My Final Verdict (until the next patch, that is...)

[Voidhawk]

I think you've got it nailed down, Talenn. I've been perusing the AI texts and what you say seems to be the case. I think perhaps a little too much emphasis was placed on the player's ability to customize the AI and not enough on basic hard-coded AI behavior. If you're able to do anything significant with it, let me know! I'd love to beta for you .

Richard: Thanks for the tip, I'll do just that. As far as the AI being pretty good, I'll admit that it does perform basic strategic tasks well enough. I also understand that AI algorithms for 4x games are probably some of the hardest to code convincingly. However, there are many fundamental features lacking. The destruction/takeover of an AI homeworld for example (instead of invoking a good measure of irrevocable AI hatred against the offending player), merely takes the current AI's diplomatic stance down a couple of notches. This is only one of the more glaring issues I've come across, but I'll save the rest for my e-mail .

Kodos: Sure, I could easily overlook the lack of multiplayer features... with a more challenging AI element. I'd vote for getting the AI up to snuff BEFORE working on the multiplayer anyday.

Trancejeremy: I have to strongly disagree. There are many popular turn-based games of "epic" proportions that have thrived via the Online gaming community. SSG's Warlords series and multiplayer Civilization/Civ2 Gold are two that pop into mind. Also, I have a 5-workstation LAN in my home and I would be (almost) ashamed to admit how many countless hours have been spent with friends playing "live" turn-based strat games . Allowing the host to save the game when everyone decides to call it a night and continue at a later time is an easy workaround for the lucky people who have "lives" to get back to. Myself, I'd be more than willing to spend an all-nighter or three on SEIV with some good human competition . I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

Reading through these Posts and learning of MM's awesome reputation for customer satisfaction, I'm confident they'll come through with some better AI. Turn-based gamers tend to be a patient lot, and I'm certainly no exception.