-1Kt Germ NOT ticked[ 31 votes ]
1.	Never	9 / 29%
2.	Only if I know I will have high Germ MC	0 / 0%
3.	Maybe/Sometimes	8 / 26%
4.	Sure, why not	6 / 19%
5.	Never	2 / 6%
6.	Only if I know I will have high Germ MC	0 / 0%
7.	Maybe/Sometimes	3 / 10%
8.	Sure, why not	3 / 10%

If your race is not -F & you don't know you will be allied to an AR or a -F when would you leave the -1Kt Germ per factory box empty?

I would be particularly interested in the views of experienced players (played 5 or more games & have finished in the top quartile in at least one).

Could players who fit that description please use the top 4 options. Other players can vote using the bottom 4 options.

It might actually be interesting to see how experienced & less experienced players opinions differ.

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I consider 4g factories often viable... But only as long as I am carefull to invest wisely on my mining instead:

The 3g (-1g) checkbox is a very similar cost to upping mine efficiency by 1 point. Upping mine efficiency from 10 to 11 means you'll get 10% more of every mineral, at every stage of the game, all else being equal (same worlds, same number of mines built etc.)

IF you expect the game to run fairly long AND if you don't predict an early-mid game germ crunch, then this will be better - short term it means more iron and boranium, long term it means similar or more germ. I think I've got posts in another thread somewhere here with some actual numbers on that, but I'm not going to hunt for it now

The upshot, is that if you do expect an early-mid germ crunch, or for the game not to run long (ending say, before 2480 (plucking a number out of a hat there, just a ballpark figure)) then taking the 3g facs is a nice way to improve your germ availability in the early game, at the cost of having less of the other minerals compared to a similar points spend in mine efficiency.

I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that I find it logical to treat the 3g checkbox as part of my races' mining characteristics rather than as part of their factory settings. And I think nubians will thank you more for mine efficiency than for 3g facs, but your battleships would've been happier if you'd taken 3g facs (but your *missile* battleships LOVE mine efficiency, since IRON is the limit)

[Updated on: Sun, 11 November 2007 21:24]

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Altruist wrote on Sun, 11 November 2007 20:11

*grin The poll would had been a lot easier with the question "Do you check the G box...".

In retrospect, you're right!

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OK - let's put this into a little simple mathematical perspective:

Using 20 factories per 10,000 colonists, you will build 2000 factories on a 100% green world with 1 million colonists. Checking the g box means you save 2000kt of germ for that planet. Now, unless you are using OBRM, remote mining can easily make up that difference. Even with OBRM, you can pick that much scrap up in space by shooting down some enemy fleets

Given the dynamics with all things considered however, I would be more likely to select 1kt less when using OBRM. Never if using ARM and generally wouldn't bother even if using standard remote mining. Besides, using that 57 points to click the mining efficiency up that 1st click from 10 to 11 will make up part of the difference and benefit boranium and iron production as well.

Ptolemy

[Updated on: Mon, 12 November 2007 13:49]

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Hi!
For me the breakpoint is about 1300 factories per 100% planet. Above that I usually check it, below that I don't. If I already have +3 mine eff or more, I also don't check it, but rather take another + to mine eff. However those settings are for games where I expect to get Nubians, since they eat germ like pop-corn.

BR, Iztok

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