the Dread Lords spawned, for about 5 seconds

That depends on where they spawn, I think. When I got the event, they spawned on a planet very close to one of mine. I was alarmed, of course, but when I looked at them, I saw there were only twenty of them, and they had no ships or planetary improvements. I rushed a transport, invaded the next turn, and that was that. A sweet new planet for the cost of a single transport. Now, if they had spawned away from any agressive civ, giving them the time to build, then I imagine that they could be a real difficulty. Luck of the draw? Or is the choice of planets they spawn on tied into the gameplay somehow?

It's an interesting question. In my game they spawned so late there really wasn't anywhere "remote" left.

The Dread Lords have always had the weakness of being slow to build, but damn nasty once they got rolling. Given the fact that you were already established, they should probably have started with some defenses... it seems unfair (and anti-climatic) that what should be a nigh unstoppable force is just given a flick of the finger and *poof*, dealt with.

Yeah, that's exactly how I felt about it. Perhaps, depending on when in the game they spawn, they could be given a few suitably powerful ships? Something akin to the precursor stuff that spawns now and again?

Yes, I am sad to admit, that the 'Dread Lords' no longer evokes any dread in me whatsoever. Rather, I look forward to this event with eager anticipation- a pq-0 is now a pq13+ or so, ripe for the picking.

Yeah. it's a joke. Pirates are much meaner than so called Dread Lords.

I had a bit of a snafu in a beta game, once. The pop-up came up saying that the Dread Lords negotiated peace with such-and-such race, I clicked on it, and lo and behold, I was brought to a dialogue screen with the Dread Lords. I clicked on "Peace Treaty", and told them to give me all of their techs...which they gladly did.

I just had a game and a Minor race came in and wiped out 8 colonies (3 of them mine). I had my systems all perfectly balanced, and this just killed me. Can't remember their name, but if I see them again, I'm beating them senseless. Backstabbing sneaking rodents.

Haha, if this doesnt show that Dread Lords Mega Event is broken then I dont know what does. I mean, hasnt this been tested at all by the beta testers?

OK, it's definitely not just me then. I hope SD reevaluates this and fixes it. In general I quite like the mega events, but I'd really like this one to scare the crap out of me when it pops up.

Well, he did say that was in a *beta* game. I'd be amazed if it happened in the version we have now.

Well Dread Lords being weak as hell does happen in the release game, I witnessed it myself, but they giving their entire tech for peace Im not sure.

In any event it does seem weird to have super mega events which more or less obliberates the AI (but not the you) and others which almost does nothing, like this one.

The worst part is that the only answer Ive seen from the devs is that mega events are supposed to be "mega". Which gives me the impression that they think the events are working as intended.

The problem with beta testing mega events is that they are random. The frequency is randomised, when they occur is random and also which event you get israndom. So it's difficult to consistently test events at various stages in the game as you have to wait for it to come up.

Continued feedback and more play is the answer, I imagine the first update will have a crack at better balancing mega events. Now more people have the game and are playing Stardock can get a better idea of what is and isn't working properly. I've already seen Frogboy mention a possible fix to the AI reactions on the Plague event.

The devs play the game. I really doubt that this is how they want the Dread Lords event working in their own games, so I find it hard to believe they aren't working on a fix. True to form, I'd expect a patch from SD here in a little while that addresses several of the niggling problems plaguing DA. They're good about that kind of thing, after ll. It's part of the reason most of us like 'em so much.

Ok thats good but what could it hurt for them to say something like: "We are aware if the problem and we are looking into it." Rather than to say mega events are supposed to be mega, which is rather irrelevant imo.

I've really only seen the "mega events are supposed to be mega" statement in respect to complaints that they're "unbalancing," which of course they're supposed to be. They're not particularly supposed to be unbalancing in the players favor, though, in fact more often than not it's supposed to go the other way I believe.

Well, if it happens again, I'll screen cap it.

Actually, they're supposed to be intelligently chosen to shake things up...

Yes, I believe that there are certain sets of circumstances that will trigger the events.



The most common comment about the Pirates! used to be that they were underpowered. (Much like what has been posted here re the Dread Lords) When I get them now, 'ho, hum' never enters my mind. As for the minors, players asked that they take a more aggressive role in the game, and it seems that they now do so. I generally play with a lot of minors, and have yet to experience the new Snathi. Thanks for the 'heads up', jpinard, I'll squash them like a furry bug asap when I see them.

Sure they do. Over and over again. But there are only a few of them, and we are multitude. What seems to work well playing a few dozen games may not when playing a few thousand dozen. To their credit, they listen to us, and when they deem a certain aspect of gameplay truly out of balance, they correct it. I have little doubt, that in the near future I will be reading posts painting the Dread Lords in a much different light.

I didn't say that to imply that we shouldn't give feedback, quite he contrary. What I meant was, they enjoy playing the game too so if something isn't working right they have a greater-than-the-usual-developer interest in fixing it.