[spoon]

Originally posted by Baal:
... it's a test of who knows what research is the best combined with the luck of finding colonizable planets. A lot of research tech is just plain useless other than to waste your time.

Though I don't agree entirely with what you think about the PPB, this statement is fairly accurate. However, when you are playing with good players, who all know what to research and how to design their races, then strategy and tactics become the deciding factor (combined with the luck you mention... though that can be mitigated somewhat by playing on a "balanced" map). Noobs definitely don't stand a chance against an experienced player, but that statement is true for a lot of games, and complaining about it is more indicative of the type of game you enjoy than the quality of the game itself. Some people like Backgammon and Cribbage because there is always the chance to beat someone who is ten times better than you. Others like Go and Chess because the opposite is true.