Show Media Item - The Complete Interview - Strangelove007The Complete Interview - Strangelove007
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Here is the complete interview as seen in the Planets Newsletter - Enjoy!
PN: Tell us a little about yourself.
S: I am a journalist in the mid-30s from Europe.
S: I started playing in the 90s with friends in high-school. As a member of the student newspaper, I had everyday access to a school computer, on which I installed the host program. We brought our turn files on floppy disks and ran the host every school day. Diplomacy was conducted in person on the schoolyard and by landline telephone while playing our turns at home.
PN: What's your favorite race and why?
S: Empire and Privateers because they are not easy to play. I like the challenge. The combination of strengths and weaknesses requires a sophisticated strategy.
PN: What do you build on first three turns with them (or your general opening strategy)?
S: My general opening strategy could be described as intelligence-led development. I use the MDSF to explore/colonize nearby planets and I build two fast ships (either PL21 Probes or MCBRs) to explore/colonize farther planets in both directions (assuming a circular distribution of homeworlds). In turn three, I usually build the first LDSF. By the time it is built, I have enough intelligence for targeted development of specific planets.
Other than in my earlier games, where I just distributed clans and supplies somewhat evenly on the planets around me, I select the most useful planets and bring everything that is needed to develop them fast. A good mining planet gets the clans, supplies and MCs to build 200 mines immediately or very fast. A planet with good tax-paying natives gets many clans for tax-collection. A planet suitable for another starbase gets the necessary resources to build that starbase fast. If my fast ships discover my neighbours, I need to decide if I want to trade and cooperate with them or rather go to war. So as soon as I have intel, further steps depend on it and there is no more general opening strategy. In one game that even meant that I brought lots of supplies to a Bovinoid planet.
I know, it sounds odd to bring supplies to Bovinoids that make them, but it made perfect sense. It was a desert planet that could not sustain as many colonists as were necessary to collect the maximum amount of supplies from the Bovinoids. It would have been possible to bring a smaller number of colonists and wait until they collect enough supplies to sustain more colonists, but bringing supplies to sustain more colonists from the start allowed a faster development.
PN: How many games do you play at the same time?
S: Usually only one game at a time.
PN: What types of games do you like playing most?
S: I mostly play 11-player campaign games with the possibility to form an alliance. I like the variation that comes with the campaign upgrades and the diplomacy that comes with negotiating alliances.I also enjoyed a game called Paranoia (http://planets.nu/#/sector/136394) hosted by SMN (http://planets.nu/#/account/smn) very much. It was a custom design where each player had a secret mission to kill a specific other player. This evolved into very interesting diplomacy and intel-gathering.
PN: What's your most memorable game, and what made it so interesting?
S: There have been many memorable games, but I would like to point out Chort Sector (http://planets.nu/#/sector/80408).The Rebel was in the lead in this game, but I (playing EE) managed to form a big Anti-Rebel coalition, isolating the Rebel-Bird alliance.
PN: Tell us a little about yourself.
S: I am a journalist in the mid-30s from Europe.
PN: When did you first start playing?
S: I started playing in the 90s with friends in high-school. As a member of the student newspaper, I had everyday access to a school computer, on which I installed the host program. We brought our turn files on floppy disks and ran the host every school day. Diplomacy was conducted in person on the schoolyard and by landline telephone while playing our turns at home.
PN: What's your favorite race and why?
S: Empire and Privateers because they are not easy to play. I like the challenge. The combination of strengths and weaknesses requires a sophisticated strategy.
PN: What do you build on first three turns with them (or your general opening strategy)?
S: My general opening strategy could be described as intelligence-led development. I use the MDSF to explore/colonize nearby planets and I build two fast ships (either PL21 Probes or MCBRs) to explore/colonize farther planets in both directions (assuming a circular distribution of homeworlds). In turn three, I usually build the first LDSF. By the time it is built, I have enough intelligence for targeted development of specific planets.
Other than in my earlier games, where I just distributed clans and supplies somewhat evenly on the planets around me, I select the most useful planets and bring everything that is needed to develop them fast. A good mining planet gets the clans, supplies and MCs to build 200 mines immediately or very fast. A planet with good tax-paying natives gets many clans for tax-collection. A planet suitable for another starbase gets the necessary resources to build that starbase fast. If my fast ships discover my neighbours, I need to decide if I want to trade and cooperate with them or rather go to war. So as soon as I have intel, further steps depend on it and there is no more general opening strategy. In one game that even meant that I brought lots of supplies to a Bovinoid planet.
I know, it sounds odd to bring supplies to Bovinoids that make them, but it made perfect sense. It was a desert planet that could not sustain as many colonists as were necessary to collect the maximum amount of supplies from the Bovinoids. It would have been possible to bring a smaller number of colonists and wait until they collect enough supplies to sustain more colonists, but bringing supplies to sustain more colonists from the start allowed a faster development.
PN: How many games do you play at the same time?
S: Usually only one game at a time.
PN: What types of games do you like playing most?
S: I mostly play 11-player campaign games with the possibility to form an alliance. I like the variation that comes with the campaign upgrades and the diplomacy that comes with negotiating alliances.I also enjoyed a game called Paranoia (http://planets.nu/#/sector/136394) hosted by SMN (http://planets.nu/#/account/smn) very much. It was a custom design where each player had a secret mission to kill a specific other player. This evolved into very interesting diplomacy and intel-gathering.
PN: What's your most memorable game, and what made it so interesting?
S: There have been many memorable games, but I would like to point out Chort Sector (http://planets.nu/#/sector/80408).The Rebel was in the lead in this game, but I (playing EE) managed to form a big Anti-Rebel coalition, isolating the Rebel-Bird alliance.
I was especially impressed by the Privateer Mas Se Perdio En Cuba (http://planets.nu/#/account/mas+se+perdio+en+cuba), who lost his homeworld to the Rebels (a point where many players resign) and decided to engage in guerrilla warfare against the Rebels until the end of the game. In spite of his weakness, he became a strong pillar in the Anti-Rebel coalition.
PN: Name a memorable friend and/or a memorable foe, and what made them stand out.
S: I had many excellent allies and I feel a bit bad singling out only one. But I think it’s fair to say that I had the steepest learning curve in a game where I made an alliance with Mentar (http://planets.nu/#/account/mentar). He mentored me a lot. For example, he advised me to change my economic development approach to a more targeted and intelligence-led strategy.
PN: Give an example of excellent tactics you've used or seen (w/ details so readers can view it, if possible).
S: I would like to pick something from Chort Sector turn 57 (http://planets.nu/#/sector/80408). I detonated four glory devices in the same place and thereby severely damaged seven Rebel Rushes. My Gorbie had enough supplies to instantly repair the damage and then kill the seven damaged Rushes. That tactic was excellent with regard to priority points, which is very important in high-level games. I also enjoyed other tactics where I blew up planets and caught several ships in the planetary explosion or the debris disk, but that does not get you any priority points, which is a very important downside of the destroy planet function.
PN: What do you think is the most important skill for a Planets player to succeed?
S: It is a complex game that requires many skills. But if I had to pick one, I would say that diplomacy is the most important one. If you manage to form a good coalition of several players, you can even defeat a much stronger player.
PN: Describe the process you use to make a turn.
S:
PN: What is your favorite thing about Panets Nu?
S: It is the interesting diplomacy in a complex environment with limited information about what is going on.
PN: Is there anything else you would like to add?
S: I would like to thank Tim, Joshua, the Planets Nu Team, and all the players!
PN: Name a memorable friend and/or a memorable foe, and what made them stand out.
S: I had many excellent allies and I feel a bit bad singling out only one. But I think it’s fair to say that I had the steepest learning curve in a game where I made an alliance with Mentar (http://planets.nu/#/account/mentar). He mentored me a lot. For example, he advised me to change my economic development approach to a more targeted and intelligence-led strategy.
A memorable foe certainly was Codol (http://planets.nu/#/account/codol). He played the Privateers and had the mission to kill me (playing EE) in the Paranoia game, and he almost succeeded - almost.
PN: Give an example of excellent tactics you've used or seen (w/ details so readers can view it, if possible).
S: I would like to pick something from Chort Sector turn 57 (http://planets.nu/#/sector/80408). I detonated four glory devices in the same place and thereby severely damaged seven Rebel Rushes. My Gorbie had enough supplies to instantly repair the damage and then kill the seven damaged Rushes. That tactic was excellent with regard to priority points, which is very important in high-level games. I also enjoyed other tactics where I blew up planets and caught several ships in the planetary explosion or the debris disk, but that does not get you any priority points, which is a very important downside of the destroy planet function.
PN: What do you think is the most important skill for a Planets player to succeed?
S: It is a complex game that requires many skills. But if I had to pick one, I would say that diplomacy is the most important one. If you manage to form a good coalition of several players, you can even defeat a much stronger player.
PN: Describe the process you use to make a turn.
S:
A) Checking the news: VCRs, reports, map, scoreboard.
B) Communication: with ambassadors this can happen at any point during a turn – also several times.
C) Planning: also this is not strictly in the order of playing one turn, as many plans cover several turns. If everything proceeds as planned, I go straight to executing the next steps, otherwise the plan may need to be changed.
D) Execute plans that do not require (further) coordination with other players.
E) Wait for messages and then execute those plans that require coordination.
PN: What is your favorite thing about Panets Nu?
S: It is the interesting diplomacy in a complex environment with limited information about what is going on.
PN: Is there anything else you would like to add?
S: I would like to thank Tim, Joshua, the Planets Nu Team, and all the players!
Thank you to Strangelove007!
You can view Strangelove007's profile here.