by Zoide
Thanks so much for all the advice so far! You guys are really helpful and passionate :)I saved up all my comments for one mega-post, so please bear with me:
1) Ascension
We own Chronicle of the Godslayer, which was pretty much my introduction into the world of BGG. Some months ago we also got Storm of Souls. My fiancée likes them, but we often end up arguing about the ambiguous rules (e.g. some of the Constructs).
Also, I don't like how each player is basically trying to gain victory points or buy valuable cards, rather than actually engage in combat with the other person.
It's usually "OK, so I have this much money, so I will buy this valuable card." or "I have this much power, so I will defeat this guy from the common pool of monsters and get some victory points." At most, there are times when you can try to screw the other person: "I'll buy this card so that she can't get it".
Sometimes you can chain interesting combos, but at least one time I "broke" the game because I had a bunch of cards that said "draw two" or "draw three", which would prompt me to draw more cards, which in turn said to draw more cards, at which point I had run out of cards, so I had to re-shuffle those same cards, etc.
I've heard the term "two-player solitaire" being used for games like Dominion, and I think it applies to Ascension.
2) Race for the Galaxy
I read a bunch of reviews, etc. obsessively and convinced myself that I *had* to get it. It turns out the iconography and the rules really are a complicated PITA, so we never managed to go beyond 2-3 rounds, let alone finish a single game.
3) Summoner Wars
I'm very tempted to get it, since it has great reviews, a good price, and is ready-to-go. I really dislike the artwork and the horizontal card layout, but I'm willing to give that a pass. I'm a bit weary of the chess resemblance, but it's not a big deal.
4) Mage Wars
I have been craving it since last year, and now that it's come out I'm scared off by the long playing times and the mention of analysis-paralisis on each turn. The rave reviews still tempt me, though.
5) Android: Netrunner
For the most part, its BGG score and reviews are amazing. Some reviews worry me because they say that the mechanics can get tedious for the corporation (bluff your assets' location, place ICE, rinse and repeat) or the hacker (guess where the assets are, break the ICE, rinse and repeat). Also, we spend all day working on computers at a corporation (I'm a programmer, she's an electrical engineer), so I'd rather play an escapist fantasy game! Still, a little voice in my head keeps telling me that that kick-ass BGG score must mean something...
6) M:TG Cheap collections on eBay
A lot of the listings guarantee a certain number of rare cards, no more than 4 copies of each common/uncommon card, and no basic lands. Are you guys saying that the sellers can't be trusted and I might get 50 copies of the same crappy cards?
7) M:TG Cubes
I really know nothing about how to put these things together. Come to think of it, I'm a pretty obsessive person, so sorting through 1000+ cards might not be such a good idea. I was hoping to find some pre-made cubes for sale, but every time I search for "MTG cube" on eBay I get listings for individual cards that have "cube" in their name :P
8) M:TG Duel decks
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned these. How come?
9) M:TG Deck Builder's Toolkit
I didn't know about these. They're certainly cheap! ($20 for 285 cards new). Would it make sense to get three of them (2013, 2012, 2011) and mix-and-match?
10) M:TG meticulous deckbuilding
Both my fiancée and I work full-time and are taking a Master's in CS, so we don't exactly have a lot of free time. It would be OK to spend 30 minutes tweaking the decks once for the day, but that's about it.
11) M:TG Old vs New
I've read that today's Magic is very different from the one I played in the 90s: as in way too many conditions and confusing rules. Is that so? How much of a time/effort investment would I really be setting myself up for?
12) A Game of Thrones LCG
The theme is not very important to me, since I've never read the books or seen the show. As for the game itself, the premise sounds very cool. However, I'm worried by the relatively low score on BGG (7.32/10). Does this make me a BGG-score-nazi? :P I think a score based on 2,363 ratings has to have some weight.
Thanks,
Andrés