Lots of people have said how great domains will be because they will help balance out the game. The theory is that if an "uber-army" archetype develops, people will just take domains that hurt that archtype.
Will it work? Or will domains just make unstoppable armies even more unstoppable? Will players be encouraged to use balanced armies, or will they be encouraged to take a one-trick army, make it even nastier with a domain that helps, and hope to heck nobody takes the domain that stops you?
I can easily see that the game will just go to one of a few armies ruling the game, with player having to decide which domain they will take to counter one of the possible army tactics.

I really think in time that we will see domonate domain types as well as domonate armies. IT won't help the game, but it won't hurt it either.

THis is wizkids way of making a more "warhammer" type game without introducing complecated rules and it keeps the spirit of the collectable game. Everyone said how wonderful it would be to have more complexed rules for MK. WK has just found a way to do that with the terrain and domain cards. Like all other things, there will be terrain and domain cards that are more useful then others. Those will be utilized and armies created to get the best effect out of them (as WK is already incouraging by suggesting using Aquatic figs with an all water terrain).

Will it kill the game? No. IT will put us back into the rut were currently in? Sooner or later, yes. Will it make the casual game among friends more fun. Absolutly! And that is what WK is aiming for. Casual players and tournament players having more fun. it won't decrease the fun, that's for sure.

As for limiting army selections? Some would argue that were already pretty limited. I don't think it will lower how many armies we have to choose from.

I was wondering, since we are talking about domain and all, is it possible to get a unique figure and also a unique domain card or relic at the same time?

My opinion is that the domains will bring an X factor to the game. That is it will cause an unpredictable element that will weaken specific armies. If the domains are anything like the example given in the main website, then they should be quite effective and balanced. The example given has not 1 but 3 different domain types that negate it, so I don't see any one domain becoming dominate if it has 3 weaknesses.

As for power armies, I feel they will now be balanced out with the domains. While we don't know what the new domains will be , I'm sure there will be a few that reduce if not totally negate all range attacks. How powerful would Corpheus or Amazon Draconum be in those battles? Other domains might negate flying, or make all clear terrain hindering, or roll d6 for unpredictable magestone effects, or give certain benefits to a particular faction, etc. The possibilities are limitless. The problem with the terrain in 1.0 was that you basically had only 2 different types (blocking & hindering) that you could use for tournaments and only put up to 2 of a certain size for each player ( for a total of 4). Where was the challenge? Before every game you basically knew what you might face in the way of terrain. Either blocking or hindering. And with hindering either woods or water. Players knew how to use thier armies effectively no matter what terrain they might face because they really only had 2 types to face. Now with domains you never know how the terrain will work for or against your army. With the amount of domains given in the new set come November and more coming in future sets, I don't think any one army type will dominate the battlefield for too long.

I doubt it will hurt the game too much, Domain usage must be agreed upon before the game, which is a HORRIBLE thing.

I don't see why an absolute "balance" is always desireable. If you want balance in the pieces of a game, I suggest chess or checkers. Part of what makes MK so fun and interesting is the thought and strategy put into pre-game preparations: army selection, terrain, and now domains. If you eliminate this, and force everything onto an even level of parity, you might as well be playing checkers.

They are not optional from tornament play, they are required, they only must be agreed upon in casual games. It is in the press release if you read carefully.

use the new north landers subfaction and you could counter almost every army either by canceling thier domain or putting something else useful to your army into play.

I hope that Domains will make MK more balanced by making it possible to field more types of armies and figures than it is now. Whether it will turn out this way or not is another matter. Let's say that you want to build an aquatic army and bring a domain that turns everything into water terrain but that there are other domains that completely cancel this. Do you risk building an army that completely depends on a particular domain or do you go for a more balanced pocket knife type army that has units built in it to cope with a variety of situations with perhaps a slight bias in army construction to take advantage of whatever Domain you happen to be packing? If players choose a pocket knife approach, I can imagine a situation where you would only see a limited number of figures that are extremely point efficient for certain functions.

Another problem that may occur is that once we know what all the domain types are and can think seriously about the domain game, it may turn out that some domains are more worth playing than others. Can you imagine a broken domain? I certainly can. Can you imagine WK producing rare unbalanced domains to try to get people to buy more boosters?

Anyway, we won't know until 2.0 is released but I've noticed in MK and other games that have a huge number of cards/game pieces with variable costs and functions that large pools of players rapidly sort through various possibilities and combos to find a relatively small number of competitive strategies and combinations which amounts to a large number game pieces/cards whatever that simply aren't worth playing with if you are trying to win. The upside for companies is that players spend more money hunting for the best pieces. The downside for players are increased costs and sometimes games with relatively limited strategy possibilities.

I think it would be great if WK tried a new approach. Do the play testing and as much as possible make every piece potentially useful. Instead of trying to squeeze as much money as possible from a few hard core fans, make the figures more balanced so that new players and casual players can have a competitive army with a much smaller investment than is required at present. In a game, it's one thing to realize that you've been beaten by a superior strategy and tactics. It's quite another to be beaten simply because someone else has spent a huge amount of money aquiring the most current powerful figures.

I really do hope that 2.0 and Domains will promote balance. When I buy a couple of boosters what I want to be asking myself as I examine each new figure is how I can use each figure. This contrasts with the present situation where I ask myself whether or not a figure is useable or useless. I find it a real disappointment and waste of money when after buying several boosters that there are only one or two figures that are worth playing. Maybe domains will change this but then again maybe not. Only time will tell.

If you don't care about balance, why even put points on the pieces? Just say you can bring as much of your collection as you want and fight it out.
Assuming you have some balance, IMHO its important to have good balance because a piece that is a "poor" piece might as well not exist. Why spend money buying and space storing something that will never be used? Simply eliminate all the poorly balanced pieces from the game.
In your opinion part of what makes MK fun is the pre-game planning. IMHO, what makes MK fun is the variety of the many possible forces you can command, and doing your best to lead those forces to victory. I believe the game should be won in the playing, not in the preparation. If the prep is everything, why even play the game? One of my absolute favorite forms of play is sealed booster or random army - can I take an assortment that's not perfect and still win with them? That's a true test of skill! These are all opinions...everyone has what they like best and there is no way to prove that one is better than the other. But keep in mind that not everyone shares your opinion!

What I'm generally worried about is something like this.
If you take a well balanced army (one that includes a variety of elements, such as good melee fighters with missile and air support) you are unlikely to be hosed by any one domain...but since you included everything, you will always be hurt by your opponent's domain, so your army will always be fighting at a disadvantage.
By contrast, a one-trick army may be crippled by some domains, but won't suffer at all from others. Its a gamble...will I face the domain the cripples me, or not?
Now since you can include a domain that counters other threatening domains. I can easily see a situation occuring where one particular archetype can effectively counter the domains that cripple it, where other archetypes can't. This leads into the same old problem situation of one archetype completely dominating play. However, if you try to deviate from that archetype, you face the possibility of being totally crippled by opposing domains if you try a narrow army, or of always playing at a domain disadvantage if you try a swiss army force.

Course than again if you oppenete begins to rely on that one domain and falls into a rut youll be able to easily counter his domain and ruin his week

Stormknight.....You're taking what I said out-of-context and to an extreme. Point costs are there to keep the game within limits, it's not always a matter of balance. *mockingly*Why have rules? Playing and preparation go hand-in-hand. Good playing will not usually make up for poor planning, and vice versa. And as far as the domains go....we have only seen what a couple of them do. We also know that they can be canceled out by a variety of other domain cards. I doubt VERY seriously if any domain cards will come out that will cause the problems which you fear. Also- your points about archtypes dominating the game currently and in the past are but your opinions, which I disagree with. I believe that every piece is potentially useful. I've seen everything from PODO to Arcane used succesfully and unsuccesfully in gameplay. I generally find that those who are seriously hampered by cheese, or "dominant archtypes", are usually lacking in skill, strategy, creativity, etc..

The domains will be very interesting, and I have to admit that I have been looking at them from my glass half full side all along. I love the idea that I can potentially field an all aquatic themed army with the new domains.

I think that in collectible gaming, there is always that rock-paper-scissors thing going on. If you build your army with elements from the rock, paper and scissors, you will be vulnerable because you are spread too thin. My all aquatic "rock" army will do really well against "scissor" armies, fair 50/50 against other "rock" types, but will probably get hosed against those rotten, broken, need to be banned "paper" armies. lol

What ends up happening is that a few of these armies become dominant and crushes all others, regardless of their configuration. I think this is what the domain cards are trying to alleviate. If GA or Big Bound or All Aquatic is a super duper powerhouse, it wont be all the time, because some nudnick at the tourney is going to have his "why on earth would anybody play this" all aquatic domain card.

In the Star Wars CCG, this was called a "silver bullet", and I think it could work here in MK as well.

So, what do you do in response to the domains? It will require a lot of playtesting and prep ahead of time to see or guess how well your force would do in each of the available domains, but I think that is cool. Will your dwarf armies respond to rain sleet and snow the same way that they fight in bright sunlight because of their stubborn nature, or will your elven scout team be able to adjust to whatever random situations develop because they are in tune with the earth?

Right now, the meta game dictated that you probably had to have SOME amount of Limited invisibility in your army because of the predominant army types. I freaked at first, but realized that I only needed to spend 10% of my build to ensure that I had a decent chance to fight against those armies.

If one domain begins to dominate, it may be the same thing, where you willl have to designate a little bit to counter that domain. Not a big deal, especially if 300 points is going to be the norm.

Also, Wizkids said that they would never ban figures, but they have not said anything about domains....how cool would it be if new domains came out for each set, replacing the old ones? You could always use the old ones for casual play, but what a great way to keep the game tourney environment freshy fresh!

:)

Hey, check this out:

Say you have that crazy Magic Immunity that all those dwarves have, and the Magestone Storm domain that deals damage to all pieces except those with Magic Immunity...

Those dwarves are looking pretty good now that they just avoid random damage. =)

They will help amplify the power of weaker figures and make them more playable.

LOL. Yes, I've had that experience before. Nothing like have an awesome deck beaten by one centering on Lift Tubes! Anyways, great analogy, except I think there's more elements than just the three rock, paper, scissors. I'll be very surprised if domain cards end up having that much of an impact at all. Regardless, don't both players have to agree on the use of domain cards prior to the game? In that case, in the highly-unlikely event that certain domain cards become far too powerful, people could just not agree to use them if they fear them.