agon play is slow?

[cra2]

Reading about Agon, I'm interested in the system.
But when I listen to actual play podcasts, I get really frustrated.
Seems like the game drags in combat.
Worse than d20.
Every one I've listened to so far bogs down in combat with rules referencing and dice changes and last-second modifiers.
My group abandoned d20 cuz it would take 30 minutes just to get around the table a time or two.
In all the AP audio I've heard, it sounds the same.

Is it just me or is this a known facet of the game system?
Are there any "good" podcasts of the game being played?

thanks,
cra2

[Darren Hill]

It's very likely that the podcasts you listened to were people in their first session or two of the game, so I wouldn't be surprised if they took longer than normal.

That said, an Agon combat can take a fair amount of time. But it's exciting! Not some much like D&D, where a lot of the time is spent waiting for people to decide what to do, or checking up references in rulebooks, or just waiting for your turn. Each person's go in Agon is pretty quick, and people can help out on other people's turns, so everyone is involved all the time.

[Ben Robbins]

I think listening to other people play always seems more boring than when you are in the game, but maybe that's just me.

Like Darren said, Agon combat is very engaging. You get to make a lot of interesting decisions that directly reflect the metaphor of the fight -- there's nothing fuzzy or abstract about it like some games. A fight can go long if you have a too many major enemies on the board at once, but that's to be expected in any system.

If you want to keep things uber-short, use more minions and fewer full enemies. You can even just reduce fights to harmful contests.