[unOFFICIAL] new ideas!

In message <19970303010115496.AAA91@nas1-20.acd.net>
hosford.donald@email.acd.net (hosford.donald) writes:
> At 02:26 PM 3/2/97 GMT, I wrote:
[...]
> >Take eight escorts. Clag them all together to get a capital ship 
> >with the same thrust rating, and maybe cash in a few weapons for 
> >shields (but that probably isn't necessary).
[...]
> >It seems overwhelmingly obvious that the whole is greater than the 
> >sum of it's parts. It must therefore cost more points or the game 
> >is broken.
> 
> I hadn't thought of it that way....
> 
> Then some playtesting is needed to deturmine by how much more the
> supership's engine cost should be raised to properly balance against
the
> force of escorts....

Well... the above are probably very poor cases to consider in detail
when working towards a "fair" points system. I think there is a case
for "guiding" players away from both extremes of the spectrum, be
they single giant ships or fleets of killer midgets, otherwise you
may find that the game tips people toward an extreme as an optimum
use of points... and both cases are extremely dull.

No points system can ever hope to be "fair" if only because the value
of your own fleet is variable depending on the value of your 
opponents. If your oppo fields no fighters or missiles... all those
anti-fighter systems in your fleet are worthless.

Still, it's a "holy grail" thing. You'll never get there, but you
might learn something on the way.

-- 
David Brewer