Jackboots or Ermine Slippers? » Forum Post by QuietlyObserving

Join the MVL and do them all

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I go into a game with no preconceived ideas about how the game will end. Events in the game will determine that.

Factors that can influence victory strategy may include:
How many resources you can find, mine, & hold.
What kind of Race abilities you have given yourself.
What races you are playing against (and your degree of difficulty).
The quantity & quality of your colonies (including bonus tiles).
Your location in the galaxy, and the size (and shape) of the galaxy.
How aggressive your opponents are.
What technologies you research.
Your spending ratio (Military, Social, Research).
The effects of your diplomacy.
And of course, your personal playing style, preferences, and experience.

What PlayJeff45 said is true - play them all. Happy gaming!

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I agree wholeheartedly that all options should be tried and enjoyed.
What exactly is "MVL" and how is it "joinable"?
That is the beauty of the game, in my mind, all of the various options to be tried on the path to domination. Some of my favorite games are the ones that I actually lose after a long and ferocious cat and mouse game with a canny opponent.
I've definitely found that location is key. If I desire a harder game (at a given difficulty level), then I accept the galaxy generated with my empire off in a corner while the vast majority of stars are in somebody else's back yard.
What I was curious about in posting was to find out how many others pursue a more esoteric path to victory. Perhaps even one without any major battles (managed this only once or twice if the Jagged Knife counts as a "battle").
Generally I've found that Evil aligned empires (as opposed to evil races, per se) are easier to get a Jackboot victory. Neutral alignment is my preferred medium, while I have yet to win in a gigantic galaxy full of maximum numbers of random foes while trying to play a good alignment.
Anyone else experience such things?

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The MetaVerse Leaque. There are many posts on it, It currently has about 25 players. Its one game a month with unusual settings.

Currently there are 5 teams. Next round starts on I believe the 7th, but you can join after the round starts. Each round goes for 1 month. The top player in the leaque is also a leaque player, The lowest scoring team won the last round overall.

Come and check it out, I don't think you will be dissapointed.

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I've been playing the game in one of its variations rabidly now for years, it seems. Never could be much bothered with the metaverse, but after reading many posts here on this forum I am curious about how people balance the two aspects of force: Brutal Jackboots (Military Victory) or Invidious Ermine Slippers (Influence or Diplomacy Victory)?

I personally am a huge fan of the "slowly crushing my opponents under the weight of all those merchandising jingles for squeaky dog chew toys (or whatever it is they make out there)" strategy. At times this strategy is so successful (play on Tough or higher only, please), that the "end game" would take forever if not for a little war of consolidation or three.

Obviously, the Brutal Jackboots strategy is the most obvious path to take, but after the first dozen or so ruthless games as Korath Girl Guides, conquering the universe with spore ships, there is a yearning to try another path. The path of subtle power is what I follow. Any others out there? I have thus far failed to manage this as a squeeky clean good guy, usually I am pure neutral all the way. With the ocasional well-calculated evil choice on alien sentient life forces sucking my citizen's brains out for the cause, if it gets me enough of a bonus, of ocurse... Evil, while very amusing, just seems too "over the top" for my tastes.

So, I'm curious, Jackboots or Ermine Slippers?

Try turning Research, Diplomatic and Influence Victory off, and then make allies with everyone(killing those who don't accept), followed by using Influence Starbases to steadily conquer everyone and win. It won't work well with the Evil alignment(Mind Control Center prevents defections) or in a galaxy with too many star systems(meaning too many SBs), but it's the most fun way to mop up after you've become an unmatched power(through superior economy/tech/wars/however). The Mega Pirates and Peacekeepers can always show up one fine day and wreck all your starbases, so you're going to have to launch a massive military campaign with sufficiently advanced ships dueling it out versus the Pirate/PK swarms across the Huge/Gigantic galaxy and secure those star systems for cultural annexation.

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I generally pursue a conquer strategy (although I'll play nice and peaceful right up until you see my fleets and transports circling your homeworld) until mopping up becomes too tedious and then switch to a culture or tech victory. (this is on huge maps with 5-7 opponents, lots of minor races, and tech trading diabled-- i'll get my tech the old fashioned way, thank you.. invent it, steal it, or conquer it...).

I mostly play neutral, but have been playing evil more often, as it doesn't seem to have any drawbacks other than diplomatically (and who needs diplomacy, anyway)...

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If you want fast go Influence and Warfare as a combo, If you want slow then try just Influence. It is all a matter of personal choice. Mine is whatever works at the time but for the most part I seem to run more towards a Neutral Influence win over all others but there are those times when simply killing everything is the most fun way to go...gotta luv the YOR for that.

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