Marty, I have played soo many games in this genre, I believe I can honestly say at a certain point you feel it is important the game allows new tech to research, and not how long it takes. Coldsteel feels the same, if I understand his Messages correct.
Now, It's also true NO GAME sofar has giving us players SOO MUCH to research as SE IV does. BUT we always want more, as it should be. MM listens to our requests, incomparable to the after sales support from other "commercial" games.
Just try to play Reach for the Stars 2, It's an embarrasement to the general intellect of SE IV players. A real waste of time and money. In my opinion the only real competitor to SE IV is Stars! (the promised and upcoming release SUPERNOVA I mean). And exactly there lies our hope of competition. Unless we guys start our own project to TRY TO DO BETTER THAN MM. Big task, I promise you!
Sorry for any typoes, I'm not a native English Speaker.
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PERHAPS THIS IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE <Worf facing another critical fight>
[This message has been edited by nmoppa (edited 10 February 2001).]