The Complete Interview - Jwest

Here is the complete interview (as seen in the Planets Newsletter), this month we talked to Jwest - Enjoy!

PN: Tell us a little about yourself.

J: Software Engineer - Java/C++/Python/JavaScript/Ruby 

PN: When did you first start playing?

J: Fall....1993.

PN: What's your favorite race and why?

J: Favorites: 

Birds - Advance cloaking is a lot of fun. The only race that can decloak your ships are the Fascists.
Fascists: Lots of options: 10x ground attack, amorph planets can always be cleaned out.
Colonies: Never short on fuel and you're not slowed by normal minefields. 

Least Favorites: 

Evil Empire: (Though some of the recent campaign enhancements make them look interesting) 
Rebels....
Robots: Always significantly short on fuel. Never enough minerals to build all the big ships you want 
and too much worrying about those nasty pirates. 

PN: What do you build on first three turns with them (or your general opening strategy)?

J: In general, I build up my productive capacity and scout planets. I build lots of mines and factories on my homeworld. I make sure my taxes are set to maximize output and growth. Then build a LDSF in the first 3 turns as well as a small warship (depends on the race).

PN: How many games do you play at the same time?

J: At one point I found myself with 8 games (22 turns/week) ...too many. Now it's two or three games, no more than 8 turns per week. 

PN: What types of games do you like playing most?

J: Classic.

PN: What's your most memorable game, and what made it so interesting? (link or id number)

J: http://play.planets.nu/#/sector/80058 Played with my son. Came back to capture victory after defeat looked inevitable (the leading team dropped)

http://play.planets.nu/#/sector/49553 Defeated a Lizard/Colony combo. Took a lot of diplomacy and a lot of risks that paid off.

PN: Name a memorable friend and/or a memorable foe, and what made them stand out.

J: jomii (friend): Fought against him in one game. Partnered with him in a latter game. He's a good player, so I'd rather work with him than against him. 

ryndium (friend): Partnered with him in my first game on planets.nu. Ended up battling him for part of a latter game. Another good player and I'd rather work with him than against him.

PN: Give an example of excellent tactics you've used or seen (w/ details so readers can view it, if possible).

J: Towing.  Its a very powerful tool that can be overlook.  Having a cloaker tow away a ship from a starbase is fun when you can do it, but not fun to receive. As a the Privateer I learned to have my Merlins on constant Rob missions.  It took my Lizard opponent 3 times to learn he could do that to me (after he did it to me once).

PN: What do you think is the most important skill for a Planets player to succeed?

J: Diplomacy/negotiation/communication.  I've played in at least one game where I did poorly because of poor diplomacy.  I've been in a few games where someone else started out strong and finished poorly because they over played their hand and didn't work well with other players.

PN: Describe the process you use to make a turn.

J: Early Game/Mid game

   1- check each star-base and make sure its not under threat.  Figure out the resources it needs to start being productive (producing useful ships).  Figure out what to build

   2- check each planet:  Factories/Mines/Taxes.  Does it need more colonists?  from where

   3- check each ship:  (Firecloads & jump ships, check those FC's).  If it doesn't have a mission from step 1/2, have it do something useful

After ship limit is reached  (At this point, most planets should be on auto-pilot)

    1- Where's the build queue?  Which of my starbases are next in line to build (don't want to miss a free build)

    2- Have my priority builds in place

PN: What is your favorite thing about Planets Nu?

J: The other players.  You meet a lot of interesting people from other places.

Thank you to Jwest for sharing his expertise and experiences with us!