Editing 2488: Board Game Argument: Legacy

{{comic
| number    = 2488
| date      = July 12, 2021
| title     = Board Game Argument: Legacy
| image     = board_game_argument_legacy.png
| titletext = Listen, you need to get over your reluctance to permanently alter a game. Now roll 2d6 to determine how many ounces of soda to spill into the box.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic continues the joke from comic [[2486: Board Game Party Schedule]], released the previous week, about the difficulty some gaming groups have actually ''playing'' any game at all once they get together.  In this scenario the group have leveraged the difficulty of choosing a game into a game itself.  It seems to be that each player has a certain number of votes, or tokens, that they can use to decide which game to play, with the added element that they permanently dispose of the losing game. This can lead to strategic play where a player might vote for a game, even if they don't want to play it that night, so that they could still play it at some future resolution of the choosing.

Once the voting is finished, the next phase of the game is to debate which expansion packs they should collectively buy for which game.

A {{w|legacy game|legacy board game}} is one where players change the game itself in the course of play, such as by writing on certain cards and ripping up others, causing future sessions to be modified. A legacy game thus avoids the tendency of some games to become repetitive if they are played every week, which is a common tradition among friends or families. The meta-game this comic describes fits this definition, because the available pool of games (and expansion packs) changes based on the players' decisions. Randall refers to the “game” of choosing what to play having become repetitive. Although official legacy games are sold by the manufacturers of the original game, some players may create their own legacy versions of a game.

The title text refers to how many board and card game owners are bothered by legacy games because they destroy game pieces. A legacy game, of course, is ''meant'' to be permanently altered, but [https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/5oxhz2/pandemic_legacy_do_you_really_destroy_cards_or/ many players] [https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2118913/do-you-have-destroy-cards find it hard] to perform destructive actions like cutting or tearing up cards. At an extreme, some owners wish to keep their games in as-new condition, going as far as refusing to shuffle cards in ways that bend them, or not punching tokens out of their cardboard frames. Even some games not classed as "legacy" games may have elements such as blank cards to be filled in by the players. For those who are reluctant to make changes, these items may remain blank forever. An additional layer of humor comes from the fact that it sounds like the speaker is chastising a game owner who does not want to engage with ordinary elements of the game, but instead urges them to pour soda on the game (something that would usually be an unfortunate accident). "2d6" is standard notation for games that involve rolling several different types of dice, where the first number refers to the number of dice to be rolled (in this case 2), and the second number referring to the style of dice (in this case 6-sided). That means that the player could end up pouring between 2 and 12 ounces of soda (inclusive) into their game box, depending on the total value rolled on the two 6-sided dice and assuming the dice roll directly translates to ounces.

The board game boxes visible in this comic are real board games (from left to right):

* Mall Madness (Electronic)
* Wingspan
* (to be determined)
* Wits & Wagers
* The Classic Dungeon
* Obsession
* Medium

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[White Hat, Megan, Ponytail, and Cueball are sitting around a table that is covered with board game boxes. White Hat is pointing at Ponytail. Both Ponytail and Cueball are holding boxes.]
:Ponytail: You may reallocate up to five tokens to your top choice from last week. Remember, the game with the least support tonight will go to the thrift store.
:Ponytail: Next, we'll resume the debate over ordering expansion packs.

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:We got tired of having the same repetitive arguments every week over which game to play, so we developed ''Board Game Argument: Legacy''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Board games]]