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[SG7]

The game right now is not a game. It's purely a race to see who can build a colony-killing fleet first. There are no interesting strategic or tactical decisions that lead up to this outcome, it is entirely about claiming as many worlds as possible, which means meticulously ordering probes and outpost ships around, which is boring and caters to the guy willing to sit there and do that.
Once again, I am willing to concede that maybe this game is not for me

That is very simplistic, shallow and ultimately false view of the game. The game is a race for win but not who can build a colony-killing fleet first. Limited resources, limited number of objects which one can build force smart player to optimize his decisions along the path to the victory. Just building a colony-killing fleet will not guarantee you the win. Do you have to use probes? Yes! Should you expand if you can? Yes!
Is that boring? Is working 8 hours per day boring? Is driving the same car for 5 years boring? Is raising your children for 18 years boring? Is having same parents for 50 years boring? It may be… for some people but not for all.

[ChickenHawk07]

That is very simplistic, shallow and ultimately false view of the game. The game is a race for win but not who can build a colony-killing fleet first. Limited resources, limited number of objects which one can build force smart player to optimize his decisions along the path to the victory. Just building a colony-killing fleet will not guarantee you the win. Do you have to use probes? Yes! Should you expand if you can? Yes!
Is that boring? Is working 8 hours per day boring? Is driving the same car for 5 years boring? Is raising your children for 18 years boring? Is having same parents for 50 years boring? It may be… for some people but not for all.

Well said! And true.

[JetJaguar2000]

This is the last statement I'm going to make about the game here:

I think your view of the game is distorted by the amount of time you have put in to it. Like ChickenHawk, you have invented a narrative about how the game plays that is far more nuanced than the game itself.

You are practically making my argument for me. Because of the timed nature of everything you can do in the game, you can more or less plan out your entire strategy before the game even starts. The only variables introduced by the game itself are your initial proximity to resources, which arguably just averages out over the course of a game, and whether you start near one of the other aggressive players. The latter is rendered pretty meaningless too, because of the "winner take all" nature of combat and colony killing. Either you build the bigger fleet and you win, or they do and they win.

I doubt there has been any protracted wars between the "serious" players. I think you guys play with this mentality of avoiding all conflicts you aren't guaranteed to win, on the basis of "mutually assured destruction." I think you would argue that there isn't actually anything worth fighting for in the game; the trick, as Raven posted all those weeks ago, is to just claim as much space as possible without pissing any other "serious" players off. The clueless chaff, like myself, you can just steamroll in to oblivion. I know that I have evidently wasted time in pointless battles when I should have just been looking for more empty systems.

Anyways, again, I concede that this game might not be for me. The experience is so homogenous that it becomes frankly boring. There are not enough interesting variables. It's like playing a spreadsheet. I think you will find that most players will come to the same conclusions. We're one month in, and the game has already been "min/maxed" by you and a handful of others. I really think most people are not interested in playing like that, but time will tell.