Does anyone who got a copy of the new version of Through the Ages care to comment on the production values of the game? I've been a bit hesitant to order it until I've heard how it came out.

Daniel,

I can offer my general impressions. The value of this game is going to be in the way it plays. The components are good - they do the job - but they're not terribly exciting.

There is a main board that scores culture points, and tracks scientific, military, and cultural assets. The board is of good quality, unfolds easily and lays flat.

There are player mats that track food and resources. Very good quality.

There are player aids with a "simple game" turn sequence on one side and a "full game" sequence on the other. Also very good quality.

The cards are reportedly larger than the old version - which is good because they're still quite small. I think the small size is necessary so that the game is playable in a reasonable amount of space.

There are two types of wooden markers:

Small disks of various colors. These are comparable to the colonists in a Puerto Rico set. You get more than you need to play the game.

Small cubes in four colors. These are used to track your score, and various attributes of your civilization. Each player gets a set of...five.

This is my one gripe with the components. The game clearly requires six of these cubes.

1 - Track culture points (these are the VPs of the game.)
2 - Track science points (you need these for advances.)
3 - Track military points (important in conflicts.)
4 & 5 - Track you production *per turn* of culture and science (its basically your income that will be applied to tracks 1 and 2.)

and then

6 - The happiness track on your player mat.

If you look at earlier versions of the game they used cones and there were six of them. It is worth noting that there's no real need for the happiness marker to be coded to your civilization. It is necessary for the five markers on the main board to be color coded to each civ.

But then we have the rules. The quality of the rules is good in terms of printing. They're organized into "Simple" "Advanced" and "Full" versions of the game. There are adequate illustrations. One of these clearly shows a cube that matches the color of your civilization used to track happiness.

I contacted FRED (the distributor) and was told: "There are only five cubes...use an extra round disk"
I think overall the components are fine. Perhaps not worth the $70 most folks are paying, but since I didn't pay that price I'm not going to get too upset about a missing cube.

I'm not pleased at being told to make due, when the production screwed up either with the rules or the cube count, but that says more about FRED distribution (or whoever is ultimately responsible) than it does about the game itself.

EDIT: See below or elsewhere on BGG for the response from the publisher. There is a solution in the works. And that also says something about FRED distribution - when they understand there's really a problem they move quickly to try to get it right.

Great question, Dan, and great answer, Pete.

'much appreciated....

What about marking treaty/agreements/whatever that you share with another player? Don't those require cubes as well? I thought the original version came with 10 cones, as you could potentially enter into 4 agreements (one in front of each player).

Either way, I'm glad to have my own copy of the game.

I hadn't yet read the advanced/full game rules. Your correct the game is not missing 1 cube it's missing 5.

So far the response at FRED has been "sorry your unhappy with the components of the game." But no admission of a problem. That's disappointing.

EDIT: The publisher is now admitting an error here and is looking into solutions.

We will get the corrected components made as soon as possible and get them out to consumers.

Keith

edited due to dated information

Hmfrph!
How difficult can be it be to make a straight reprint of a game?

It is bad enough when publishers cannot figure out to make game right the first time around - but how on Earth can someone decide to reduce the number of components without thinking about the possible reasons as to why they were included in the first place?

I guess they should provide the cubes, for $70 why not, but it's incredible how whingey some people can get about something that is almost completely irrelevant to actually playing the game. Isn't that what we're supposed to be interested in?

And sometimes it´s the other way around

The 10 Pact cards may only be a very small part of the entire game - but as long as they have included the cards, it is not unreasonable to expect that they provide the markers necessary to use them.

This is a strange use of the word "necessary".

Maybe I am just unusually capable, but I would be perfectly capable of playing the game, with pacts, even without the "necessary" markers.

I apologise for the fact that my English is not as perfect my native tongue!
And you are without doubt more capable than me in many ways.

But I agree that it is possible to play the game without the Pact markers - and if they have omitted the rule where it is explained how to mark "A" and "B", then indeed the markers shouldn't be there.

Personally I am perfectly capable of tracking people's scores in most games - but I would still find the Score markers a "necessary" part of the components if they have provided a score track.

Ah the trenchant observations of Mr. DaviddesJ. I am always greatly entertained (and I say this with real admiration), because of course we're in for some biting wit. Still it's interesting to see that a person who is often "whingey" on his own account will pass remarks about the foibles of others when it's not his ox being gored.

Sure the game is foremost. That's why I'm happy to wait however long it takes to get the missing pieces to me as a person who purchased the new incomplete version of the game. I greatly respect that the publisher is willing to acknowledge a mistake and make up for it. Once they understood there was really a problem the response was swift and positive.

In the meantime I can play the game and use M&Ms, coins, or whatever to make up for the missing pieces - and it will even be fun, because the game is a good one.