[spoon]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Uh, spoon. The gameplay results are the reason for playing! It's what makes this a game, and not just a spreadsheet or a ship design program. It's the only thing that can keep someone interested in this game for going on two years now.

Agreed! But here we are in the Forum -- not playing the game, but discussing the game. When discussing the game, having statisitcs is better than having gameplay results, I'd argue.

If this is what you really believe, I feel sorry for you. Because you are missing the beauty and the challange of the game.

I have to like the game for the same reasons you do? That's a peculiar stance... Before you tell me more, I'll admit that I do in fact enjoy the game for the same reasons you list. However, I don't let my enjoyment of the game cloud my analysis of the game.

I don't disagree with you about your list of things that are smart choices. But they aren't the only choices. There are so many variables in this game that no one strategy can win every time, you said it yourself. And even a very good strategy is only as good as the paper it's printed on.

You were asserting that these sort of things didn't matter because they could be countered. I was claiming that they gave you an edge that could be difficult to overcome.

What separates the losers from the winners in this game is not the ones that design the best startegies. It's the ones that counter their opponents strategies the best.

True. However, having a strong race design is still significant, and a poor race design can all but guarantee failure.

- Having three ship-training facilities on a sector is better than having only one.
Well, duh! But is it better than what you could have used those extra facility spots for? Depends on the spefic game, but I can think of several cases where it wouldn't be.

hehe, yeah, obviously you don't want to squander facility spots on training in backwater regions of your empire. I meant on strategically important sectors, where having a triple spaceyard/fleet training/ship training configuration can be pretty important.

- Using PPBs in the midgame is better than using anything else.
Slightly maybe. You might be able to design an PPB ship that would defeat an equal size and tech cost ship in one on one combat. But what would it prove in a real game? Not much. Very few combats are one on one involving empires with exactly equal levels of technical development.

Not sure what your point is here. I say PPBs are better than any other mid-game weapon. You agree(sorta), but say there are other factors. Of course there are other factors. I never tried to claim otherwise.

Having 125% defense + bezerker will make you unbeatable against people unaware of how combat works.
If you are playing against someone that doesn't understand how combat works, you are already unbeatable, combat bonuses or no.

- Having 110% Maint Reduction is a huge advantage over people who don't realize how broken Maint Reduction is.
See previous answer.

Hehe. True, true. Thing is, there are a LOT of players that don't realize this... and that it can be discouraging to play a game for six months only to lose because you didn't realize the significance of race design options. I'd rather these sort of tactics be downplayed, and that a newish player can learn from his mistakes in time to make a difference in his current game(s).

-spoom