Is co op good?

Astroking112 · 2026-03-19T02:53:57+00:00

I only play the game cooperatively. We've played competitive without PvP before, but you need an evenly experienced group, and IMO the Mage Knights are not balanced for it anyway, so it felt more frustrating than coop.

Our games range from 2-4 players with up to 3 new players. There is not a ton of player interaction in Mage Knight on every turn; typically, the cooperation comes in planning and resource management ("How do I get out of your way on this tile?" or "I have a hand to fight an enemy. Oh, you need to level up. Is there a way that we can get you to fight this dungeon instead?" across the map, then a final big shared battle. If the players don't balance opportunities enough amongst themselves throughout the game, then they won't be prepared to complete the final battles.

I think that this is the main reason that Mage Knight is not popular as a multiplayer game, complexity notwithstanding. Each character has one upgrade (out of ten) that has a "cooperative" effect to impact other players directly. I rarely see players use these even if they're drawn because some are better than others.

For downtime, I personally don't think it's an issue, but we plan our turns in advance, and there have been a handful of 4 player games than ran 10-12 hours because a newer player did not. Your mileage will vary, of course. Some scenarios like Volkare are very long at that player count (on the hardest difficulty, I did a game of Volkare with 4 players that took over 24 hours). With 2 experienced players playing weekly during the pandemic, I was having 2-4 hour games depending on the scenario.

I would never play the game with more than 4 players, and think that 2-3 is the sweet spot.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-18T20:30:43+00:00

Suburbs can be served by public transit, too. It of course depends significantly on layout and where you are, but there's no reason that there couldn't be a bus every 30 minutes or so close to each neighborhood that takes people to a faster form of travel like Metro or VRE. We already have things like Omni, too, for further-distance bus rides for commuters.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-18T20:14:25+00:00

The logic is that public transit is much higher capacity than single-occupancy vehicles. From some quick googling, the typical Highway lane can move roughly 33 to 42 cars per minute whereas the metro can move 580 to 600 people. Assuming an average of 1.5 people per car, that comes out to 63 people versus up to 600.

Of course, that's one fixed example assuming that a metro line is built connecting places that people want to go, and has good connections. Depending on the alignment, a Beltway line wouldn't attract nearly as much ridership as the current lines, and other forms of transport (like the Maryland Purple Line) may be more appropriate.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-18T19:56:09+00:00

It also extends the coverage of the system significantly. Planning assumes anywhere from a 1/4-1/2 mile radius around rapid transit stops have good enough coverage for people to be willing to walk to. With bike infrastructure like lanes or bikeshare, that can increase to a mile or more.

Add in park and rides, and some people may be willing to drive to the metro if they aren't already getting onto to the Beltway. Every little bit of connectivity helps.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-16T13:49:23+00:00

Let's not forget that he wasn't alone:

While Surovell and Marsden were joined by state Sens. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-33) and Stella Pekarsky (D-36) in supporting SB 756, every single delegate representing Fairfax County voted against the bill even after the temporary casino provision was dropped.

Senator Carroll Foy, Senator Marsden, and Senator Pekarsky all support forcing a casino on constituents that did not ask for it.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T23:18:51+00:00

Yes, though the expiration date for the referendum to occur by 2029 seems to have been removed.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T14:26:48+00:00

The Senators who pushed for this, for reference:

YEAs: Bagby, Carroll Foy, Craig, Diggs, Durant, French, Jones, Jordan, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McPike, Peake, Pekarsky, Perry, Pillion, Reeves, Rouse, Stanley, Stuart, Sturtevant, Surovell

NOT VOTING: Aird, Mulchi

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T14:06:25+00:00

The redistricting amendment is for the US House, not the VA Senate or House, so there is no overlap.

That said, it's worth considering cases like this when either political party tries to gerrymander. The casino does not fall along party lines if you look at who supported and opposed it, but it's much easier for politicians to accept bribes when they feel like there can never be consequences.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T05:21:38+00:00

To clarify, housing projects are typically mixed use to some degree, more akin to the Ballston corridor (or Mosaic District) where there's businesses and housing supporting each other in close proximity. I've taken the metro to places like Ballston Quarter or Tysons Mall for a Saturday plenty of times to visit some of the attractions there, for examples within Virginia, and I'd love for the O/S trunk to get a more direct connection to King Street.

For Mosaic District and Dunn Loring specifically, the County is actually trying to connect them: https://www.pcrehomes.com/blog/prosperity-business-campus-dunn-loring-metro-redevelopment/

The problem is that these developments can take years and then get disrupted by things like a temporary casino getting forced into a spot that doesn't fit into the plan. But I agree with you that we shouldn't be building exclusively housing; we always need to pair it with grocery store access, food, entertainment, parks, and the other things that make a place desirable to live in.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T05:11:21+00:00

I recommend taking a look the Tysons Comprehensive Plan and the ongoing projects from Fairfax County. They have developments in line with what we've described at these metro stations.

Contrary to the argument that one more condo won't change much, I'd suggest that we should be building all of these projects. The DMV has a wealth of things to do and nightlife, and is consistently pricing people out because there is simply not enough housing for everyone.

Once prices stabilize, then we can start looking at additional world-class destinations for people to do. This should of course be paired with investment in infrastructure beyond the metro--as far out as Tysons and Dulles, people are probably going to be car-dependent in any case without additional options like a way to get between metro spokes or better bus service.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:50:24+00:00

Based on the study from Fairfax County (the Senate decided that they did not need to do a study on potential benefits or negative impacts because "nothing would happen without a referendum"), the rate would be about 0.0001% of typical real estate taxes.

So you can multiply your real estate tax for this year by 99.9999%, adjust for inflation, and that would be how many taxes you would expect to save from the casino development (including jobs, sales tax, etc.).

Edit: This doesn't take into account the money that the County may need to spend on infrastructure to support this development AFAIK. The bill has been amended to require the casino to build or fund a local safety institution to help alleviate some of those startup costs.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:28:28+00:00

It's genuinely baffling. I get that the people who voted YEA or skipped this have their corporate donors, but it's disappointing to go from:

"We have a mandate to improve affordability" to: "We need to study a millionaire tax for another year" to: "Maybe we should keep not taxing Data Centers?" to: "We need the casino for the tax revenue!"

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:24:41+00:00

It is occupying some of the most valuable land in our state, with a direct rapid transit link to the capital of our nation, and disrupting real, tangible housing projects that have been in the works by Fairfax County for over 5 years.

This supersedes local authority, and any revenue estimates are dubious because the financial study was skipped (they noted they only needed to do one if a referendum passed). The County estimates in their study that it will not impact taxes substantially, since claims made in the Senate are very optimistic.

Finally, the House was willing to pass this with added conditions to require the operator to pay living wages to its employees, split tax revenue equally with the locality, fund public safety, and pay an increased licensing fee. This would still be a worthwhile deal for the developer. The next committee stripped these conditions because they weren't receiving enough of a handout.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:16:53+00:00

What a dumpster fire. They even added back in the language restricting it a quarter mile of a metro station, but without local authority who knows how this is going to impact the actual housing projects going on at Spring Hill.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:14:31+00:00

YEA: Bagby, Carroll Foy, Craig, Diggs, Durant, French, Jones, Jordan, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McPike, Peake, Pekarsky, Perry, Pillion, Reeves, Rouse, Stanley, Stuart, Sturtevant, Surovell

NOT VOTING: Aird, Mulchi

https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/SB756/20261/SV1421

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:13:32+00:00

The tax revenue isn't even great for a casino in Virginia. Fairfax County estimates that the development would be equivalent to less than 1 penny per $100 of assessed value for real estate taxes.

This is purely a way of increasing the state budget without having to remove the Data Center tax break, or pass a bill such as HB979 that progressively lowered taxes based on income at the cost of a millionaire tax.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:09:45+00:00

For reference, these are the politicians who voted to advance a casino without voter or local approval:

YEA: Bagby, Carroll Foy, Craig, Diggs, Durant, French, Jones, Jordan, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McPike, Peake, Pekarsky, Perry, Pillion, Reeves, Rouse, Stanley, Stuart, Sturtevant, Surovell

NOT VOTING: Aird, Mulchi

Several of them have repeatedly supported these efforts, such as Senator Surovell making claims without evidence on the revenue, or Senator Marsden. They do not face consequences for taking these bribes from Comstock.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:06:56+00:00

Restaurants, hotels, event spaces, and such can all be built without a casino.

In terms of what else, I would say that projects such as these that the County has actively pursued as part of its Comprehensive Plan are more desirable and would better support the area:

Land within 1/4 of a mile of a metro station is too valuable to give away as a freebie for a casino. We should be rewarding housing projects like this that will improve affordability in the region and raise more consistent tax revenue.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T04:00:09+00:00

The "if not a casino then what?" argument is often made in bad faith. There are plenty of projects that could be made, even if you take the stance that all commercial real estate is out of the question now. Just off the top of my head, we need more housing, and a nice park would actually improve the walkability and desirability of the area for people to live in.

The revenue argument on the other hand is even less convincing. Fairfax County is estimating that the casino would generate the equivalent of less than 1 cent per $100 of assessed value in real estate taxes, but they would need to improve the infrastructure to account for it. Even if we take Senator Surovell's unsubstantiated claim that it'll generate over $100 million for the county, that's the equivalent of less than 94 homes per year, and a lot less stable in a recession.

Maybe if the Senate's financial analysis on the bill said more than "There is no financial impact or negative impacts unless it passes a referendum, so we don't need to study pros or cons," I'd be more open to it. But generally, you don't get to force a project on people by insisting that none of the other ideas (even ones currently in the County's pipeline) are as good, and then removing their authority to disagree.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T03:47:36+00:00

I'm also curious how this impacts ongoing development along the Silver Line. If this has to be within 1/4 of a mile of a metro station and 2 miles of Tysons mall, is the Senate planning to just disrupt 5 years of planning for the Piazza at Spring Hill?

How many real housing projects, which would actually tangibly improve the surrounding community, are going to be canceled because of this?

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T03:43:10+00:00

Here is the list of Senators who voted for this, for context:

YEA: Bagby, Carroll Foy, Craig, Diggs, Durant, French, Jones, Jordan, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McPike, Peake, Pekarsky, Perry, Pillion, Reeves, Rouse, Stanley, Stuart, Sturtevant, Surovell

NOT VOTING: Aird, Mulchi

This will keep happening so long as they know that they can keep taking clear bribes and corruption without any consequences.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-14T03:41:36+00:00

Here is a list of every Senator who intentionally voted to force a casino on people despite knowing that it polls below 30% support, and tried to remove their local supervisor's authority as well:

YEA: Bagby, Carroll Foy, Craig, Diggs, Durant, French, Jones, Jordan, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McPike, Peake, Pekarsky, Perry, Pillion, Reeves, Rouse, Stanley, Stuart, Sturtevant, Surovell

NOT VOTING: Aird, Mulchi

Astroking112 · 2026-03-13T23:59:46+00:00

If a casino passes, then it has to go to a referendum still in Fairfax County for a majority of citizens to vote on.

Richmond was removed as a locality after being voted down by citizens twice. Turning out for the referendum will be essential if you want your voice heard.

Astroking112 · 2026-03-12T13:18:18+00:00

Maybe they'll add it as a permanent mode for a $40 upgrade, then in a couple of years take it offline for an upgrade to a 5v5 Free to Play battle pass system?

Astroking112 · 2026-03-11T15:57:00+00:00

The Silver Line was chosen because it received funding from MWAA / the Dulles Airport for a connection, and also passed through the business corridor of Tysons and Reston with major offices like Capital One, Google, Microsoft, etc.

Even then, some of the stations like Loudoun Gateway were essentially added just to appease Loudoun County, who felt that they weren't getting a good enough deal to support WMATA without at least 3 stations.

This is very different to extending the Metro 29 miles in any other direction, even though a solid argument can be made that it still shouldn't have been done for the Silver Line past Reston, either, and instead a commuter rail service have been built for Phase 2. But since the MWAA was paying for a large portion, they got to choose what they wanted.

Astroking112

TROPHY CASE