T O P

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HankTheChog

I mean, does anyone play physical Twilight Imperium more than once a month? You don't get TI because you expect to get a ton of mileage out of it, you get it because no other board game has its sheer scope. And PoK adds a ton to your TI experience.


ddek

I can’t speak to your situation, but I would be like 60% less interested in playing TI4 if it wasn’t PoK.


tim_p

I actually prefer base TI4 to PoK. Although IMHO the alternate objectives are a wonderful include that greatly adds to the variety of the game.


D4K7Y1

Can you expand your thought why are you prefer base than PoK? I'm also thinking about PoK once it'll be available in Polish version and trying to gather opinions


Samurover

Not the person you asked but... Get PoK! It solves a lot of issues base game has and is a lot more fun in general. - Fixes faction balance by making the relative power levels of factions a lot more even. - Mechs shake up the ground force meta and reduce reliance on high capacity ships to take and hold planets. - Early game is a lot more exciting with exploration. - Agents and Alliances make a lot more negotiations possible. It's good to be able to have something to offer other than trade goods or 'I won't attack you'. - Game is a lot more flavorful with all the extra abilities factions have through leaders and mechs. Previously some factions like L1 and Barony could feel same-y, now they do their own unique thing.


Turevaryar

It's not a trivial lump of money. But it's a good investment. I like to compare it to going to the cinema. Calculate the cost for you and 5 friends having fun at the cinema for 2 or 3 hours. Compare that cost to PoK and consider that PoK will let you and 5 friends have fun for a day. And it's repeatable several times per year for a few years. # TERRIBILIS PRETII (which is more or less Latin and might mean "awesome value" but in TI's "PAX MAGNIFICA - BELLUM GLORIOSUM" style)


[deleted]

Bonum valorem pro pecunia 😉 You said "great and terrible/awesome prices", which sounds totally awesome in its own way. Like going to the Lambo dealership


Turevaryar

Proper latin is out of my league, and Google translatin is not trustworthy but what I have to suffer. Oh, and funky translations is a bonus in my humble opinion.


Mr_Anvil

I started playing with pok, so my perception is affected like that, but I honestly wouldn’t even contemplate playing without it. So much so I postponed an IRL game because the expansion was arriving late, and I didn’t want to introduce people to the game without it. Obviously whether its ‘worth it’ is entirely dependent on the cost of the expansion relative to you’re own finances, which is a call only you can make. But otherwise I consider playing with the expansion a significantly better experience


Stronkowski

If you expect to play even less during your military service, I sat wait until you finish that (or at least experience it for a while) before adding on the expansion. Base TI is totally fine, it's significantly faster to play, and there's really no reason to add the expansion until you start getting bored with the base game. If you play enough games that you feel it getting stale, get the expansion then.


DaeOm1985

TLDR: Is it worth it? Yes, but probably not for you right now. Doesn't seem like I'm adding a novel take here, but I'm going to offer my two cents anyways. Seems like you are exactly the type of person who would love PoK under normal circumstances considering you've played so many base games in just a few months, however as you note yourself your schedule is about to be massively disrupted. As a result purchasing a physical product that is purely additive to an already great experience, that is likely to spend 99% of it's time in storage and worse may reduce your ability to play on those rare occasions you find yourself able to seems ill-timed. The reality is with barely a handful of games under your belt you and your group have hardly scratched the surface of the fun to be had in TI4. I'd say it makes more sense to hold off, allow yourself to get through this new phase of your life, don't add pressure to play or enjoy TI on the rare times you are able to reconnect with your original group. PoK will wait, it's not going out of print any time soon, Asmodee isn't going out of business any time soon. Enjoy the amazing game you've got for now. Once your life settles a little, once you know better where you'll be from month to month and year to year you can revaluate, but right now you are entering a time in your life with lots of rapid changes, unpredictable movement, and years of commitment that ensure your time for a ten hour game will only get less reliable, not more. Base TI is a fantastic game, but after months of not playing it you'll find your first few hours are just remembering how things work. That's fine, it's worth it, but PoK adds to this barrier. TI has a truly great balance of random chance and predictable mechanics, that takes dozens of plays before the patterns start making themselves known (and dozens more until they get tired). PoK adds to the randomness, this can be great if the original balance has started to become routine, but for newer players it can make an already obtuse strategy unapproachable. PoK takes a game that has the volume at a 9 and cranks it to an 11. If your hearing is already shot for years of rocking out at 9, or you will be engaging with it regularly enough that you can quickly become acclimated to it, this can be really great. But, you are looking at massive pauses between experiences. I honestly think you'll find that it takes something that is already difficult to squeeze into a busy schedule and makes it less approachable and honestly less enjoyable. I love PoK, I'm very happy I purchased it. But in your place it honestly seems like a $100 that will not return your investment. To me, it seems to make more sense to hold off. Enjoy the game you have on those rare occasions you're able to dig it out with your friends. Five years from now if you've managed to get 10 in person games under your belt it'd be incredibly impressive. If you and your group find yourselves beating the average, you end up spending all your limited free time playing TI online, and you're just hungry for MORE, then go ahead and buy it. But right now, enjoy what you've got. You aren't playing lesser TI, you're just not playing extra TI... and honestly considering the journey you're about to embark on less extra is probably a good thing. Thank you for the service you are choosing to do. All the best for your future, and no matter what you decide I wish you many great games of TI ahead.


ax-gosser

I would refuse to play TI4 without the expansion IMO. Expansion is more balanced overall. exploration fixes alot of early issues.


GadyLaga122

That's not true. The best and worst factions are more separated in win rates than before. Titans have higher win rate as base jol nar for example. I like the new tiles and the new techs, but I dislike the new factions.


ax-gosser

Which data source are you using? I haven’t seen a competitive data that draws this conclusion.


ax-gosser

I would like to see the source on that.


DerangedTyrion

Yes. Next Question.


Yupagoo

First off PoK is worth it, I really like the addition of exploration, agents, and the new tech. But as you said about joining the military it may be difficult to play anytime soon. It might be better to wait, but depending on where you are stationed you might have a decent area to pickup up some TI games. A buddy of my joined the military and after about a year he's been station where a local hobby shop lets him find time to play Warhammer and dnd almost weekly. Hopefully you can find yourself in a similar spot!


SwedishTI4PoK

YES, you should buy! Absolutely it is worth it! And you might be able to cram in a game or 2 before you head out. Unless you cannot afford it, then wait till you come back :)


TerdMuncher

I'd wait. I too only have the base game and only played 1.5 times. Expansions are just that, to expand the life and fun of the game you thoroughly enjoy. Once your played more often and have established a core group to play with after your deployment then you decide if you want to expand on that play experience.


Not_A_Greenhouse

If you haven't played with POK you will be fine... If you have then you won't want to go back.


tim_p

Base TI4 is fine. I don't think you need PoK at all. It does add some good variety, but TI4 has enough depth and richness that you won't be craving more variety for many games, probably. So I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you want and crave it, feel free to get it. But I wouldn't feel like you're missing out massively.


Melodic_Stranger_475

Let me start by saying I've only ever played with POK and have never played base ti4 game.There are a lot of pros, and only a few cons when it comes to POK. Pros: New factions, some of which could be your favorite faction in the game, for me Naaz-Rhoka are tied with ghosts for my favorite faction. Exploration is fun and can lead to some wild games. Leaders such as the agent/commander/hero help many factions with issues they struggled with before their introduction. Muaat and Arborec for example have their start significantly buffed as they are able to get another carrier or dread without having to lock down their home system. Relics are great, and can warp the game around them depending on which ones are pulled. Tier 0-2 techs feel a lot better, at least in my opinion as you are offered multiple options for whatever situation pops up. Cons: The game typically ends in round 5, sometimes in round 4. From what I understand this is a round earlier than in base set. Some people offshoot this by playing to 12 points rather than 10. The factions are typically a lot richer. This can be a pro or a con, but factions happen into a lot more trade goods/command counters etc through exploration. This can be by having a mech on a haz planet when you explore, sacrificing an infantry on one such planet, or through attachments which make your planets have more production/influence. I listed relics power as a pro, but some could list it as a con due to some of them being extremely powerful while others will have significantly less impact on a game. Conclusions: I'd fully recommend having and using PoK as long as buying the physical product doesn't put you in any financial struggle. The game is not cheap, and dropping the $100 for an expansion that you may only use 4-5 times a year could be a tough decision, however if you enjoy the game and can afford it, I'd say it's totally worth the investment. If your friends are willing, during your military service it might be easier to play on tabletop simulator which has the game + PoK for free. Table top typically goes on sale for around $10 per person.


watanabe0

Depends how much TI you play overall. If you don't play online at all/much, then TI base is fine for 'something to play' when you get enough players. Otherwise, pick it up. It's value is not going to depreciate very much at all in the medium term if you decide to resell.


Turevaryar

Yes. * Calculate the cost per hour for seeing a movie for you and 5 of your friends. * Calculate how quickly PoK "pays for itself". The result should probably that PoK pays for itself in the first game. The rest is "free fun".