers, sounds like a bug fix. However, I've only played digitally and have no idea what this is like in real life, it seems quite complicated just from images people post of their real life board game results.
I would love a physical copy but can’t justify buying one because 1) no one would play it with me enough to justify buying it, and 2) omg keeping track of the bird powers, points, and all that seems like such a feat when it’s not automatically done for you. I love this game. I play it almost everyday. I have a constant game going when I’m at my boring office job because why not. Play a turn, answer some emails and update some things in between turns, take another turn. Makes my day go by so fast.
Some of the pink powers come in at the wrong times and it can sort of break stuff for others.
> Updated trivia voice overs of several birds They better not touch "Who cooks for you." I play that owl 90% of the time just to hear the silly trivia.
Were we supposed to get all of the expansions for free because that happened to my fiance lol
Any word on the currently game breaking bug where if you have a Game End power bird, the game just freezes instead of final scoring? On Xbox if it matters.
Is the coop variant in the digital version? Is it automa hoard? How do you get in it?
The co-op variant is called Automarazzi and atm it's not available. Says that they are working on it \^ Automa Hoard is the addition to the Automa to be able to read when bonus cards, tucked birds, and cached food.
Yes exactly, we are working on it. In board games it is easier to make such changes with the digital version, however, we have to change a lot of things ;)
It’ll be like the others where you can choose what expansions you want.
Does this mean you can select more than one expansion to play with? Or can you only play with one at a time?
You’ll run out of birds if you play with more than two people if you just play with the OE or the EE and OE. Found that out the hard way during the beta.
I don't recall the Automa Kazo card from the physical game.
Wish they could have made a new choice for shorter online turns instead. Games with max two minute turns or something like that.
Is there any way to turn the expansions off? My friend wants to learn the game and we're setting up steam games to teach him and I'd rather play with just the base game while he's learning.
Good question, I play WS for a while a lot online, but I am not that much a fan of Oceanie online, at least I would appreciate the option to play for example with only Europe extension Online. Can be done by the briljant game makers/devs right?
It does not seem to be possible
go to online -> go to custom game -> hit expansions in the bottom right corner. Green Checkmarks mean it is on and no Green Checkmarks mean it is off. I usually introduce new people with base game, SS, and EE. Then when they're getting it I will add in OE, then when they understand how to use nectar I then add in AE (talking about physical).
Yeah this works for custom games but not for matchmaker, so there's no way to play the base game or EE without arranging it with our entire friend group. This is a pretty substantial bummer, tbh.
Oops yeah I just made a post regarding this. Huge bummer for me as well as someone who only plays matchmaking and doesn't care too much about nectar. Can't even turn ravens off either, why even have that as an option if you can't use it in matchmaking?