I think you should be allowed to be patient and wait for second or third... if conservative play is successful then it should be rewarded.

it's all well and good for you to say that the game is the same, except that it's blatantly incorrect. a few games ago i had 3 territories or so tucked into the corner, and i was behind a guy that everyone hated and wanted to see him lose. he was sitting on two 8-stacks and not really doing anything.

suddenly he dipped below -15 and was removed from the game (not the same as the old system). immediately the person next to me flagged and was removed from the game (not the same as the old system). people then flagged for 5th, 4th, and 3rd place, removing them from the game.

Just like that, I went from having 3 squares and worrying about people around me, to being in 2nd place and having this enormous safety cushion. I proceeded to attack these squares with no fear of retribution and pulled out a win that would have been COMPLETELY impossible under the old system.

This anecdote worked out in my favor, but you can't say it's the same game. It was way way way different from the old game.

in some ways this game has morphed into freecell, where there's one obstruction (usually somebody sitting in 6th or 7th place steadfastly refusing to flag) and as soon as that obstruction is cleared, the game just wraps itself up within seconds while we sit there wondering why 5 turns were spent being held hostage by a guy in last place.

I like it, the games go quicker and you play more games with the same group as a result. I also like not having to sit there for ten minutes in a game hoping to come in second or third. Once we all figure out the right tactics its going to be great fun.

yeah but that's like saying "i know you loved playing street fighter, but now you don't get to play street fighter any more, you have to play mortal kombat from now on, and once you get used to the controls, you're going to love it"

some people just wanna play street fighter

f the haters.

the new version rocks.

I cant believe how many whiners there are out there complaining. Reality is that the test server was up for a month, and you could have played on there to see how it was, and you could have added constructive ideas/criticisms, and Ryan would have listened to you.

Majority of you are probably flagging backstabber's, and now that option is gone your screwed cos you cant bloody play the game to save yourelves!

it's a matter of taste .. the mechanics of the game are fundamentally changed and there's nothing wrong with being somebody who prefers the old way.

the people who are hating on the haters remind me of that episode of south park where all the hybrid car owners keep sniffing their own farts.

Tommen wrote:
yeah but that's like saying "i know you loved playing street fighter, but now you don't get to play street fighter any more, you have to play mortal kombat from now on, and once you get used to the controls, you're going to love it"

But you have the analogy backwards... new kdice is Street Fighter to old kdice's Mortal Kombat.

HADOKEN!

I have to say that, so far in my play on the new server, I've found that ONLY a "standard" playstyle is promoted/encouraged through the rules. It's becoming more a game of absolutes - like chess.

On the old server, I could take an eight stack, and luck, and win. Not every time, but sometimes. Sometimes I'd flag and off to another table, sometimes I'd sit and watch... I could have multiple moods, and multiple strategies.

Now, I only have "if not expanding, flag." It may be a beautiful thing systematically, and also prevent a lot of the crap* from the old system. But, I have yet to encounter someone with a solidly "aggressive" playstyle who can sustain much of a score on the new server.

Not quite getting the words out correctly, it's late... But, everyone is now, for better or worse, playing the EXACT same game. And that, to me, makes it much less fun to play, and more like dicewars.