Now I just have no idea what you are suggesting...SttC already is a tier 8 tech and it requires three techs in order to research...what are you suggesting that is any different?  That it is tier 7/8, but has no prereqs?  That only makes SttC more OP...again, I don't think you realize how typical team games work and how long eco players go without fleeting up (and therefore having no taxation)...eco players only get one fleet upgrade when they build their titan (if they have 2 fleet upgrades either it's because their frontliners are doing poorly or they are ecoing wrong)...

Not really...first two strips, if you are eco then you have no fleet supply so no maintenance...then, you get a kostura and a titan...all you need is the titan, your space egg, and maybe another capital ship to go hit a HW, eat it, and jump back...sure, later you'll need big fleet and have maintenance but you are already better off than anyone else by now so who cares....operation requires hardly any fleet supply, so you are at maybe 15% maintenance for your 3rd SttC (and 0% for your first 2)...no huge risk at all, VL do it all the time early game and now you are making it easier to do...

Here's my statement, in discussing late game VL:

So basically, it's still nice to hold onto your original HW (and maybe some core planets) instead of just stripping it after it gets rushed by your enemies...both taxation and simply halving the base income give you more incentive to fortify and try to hold onto your original HW and core worlds...VL still can go mobile if they don't think they can hold their HW (or they are better off stripping), it's just not the obvious, de facto choice...

Again, I'll reiterate that the income is half of what it is now...and from experience, I can tell you that in long games, most planets that VL players strip are enemy worlds that aren't going to be held (because enemy forces are desparately chasing you)...that the planet remains an asteroid will benefit defending players far more than it will help the Vasari...sure, early game if you strip some planets you get an asteroid you can now put trade on, but you now have to clear the militia (something you didn't have to do before) to even be able to do that, which requires more time and more resouces than you'd otherwise have to implement early game...and again, you are getting half the resources for these planets even if you strip them early game (taxation would not do that)...

Takes too long for one, couldn't be done in a pinch very easily...also, non VL can't afford to lose planets cause they need them for labs (VL do not)...I really don't see this being an issue...

Still, if you simply reduce the amount of SttC income this does not reduce the mobility of the VL. And even if he doesn't get any resources out of a planet when stripping it, rendering it useless for the enemy without having to fear to lose your fleet in the process is still the obvious choice for the VL. Why should he care that he doesn't get the enemy's resources as long as the enemy doesn't get them, too.

I think the problem you describe is that an eco-VL is too mobile too soon. I honestly think that even without using SttC these problems would arise, simply due to the VL's mobility if only a tad later. The quickest way to reduce this problem would be increasing scuttle time so you can't just waltz in and out of everyone's systems with impunity.

Guess one option for Wail would be to make it extended damage - say 125% of the current output delivered over 2 minutes?  Of course, you'd need to do something about dual Red Button SBs while you were at it.

Agreed. Stripped to the Core should have been Vorastras´s ability. 

If this becomes the case, I don't there'd be a shortage of us willing to contribute.

Again, this is why I advocate having nothing strip below an asteroid....the defending player is still left with an asteroid that has tax income and can support logistic structures...it isn't great (nor should it be) but it is a lot better than the dead steroids and asteroid belts that we have...

Why do you want to reduce the Vasari's mobility?  That is the point of playing VL...and the more important mobility elements (kosturas, phase stabilizers) have been around since original sins...the VL mobility is only a problem because they can sustain it too long with the resource income earned by strip and they can actually wipe players by denying them colonizables...my suggestions reduce the income earned significantly and prevent the VL from being able to wipe entire sections of the galaxy...as I have said before, the VL cannot hold every single planet simultaneously, so the other players will be able to move in and recolonize the asteroids left in the wake of SttC....

Not sure I understood this. You saying having SttC taxed differentially to fleet supply, i.e. not the same rate, so a 75% penalty fleet only takes 50% of SttC, except with research that changes the tax instead of fleet supply?

So that researching certain mobile techs increases planetary tax in order to force them to stay mobile once they have it. Interesting idea, but I think I dislike it. Not sure though. Still doesn't deal with VL OPness of course.

Huh? It got nerfed like a long time ago.

Do you know how long he must spend searching for these threads?  One search alone takes like 10 minutes just for the results to pop up...this guy is the epitome of dedication...