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Alignment Scenarios: Being 'Good' gets the shaft?

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Alignment Scenarios: Being 'Good' gets the shaft?

Are better results accomplished by being 'Evil' or 'Neutral'?

from GalCiv2 Forums
First off, I love this game! Seldom have I suffered from such gaming addiction and at my age of late, but Stardock has definitely hooked me into their latest piece of work—and oh what a joy it is! Now, on to my post about Alignment Scenarios and their choices...

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve noticed that most of the game’s alignment scenarios offer added bonuses to ‘Evil’ or ‘Neutral’ choices with few exceptions, while choosing ‘Good’ seems to almost always result in a more negative tone for your empire.

Rarely have I seen ‘Evil’ or ‘Neutral’ suffer much of a consequence, but rather gives extreme bonuses to PQ, Economics, etc., leaving ‘Good’ empty handed and even undergoing setbacks if anything. On maybe one or two instances has ‘Evil’ suffered any drawback. At least choosing the ‘Good’ option should reap approval bonuses for your civ, but no, that’s not even on the table.

Sure, as stated in the manual, the overall alignment bonuses of civilizations seem to break down evenly, but this of course is something that is chosen later in the game upon researching ethics and such and therefore forcing aligment. Then perhaps by leaning towards ‘Good’, provided of course any of the other civs have chosen this path, might there be a pay-off. Otherwise, why do the ‘Good’ thing, when hardly there's ever a reason to?

I’ve been playing the game for many hours now, hoping that as the game progresses I’ll see ‘Good’ start to receive it’s due rather than getting the shaft. Here’s hoping cause, well, I simply like being one of the ‘Good’ guys.

Thanks
31,942 views 59 replies
Reply #51 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think a problem with the good techs is that they are too quickly outdone by later defensive techs in the normal tree. Ignoring cost, the evil weapons are the best until the very end of the game (as is the nano-ripper, though it isn't as good as evil weapons). Similarly, ignoring cost, the good defensive techs should be the best defense until the last 2 or so defenses in a particular tree. The size/defense ratio needs to be improved on most of the good techs (especially telepathic defense, which is equalled by PD Combo I).
Reply #52 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


Just found another downfall to being evil

In my game drengin ? the evil ones were kicking ass, so were the traders, korx. Then they had a fundamentalists revolution, where loads of planets from evil sides were lost. So basically everything everyone here was complaining about is in the game. The people saw how terrible these empires were and rebelled. Me on the other hand, my empire is nice, so all my planets stayed faithfull

Its easy to be evil, the quick path to power but you will be punished. The system is absolutely perfect i think. This game does a great job if you keep playing!
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #53 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I gotta agree with the OP, sure evil and good once you get your alignment are balanced. But the choices to get to evil/good are totally skewed in evil's favor, especially when later on you can choose to go good with xeno ethics, even if it will cost you a bunch. Especially on a small map, a planet with +50% research is PRICELESS. Same with having a difference between -25% PQ, and +25% PQ. Those are HUGE bonuses on a small map. As to the good civs ganging up on you, sure if you play a map with just the Alterrans, Torians, and Drath, you would be stupid to go at all evil. However if you have a balanced mix, will the good guys single you out, or will they also go after the drengin, etc?

The begining is usually the most crucial time, and that's when these bonuses effect you the most, in the begining. I know this is just a game, but to use some real world examples as a possible solution, I think most evil acts carry a lot of risk don't they? If you rob a bank, you could make a lot of money in a very short time, but you also risk being shot, and you risk going to jail. So you have a nice chance for a quick gain, but on the downside you have the chance to lose a lot as well. So for example if you choose to take say the +45% to PQ evil optopn by sacrificing people to improve your planet, there's a chance that it will backfire and actually hurt the planet instead etc. Not a 50/50 type thing, but maybe a 20% chance that it'll do the opposite, where the good guy is completely safe. Something like that would give these little morality decisions a bit more depth. As it stands now on some of them you'd have to be outta your mind not to take them unless your playing on a gigantic map.
Reply #54 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Man! I don't know what u are smoking people, but evil is the best by far. Neutral is ok and good is useless! I always tend towards evil and by the time i chose to research Xeno Ethics, i'm already the big bad empire that others fear so when i chose evil for the rest of the game, i get all the bonus and i don't care about the wimpy empires that are left.

Oh and i play at 'Painful' difficulty. Yeah, above intelligent. And i still find the AI a little weak! Much improved with the 1.1 beta patch, but still weak. Especially the Arceans. Are these guys ever doing anything but building a mighty fleet that sits in their frontier and do nothing? I can conquer the whole galaxy and be sure the Arceans are still there twiddling theirs thumbs with their huge fleets. Then i can destroy them since they don't have my tek nor my weapons. HeHeHe.

My last game is with the Yor in the middle of a medium galaxy, surrounded by mostly good and neutral civs and i still kicked their asses from here to tommorow. And they did not gang up on me either! I really don't know how you are playing this game, but i think there must be something you are not doing right somewhere... Maybe yu don't do enough tek trading? They really like you a lot more if you trade tek with them straight from the start.
Reply #55 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Personaly, I think cost switching to border alignment needs to be higher, and per turn cost, if having no cash, much higher.
And opposite axis choice should be outright forbidden.
Reply #56 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Good civilizations have a huge, hard to quantify bonus: everybody likes yoou by default. Good civilizations like you, nutral civilizations like you. Evil civilizations hate you, but everybody hates them, and they don't co-operate, so It kind of sucks to be them.
Reply #57 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
LOL. "Being good should be its own reward."
Reply #58 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


no this is how it gos

your driving down the road you see an amored truck spill.
you can a(evil) take the money and as you driving away the truck explodes destroying all evidence of your little snatch and grabb(neutral)keep driving or c(good) go down try and put the money back in the truck and wake the knocked out driver when the truck explodes and you die...



it sucks to be good!evil tells good to bend down and...oh wait there are children present.
they say that in game the good civs will rally against an evil one. but what about the evil rallying against good?if they dont that should be added to the game vea 1.2

evil raise your IRON FIRST to the glass jaw of good and PUNCH
Reply #59 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think the best way is to start off with a good race. Then choose every path that is evil. After the colony rush I am always close to neutral so I reseacrch ethics and go neutral. I end up with all the planet benefits and all the neutral benefits with the biggest being diplomacy. I can trade with everybody and I do. If you do this you get all the planet tiles saves the research. You spend that research on diplomacy. Trade for a tech and then trade for money or more tech and you more then make up for any benefits that being evil gives you.