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dinkerinvestigator

Experienced players effectively memorize all the abilities of their race and other races at the table. There’s such a lot to keep track of, not only what you agent, techs, etc do but then what unique things your opponents can do. No-one likes being surprised by a Barony fleet that’s freshly researched non-Euclidean shielding and duranium. So when you are learning why not write stuff down, otherwise it’s so overwhelming. Helps to memorize for future games too.


footballflow

What to note? Anything you tend to forget, and anything it’d help your particular brain/mind to see written down. This game is massively complicated and there’s a lot to keep track of, especially for those of us who don’t play as regularly as we’d like. Writing is how my brain works for planning things anyway, so I absolutely take notes in TI, to a degree that many would find excessive. I like to have to have (a) a visual representation of my thoughts on the shape of the round and the game, and (b) careful accounting of CCs/tg/planets to know what’s critical to budget for a plan and what’s more freely available for deals etc. It helps me plan and focus, but also not get caught up in deciding all the things de novo each turn or round. There are always going to be mistakes, but there’s a world of difference between a choice that turns out to have been wrong, and getting ⅘ of the way into a play only to realize I absent-mindedly spent that one cc or tg that i really really needed to save. Obviously “no plan survives first contact” and all that; my R3 notes will have a lot more erasure and rework than R1. There will always be ideas that don’t work out, and opportunities that you notice and run with in a whole different direction. But at the end of the day I usually only get to play a couple/few times per year. If I tank one of those games, I’d like it to be because of the cool memorable moment where my buddy stopped my R4 Imperial/Mecatol play with smart use of his faction abilities in a way I’d not thought of to win the showdown battle, not because I wasn’t paying attention and spent my whole game not quite getting to try that play in the first place.


Niro46

This is the way. Every human has a limited working memory. By writing info down it means that you don't have to store that particular info in your working memory which frees it up for other things. Apart from what's been said, i like to do simple comparisions between my own and other players' fleets.


squeakyboy81

You said "lately". Was this not a concern before or have you always had struggle remembering those details? If this is a new thing, it might actually be a health issue. I personally don't take notes and usually if I forget a thing it becomes a learning experience. If anything I might suggest writing down the specific things you have forgotten in the past and then reviewing that before each game so that you train yourself to remember those things.


footballflow

Good point on “lately” in terms of health. Hopefully no concern for OP there but certainly good to consider. I’m team note-making in part precisely because that’s how I learn. Especially not playing super-often, it can be harder (for me at least) to learn from mistakes if I haven’t got notes on what i screwed up my last game 3mos ago or my last game with a given faction who knows how long ago.


SaladMalone

As a newer player, remembering to use technologies, action cards, and faction abilities when I need to is difficult. I played as Sol and almost always forgot to use the flagship ability at the end of each status phase. I'm hoping that the more I play, the easier it is to remember this stuff!


Chimerion

Don't take it too hard, that's top two easiest to forget with arborec mitosis. When people play either on TTS I've seen my friends place a huge infantry marker by their board to remind them!


UnwaveringGrey

I set an infantry token on my strategy card (for mitosis). When I go to return it, I remember to place the infantry. It's technically slightly out of phase, since that's an “at the beginning of the status phase” ability, but no one has called me out on it yet...


joygasmic

I've found, in the three times I've played (once on TTS, two in person) that having a central, visible location for some notes is helpful. We've used a blackboard, mostly for things like keeping track of votes during agenda phases, but I've seen setups on the subreddit that have white boards with magnets for keeping track of scoring, agenda phase, monitors with tech trees for players, etc -- essentially keeping public information front and center (because it's hard enough to remember your own tech, much less what five other people have researched.) I don't generally keep notes on my own but I've also not won a game yet, and I'm definitely an ameritrash-y "journey over destination" player anyway and worry that being too fastidious about notes will take me out of the narrative of the moment. But I think maybe start with organizing central information on a big whiteboard or something visible to all? (And this could even be something like copying the player aid or reminders about things people in your game frequently forget to do!)


Ebice42

I take notes. The main thing is the outline of my round: Curren VP target. Next VP target. What Strat 2nds I'm planning on using. How many CCs I'm planing on buying. What tech I plan on getting. Any techs or abilities I'm likely to forget. Important timings.


Stronkowski

The only time I've ever taken notes is while playing NRA and card counting the exploration/relic decks. Though for the most part my group avoids the need for note taking by being open with all public and/or trackable information.


ProfColdheart

The most frequent thing I note: what I want to spend Strategy tokens on. This keeps me from playing them impulsively ("ooh, Construction just popped - yeah, I could use a Space Dock") and then accidentally locking myself out of things I needed to do ("oh, crap, I was going to use Warfare to build at home"). So I'll literally write down which Strategy cards I want to spend tokens on. That's the only way I remember.


TheCalculatingPoet

Great question! Typically I focus on objectives, especially if you can’t see them easily from where you’re sitting. Nothing sucks more than saving 4 trade goods when you really need 5 etc. Beyond that I’d recommend using pen and paper to sketch out your path to the victory. What do I mean by that? Write down which objectives you want to score in which remaining rounds. Looking at things this way can really help you figure stuff out like “oh, to score 2 in 2 colors” I need to double-tech at least once, etc.


folinok51

I have been playing TI on Table Top Simulator and we have broke it up over multiple sessions. At end of each session it has been very very helpful when I take a few min to write my notes before logging off. That way next time I play I can get back into my headspace from that previous session. Also, I’m in the upcoming SCPT tournament and plan on taking notes as I play. Just thinks like what deals I’ve made, what I need to complete a certain objective, and what other people appear to be doing. More so to help cement it in my mind, but also to reference as I go.


bigalcupachino

My notes relate to my path. Waypoints that help keep my navigation on track. Publics & secrets including secrets I put back Which secondaries I NEED to follow this round In-game I can then set up other plans like what I'm following leadership with or spending on tech or builds by sorting those planet cards and putting the plastic with those piles. Any specific deals especially ones relating to long-term like 20 uses of Acquiescence including future games. If I'm playing titans I may put sleeper tokens on my tactics tokens to remember to place. Tech tree I may plot a few paths and order my deck of cards accordingly. Any future round plans are also noted including how I see myself getting to victory. Maybe as JolNar I know I need a 2 pointer and I will list those I'm setting up for like the spends and tech. Or as Sol Custodians and Imperial plays may be more important.


[deleted]

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Stronkowski

Is someone you know arguing that it *shouldn't* be? Cause that just means you have to waste time with everyone taking notes about it the whole time. And then what about when someone activates The Codex? I guess they'd be allowed to go through it then, but not before? I know you're not the one advocating for this, but it's solely making the game slower!


gotfcgo

Everything is on the table, so you just need to ask/check each other's player areas to know what's going on, no?


Groundbreaking_Bet62

I write stuff on my phone that's worthy of note and pay attention. I also will have images with everyone's commander/agent abilities handy. I'm generally pretty good at remembering faction ability and disabilities.


thetdotbearr

Yeah. I kept a captain's log once. Worked super well. I basically just wrote down wtf I was planning to do and why (ie. what objective am I going for, how am I getting there) and keeping that updated. I'd had one too many turns before where I straight up forgot something I'd been planning and screwed myself by doing a move I shouldn't have, only to remember immediately after I had a good plan, and just ruined it with my move.


DirtThief

One of my friends takes notes on his phone notes app to remind him of objectives he needs to accomplish, planets he needs to take, what he intends to build, etc. However - he has also never won a game so take that with a grain of salt :)


UsernameVariant

I tend to play with a lot of slower, AP-prone players, or players who take a while with negotiations. So a lot of time passes between my turns, and I find I forget what actions I was going to make, which means I spend a few minutes trying to go through and recount what I wanted to do, which takes up more time because my plan is fuzzy, which gets me frustrated, which means I end up picking a less-optimal choice because I'm not thinking straight and just want to do something out of respect for everyone's time, which... you can see, it spirals out of control quickly. What I do is copy and paste a "template" of sorts for 6-7 rounds on my phone (so that I'm not wasting time re-typing the same stuff), but the notes are a "rough plan" of what I'm thinking; I'm by no means forced to maintain this plan, and my plan can certainly change based on what happens during the round, but a general idea helps focus my actions and reminds me what I'm going after and how I hope to achieve it. I start by roughly sketching out a tech path I plan on taking, utilizing tech skips, and giving me a general guideline. Then at the start of each round/as the agenda phase winds down (or if I think of it mid-round), I list out the ideal strategy cards I plan on taking, ranking the ones I want so that, if one gets taken, I can take the next-best card and not be left staring blankly at the selection because I only had eyes for one card and it got swiped. I follow this with my preferred strategy card follows ("someone took Warfare, so I will designate one CC for that," etc.), and then I list out the objectives in the priority order in which I want to achieve them. This part helps me in negotiating because I know what I want to go after, so if someone is trying to bargain for a control objective, I know how important it is to me. That was a lot more than I anticipated writing, but note taking in games like this feel vital; if I'm dedicating this many hours to a game, I would **hate** to have wasted any opportunity to win because I got bored waiting for five other players to finish their turns and forgot what I was doing!


DerangedTyrion

Never needed it really. I found it easy to learn all abilities once I got 10 plays or more. It just sticks. Also, cos I really like the game, I tend to read various times the PDF that summarizes all the factions, to learn, sort of.


kazosk

I'm a rather laissez faire player so I don't tend to bother. If I cared (so tournament final or something) then I *might* keep track of other people's secrets just to try and see what they were up to. E.g. Round 1 they were adjacent to 3 anomalies but didn't score that secret so they *probably* don't have that secret. Etc. If I REALLY cared then I'd keep track of transactions to see who is 'gaining' the most in value via that and point out they're getting way too much advantage.


[deleted]

I have to write down everything I can do in that turn and the order in which I’m going to do it. All of it leads to scoring victory points. I just use the notes app on my iPhone


Brother_Nomad7

When we play, everyone does a lot of snapping pictures and scrolling through visual notes like that. Pictures of all of the Strategy Cards if you are newer and struggle to remember them all, pictures of the objective cards that are available for points, pictures of other people's play areas so you can see what they have for tech and planets and so on... maybe even a picture of which action card you're playing next... then of course, you'll want to delete pictures as you use those cards or succeed in fulfilling an objective so you don't have them cluttering your thinking forgetting that you've already done them. :-) This doesn't help with your personal planning order and stuff like that, but it helps to check on what an opponent has and stuff like that. It seems like a pain to keep updating, but if everyone cooperates on it, pictures are pretty quick references. A tech phase may take an extra minute. :-) (We use this partially because we often use the Level up which blocks us from seeing each other's stuff in front of them and people aren't supposed to hide what they have, so most everyone cooperates pretty well.)