[dogscoff]

QUOTE:
>>"Research the technology if you want, but
>>no building Intel centers until I say, or
>>suffer the wrath of the Ancients once
>>again."

>I like that idea. The Ancients, being
>persnickety anyway, will not tolerate
>intelligence until they deem the child
>races are worthy. Or something like that.

/QUOTE

This gives me an idea for this game and others: Geo plans to host the game without partiipating, right? But as the "ancients" he wants to be able to punish anyone who breaks the rules.

This would be difficult as just a host, but what if he played a "gamesmaster" race of ancients? It would be simple enough, it's just scenario modding. Here's how I see it:

The Ancients occupy a single system in the far corner of the map. This system has a sphereworld and a host of maximum value planets. Their immensely powerful tehnology and carefully constructed defences make them utterly impervious to attack (except maybe at the end of the game, when the triumphant race must challenge the ancients to win their freedom).

Using racial traits, advanced intelligence capabilities and super-cloaked sensor satellites, the ancients can see anything and everything that happens in the galaxy. When they don't like what they see, cloaked warships stationed in nebulae can react quickly to chastise anyone who breaks the rules.

Fortunatly the ancients use their vast power responsibly. They have a strict policy of non-interference excpt in crtain circumstances which have been made clear to all the member races. The ancients are interested only in observation, not the petty games of conquest and expansion played out by "lesser" species.

Of course with the intel bug this could backfire, and someone could hit an ancient megaship with a crew insurrection, but once that problem has been solved, gamesmaster races could allow interesting scenarios with more complex rules to be developped, since there would suddenly be a way of enforcing those rules.


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"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so Brain but, if you replace the P with an O, my name would be Oinky, wouldn't it?"