"Gamey" tactics like "Rock, none" races

[PvK]

Originally posted by geoschmo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by PvK:
As for the talisman, it's a massive advantage, only balanced if the other players in the game realize it and organize to prevent it from ruling the quadrant before it's too late.

Balderdash. If the tailsman were such a tremendous advantage, how come out of 6 original tailsman races in Furball 3, only 1 is still a viable empire and he is in trouble? And that was a ten planet high tech start. If ever a game was tailor made for the supremacy of the tailsman this was it. And they have performed dismally. No offense intended to the players that chose it. Just calling it as I see it. Come up with all your reasons and explanations, but in practice they just don't hold up.

Geoschmo

---

Probably because the players didn't manage to develop it or exploit it. As I think I said, it's only a huge advantage once it gets to that point. But at that point, it is a huge advantage. Especially in an unmodded game in the late-tech stage, where most people have access to the same things, and hitting at long range is fairly difficult, except for talisman players, who hit all the time. The players have to be skilled enough to realize how to take advantage of it well, which isn't all that hard, and they do have to surivive to that point. But once there, it's a massive advantage. Not always insurmountable. The real counter, as I and others have written before, is coalitions against them. Diplomacy is often the most powerful part of the game, perhaps second to skill vs. newbie-ism.

PvK