Argh! Please explain yourselves!

[Kapten Vendetta]

*Nerd rage, fading, fading...gone*

 

Hi all, I see this every now and again, someone asks a specific question regarding crewbuilding, which modesl work well with others and so on and so forth.

 

And every now and again this is the answer: X is awesome combined with Y". Period. Like this: .

 

And I have no freaking idea why! So please, please, if you have a useful tip, please explain why it is useful, don't just assume everyone and their grandmothers second cousins dog knows what you know, and understand the mechanic behind your tip.

 

Most of the time I have no idea why something works well with something else, and it's a hassle to have to ask for clarification on a statement that should have been explained to begin with.

 

IMHO.

 

[Myyrä]

In the defense of people who give answers like that: not all forum users need the explanations. If you tell an experienced player that McCabe's Glowing Saber is awesome on Pale Rider, he will almost certainly know why, even without any further explanation, or can figure it out very easily by just looking at cards in question.

Writing long detailed explanations takes quite a lot of time and work. If someone asks what models go well with guild McMourning, I can either provide a list of good models or write a 500 word essay. The first option takes only few minutes of my time, max, while the latter can take up to 30 minutes.

Many people here are willing to write long explanations, but it is quite unreasonable to demand that should become the standard answer, because often the long answer isn't even necessary. If you find that the answer provided to you, or even someone else, for a question asked, does not really do anything for you, you can always ask for further information.

[SpiralngCadavr]

Yeah... if you need a longer explanation, there are blogs, wikis, and tactics written here on the subject. I don't think it's reasonable to ask for thorough advice, though I also think it's fine to specifically request a little more explanation if you don't get something in particular.

[The Godlyness]

But that's like giving you the answer to your home work. If you don't come to it yourself then you have not learned anything.

As soon as you read model x and see how it applies to model y you will have an "Aha" moment. Then you will see other interactions.

Most combos don't need an explanation. When Joss kills something it drops scrap. Ramos uses scrap to make spiders. Now he has 2 scrap to make spiders turn 1 and turn 2 with out needing more scrap.

Some people like killing their own spiders for 2 scrap markers. Some people like using electrical creations.

So if you don't know why something works asking is fine. We don't mind answering. But coming to the conclusion yourself is much more rewarding.

The above example of joss and Ramos is to show how much typing it would take to explain when the interactions are simple.

Cheers and feel free to ask.

[The Godlyness]

And ninja'd

[SpiralngCadavr]

And ninja'd

...and I think that does a pretty good job reinforcing the argument

[Durza]

If the answer is obvious, ie, model A likes things that hand out poison, model B hands out poison, then it shouldn't need explanation, but if it's a bit more subtle than that, a quick "these models go together well because" should probably be included, especially if the person is new to the game.

[Ferossa]

If you want some useful information, commas separate distinct clauses that make sense apart from the rest of the sentence. 

 

Which is my point: I gave you some useful information, but it's not the information you asked for. The board is very welcoming to new players (I'm one of them!), but overall forum culture assumes that you have access to the cards and books and will be doing research yourself. The Godlyness gave you some great examples of Ramos and things that drop scrap markers, but which one is best for your crew and play style is something the forumites can't know. We're not psychic (although we'd like to be), so if you want specific, detailed information, you need to ask for it.

 

Check out The Zinc Lich's posts in the Guild Forum. Here he is explaining what he wants to do with Lucius and asking about the utility of one of his abilities, and here he is talking about his strategy for buffing the Rail Golem. In both posts he's asking for information, but he's narrowed his question to one specific model/ability. Malifaux is an exceptionally well-balanced game, and there are a lot of masters who answer the question "What's good with this box?" with "Everything."

 

So how do you get the information you want?

1. Tell us what you want to do. Bumpasses wants to beat Pandora, so he posts a rough list in discussion and asks for feedback. As people post and explain what they'd use, he revises his list for what he wants to use and his playstyle.
2. Tell us where you're having confusion. Pyrflamme is curious about how useful Misaki's ability "Risky Ventures" is when it comes to the rest of the crew. A three page thread ensues.
3. Understand that all anyone has is their own opinion. Every single person who plays the game plays it differently from everyone else. No one is going to value all the models the same way you do in every circumstance. I love Oiran; they have never disappointed me. They are also widely regarded to be terrible models.

The Malifaux forums aren't Google; you don't make a post and come back to find the forumites have posted all the information you will ever need. What the Malifaux forums are are a place for open and friendly discussion about a variety of playstyles and tactics, all of which are equally valid and effective in the right hands. And I wouldn't have it any other way.