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ComradeRob · 15 Dec 2006, 14:35

Mil scans are far more powerful now than they were in round 9.

Reasons:

1) The combat engine is a lot simpler now. In round 9, a Xan could build mostly FI and, due to Sentinels having T3-all, they could be able to defend against any incoming with a large enough Sentinel fleet. Now, Xans have to build FR and DE, which means that the old '3 fleets of FI' trick doesn't work. This is a somewhat subtle example; the main point being that Xans can't fake easily as it is, and mil scans make it less rewarding.

2) Mil scans favour active, well-connected players. Fleet analysis scans are personal, they're down to your own ability to do something. Mil scans are about knowing people, possibly people you can phone in the middle of the night, to do mil scans for you. This is an advantage almost exclusive to the elite and completely unavailable to the average player.

3) Mil scans further favour the elite by removing the disincentive to build finance centres. FCs only work for players who can hold a roid count of >800 (I think); that is, they are only cost-effective for such players. Smaller players don't need to care about FCs because they would never pay off for them; instead they build other useful things, like amps. Mil scans make it possible for an elite player to build the maximum 60 FCs without ever having to worry about getting unscannable incoming - because the alliance scanner(s) can do their scans for them. In past rounds, people who went for 60 FCs were always vulnerable to attacks from players with a decent number of distorters. Now they are much less vulnerable. (and don't get me started on how bad FCs are, causing, as they do, an increase in the amount of resources without an equivalent increase in the number of roids).

A brief couple of examples: in round 14, as a top 10 planet in the #2 galaxy and the winning alliance, I was still roided in the final week or so by a Terran with a significant number of distorters. He (and a friend) repeatedly attacked me with fleets which might have been either DE or BS; having no way of knowing which, my defence became very inefficient and ultimately he was able to roid me. This, of course, was my karmic payback for having done the exact same thing to eXilition and LCH when they were the winning alliances in r13. Mil scans make such attacks much more difficult, because they require the attacker to commit at least two fleets to the fake, and they reveal the possibility of the fake much more readily.

The point: mil scans favour those who have good scanning resources and available defence fleets - in other words, the people who are probably already winning. They remove the one last way in which a losing side can land a blow on the winning side.

4) Scans are easier to pay for now. In past (pre-PAX) rounds, scans/amps used lots of eonium, which was always in short supply. Now, scans use equal M/C/E and scans can be paid for from the alliance fund. Of course, that advantage is only available to those in an alliance which has a fund with anything in it.

I can't see any real positive benefit of mil scans, except for their necessity in dealing with the new Xan cloaking, itself an experimental feature which has not demonstrated any real benefit to the game.

15 Dec 2006, 14:35	#17
ComradeRob wasted Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Under the floorboards Posts: 1,240	Re: Will milscans be in next round? Mil scans are far more powerful now than they were in round 9. Reasons: 1) The combat engine is a lot simpler now. In round 9, a Xan could build mostly FI and, due to Sentinels having T3-all, they could be able to defend against any incoming with a large enough Sentinel fleet. Now, Xans have to build FR and DE, which means that the old '3 fleets of FI' trick doesn't work. This is a somewhat subtle example; the main point being that Xans can't fake easily as it is, and mil scans make it less rewarding. 2) Mil scans favour active, well-connected players. Fleet analysis scans are personal, they're down to your own ability to do something. Mil scans are about knowing people, possibly people you can phone in the middle of the night, to do mil scans for you. This is an advantage almost exclusive to the elite and completely unavailable to the average player. 3) Mil scans further favour the elite by removing the disincentive to build finance centres. FCs only work for players who can hold a roid count of >800 (I think); that is, they are only cost-effective for such players. Smaller players don't need to care about FCs because they would never pay off for them; instead they build other useful things, like amps. Mil scans make it possible for an elite player to build the maximum 60 FCs without ever having to worry about getting unscannable incoming - because the alliance scanner(s) can do their scans for them. In past rounds, people who went for 60 FCs were always vulnerable to attacks from players with a decent number of distorters. Now they are much less vulnerable. (and don't get me started on how bad FCs are, causing, as they do, an increase in the amount of resources without an equivalent increase in the number of roids). A brief couple of examples: in round 14, as a top 10 planet in the #2 galaxy and the winning alliance, I was still roided in the final week or so by a Terran with a significant number of distorters. He (and a friend) repeatedly attacked me with fleets which might have been either DE or BS; having no way of knowing which, my defence became very inefficient and ultimately he was able to roid me. This, of course, was my karmic payback for having done the exact same thing to eXilition and LCH when they were the winning alliances in r13. Mil scans make such attacks much more difficult, because they require the attacker to commit at least two fleets to the fake, and they reveal the possibility of the fake much more readily. The point: mil scans favour those who have good scanning resources and available defence fleets - in other words, the people who are probably already winning. They remove the one last way in which a losing side can land a blow on the winning side. 4) Scans are easier to pay for now. In past (pre-PAX) rounds, scans/amps used lots of eonium, which was always in short supply. Now, scans use equal M/C/E and scans can be paid for from the alliance fund. Of course, that advantage is only available to those in an alliance which has a fund with anything in it. I can't see any real positive benefit of mil scans, except for their necessity in dealing with the new Xan cloaking, itself an experimental feature which has not demonstrated any real benefit to the game. __________________ “They were totally confused,” said the birdman, whose flying suit gives him a passing resemblance to Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. “The authorities said that I was an unregistered aircraft and to fly, you need a licence. I told them, ‘No. To fly, you need wings’.”