Hey!

I've been eyeing TI3 for some time now. I am certain it is a game I will love. Complexity is not a problem and I am quite ok with the playing time too. I have been planning on buying both TI3 and Shattered Empires in July. However...

I don't have that many board gaming buddies. And out of those I do have not everyone prefers long and complex games. I don't think I could actually play TI3 that often (maybe three or four times a year?). I still want to get the game because I've reasoned that if I don't buy it, I'll NEVER get to play it. If I do buy it at least I'm going to be playing it every now and then!

Now, my questions:

1) Tell me why I should get TI3! In other words: praise it, give me some hype, make me want it more. I just need some encouragement.

2) If I end up buying both TI3 and Shattered Empires at the same time, should I just go straight to using SE strategy cards & objectives? I've understood that they are generally considered vastly superior to the originals. Now, I know some people think you should just try the base game first to get a better understanding of it, but if I'm going to have an opportunity to play TI3 I don't want to waste it by playing a "subpar" version (=original strategy cards?). What do you think?

Any comments appreciated!

We're in the middle of the worst recession for at least 30 years, and it might well get worse. Save your money in case it gets does, especially if you only get to play the game on 3-4 times a year. See if you can't find someone near you that has the game, and play with them.

I think if you get both the Original game and SE, stick with the SE Strategy Cards. They are leaps and bounds ahead of the original ones.
TI3 is an awesome game. I only get to play it maybe once every 2 months, but I still enjoy it. Further, there is an active PBeM community so you can play online to supplement your Face games.

The most active PBeM's are located at ti3wiki.org and the forums there. If you need a TI3 newbies guide, there are some on the wiki site.

If you like this type of games, TI3 is really the only option on the market. And it's a great game. Even 3-4 times a year I think is a decent amount, and then again you can play online. I don't think it is unreasonable to even just buy the game for online play.

magicoctopus said:

How doyou play this game online?!?!

Dreepa said:

The board is online in the wiki or on its own site. Moves are posted on a forum (at this point in time mostly on the wiki forums). There has to be a GM or a secrets keeper to deal out cards. Updating the board can be handled by the GM or the players, and dice can be rolled on a dice server.

The text on the cards is not allowed to be posted online - the single condition FFG placed when they allowed online play. Thus you need to have the game yourself to play.

A typical game lasts a couple of months.

A link to the wiki is in my signature - there you can find many ongoing games. Many of the games in the wiki are very varianted, since i guess many of the players are quite experienced and want to spice things up a bit

So I need to set up the game at home and track it.

Which means I cannot play with my friends for that period of time.

No you do not need to set up the board at home. The map you would use would be online also. The only things you need are the Action Cards and Political Cards because you cannot see the text in an online game (FFG Online play rules).

I leave my cards out on my computer desk and pack them into the box if I'm going to bring it somewhere to play.

Head on over to the ti3wiki.org site, from there you can find several active "PBeM" games (as they are called: Play by Email, though PBF or Play By Forum would probably be more accurate, as players typically don't use email anymore for these games). You can get a feel for what is and isn't on. The maps, game situation, etc, is all there. The only thing "missing" is that in player's private pages, their AC and PC lists just say the card title, not the text. Thus, the player would need to look up the card text himself.

Thanks for the play by mail infor guys!

Much appreciated!!!