One of my favorite quotes from Bruce Lee is, "Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." To me this is about not getting trapped in patterns of thought. Being fluid of mind, constantly seeking out holes, filling spaces, will revel to you the true nature of the game and the meta-game. This knowledge, as all knowledge, is really self-knowledge. This leads to clarity of vision, clarity of thought letting you pierce the fog of war.

The ability to see beyond the moment is what lets the best players/designers predict trends as well as avoid static thinking, seeing cards and recognizing their potential, seeing the synergy in cards whose release spans months. There will always be calls about certain factions and cards and strategies being over or under powered. Look at what is, get a sense for what will be, and plan accordingly. Learn to improvise, adapt, and overcome. The decks are important but the player... the player is what wins games. Be water my friends.

This is the signal of my last week as a participant of this board. I've accepted a position on FFG's design team in the LCG department. For the 17 months I've been playing this game and the year that I've been posting here, I wish you well in life, and much success with this game. I hope to meet you on the field of battle of an LCG one day.

Damon "dormouse" Stone

Good luck dormouse !

I hope we could see soon the fruits of your work.

Cain

Very cool to see you get that. I know you will be great at it, hopefully will still see you around on occasion.

Which LCG if you are allowed to tell ?

good luck dude... hope u have fun in whatever u do

dormouse said:

Congrats on the new job, but why does that mean you won't be a participant on the boards? Does FFG have a policy against it?

Right on, man! Go easy on your playtesters!

Congratulations! I thought you'd been a bit quiet the last couple of weeks...

I hope you enjoy yourself. Go make something good!

At first I was like "Whuh?"

Then I was like "Ah!"

Finally, I was like "Good luck Toq!"

So you are forced to not touch the Fantasy Flight Boards when you are at Fantasy Flight?

Have fun and make us good games.

Congrats dormouse! May the game* get richer for having you on board. Whichever game(s) this may be.

Since there is nothing posted over at the AGoT forum, it's safe to assume you're going in for WH:I?

I believe it's AGoT for Dormouse. I'm glad he could finally spill the beans, I almost slipped up a couple weeks ago and gave away his big news.

And yes, FFG (rather strangely) has issues with their own employees posting on their forums - some of the reasons sort of made sense to me when I was there but honestly, most did not. So we probably won't see Master Stone again in these parts. Fare thee well and VERY good luck at FFG - there are some pitfalls to employment there but I'm pretty sure you'll do just fine and have a blast (while doing great work). Your thoughts on W:I will be missed in here.

But we're all very happy for your new gig. Have fun!

Hrmm my dream to work for FFG just died a bit if I would not be allowed to participate in the forums. I was just listening to an hour long interview with Eric Johns (creator of Malifaux). They asked how he finds time to participate constantly in community forums. He laughs and then explains how busy he is designing new content for the game, painting minis to showcase int he books, testing the next supplement, but then he says something that hit me pretty hard. He mentions how many companies lose sight of the customers and only see the money hinting at Games Workshop.
I think FFG is big enough to be able to afford community reps.

Mr. Johnson was asked about the negative outcomes of promising new content or saying something to hurt the product. He explains that if you are seen as a father/brother/friend of the fans then they will forgive you if you have to delay a promised product or if you say something you shouldn't. It is only with up tight companies that you look bad when trying to throw on a facade of caring about them.

Take me for example I have an outside job, I design games and concepts, make articles and organize events for my local area, paint and model minis...yet I find more than enough time to provide my voice in the forums. You take my way to interact with the public and now I am working blind, just hoping it works out in the end.

Good Luck Dormouse.

Side note: You can still PM Dormouse I PM a certain designer from FFG all the time . Just don't start asking him for news and spoilers.

I have not been told that I am not allowed to continue to post on the forums, but none of the current designers actively participate on the forums which leads me to believe it is just a matter of time before I am asked to also refrain from posting socially on the forums. Even if they don't ask I probably will vastly limit my postings here for my own policies. Honestly how strict they would be in comparison to each other is debatable).

I know Nate and James both visit the forums with some regularity and are well aware of what the vocal players on their relevant forums have to say about any given topic. Both of them (and now myself included) were players first, and still consider themselves players. The LCG department is a bit of point of pride with the company, and AGoT as the first title they produced in the CCG world and first to make the transition to LCG and W:I as the first game designed to be an LCG hold very special places in the company's collective hearts. Everyone is a fan of these games, there is little here that gets discussed that hasn't been brought up in the halls and lunch room in addition to design meetings.

I see no disconnect between the designers and the player community, though I do see a marked difference in priority. FFG is not just concerned with the bottom line but with each game holding to the LCG philosophy. Part of this means that casual play, limited play, and straight from the box experience holds far more priority for the designers than it does for most posters here (most wouldn't give it a first let alone second thought). We are a very vocal, very competitive, and truth be told, very entitled bunch. We want what we want when we want it. Most of us can remember that the designers have a longer and more complete view of the game, both in cards coming down the line and direction the game is going, but also in how the games are supposed to feel.

I got into a debate in the WE ban thread about the game intentionally being designed to be fast and furious and that the chance of a second turn victory was something that was intentionally added to the game by design. That control decks needed to be fast and that resource acceleration and card advantage were designed for speed purposefully, not by accident. As long as players believe that things like that are design error rather than design intent, and base all their decisions as if it was unintentional they are going to have a skewed view of the game. Not too different is the player or purported wanna-be player who insists that they will play only if their race is present as a stand alone loyalty bearing faction, regardless of what that would do to game balance, design space, and how it would or would not fit into the LCG concept.

Now designers make mistakes. No designer of any good game would ever dream of even intimating otherwise, and that is why Nate, James, and I will continue to lurk in the forums. It is why there are play test groups outside of FFG. Answering every question on the forum, while not breaking NDA, giving messages that do not contradict what comes from marketing, and not constantly defending design choices would take a lot of time and effort. Time and effort that could be spent actively trying to put new cards, mechanics and strategies into the game. Nate and James both consult current competitive and social players when they need to... and they have friends amongst the active player base who are ALWAYS more than happy to give unsolicited advice (though now they have one less ) so they are far from out of touch. It is one of the benefits of working for a company like FFG. Small enough that each person is intimate with the projects they work on, have a real sense of ownership and pride, but large enough to do amazing things like buck the current gaming industry and put forward something as innovative as the LCG, or break their own molds with something like LotR LCG (which is just good fun and novel design, congrats Nate) and know that the FFG name and the IP's they can get allow for that experimentation.

As to what game I'm on for, I've been brought in specifically for A Game of Thrones, though because of my experience with all the LCG titles, and having play tested three out of the four core set games, I've been told that I'll be having some hands on for all the games at one point or another, but this is James' baby. He has a vision of where he wants to take it and I've been very impressed with everything I've seen from him so far. I intend to support him in whatever capacity he wants/needs. This game is in not just good but great hands.

Most of my time right now looks to be focused on AGoT... with the move to the Twin Cities, a new job, and a new chapter in my life, I'm going to have extremely limited time to actively participate in discussions here regardless of what FFG policies are (one of the main reasons I've been so silent on the boards as of late). Rest assured, I'm a fan first of this game and Thrones. I'll definitely be logging in.

P.S.

Yes I can still be PM'ed through these forums, so anyone that wants to talk to me or rail at me is encouraged to friend me and send me your thoughts. I cannot guarantee I will return every one in a timely manner, but I promise to read them and discuss them if the team is unaware of your concerns (hell, I completely disagree about WE needing to be banned, but I have already brought that concern up).

T-Minus 10 days.

Gratz on job. Was this the job posting that showed up a few months back then, or was this another unposted job opening? (I so wanted that UFS posting James, deservedly, got)

I remember waaaay back in the day.... I think... when AGoT was just released and I was clamoring all over the old forums... Dormouse was around since those times, yes?

Anyhow, game on. Make AGoT less of a headache for me, kay? Oh and speed up multiplayer!

Good luck Dorm!

You're a great user and I'm pretty sure you'll be a great designer.

You helped a lot me and other players while joinin' the "old boards" for AGOT and helped a lot here in the first months.

thank you.

Wish you a great life.

Bye

M.

It was the position they posted a bit back. I've been kicking around on FFG forums for about seven years now, If I thought I would have copious amounts of free time I'd certainly miss the ability to post on the boards, but I've been trying to ween myself off for about a month now.

I like Martin's universe precisely because it is so gritty and realistic. Someone being a protagonist does not automatically protect them from the ax (or executioners sword as the case may be). The game carries that over, with pivotal military battles and a novel unique character mechanic... but more than the military challenges it is the intrigue gambits and power struggles in the books and the game that make it different from a number of other games. Those three challenges and how you can leverage them into various forms of advantage make interesting deck building strategies and in-game tactical decisions so rich. As to Martin dying before he finishes, well his fans my off him themselves if Dances doesn't come out soon. J/K

Thanks for the PM's and well wishes.

Well... a bit late but... good luck and congrats! Many would love to be in your shoes! ^___^

One more sign the Apocalypse draws nigh.....................

whoa. Grats Dormouse! You'll be missed on these forums.

Wytefang said:

We can get in on the discussions. I just never have anything useful to add honestly as I'm a pretty casual side-WI gamer. If anyone wants to yell at me about the graphic design you can tho =p

See you soon Mr. Dosmouse it sounds like.

Nocturne said:

You guys really should make more of an effort to thank your customers. We love your games, but thanking a dev or FFG staff member feels like I am thanking a screen door.


I was ask to write articles and so I did. I didn't mind it, but I didn't feel like I was being given respect. I won't name the staff member that I was in talks with, but they know who they are.

Corey has sent me PMs letting me know he appreciated all of the time and work I did for the game and even asked me to continue. But quite honestly, I felt used while submitting articles for the main page. Now I do it just because I would love to keep that game alive or give players material to make it more challenging.

My brother over in the Grimm forums is also trying to bring that game to life, but the issue is that no one knows about it. I think from time to time FFG should post something to support the older games, because after having now like 60 games in the catalog many are being forgotten.