Darvroth

Egable1, I agree with every item on your list. The following need to be added: 1) Items picked up (treasure) need to be distributable from the party leader to at least other units in that party. 2) Many quests even when within walking distance (which is rare) don't resolve when you arrive at the indicated location. The beasties are defeated but the princess/victim doesn't resolve properly, some due but not all. 3) Cities need a quick glance card when

Branit Leaflef - A mage of ill repute. Part of a mage heavy party that specilized in acquiring knowledge of and objects from distant antiquity. He had an unfortunate knack for being singled out and as a result researched some formidable defensive and retributive spells and developed a sense of paranoia (a wonderful game but a bit off topic). The party was very focused on their activities and were a bit oblivous to other things. It seems several other groups of adventures made a l

Mercury Joe, I agree a change in tactics are called for. I also noticed the pirate habit, however as I expand the territory there is a good chance the pirate target will change and that is not usually obvious until they charge in. The other dreadful thing I have encountered is if you are between the pirates and their vicitm. It is a sinking feeling watching them pillage through several systems to reach their uprepaired foe and then to have them wander back through when they are d

Dargoon, The only defense I have found is use whatever resources it takes to ensure someone else is the target. You are right through the "raiding" fleets tend to camp in a system even when everything in it was obliterated. The only safe way to engage the pirate fleet is with bombers, huge numbers of bombers, and don't be afraid to run when the pirates try and close. Pirates needed a buff but the current flavor is just a bit much. In the current form a mid to late ga

Now that I have played with "Diplomatic Victory" as a possiblilty and lost to an AI while winning in every other category. Would the sages out there please explain just how the Diplomatic points are accrued as it seemed the "winner" was at war with the other players a frequently as I was. Darvroth

At first I made the mistake of not paying attention to the pirates. When I started losing upgraded stations and then planets I had to reevaluate and take a closer look. Mid to late game the pirate ships are each equal to a capital ship in endurance and offensive punch. The late game pirate swarms were so tough it was easier to just let them have the object of their desire, as slugging it out with them would have 1) inflicted significant casualties to the fleet, 2) tied up the bulk of my fleet

Blair, Stardock is showing Diplomacy as Version 1.00, is the final build already ready for down load or is that a misprint? Darvroth

CrazyElectron, I agree fighters are great for assisting mine clearance operations but they are easily distracted by enemy scouts and are near impossible to keep near enough to the scouts without intensive micromanagment, and who has time for that when I'm prosecuting offensive operations? Darvrorth

Blair, Try it out with a group of TEC scouts in post combat clearance operations and watch them pop, one by one. Occasionally the group will get one, but the most frequent outcome is an expanding cloud of debris and you are down one scout and have successfully cleared one mine. Darvroth

I whipped through a couple 4x FFA games last night and several observations come to mind: 1) The AI still builds way too many seeker mine carriers (though it IS using them to lay mines). 2) TEC mine sweepers/scouts now lack the firepower to destroy seeker mines before becoming an expanding cloud of debris. This means in essessence they can't do their job without close to a 1:1 loss ratio. I even assigned some flak and other units as protection/additional firepower but to

Having read the various trains of thought and pondered for a while; several fundamental questions come to mind: 1) How is mana generated? A mixed approach of crystals nodes, the SOV channeler (at some base level) buildings or population (but not both) and augmented by relics and or spell effects seems to me a managable approach allowing for small high magic nations and large geographic empires to both be viable options though actuall game play may turn out to favor one