How many of you are free marketeers?

[Commy]

I'm just curious...

I know I've asked this before, but I just wanted to know how many of you use the free market....

I know some of you do different SE settings depending on the game and M.Y., but for the most part, what SE setting do you mostly run in economics?

[cal_01]

I typically go planned these days. Free Market penalizes you too much for having military troops, and Green -- while it is close to planned as being my favorite -- kind of hurts with the -2 Growth.

If your bases are already raking in the nutrients, then Green is probably the way to go. However, I'd choose Planned over Free Market in order to get my bases set up (Growth and less minerals vs EC to buy facilities).

[Frankychan]

PLANNED



FM is ok (nah, I lied), but all those credits won't help you when the skies above your faction are filled with PB's.

[binTravkin]

I voted FM because most factions most of the time are able to do it and benefit from it.

The problem(s) of your poll are:

1.that I hardly know a player who runs FM or any choice throughout all the game (except Hive).
2.Economics depends on faction. Some factions are unable some choices, for some factions it's just plain silly to take some choices (FM for Hive).
3.Economics depends on a situation. If you are Planned and Demo able faction who runs FM most of the time, you will still go Planned for a cheap popboom (usually chepaer than the psych needed for GA).


meant no offense

[Tommar]

Free Market + Wealth + builder-type factions (University, Morganites, Cybernetics, etc.) is VERY powerful.

But only if you SPEND the money.

The military hits are severe. You can only survive the military hits if you immediately rush build good base facilities and keep your research as high as possible (at the level where there are no penalties for doing so, other than the cash investment.) If there is a pesky neighbor, buy him off. The less you have, the less it will cost you, another good reason to spend the money as fast as you make it. If you can't pay your neighbors to leave you alone for enough time to build, capture their units with probe teams.

[Commy]

Originally posted by binTravkin

The problem(s) of your poll are:

1.that I hardly know a player who runs FM or any choice throughout all the game (except Hive).
2.Economics depends on faction. Some factions are unable some choices, for some factions it's just plain silly to take some choices (FM for Hive).
3.Economics depends on a situation. If you are Planned and Demo able faction who runs FM most of the time, you will still go Planned for a cheap popboom (usually chepaer than the psych needed for GA).

Which is why I'm asking what you generally do...I would assume that if you are playing the gaians, you really don't want to do a free market anyway....

By the way, I use the same SE choices throughout the entire game, and I don't play the Hive...

[binTravkin]

I use the same SE choices throughout the entire game

With a freemarketeer able to run planned it's a mistake because planned makes you popboom easy and early.

It also tend to not be beneficial at wartime (unless you're very effective at the sole PS strategy) and very late game when you need rather efficency and planet not econ.

Hive is actually the only faction who can do it very succesfully without a single SE swap after it's default SE has been researched and set.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Commy




By the way, I use the same SE choices throughout the entire game, and I don't play the Hive...

Is this an intentional handicap to make the game tougher?

[Flubber]

Other than the obvious things like Hive in planned, my game goes something like--


LOTs of FM-- the extra energy is just so much-- The attributes are well known and there can be little doubt that it can lead to faster research

Interludes of planned --- I will often do a switch for a number of turns to pop boom AND rush some more expensive assets. I find the added pop alone is worth the cash and the savings on rushing expensive stuff can often exceed the 80 ec cost for the switch--

late game green-- There comes a point in many of my games where the inefficiency reduction , PLUS the ability to go to 80-100% Labs makes green look just as good as anything else. Most bases are at hab limits so the growth penalty is irrelevant and wormfarming around your polluter bases can become quite lucrative

[Commy]

Originally posted by binTravkin


With a freemarketeer able to run planned it's a mistake because planned makes you popboom easy and early.

It also tend to not be beneficial at wartime (unless you're very effective at the sole PS strategy) and very late game when you need rather efficency and planet not econ.

Hive is actually the only faction who can do it very succesfully without a single SE swap after it's default SE has been researched and set.

I have to disagree...in the very early game, a free market can easily double your tech rate, and give atleast a 50% boom to economy...

Planned, on the other hand, helps expansion a lot more, but an early tech and economic lead is sometimes more valuable than horizontal growth...

If I'm playing the University, I already have a tech lead with the +2 research and the network node...if I can double my research rate with a free market, I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter how big you are when I have chaos guns you don't even have missiles...

[cal_01]

Originally posted by Commy


I have to disagree...in the very early game, a free market can easily double your tech rate, and give atleast a 50% boom to economy...

Planned, on the other hand, helps expansion a lot more, but an early tech and economic lead is sometimes more valuable than horizontal growth...

If I'm playing the University, I already have a tech lead with the +2 research and the network node...if I can double my research rate with a free market, I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter how big you are when I have chaos guns you don't even have missiles...

But don't forget that FM also has a negative police rating. You won't get far with University and their extra drones plus the lack of police power.

[PJayTycy]

Morgan can get FM in 2103, only has to research 1 tech and the ec's are available. Usually scouts won't be out of territory either after 3 turns (unless you landed on a river).

I'd always do this up to the first base limit. After that, it depends on how drone-stable my bases are, but mostly I'll go to the second base limit in FM/wealth too.

Then add democratic for a higher base limit and further expand untill I reach it. This is the time I might change out of FM to planned to get a little pop-boom.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by cal_01


But don't forget that FM also has a negative police rating. You won't get far with University and their extra drones plus the lack of police power.

The theory is that you rake in so much research that you can afford a psych allocation or to soon rush a rec commons plus you are willing to be somewhat isolationist for a while-- perhaps send out some probes to explore along with any independent units.

[Archaic]

Originally posted by cal_01
But don't forget that FM also has a negative police rating. You won't get far with University and their extra drones plus the lack of police power.

Drone control without police on FM is pathetically simple. You'll only ever have troubles if you're building a huge airforce, and that's what Punishment Sphere and All-Specialist bases are for.

I don't tend to ever swap out of FM once I've discovered it, using semi-eternal GA's to boom rather than Planned. As I see it, there's little point to increasing Pop when you won't be able to produce the nuts to support it when you need to turn some back to specialists when returning to FM, so unless you've already got all your psych facilities up, a slower more controlled boom is simpler.

[Sikander]

I use them all, and usually use at least two of the three every game at some point.