are you a zombie or a hero?

[ZombieWaffle]

Generally i play Zombies. I think i've only played heroes twice in about the 20 times i've played. I do enjoy the hero side, but since I own the game I'm usually pushed into a Zombie GM type roll, which I am totally fine with. I actually got my fiance to play zombies for the first time the other night and she kicked my a$$ in defend the manor.

[argailwall]

Same as Hikari, I own the game, I teach the game, I play zombies!

[Leonard]

We generally roll for it in my gaming group. I prefer to play as heroes though, despite the fact that zombies tend to throttle heroes every time in our games!

[StayPuft]

It's funny that many of you mention that you tend to wind up playing as the zombies because you are teaching the game. When it comes to teaching the game, I actually lean towards being the heroes then as well, for a couple reasons.

One, I find the zombie side easier to play. For example, my wife isn't as into the game as I am, and she found it easier to play as the zombies because there was less to learn and less to worry about throughout the game.

Two, it is much easier to teach other hero players how to play the game from the heroes side when you are on their side and able to help guide them. When we played for the very first time with our friends who already had the game, that was how they did it. The hubby played as heroes with us so he could walk us through while the wife played as zombies with another friend.

[scarydk]

I play both but I tend to take things more seriously as ZP because evil is as evil does. Also, I expect alot more from an opponent ZP than HP to set the right feel of the game.

[HikariStarshine]

The main reason I play zombies when I'm teaching the game is that I'm the only player who ever seems to be willing to hold back a little so that the new players can get a feel for the game. First games (which are usually Escape in the Truck) tend to be fairly even, with the other hero players who know the game working against me, but me not going full-bore.

I wait until the second game to really unleash the horde.

That said, we had a game of this last week where it was 2v2, and that didn't work so well. I was trying to hold back so that the new player wouldn't be overwhelmed, but the other zombie player was having too much fun eating people. At least the new player enjoyed himself, though. And the narrative was fun, and resulted in Zombie Anderson and Zombie Cartwright.

I have got to start keeping better track of my games so that I can get the narratives written out and submit session reports...

[StayPuft]

I guess that makes sense, Hikari. Though, I kinda think it is best not to necessarily hold back. Good to give people a fair sense of how the game actually typically goes. Though... I dunno... maybe I am just biased because I love the game so much. I guess maybe if you don't know the crowd you are playing with, you don't know whether they would be as into a game like this. People like us here on the boards would tend to love this game no matter what. But, maybe some people who may not be as into it wouldn't give it quite as much of a chance if it seemed to hard to win.

Then again, I'd almost say maybe it is just for the best to play full on. If somebody isn't going to like the game simply because it is too hard for them to win, they probably just aren't the type that are going to like the game anyway. Those of us who love this game tend to love it even if we are in an impossible scenario where we don't see how our side could ever win.

[avalanche5160]

I enjoy the lone wolf aspect of being the zombie player, placing my ever growing wall of undead as they slowly encircle their meal. I have tried player with two people being the zombie hoard and so far it has resulted in less effective movement and strategy. I feel that for the zombies to be effective, then there must be a only one player. Obviously I enjoy being the zombies. So far I have won most of the time but I still root for the heroes. It is fun to see if they can pull it off against bleak odds of survival.
Though this is not to say that I do not enjoy being the hero. It depends what group I play with because I enjoy a strategy among the group. Being close but active. Staying together is key to survival but holding up is not really an option either (especially with free searches). If other people in the group feel the same then we usually have a good chance. The only things that always torpedo this are greedy/risky players and the impulsive "kill all zombies" player. I still would like to play a 6 person game with all veterans and see how it plays out.
All in all I enjoy playing both sides but zombie plays must maximize the movement for 3 turns in the future and heroes must communicate with their team in order to survive.

[HikariStarshine]

(07-11-2012 07:35 PM)StayPuft Wrote:  If somebody isn't going to like the game simply because it is too hard for them to win, they probably just aren't the type that are going to like the game anyway.

I've taken the route of 'play at less than full strength' in most learning games in the past, simply because I have about a 70% win rate across all games in the group. The last time we had a game where I won in both of the first two times it hit the table, I subsequently was unable to get it to the table ever again.

I want the games I like to hit the table multiple times, therefore I let the other players win sometimes, especially when forming their opinions of the game.

[StayPuft]

That definitely makes sense, Hikari. ;-) I would certainly not want to discourage people from wanting to play it again. Though, to be honest, I am personally looking for other players who are just as into this game as I am. (Well, okay, maybe they don't have to be THAT into it. LOL! I am pretty obsessed with it.)

My ultimate goal is to find at least one or two gaming buddies who can play this with me separately from time to time. So, I would want to find people who like it in the same way I do, in that win or lose, they don't care because they just love to play this game.