What would you change...

[Trithemius]

Originally posted by livid imp
If the Cult began with Brood Pits (a la Hive with perimeter defense) rather than gaining them with the prereq tech (which is too far into the game to matter), they could be a stronger faction.

I believe that you only receive free facilities when you receive the pre-requiste technology; that is why the University of Planet has free Network Nodes (they start with Information Networks) and the Human Hive has free Perimeter Defences (they start with Doctrine: Loyalty). In order to give the Cult of Planet free Brood Pits when the game started, you'd need to give them Centauri Genetics (and, thus, the ability to build air units at the start of the game).

The Pirates could be a resonable faction if they got a subsea trunkline for free as well.

Or a +1 INDUSTRY? I have been thinking about doing this for my alphax.txt.

Morgan either needs the hab limit raised or the support penalty eliminated so he can run democracy without units costing double support.

Morgan seems fine to me. Nothing is stopping Morgan from running Power Values and Thought Control FS.

[Dis]

the more I think about this, the more I think the morganites need a boost.

As we said above, most factions can be good under certain conditions. But I rarely see the morganites do anything. I think maybe in only 1 game have they ever been significant. And even then they had little chance of winning.

My last game their bases only had one defender.

One possible problem is the AI isn't using probe teams correctly. I notice they build a lot of probe teams, but I'm not sure if they are using them correctly. Perhaps someone has researched this, and can correct me here. Proper probe team usage would also help the believers out as well.

The Spartans tend to lag as well, but if they build up some momentum they can often roll over the nearest faction or two. But after that, they lag.

[Trithemius]

I think that there is a world of difference between how the AI and how real people handle a faction. The AI can make a hash of almost anything - that the AI does badly as a given faction should not be used as a measurement of how good or bad a given faction is, IMO.

Instead improvement of factions should be based on what it is like to play them ourselves (or how useful they are in MP games). Only this can give us a sensible indication of whether a faction is in need of improvements.

[livid imp]

Originally posted by Trithemius
I believe that you only receive free facilities when you receive the pre-requiste technology

Yup, you are right that wouldn't work. Still the Cult needs a boost, any ideas?

Originally posted by Trithemius
Or a +1 INDUSTRY? I have been thinking about doing this for my alphax.txt.

That is a good idea, but how do you justify it to the role players?
edit: maybe a increased support rating? They could really terrorize the seas with even more ships. And you could justify it to the role players as captured/Shanghi'ed (sp?) people and vessels. Of course this might just make them twice as iritating.

Originally posted by Trithemius
Morgan seems fine to me. Nothing is stopping Morgan from running Power Values and Thought Control FS.

Morgan was right there on the edge for me. He doesn't need the help all that badly. But the support and hab problems are the things that keep them from being a superstar faction in my eyes. Still a very capable faction.

Future Society models are just too late to really bother considering them. And morgan using power, is a morgan not using wealth. Morgan running wealth is what Morgan is all about in my eyes. Rather than running power, I'd run PS/Green/Wealth to mitigate the support problems. Of course by the time you can do that you are approaching Clean reactors.

[Trithemius]

Originally posted by livid imp
Yup, you are right that wouldn't work. Still the Cult needs a boost, any ideas?

Morale improvements? Fanatic bonus (does a Fanatic bonus apply to Psi combat too?)?

That is a good idea, but how do you justify it to the role players?
edit: maybe a increased support rating? They could really terrorize the seas with even more ships. And you could justify it to the role players as captured/Shanghi'ed (sp?) people and vessels. Of course this might just make them twice as iritating.

I am justifying the +1 INDUSTRY by linking it to the Pirates abilities to scrounge - it ties in with the emergence of Svensgaard's faction in the timeline I wrote for a scenario idea I had... shameless plug.

Future Society models are just too late to really bother considering them. And morgan using power, is a morgan not using wealth. Morgan running wealth is what Morgan is all about in my eyes. Rather than running power, I'd run PS/Green/Wealth to mitigate the support problems. Of course by the time you can do that you are approaching Clean reactors.

If Morgan wants to be a military power then I guess he'd have to change to Power; if you can keep Wealth and be as effective militarily as people running Power then something is very wrong, in my mind.

[livid imp]

Originally posted by Trithemius
Morale improvements? Fanatic bonus (does a Fanatic bonus apply to Psi combat too?)?

If it does apply to psi, that would actually make a lot of sense too.

Originally posted by Trithemius
I am justifying the +1 INDUSTRY by linking it to the Pirates abilities to scrounge

Ennhh....don't know if I buy it. That is an awful lot of scrounging. Still no major problems with it, and the pirates do need a strong boost.

Originally posted by Trithemius
If Morgan wants to be a military power then I guess he'd have to change to Power; if you can keep Wealth and be as effective militarily as people running Power then something is very wrong, in my mind.

That is the whole beauty of Morgan. He can have a +2 Econ without FM. Making it viable to fight wars without losing that +2 Econ. Plus I never take power SE cause the -2 industry is just too crippling both in and out of war. As Morgan you should be building a clean reactor army long before any major conflicts anyway.