Show Media Item - The Complete Interview - GreywolfThe Complete Interview - Greywolf
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Here is the complete interview as seen in the Planets Newsletter - Enjoy!
PN: Tell us a little about yourself.
G: I am heading towards 50 and recently left the intense global career in order to spend time with my wife and 3 young children. I am now on a number of company boards, part time executive for several companies, own a custom software development for corporates business, do some consulting and have 5 innovative start ups. I like being pretty busy on cool things and spending time with the family. I have played numerous games, but planets.nu has been my only game for a while now.
PN: When did you first start playing?
G: I started in the early 90's while at university with the floppy disks and I used to host the games.
PN: What's your favorite race and why?
G: My favourite race is the Borg. Basically, I prefer raw power, agility and the supply chain capability of the Borg. However, I typically play The Empire due to it being so hard to win. It pushes my strategic thinking considering options 4-6 months in advance.
PN: What do you build on first three turns with them (or your general opening strategy)?
G: To all the beginners out there, the first 30 turns are all about strategic land grab. What ships you choose completely depends on the distribution of the variables and cannot be defined in a question like this. It is important to grab enough land, but not too much. You must only have one enemy at the start. Overstretch in any direction too far and you irritate another neighbor. You want that neighbor irritated by someone else and of course you are happy to help them out with the result being social indebtedness.
PN: How many games do you play at the same time?
G: I like to play 2 games at once. My family and work come first and more than 2 at the intensity I play would not be possible as I don't like to lose. I like to play a high level game on my own and also a fixed team game with one of my .nu friends.
PN: What types of games do you like playing most?
G: (Not answered)
PN: What's your most memorable game, and what made it so interesting?
G: http://play.planets.nu/#/sector/160681 The Empire on a long roll tumbling reasonable player after player. Turn 51 - Charging a Gorbie through a small borg minefield to hit the destination of a damaged firecloud. I was hoping to hit a fleet chunneling in and did so. One Gorbie killed off 5 fireclouds and 6 Annihilation's before it ran out of fighters and was eventually taken down. It was a glorious battle.
PN: Name a memorable friend and/or a memorable foe, and what made them stand out.
G: It is a recent war actually against Admiral Thrain. His initial attack caught me off guard, but his excellent use of all tools available meant that the entire front was a horrible endless back and forth filled with detail. If I was not so passionate about winning I would have succumbed to battle fatigue. What made it stand out was I was expecting an easy win, but turned out more like the following Black Adder clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZT-wVnFn60.
Many memorable allies (Manzikert, Ho Chi Min) and enemy (Space Pig). Too many really to name just 3.
PN: Give an example of excellent tactics you've used or seen (w/ details so readers can view it, if possible).
G: I will mention 2 favourite out of the box tactics, the rest I will keep for now.
1) Bait the pirate. Set up a Gorbie to be taken (In a war zone, remain stationary one turn in open space, hit a suspect planet etc), ensure plenty of sweeping around and in the turn you expected the Gorbie to be taken intercept the carrier with a glory on TRG. (http://play.planets.nu/#/sector/119050 - Turn 123 wasn't a great execution, but the fascist ally took out 7 MBR's at the robbing point and I got my Gorbie back taken on the previous turn. Use this tactic to recapture stolen carriers (large fuel tanks) or take out a swarm of MBR's.
PN: What do you think is the most important skill for a Planets player to succeed?
G: a) Intimate knowledge of the host order and queue. b) Diplomacy 3) Optimization. After the ship limit, make sure you have in the build queue a HP, TW, 10 bay carrier on every planet and your chances are much improved.
PN: Describe the process you use to make a turn.
G: VCR's, quick scan of the minefield pattern, read all messages (except the 2000 mine scanning), detailed review of ship positions and then wait. After 24 hours and numerous times of your mind going into Alpha state (Driving, shower, toilet stop etc) and contemplation of the effect on the long term strategy and objectives you start moving ships, run scripts and manually do all the planets not yet at the long tail.
PN: What is your favorite thing about Panets Nu?
G: Lots. Multi platform interface, Multi year complex puzzle to contemplate and the people. It is excellent for brain health.
PN: Is there anything else you would like to add?
G: Scripts - Use the planetary management (custom builds are required) add in to remove the grind (long tail planets). It still is a little buggy where natives have extremely high taxes. I have 7 scripts running and I would love one more. I would love to know the history of movement of enemy ships to understand the enemies patterns without recording detail.
Thank you to Greywolf!
You can view Greywolf's profile here.