To be honest, if you're playing at that level, are we even playing the same game? I consider it a valid strategy if it'll work at tough or the next couple difficulties, which is what I find to be a fun game. It works against an opponent playing under the same rules (or with only a slight handicap), which is quite a nice result in a game with AI this good.
One you start playing at the crazy high difficulty levels, you have to start meticulously taking advantage of every nook and cranny in the system in a Wyndstar-esque way to compete. I've read his AARs, and while it's quite impressive to see how well he takes every advantage he gets, it's a much less dynamic and interesting game. At that difficulty level you have no room to mess around with ANYTHING... I'll stick with the difficulties that make me work for my victory, yet let me pursue it whichever way I choose.
i think this is a fair response. i've tried playing at the higher difficulty levels, though i've never managed to pull off a successful game all the way to the end on the highest level. i tried it a couple times, and they were very exciting games. but on the one where it felt like i might win, i got tired of trying to manage more than 50 colonies. i like very large maps, but i also like resources overall to be tight: few planets and very slow research. this also seems to give minor civs more of a fighting edge, which i find interesting.
to be honest, if that's all GC2 was i'd have probably stopped playing a while ago. i keep coming back to the game because i have so many more options vis-a-vis modding. i've tried modding trade; the boosts to diplomatic relations seem to be tied to the monetary value from trading, and modding trade too much results in a hippie love fest across most of the galaxy.
