Yet Another Favorite Faction Poll

[Jethro83]

Originally posted by Mr. President
I agree completely. Perhaps peaceniks (the kind of people who like the Peacekeepers and the Gaians) dislike their "armed and prepared" philosophy. And people who play by generating obscene amounts of energy and minerals don't like their -1 Industry rating.

I'm one of those Peacekeeper types, but I still admire the Spartans' "armed and ready" philosophy. I'll switch my values in Social Engineering from Knowledge to Power just to get them on side when I need help smashing the Believers or the Hive (or even the Morganites). And being a socialist, their -1 Industry hardly hurts at all since I'll usually cancel it out with Planned Economics.

[Mr. President]

No offense intended. Some people who like the Peacekeepers feel that the Spartans run contrary to PK philosophy, or what they believe PK philosophy is.

edit: I actually think the Spartans and Peacekeepers are compatible "likes".

[Jethro83]

Originally posted by Mr. President
edit: I actually think the Spartans and Peacekeepers are compatible "likes".

I agree with that. I always thought it was more of a PK vs. Hive sort of thing dominating the game.

[Maniac]

And a UoP versus Believers.
And a Gaians versus Morgan.
And a Morgan versus Hive.
The game's full of all sorts of contraries.

[BigRich]

Hmmm,

who to vote for. Philosophically I fall somewhere between the Gaians and the University (although I'd like to think my research ethics are slightly tighter than Zakharov's ). But from a gameplaying point of view I'm voting Hive! Played as a peaceful isolationist, Eudimonia kind of Hive of course. The insane industry bonus and ability to stomp the other factions flat is purely a bonus

Rich.

[Chowlett]

IIRC, SMAC is set up to have the "Natural Enemies":

Morgan vs Deirdre
Lal vs Santiago
Zakharov vs Miriam
Yang vs Everyone

[Jac de Molay]

Philosophically Im more aligned with Gaians. But, as I've just started playing at the top two difficulty levels, I seem to have more staying power with the Hive. The combination of Command Nex and Perimeter Defense has become too good to pass up.

Dave

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Chowlett
IIRC, SMAC is set up to have the "Natural Enemies":

Morgan vs Deirdre
Lal vs Santiago
Zakharov vs Miriam
Yang vs Everyone

I always thought it more like

Morgie (Rampant Capitalist Polluters) vs Dee (Eco Freaks)
Lal (Democratic Bueracrats) vs. Yanger (Despotic Communists)
Zak (Mad Scientists) vs. Bible Thumpers (Fundamentalist Evangilists)

Santi (Paranoid Survivalists) vs. Anyone threatening her survival.

But thats one of the things that makes the game great the natural societal differences and agendas.

[Frankychan]

Ahhh, another poll to assert Chairman Yangs dominance over the other factions!

Mine is still, and always will be, the Human Hive.

Why? Apart from their in-game advantages, I also agree with their values and outtake on life.

My thinking has also changed since playing SMAC because of the Hive's view on many issues.


HUMAN HIVE FOREVER!!!!

After Hive, Probably Drones, then Gaians. I'm worker oriented but also like good clean ocean's to surf in.

[Mr. President]

Originally posted by frankychan
I'm worker oriented but also like good clean ocean's to surf in.

The University is the not-surprising leader with 6 votes, followed closely by the Consciousness, the Gaians, and the Hive, each with five votes! The Chairman's already got more votes than he got in the last Favorite Faction Poll!

No-one's voted for the Believers yet. Are they not popular, or is there some other reason?

[Patashu]

Originally posted by Mr. President
No-one's voted for the Believers yet. Are they not popular, or is there some other reason?

Probably because if you run democracy, police state or knowledge, she hates you, but if you run fundi, she likes you, but everyone else hates you Plus, she gets -40% research when she discovers secrets of the human brain, so she being hard to probe doesn't matter, because there's no tech to steal from her anyway That's what I'm guessing.

[Jethro83]

Originally posted by Patashu
Probably because if you run democracy, police state or knowledge, she hates you, but if you run fundi, she likes you, but everyone else hates you Plus, she gets -40% research when she discovers secrets of the human brain, so she being hard to probe doesn't matter, because there's no tech to steal from her anyway That's what I'm guessing.

That's right. Though, when using them, the probe rating makes it easier for her to probe into enemy datalinks. If I ever play as the Believers (though those games don't go long) then I'll find my way over to University territory and probe them for everything they've got. They can also buy techs with extra cash. Drop research down to 0% in the Social Engineering screen, build Punishment spheres in each base, and switch to Free Market. You also have no compunctions against building Genejack factories then, because there'll be no drones. So it will be quicker for your base to reach a point where it can stockpile energy, and since a lot more minerals are being produced because of genejacks, more and more energy is gained. Because there is no need for you to do the research yourself, using Fundamentalist politics, and building up a large, highly disciplined military is well on the cards as well. And if someone presses vendetta, use this large army to beat them into submission.

That is perhaps my best understanding of possible strategies for using the Believers, but since a lot of that doesn't fit in with my playing style, I avoid using them most of the time in favour of the Hive, PK, Gaians or Uni, since my personal beliefs are tied with these four.

And damn I hate that freak Miriam!!! She is perhaps my first enemy on Planet, and at that point, since I'll have my Particle Impactors, Rover chassis and Plasma steel armour, her scout patrols and laser infantry get minced. She picks fights that she won't win.

[xeno7667]

Cult of Planet and Believers are my favorites. Both are underestimated factions.

[Clear Skies]

*cries* I want a multi-option poll! WAH!

Sorry. Anyway, like I said in the other thread, Aki (techie freak, plus a very cool faction to write into my stories), and Dee are my personal faves, while Miriam and Santiago I detest. Miriam just smacks everyone around until she comes up against someone bigger, and then still keeps trying to smack them (stupid fundy idiot), and Santiago just clashes completely with my own personal ideology (see sig). In fact, the only factions whose ideologies I can actually see eye-to-eye with are Aki's (again, the knowledge-above-all-things thingie), Dee's (I'm an eco-freak too!), Lal (demos kratia) and possibly, on a very good day, Roze (free info and all that).

OK, that's four, so not exactly an only. Oh well.

[Guynemer]

Despite having the game since it was released, there are a few factions I've never played as (Hive, Believers), simply because I find the very idea of them repugnant. I'm probably most skilled with the Unis, but my favorites are the Gaians.

I'm desperately trying to get a good game going with the Angels, but the other random factions always manage to contain the aliens, which just really ruins the fun of everything.