Curious about change to flat rate

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darbycmcd
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Curious about change to flat rate

Post by darbycmcd »

So, I think one of the biggest changes from 1E is going to flat rate increase cost (50 points it seems) from the increasing cost model (10* new value). this is pretty big change, and i was sort of curious why.... it does make intensive development more attractive, which makes a turtle strategy more viable, but it makes the early game slower... just curious
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Tyrel Lohr
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Re: Curious about change to flat rate

Post by Tyrel Lohr »

This is actually a change back to pre-1E (0.5E?) costing. When the rules were still Crossroads to Empire, Jay had the Productivity costs all at a flat 50 EP to purchase. This was changed to the more familiar 10 x Stat cost at some point before the game changed names and was released. I can't remember what prompted the change at that point, other than to make it easier for players to build up small colonies.

The 50 EP cost is about the average of the old 10x system, with the true average at a 10 Capacity system being closer to ~55 EP, if I remember the math. That means the change is essentially the same over the life of a high Capacity system, but more expensive on the low end.

As you mentioned, under 1E it was more economically efficient to build a large number of small colonies, increasing their Census to 3 so that they would be supply points and have just enough economic output to be viable for construction or repairs. This held true for prior 2E drafts, too, and there was rarely any reason to build up a colony any higher than that unless it was very resource rich.
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