On Expectations

Expectations are an important part of all facets of human life.  Your expectations shape how you then view the results of your or other's actions.

This has been on my mind quite a lot lately, both in work and in play.  At work, there is a persistent disconnect in the expectations between the operational and design engineers.  A certain amount of this is to be expected in every project.  Two factors in my case make this worse.  This is a mammoth project being run my more than one mammoth organization.  The other problem is that one of those organizations is a government entity.  If it were just the right had not knowing what the left was doing, I could deal with it.  It is more like a monster with a hundred hands, some hands doing nothing, some hands trying to talk, some hands ignoring, and some hands actively telling the others to shut up.

Nothing a couple hour long meetings can't solve, right?

Game Report - Day 5 - Evolution: Climate Expansion Playtesting

Fortunately things are more pleasant in the gaming space.  Tonight is Tuesday Night, which means I was out for my regular board game meetup.  I had posted a comment earlier in the week that I was going to be doing more playtesting for the Evolution: Climate Expansion.  After the positive reception it got last week, I was expecting more of the same.  Unlike last week, I had a full table (more actually, there was a line) waiting to join in the fun.  Teaching the game went just a little faster as half of the players were repeat customers.  In one sense, the two rounds we played this week were exactly as expected.  I had six players this time (five last week) so the game went a full round faster.  Since more of the players were familiar with the game, the final scores were a bit more balanced.

What did surprise me somewhat was the feel of the game.  Every time I have played the new expansion with five or six players, I felt that the game went just a bit too fast.  Just as you were getting into a groove, the game was ending.  When we played the second game of the night, something snapped into place for the players, myself included.  Rather than play the game wishing that it played longer, embrace what it is.  Revel in the short game.  In the second game all of the players were, at some level, more combative.  This was not in the literal sense mind you.  There was not a lot of attacking going on.  Players were taking more risks.  Actions were being taken to push things in a potentially catastrophic direction.  In one case they succeeded spectacularly.  In one case, right before scoring, virtually every species on the table was wiped out.  This was of course decisive as to the winner and a hell of a lot of fun.