Gather Information, or How To Annoy Your Friend

[icabod 51]

I was just looking through the cards that come in The Lost Realm, and noticed an oddity in the wording of Gather Information, a side-quest:

Quote

Response: After this stage is defeated, each player may search his deck for 1 card and add it to his hand. Each player shuffles his deck.

Am I correct in thinking that in a multi-player game if any player decides to search his deck for 1 card, all players must shuffle their decks?  That's how I read the wording, and I can think of a scenario where a player may not want to perform the search, but shuffling their deck would be annoying...

Player A uses the action of Gildor Inglorian or Gandalf's Search to arrange next 3 or X cards that they'll get from their deck... "Hooray!" they think. "On the next three or X card draws I will get exactly what I want when I want it. Look at me, aren't I clever."

Player B, on successfully completing the Gather Information side-quest, decides they want the ever-important Brok Ironfist from his deck, so he decides to search for Brok, add him to his hand, and shuffle his deck.

Player A glares at Player B, shuffles his deck in anger, bending some of his cards ("Why did I not sleeve?!?" he will later cry).

 

Or am I mis-reading the card?

[dalestephenson 1,482]

Since "each player shuffles his deck", player A will have to shuffle his deck regardless of whether anyone searched their deck for a card or not.  If he doesn't want to do that, he should convince the first player not to choose Gather Information as the current quest.

[Miceldars 24]

I'm pretty sure in my french version of this card, only players who search a card in their deck have to shuffle it. But maybe I am confusing with another card

[Amicus Draconis 102]

I would say differently. The effect is a response, so when no one searches their deck, no one has to shuffle.

[Miceldars 24]

I just checked, and effectively each player have to shuffle his deck, no matter he search a card or not.

[icabod 51]

As Amicus states, it's a response so it's optional... but if one player takes advantage of the response, then all players have to shuffle, is how it reads to me.

[PocketWraith 553]

I mean, you skipped the step where player A can also search his deck for any card they want and add it to their hand before shuffling, an ability I would consider more valuable than simply arranging the next 3 draws.

[dalestephenson 1,482]

A fair point about the response.  If the response is not taken, then no one does anything.  But there's no requirement that if the response is taken that *someone* gets a card, that part is optional.  If you're really trying to annoy your friend who doesn't want to shuffle, you'd take the response and *not* grab a card, just to make it clear that you're a griefer.

In practice, I can't imagine that Gather Information would be chosen as the current quest unless all players want to grab a card.  I typically pack one copy of the card in each of my two-deck fellowships, because gather information is how you help your friend, not how you annoy them.

[icabod 51]

For me it's a rhetorical question, as I play solo and don't have The Lost Realm (tho' it's tempting to try sneaking it past the wife)... I was just curious on the wording being all players, rather than just those that searched their decks.