Which Ethical Alignment?

Neutral all the way. +Morale, +Research, +Trade is all good. I'd say Good is the Weakest and Evil is the strongest, but I dislike playing Evil too often. I indulge myself every now and then, but I mostly play Neutral and demonstrate to the rest of the galaxy how my boomstick vaporizes things on a quantum level while they're still chucking chemically-powered missiles at each other.

War=Evil, Peace=Good.
It's Ying/Yang equilibrium process to me.

I find Neutral to be pretty effective in a number of areas when i aim for Influence victory. Conquest MUST be supported by tougher military ethics.
Key-reasoning would be that it is a no turning-back sort of choice once your alignment is defined.

Examine the list of advantages provided, it hints on conditional variables which enhance a particular type in great leeway.

Besides, Temples do look nice on maps, also!

- Zyxpsilon.

Situational ethics is the order of the day for this kind of game brother. If someone stretches his neck out in front of you and you happen to have a sharp knife in hand then you just know he wants you to use it. You should not think of such things as "evil". You should think of them more in the light of "accommodating" and "helping another". Then all will be well in the universe. Trust me! I speak gospel truth here.

I play all three but tend to play Neutral the most. The extra trade bonuses and the instant planet tile access rule. Good is fun because, like you, I'm a good guy. I like to pulverize the wicked in the name of galactic righteousness. Evil is also fun, for me at least, because I get to roleplay as a ruler I would never possibly be. Muwahahahaha!

For game play, evil is the best (if easiest = best) Neural has great advantages but they dont compare to evil's. For good, i guess the bonuses to ship defenses is good but you have to research up 2 different brancehs to get the all.

WIth evil, well nothing compares to the 100% economic bonus you get with the MCC. You also get free invasion tactics and faster production of ships (with the construction of thsoe 2 buildings).

The orbital terraformer takes the plabce of all times being available for neurtal and by late in the game i seldomly have any trade routs left anyway.

Evil for warmongering

Neutral for influence wins

Good for avoiding war and winning through diplomacy

Neutral also for a tech win.

I always make evil choices durring the colonization phase and then pick neutral after all the planets get colonized. I used to play good as a rule but as has been pointed out in many other places, there are no bonuses that matter for being good. The "great defensive techs" are eventually replaced by more effective techs later in the game, and if you get them early, they are too expensive to use. I still don't like playing evil, but I just got tired of being penalized for being good!

Scincerely,

[email protected]

Tactically, CraigHB and HighWater summarize things well, IMO.

If your goal is a strong score for the AltMeta, then you should pick your alignment to suit your primary choice of victory type.

If you want high rank in the official Metaverse, then you have to go evil and wallow in so much micromanagement that a micro-fan like me uses a verb like "wallow" to desscribe you

You do get a defense bonus for researching them, though.

Usually, I'll play either good or neutral, depending on which race I'm playing as (though if I'm trying the Drengin or something, I'll play them as evil, just because it's who they are). I like the Neutrality Learning Centers and free morale bonus for Neutral; I'd align as Good mainly for defensive techs and roleplaying purposes. It's a little different in TA, though, as Altarians get lots of Good-only techs that are relatively powerful.

i go with evil...but i never research the good/evil tech..so then i still have the freedom to chose..cuz good sometimes is btr then the evil, or the evil doesnt give u anything...but besides tht its evil all the way

production bonuses...RULE

EVIL ALL THE WAY!!!!

I usually play evil, but nothing beats the Neutrality Learning Center for Research!!!
One NLC gives 22 Pts of research, compared to 18 for (i think) Discovery Sphere.

BUT, evil gives you SO many options that are simply not available to the other ethical choices. Free invaions, 50% bonus to ship production, 100% economy bonus on 1 planet, Uber Weapons. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Also, Tyranny of Evil is JUST PLAIN FUN!!!

"Line them up and I'll slit their throats till my arm falls off! Then I'll switch hands." Mwa, ha, ha.

I'm not sure i agree with the concept of a peaceful diplomatic victory. Nothing beats a fleet of whoop-ass cans for making alliances. So i'd suggest the military bonuses get you that condition quicker.

Yea, evil rules for military conquest which is the best for Metaverse. Even so, I've posted a few decent scoring Neutral games. Although I still go with military conquest, I like working the influence angle.


You can't really neglect your military rating for any victory goal. There's always some level of diplomacy required. A good military rating makes diplomacy easier more than anything else.

Evil.

That is... if you care about score. If you don't care about score, whatever suits your playstyle and game environment. Forget the military bonuses of evil, its all about the +100% economy bonus that makes evil unbeatable. +50% military production isn't bad either... but for me third on the list is the extra weapons you get access to.

It also depends on version. For me I always thought (and still do) that Neutral was actually a little better in DL than evil, although it was close. With all the changes made to DA, and a weakening of the bonuses for going Neutral in DA, the balance finally firmly tipped to evil if you want to have the easiest game.


If, however, you don't care about score and/or are looking for a slightly harder game, go good. It adds variety.

~ Wyndstar

I usually go good. Lately I've been trying the evil route and it seems like a lot of fun though... I feel the call of the dark side.

Thanks everyone for a most interesting discussion.

My conclusion? NO MORE MR. NICEGUY!!!

I usually play neutral, as it fits both my temperament and my play style. Sometimes I'll play good for a challenge, though.

The GC2 developers have left the good/neutral/evil balance stand through many fixes and upgrades so there must be a reason. I wonder if Brad and company simply see the universe as an Evil place where the end justifies the means, and where Good is Stupid? Or maybe there are balance issues I just don’t understand, or perhaps it is built in to the back story.

The overwhelming opinion is that Evil gives the most of the raw advantages, with neutral as a decent option. Good isn’t even considered unless you want to limit yourself. Players are voting with their feet, and that says a lot. If it is the Only Real Option then it really isn’t an option at all. It is sad really since GC2 is all about viable options.

I’ve also wondered about the bonuses. I can see why Evil gets production bonuses (slaveling, work harder or it’s the agonizer for you!), but why an economy bonus? I usually associate Good with having soft advantages – diplomacy, alliance, and economy. Neutral research and instant terraforming advantages seems OK.

I used to play Good but quickly realized that is not a good option, particularly as I ramp up difficulty levels (currently Painful). Now I force Good races to Neutral, and work to keep Neutral races that way. Perhaps I’ll just have to settle for Neutral, unless I’m playing an Evil race to start with.

Good is in the scrap bin of GC2 history.

Hydro

In DA, I'd say Evil or Neutral are best, depending on your style.

For TA, I think the developers have made Thalans and Altarians much stronger when using the Good alignment. I still have to play a game with the latest version, though.

Evil is easy mode. Play a aggressive good for a bit of a challenge

Oh and if you play on small maps the good 5 free planet maintenance is handy.

That and the tech that will give you the MCC is missing from their tech tree. There went, IMHO, the most important reason to go evil.

The Altarians seem to be missing some of the standard good and neutral techs as well.

That nearly made me reload my game to tell the truth. As the Thalans I was hoping for the MCC to help my econ out. After I picked Evil and saw it wasn't there, I quickly gave out Xeno Ethics to my fellow evil civs in hope they would learn it then I could buy the tech and building before them. No dice on both accounts. So I gacked both Korath and Dregin for their stupidity (the Yor mass-invasion of the map might have also forced my hand for the land-grab).

I sucked it up, made one sick-arse military with the Evil-Thalan techs and now am staring down the Yor as my only opponent left in the game, the map is divided 40:60 (their favor).

~cracks neck & loosens shoulders~ It's throw down time!!!!!

Oh yes, there will be hydrolic fluid...

lol hydraulic fluid... ewwwwwwwww