Discussion turns 2121 to 2130

Hercules · July 19, 2003, 18:58

Discussion on turn 2121

johndmuller · July 19, 2003, 20:43

I'm putting the tail end of this chaart into this thread as a reference, not under a delusion that you will really want to use it, but in case you do, this will save you a little trouble.

[Code]Comprehensive Transport Routing, Labor, Terraforming and Base Production Schedules

Code:

Year.....Transport Itinery.....Bases......Builds.......Notes (Net)Prod/PrevTot Mins & Nuts *=ComingNextTurn 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2120.......TPort at Boot.......Tripoli....SeaColony....Working (54,66) & (55,69)  +8/28 Mins +3/21 Nuts
....'Rita Seaformer->(56,68)...'Rita......SeaProbe.....Working (55,61) & (59,65)  +6/13 Mins +2/7 Nuts
...............(via (61,69))...Liar's.....SeaProbe.....Working (46,64) & (48,68)  +5/6 Mins +3/21 Nuts
...............................SeaLurk....TPort........Working (57,57)            +5/10 Mins +2/4 Nuts
...............................Boot.......CmdCenter....Working (42,66)            +1/40* Mins +3/3 Nuts

2121.......TPort at Boot.......Tripoli....SeaColony....Working (54,66) & (55,69)  +10/36 Mins +3/24 Nuts
....'Rita Seaformer->(56,68)...'Rita......SeaProbe.....Working (55,61) & (59,65)  +6+31R/19* Mins +2/9 Nuts
...............................Liar's.....SeaProbe.....Working (46,64) & (48,68)  +5/11 Mins +4/24 Nuts
...............................SeaLurk....TPort........Working (57,57)            +5(+15R?)/15 Mins +2/6 Nuts
...............................Boot.......Scout........Working (42,66)            +1(+8R?)/1* Mins +3/6 Nuts

(Last Revised 7/19/2003)

I'm not sure it is the absolute truth, given that I accidentally ended the last turn before checking out all the details (I may update it to reflect reality when the turn comes around again). Whether you like this format or not, some such presentation showing what is going on and what is planned would IMhO be helpful to those of us who are mainly spectators. Maki and I explored some excel possibilities earlier which could be a little more automatic, but it seemed to be a potential black hole for additional effort and I could see myself getting too compulsive and shied away before I wasted too much time on the Great Chironian Spreadsheet or moved on to a database structure to allow for even more compulsive stuff.

As far as pending decisions go, there will be the new build at Boot, which I thought would be a Scout (after which the BootyBoat could be used for something) and the question of whether to rush 'Rita's PartyBoat, which I was dragging my feet on, but which Cap'n Flubber was very interested in doing (I think I stalled it to a somewhat more reasonable cost level, but I wouldn't complain if you waited another turn). You might want to rush the BootyBoat at Sealurk too.

The SeaFormer you moved last turn is on its way to terraform the Nut Special near Tripoli and we probably need to build another one up north for 'Rita and more particularly for developing the sea specials at Sealurk. Other terraforming plans were generally to plant forests on land and maybe a few sensors in key spots (like in the forest being planted on Boot's nut special where it can protect both Boot and Liar's).

I was imagining that we would build a RecCommon at Tripoli soon so as to be able to produce from all the nice tiles thar are available there, perhaps right after the Sea Colony, but maybe there are better things to do. 'Rita also will soon have 3 or 4 tiles worth producing and could benefit from a RecComm,

We should accept the Pact with the Borg this turn or our credibility may suffer; I don't know if our economy is large enough to get any trade benefits, but eventually it will be and being able to poke around in their bases will give our leisure class something useful to do.

The warships on the East are both heavily wounded and IMhO should be rested until the damage gets down to 20%, which I believe is the best we can do outside of a base. I believe that they will currently get about even odds against a freshly popped IoD given their morale and 20% damage. When we pact with the Borg, it might be worthwhile visiting one of their ports, if one is convenient, to get back to 100% (and to give the crews some shore leave). Whenever they are ready to sail on, their missions were to explore the NE and SE (one of them should presumably first complete the exploration of the far side of the Borg). The Borg seem to have expanded SW across the channel that the gunship Farragut went through on our SE. They may or may not know about the Believers and they may or may not be connected to them down there or somewhere else - I didn't consciously check whether or not they had Miriam's commlinks, but I didn't happen to see that they did either, so maybe they have already met.

The Schooners on the west are doing the same sort of thing on their side of the world; I had imagined the more northern one to be headed NW and the southern one to be responsible for checking out the backside of Boot (particularly to see if it is an uninhabited island or the tip of an inhabited continent), but it could just as easily be the other way around.

There will soon be the matter of where to send the PartyBoats.

When the one at Liar's is done, it might be time to build another land colony to plant on one of those small islands north and northwest of Liars (I think I marked one or 2 spots on the map, but they might have been proposed sea colonies) or somewhere else.

Well, I think that I have unburdened myself of any lingering plans and info which may have been lying around. Feel free to accept or discard any of this advise; I promise not to back seat drive or second guess you (much)

one way or the other.

Hercules · July 20, 2003, 06:10

The idea was that agreed matters would be placed in the Turn year thread. And the discussion on changes or additions be held here.

But your chart above which I am not going to try to continue in that format is helpful.

Hercules · July 20, 2003, 19:30

Turn 2121 mid way report.

Sealurk: look at transfer of worker (for 1/2 turn) to nut tile to speed up growth.
Henry Morgan's Boot: a) where do the formers go next and what do they build,
b) it was to be a scout, but should we look at a rover or should it be scout than colony(see jungle discovery), c) should it be network in the queue in case pod (in the NW) accelerates production.

I presume the formers from Tripoli, move to next tile ( mine) and do what ? road first or mine ?

It would be useful to have some discussion about when we start to build a SP. Tripoli would seem the prime base. Should we wait to build/ rush Rec Comms( to allow for extra worker/ no drone or start asap.

And which SP. I suppose it doesn't matter at this stage as we can always change.

I suppose we need some polls along the way.

Hercules · July 20, 2003, 19:42

It would be good if Maki could produce a new Shipping news edition. This would hint at (wrongly) dissension in the ranks. It would cover Calico Hercules taking over from Cuspidore BB in a supposedly rankerous (but not divisive tiff). Perhaps misleadingly about policy on treaty with Miriam. (Still seen from a future perspective, not disclosing we have already met).

We might mention more on the Pirate cruise trips/ party boats.

And also another sea food recipe.

johndmuller · July 20, 2003, 20:31

You are sea terraforming the wrong tile at (58,70); it was supposed to be (56,68), so that we could get high nuts and high mins both at Tripoli while we are only 2 workers. It went the long way in order to do a little more exploring since it was going to take 2 turns for the trip either way due to fungus on the shorter route. Oh well, we will need that tile developed anyway, but please seriously consider the kelp/solar at (56,68) next.

SeaLurk worker: Remember that we need drone control for the next worker, so if you let it grow before we have a Scout or RecComm there, it will only be a (food consuming) doctor, so I would try to synchronize the pop growth with the drone control. I think I had imagined a Former in there somewhere too, perhaps before the scout (that was, I imagine the reason, if I had any, for picking the mins over the nuts), but there is no particular need to terraform both the land and sea while only having 1 or two workers, so the bigger picture (particularly the extent of ICSing) is probably a determinent of whether you want a former before a scout and whatever else we want to build there. (Don't forget that you have currently set it to be a Doctor.)

BootFormers: I figured a Sensor on that tile they just forrested (42,66) and another forest on one of those flat river tiles, then . . . whatever seems appropriate by then. After the sensor, you might want to take one of them somewhere else, like the islet including the proposed base site at (46,58) or the islets further Northwest, to coordinate with a Colony Pod built next at Liar's. (Of course, the situation in the Jungle may impact what we settle next.)

Boot Build: I still like the Scout first for drone control in particular, but also for security. I would still go with the Rover next (unless we meanwhile get Applied Physics from the Borg and want to prototype a laser dude), as I think that the jungle will prove to be inhabited by another faction (the ones who popped the solar pod), and that their landmass will likely also be contiguous with HM's Boot territory, thus making a little more military useful.

Boot's temporary Build during pod pop: Definitely put something good in there for the pod pop; a Pressure Dome is IMhO, a viable candidate also, as well as SeaFormers and a RecComm. If the notion of getting Applied Physics from the Borg is appealing, you could wait before popping that pod.

Tripoli's Land Former: I would be prone to to go with a Forest (plus Sensor) on the min special at (54,70) instead of a Mine (plus Farm) as it is much quicker than a Mine+Farm and gets an extra energy (instead of the extra nut).

Tripolil SP: Would definitely be in favor of a RecComm first and probably a NetNode too - we have cash to partly rush them if speed is the issue. In general, I am not too hopeful of getting many SP's with the Drones in the mix, at least not any that are contested, so I would be hesitant to tie up our most productive base on what may be a lengthy and uncertain quest.

Makahlua · July 21, 2003, 01:46

I'll defer to Cap'n BB on any terraforming issues; I know I'm no expert there!

Sealurk: how about some of both? put the current one on the mins, build the reccom in 7, then start a cp - it should grow before the cp is ready and won't riot when it does

Elsewhere I'm all for reccooms first as to lose energy etal to drones as little as possible. The only SP I can think we might badly need is the HGP perhaps, but we don't ahve that tech yet so... *shrug*

Re : the SHipNews - and is our pact to the Borg public or secret? Had a great RP session today so I'm just in a writing mood, lucky you ^_^

Hercules · July 21, 2003, 10:18

Actioned almost all of what Cusp BB suggested.

After we build the Sea colony pod at Tripoli and a rec com there, we would be in fine postition to start an SP 20 turns for thw WP and 30 for VW. Our Min production when we would start would be at the same if not higher and then get better as the turns progress.

The Drones have started construction of the Merchant's exchange?

Are those solar collecters in the jungle, really the rsult of a pod pop? I don't see a faction boundary?

I don't think we should make our Pact with the Borgs public knowledge and I don't think other players can detect the situation yet through the faction profile.

But I don't see any harm with a bit of mischief in misleading people about our meeting with Miriam. We can decide to say if it was a friendly or brutal encounter

Hercules · July 21, 2003, 14:14

There might also be scope for mentioning a 'round the planet ' Peace mission with our party boats heh heh. A kind of like the Tall (spy) Ships. Suitably disguising our intention of course but defintely ambiguous.

Also we could announce the first planet pirate sloop competition: The Admirables Cup. Invite teams from across the planet. Specify conditions for entry and size of craft.

This might stimulate other factions to design, not only boats but other RP competitions for example Formula1, The World Cup squads and fantasy teams etc. It might liven up the forums a bit.

foolish_icarus · July 21, 2003, 16:24

aye

johndmuller · July 21, 2003, 17:42

The race sounds interesting, perhaps we could get other factions to ante up some Pieces of Eight somehow, betting on the outcome maybe (assuming an actual race were to be staged), or sponsoring entries; perhaps the winner would win a new schooner (or an old obsolete one). If there was an actual race between entries of various factions, we could use a few of our extra boats to get in the way of other competitors entries, if we needed to.

Regarding the Cuspidore's retirement, I thought I had set the stage (in my long post of June 21 near the end of the Shipping News #2 or in some other post somewhere) for him to leave active duty in the "Free-Booting" in the PMS (Peace Military Service) order to manage his "For-Booty" Corporation, the PMS (Pirate Merchantile System). If you want a scandal, perhaps he could be accused of financing his new villa on Boot or the BootyBoat #2 with ill-gotten gains, perhaps digging up the treasure that Chairman Voltaire had stolen from the Hive coffers and arranged to be "stored" in PMS 'Secured' storage on Treasure Islet. The Cuspidore had no comment on the subject, only a *wink* and a *smile*, showing off a fine new set of *gold teeth*. (When interviewed on the subject, the Cuspidore's assistant, Ens. Baretta said "Awwkkk, . . . , ~~We stole that treasure from Sister Miriam, not the Chairman~~ What a &*%#@in' load of Shark $#!+, . . . Awwkkk!!!".

Hercules · July 24, 2003, 12:38

Re the current turn 2122. The sea formers near Margaritaville and Liar's Lair have completed their kelp building on the min resources. What next ? build solar or move?.

The north west schooner: I plan to explore a bit more of the Data tech coastline.
I hope that colony pod builds on the coast.

johndmuller · July 24, 2003, 16:34

I suppose it is getting late there now, so I better give you a quick and dirty now before its too late; I'll respond more fully later.

re Liar's and Sealurk's (not 'Rita's) sea formers - I would suggest the Solars (Energy =

);

Hercules · July 25, 2003, 08:06

A further thought. With two factions left to be discovered by us I suspect they are to the north of us. If this is so then it might be in our interests to leave one or both of them alone for a while until we build up a good tally in readiness for the planetary Gov elections.

johndmuller · July 25, 2003, 14:29

Just us knowing all the commlinks doesn't precipitate an election; as long as we are the only faction that knows them all, we can call or not call the election at our pleasure,

Presumably our commlink collection is at least, if not even more precious to us than Doc:Flex, so I doubt we will be offering them readily to others.

We do need to build / keep up our probe defenses (i.e. probes at every base, especially land bases with possible neighbors, to keep such things to ourselfves, not to mention our treasure and even our bases (very distant ones will be easy to probe away from us with P's of E.) Even if we don't trade Doc:Flex, it is only a matter of time until someone else gets it, and then they can send probe ships at us (or even transports with one or more land probes on them to our land bases).

It's possible that Googs gave Doc:Flex to one or more of the AIs too, which suggests a missions for our first party boats - infiltrating Miriam (when she goes Fundy, our probing will be blocked) & Roze (who is also increasingly difficult to probe).

Speaking of Madam R, if she is still in the game, how are we (the human factions) supposed to treat her when the probe bug kicks in?

Hercules · July 25, 2003, 15:21

These are important points you raise and I think we aught to have a Foreign Affairs (no not Flubber's contacts (ahem) in every port) thread: ( topped) when I can manage it.

Hercules · July 27, 2003, 13:34

Hi Maties.

Not much happening but some questions need answering

first Ms R built base at 33, 49
I rush transport at Sealurk for 11
scout set out for brief explore of HMB
schooner in the west moved most of their moves
We have treaty with the PUT
the Borg are breeding like rabbits

Contacted Miriam, she would sell Allpied Physics for 100ecs

Questions
The schooner in the NW has 2 moves left. Do I pop the pod or explore
around the pod in preparation for next year.?

Former at Margaritaville, Move towards solar at 56,66 or wait to be
picked up by finished transport from Sealurk ?

Do we rush the Sea colony ?

Do we rush the party boat?

If we popped the pod we might get some cash goodies to help us rush.

What next at Margaritaville ? Colony or Rec Com.

any news form the PUT. if you read the comm, they indicate the have INd
Ec and may be willing to trade. What news here?

On the other I could just be patient and do a lot next turn.

johndmuller · July 27, 2003, 14:14

Cap'n Herc's Questions:

-Schooner Col. C. Santiago (at 35,45): I would recommend waiting/extra-exploring before popping that pod because if it pops an IoD it also uses up an extra mp leaving you without a move to attact it, or ("Awwkkk . . . *^$%#in' Chicken . . . Awwkkk!!") retreat.

'Rita's Land Former (at 56,62): there are many options:
-a-build Sensor there or at (55,61) - we will be seeing random Sealurks and the extra protection of a sensor will come in handy if all we have in the base is a green Scout. (Note: we might want to rotate our military units through monoliths when we get a chance);
-b-build road (connecting the river (natural road) we are on to the rest of the archipeligo)
-c-use forthcoming transport to move former to island to East of 'Rita (this would waste several turns doing nothing);
-d-move to (56,64) - then either defungus-forest-road there or on to (56,66) to level-forest or whatever;
-e-use forthcoming transport to move former to island to SouthWest of Sealurk (this would waste several turns doing nothing and would leave us needing another former for Rita eventually - would prefer having separate former for Sealurk - no need to skimp on formers);
-----Cuspidore recommends building sensor, then road, then either -c- or -d-'s defungus-forest-road option

Rush SeaColony at Tripoli? I would say no, (and yes to rushing the last 4 next turn), but the Cuspidore is known to be a cheapskate when it comes to rushing units (he much prefers rushing facilities);

Rush PartyBoat at Liars? I would say no again, but we are about to need a doctor to keep the drones away, so we need to build a CP there or a RecComm to avoid the inefficiency, so there is some reason to hurry, but I think it costs too much just for that - our pop will still be growing, even with a doc. BTW, why did you send the new PartyBoat over this way if you were thinking of rushing this one?

If we popped pod . . . (in future, please specify which pod you are talking about)
- assuming the one in the NW) Patience, we could get them next turn too, without the risk of throwing away the Santiago. It also doesn't make expensive rushing any better of a deal. If I offer you "goodies" in TG-1 to attack Darsnan, will you do it?
- If you were talking about the one on HMBoot Island, I would have built a rover first, before the RecComm, then popped the pod with the scout, having the rover in the base ready to jump out and take on any NL that might appear. That all being part of my readiness plan to deal with the DataJacks on the West. At the moment at least, it is still possible that there is an isthmus there, although I would guess we aren't connected as the borders of the tiles at (37,59), (38,60), (37,61) & particularly (36,60) look like they have been messed with, probably by Googs adjusting the terrain in Genesis. Far be it from me to argue about a RceComm, however, so by all means choose your own course of action.

Build at 'Rita I would be thinking of a LandFormer, followed by a Scout or vice versa, depending on how long before we need Doctor. I would do those two things before thinking about ICS type stuff, but that's debatable I supppose, and as the boat doesn't control drones, the Scout or RecComm are needed to deal with them.

News from Put Flubber: if you don't already know, they need only the Docs: Flex and Mobility from us (and all 3 comm freq's) at present. IndustrialEcon for Doc:Mobility sounds good to me.
---------------------------

Note that the Borg have Miriam's commlinks, so they must have met somehow, it would be interesting to know the circumstances. We could play dumb score some cheap brownie points with them by telling them that Sister M is off their SE coast - it wouldn't cost us anything since they probably already suspect/know this and it might open their mouths for the rest of the story, particularly whether Miriam has boats or not.

If you are going to build the RccComm at HMBoot, I would consider rushing the remaining 4 mins of the first row this turn (for 16 PoE's) - if not, I would definitely rush the remaining 1 next turn (and subsequently partially rush for the next few turns, say by finishing off a row per turn).

What is your plan for the PartyBoat now at (51,61)? Never mind, I see it is heading for Coder's Pit at (33,49). Perhaps you could adjust it's course to skim HMBoot Island's Northern tip and get a little more exploring in on the way.

johndmuller · July 30, 2003, 04:14

Cap'n Herc's preliminary message from email:

Quote:

Ahoy maties,

Bit of a disappointment from the pods. zilch.! Sea colony finished and I suppose en route to sea base 1where the minerals are nearby. SeaFormer from 'Rita has finished terraforming now option of continuing to original destination or heading to min tile near new sea base 1 site..

76 to finish party boat ( better than I expected).
22 to finish scout at Sealurk

Note Borg base Aurora. It is a unity chopper but is it the Borg's, the Uni's or miriams.

As to the rushing, I'm not too thrilled to either pay double for the scout or rush the Party Boat at that price, but you're the one with the last call. If you do rush any of them, how bout throwing me a bone and rushing the RecComm at Rita for 4 Pieces of Eight to finish off its row?

Don't forget the Stockpile Energy in all those bases with units pending, especially at Tripoli and SeaLurk and any other base that will be finished (or rushed) for next turn.

I thought I saw that chopper or whatever it is there, last turn too; it looks as much like Miriam's as anything, but I don't know why it would be there two turns in a row.

As much as I like the original plan (which I take to be going to (56,68) and doing a Kelp/Solar), I think that given the effed up state of the terraforming schedule down there, it is probably better to do Kelp/Solar for the min special at (60,70) next. When the land former is finished doing everything at (54,70), you might consider moving it to the nut special at (56,72) for a forest. We'll probably need another SeaFormer in that precinct reasonably soon to do everything we need to do over there - which I see as including the min and nut specials at both Tripoli and the new base (Tripoli's sea min special also needs defungusing and putting a solar on that nut speciall we are on top of now at (58,70) will take the largest amount possible, the full 8 turns).

BTW, my isp is seemingly entering one of its less dependable cycles, making my connections and especially my email somewhat flakey, so I would appreciate it if you tried to post your messages as well as emailing them and if you added my other email address (xxxjohndmuller@hotmail.comxxx) to your distribution list temporarily.

Hercules · July 31, 2003, 21:08

Tripoli: Rec Com started
Sealurk: Seaformer started
Rita: Probably pay another 4 P of Es for the row
Liar's lair: Doctor, and Drone riots but we knew this would happen
Henry Morgans Boot: maybe add some P of Es to production of scout.

Exploration: FMS from Lair still exploring now beside Pod for pop next turn
Santago: 3 moves left. which way move along coast towards 40, 40 or head 34. 40 ( I favour this)
The Revenge regained 4 moves and went in search of the PUT. No luck yet
THe Farragut has 3 moves. So do we wait until it gets 4 moves and stronger or explore, and which way. To move east towards the Lairs FMS or change course and head north looking for new factions.

No news on the Diplomatic front Miriam and the PUT haven't met yet.
Roze won't speak to us.

Hercules · July 31, 2003, 21:12

I mean Rover at Henry Morgans Boot.

Mark123jansen · August 2, 2003, 18:16

Just a quick question, are there any plans towards building an SP like the WP in Tripoli or anywhere else? cause right now we have an advantage in minerals at least over the borg, why wait till other factions get their mines up and running and start building all the good SP's?

Hercules · August 2, 2003, 20:16

Personally I 'm all for it. I just want to get the Rec.Com in place.

Mark123jansen · August 3, 2003, 05:07

ok just checking

Hercules · August 3, 2003, 22:18

Some important issues to think about (quickly) this turn.

Tripoli: to rush Rec Com or not in order to start SP turn after. Reason High Min
It will cost 42 min to rush.

Liar's lair: To rush party boat; it will cost 56 but we need to follow up infilration
(hopefully) with tech steal from Roze. Also we need to start Colony pod to reduce drone.

HMG: more a question of, do we move scout back to pop pod with rover almost ready or explore island further. Also former ready for new task

'Rita: we could rush Rec. Com for 28

New base established at Parrot Landing: high Nut count.

Me, Cap'n Calico Hercules. I 'm inclined to wait one more turn (to acheive infiltration) before possible exchange with Roze. But acquiring Ind Econ would give us an edge with the PUT negotiations.

Hercules · August 4, 2003, 10:43

Well I 'll wait another while for feedback.

So far just Mark has responded and he'd be in favour of trading with roze for Ind Econ.

Googlie · August 4, 2003, 13:07

Just a general note:

Chppers don't get popped from pods until the discovery of SFF, so someone now has that tech

(Or from the Unity Salvage Site, as was commented on in another thread)

G.

Hercules · August 4, 2003, 18:13

Somethings to think about for next turn.

Notice Datatech Scout at 20, 64 so their territory is of good size.

The most important thing to note is the change in the balance of power in the power chart.

The Hive have discovered Ind Auto. In my view and from what we can surmise from our maps (the location of PUT and the guessed general location of the Hive or the Drones), the Hive may well have met with the PUT, (hence their concern in our diplomacy discussions re our possible contact with the Hive).

Hercules · August 4, 2003, 18:14

con'd

The Drones have also shot up well.

We will complete Progenitor Psych next turn. So what are we going to research next. What will be our likely options? (The Cycon finish Ind Base in 2, last time I looked so what are they going to research).

Re Sealurk production and transport out there at 58, 48. Do we bring it back to transport land former from near Rita to island near Sealurk to forest and scout to pop pod or continue one more 3 tile move north ( before returning to Sealurk).

I think we are getting to a size where we need a terraforming programme. A pirate responsible for workers and formers scheduling.

Views.

johndmuller · August 4, 2003, 18:47

Sorry for lack of participation, but I'm still having a very flakey ISP experience and downloading anything is rather a pain in the a$$ (so it wouldn't be advisable to count on me to upload the turns); even posting is pretty hit or miss, but hopefully it will get better. This same thing happened a month ago, which was a real PIA since I had to persevere to play the turns and do all the misc. up/downloads, but this time I'm just going with the flow and not forcing anything.

I would have recommended against some of that spendthrift rushing of units, but I hadn't gotten the turn downloaded, so I didn't know whether or not you were bankrupting us or if you had some decent income to go with it. I'm still sticking with my general rule that rushing units with much more than a row to go at this stage of the game is unadvisable, but I know that is a matter of opinion.

Quote:

Originally posted by Hercules
Liar's lair: Doctor, and Drone riots but we knew this would happen

This does beg the question of why (knowing it would happen), we didn't do anything about it? I realize that this is old news, but I am sort of non-plussed by your lack of remorse - methinks that a certain negligent Cap'n needs to dive in and bring back a shark's still-beating heart to keep the crew's grumbling from getting out of control.

Regarding trading the Doc:Flex to Roz: it seems to run contrary to the supposed consensus on the subject. Personally, I don't care that much one way or another, but given the propensity of the AI to trade stuff and to be relatively easy to probe, if we trade it now, it is highly likely that some of the other humans will get their Doc:Flex from that copy (directly or indirectly) rather than trading for it from us or researching it themselves. Certainly we should trade it to the Borg if we are going to turn it loose to the AI. I would think that the ideal thing would be to trade it to a lot of factions at more or less the same time to minimize the risks.

Regarding SP's: I'm still skeptical about actually getting one (especially such a popular one as the WP) without dedicating at least 3 bases to the task - at this stage that would mean building cheap boats and deep sixing them at the SP base for their scrap value. I mostly hate it when an important base is tied up in a long drawn out SP project, perhaps even getting strung along by other factions completing the SP first forcing us to switch to a (more expensive maybe) SP that we may not even want that much. Of course, if you can pull it off, more power to you, but if you stagnate Tripoli in the vain pursuit of an SP . . . . If you're gonna use a bunch of bases to build one, you don't have to build it in the best base, but unfortunately our best bases seem to also be the ones that are centrally located.

I don't believe you've said what you plan to do with the Party Boat you were so hot to rush (Infiltrate Miriam - Steal the IndustEcon from Roz - Ram a Sealurk?)