Buying decision, not so easy...

[General Hawkwing]

I would have to disagree about the turn limit. At first I felt like you did but after playing through several games I think the turn limit helps to make a choice. Remember, you can see different aspects of the game by setting the starting planet number and technology level/cost at the beginnning. The turn limit forces you to restart games, which makes you relook at the game setup again and again. This made me choose many different options for race design, tech level/cost and quadrant size/design. It helped to demonstrate the many facets of the game to me. If the gold demo shows better AI in a few areas, then SE4 is a buy!