So I read the debates on BGG about our beloved card Galactic Federation, the 6 cost dev which gives you a -2 bonus when developing and 1vp for each dev + 2vp for each 6 dev. The game developer believes the card is perfectly fine, albeit many people arguing otherwise. I haven't seen much discussion about this right here, but what are players' thoughts on this card?
See, I think it's a busted card, I'd much rather it be removed. Please recall the many games where your opponent plays it on the first few moves and spams devs till the end of the game. Losing to this strategy is rather brainless. I did this a number of times myself, and could quite effortlessly cruise to the win, with the exception of some outrageous draws that happen way less than you'd expect. For one, there are many cards that string the whole strategy together, from investment credits+public works+interstellar bank (da culprit) in the base set (well, and industrial robots), to galactic bankers+galactic developers in expansions, to galactic power brokers later on. (I'm not mentioning the a.a. or Xeno expansions because these require more skill to pilot and double develop is more likely to get punished) They provide endless card draw, and coupled with research labs or trade league (most players who spam this strategy don't even know the trick), it's not really easy to run out of cards. Then, there are some devs which boost the strategy even more, one being new economy (who doesn't need a consume strategy to shine), another being military for free settles, so on and so forth. It's quite the flawless strategy. Before you say, hey, it definitely requires skill to pilot, wait a minute. I admit that's true. Finding the right time to play galfed is arguably the most important thing, and figuring out the timing requires about as much skill as selling with alpha centauri move #1. (To be specific, played after a sell with +1/+1 or coupled with investment credits.) And, yes, this doesn't auto win games, but it wins like 90% of games, which is too high for a shallow strategy. (Think of aggressive strategies in card games but with card draw)
What I would like is not to kill the card, but to fix the discount to -1. I think this alone is enough to hinder the strategy. Think of this, say GalFed comes down turn 3~5, and 6~8 devs are played later on, this saves up to 6~8 cards. The thing about this strategy is that it somehow doesn't need an engine to draw, and I believe it's primarily because the discount bonus is too much. 6 cost devs now cost 3, and the card alone can net probably around 10 points. Now, think of Galactic bankers. It's discount is only one (albeit a better ability), it has a consume power (but requires fuel), and the payoff isn't that high when you don't draw Investment credits or Interstellar Bank, netting around 7~8 only. Fixing the discount would still leave the card relatively playable and powerful, but requires better hand-management to pilot.
We can draw some comparisons. The other universally good 6 dev is Galactic Survey-SETI, and it has a really niche power. Yet another is New Economy, arguably one of the best 6 devs in the game. It has a decent ability that draws one, the thing is you don't really play New Economy early for the draw effect; you'd probably set up a consume engine first, so it doesn't do much. Obviously it nets many points, but on its own it does little. Then in terms of similar ability, Replicant Robots is one of the best, but players should be aware that playing into an empty hand is dangerous and costs a lot of momentum (hence Terraforming Robots being good). GalFed is a strategy on its own, but it has support cards, so it's not like that overpowered discount is required to win. I'd much rather it come without the discount at all, that would be a testament to the player's skill, and that SETI doesn't discount anyway.
This is a really nice game with multiple strategies. Hand management is key, as well as reacting or predicting the opponent's moves. There are some oppressive strategies, yes, such as alpha centauri into mining conglomerate, but simply running this engine can't win the game, and double develop/settle early on counters this quite well. Many others require much more setup, or some good hands that come once every ten games, but almighty GalFed doesn't need any of it. From a competitive standpoint, there is a lot to consider with each move, and I praise being defeated by skill. The natural luck factor provides a bit of disruption and fun, and we should be losing a bit here and there because of this. I don't really mind losing to bad draws though. I do mind losing to effortless play.
These are some of my thoughts after 3500+ plays, I wonder what other experts think?
See, I think it's a busted card, I'd much rather it be removed. Please recall the many games where your opponent plays it on the first few moves and spams devs till the end of the game. Losing to this strategy is rather brainless. I did this a number of times myself, and could quite effortlessly cruise to the win, with the exception of some outrageous draws that happen way less than you'd expect. For one, there are many cards that string the whole strategy together, from investment credits+public works+interstellar bank (da culprit) in the base set (well, and industrial robots), to galactic bankers+galactic developers in expansions, to galactic power brokers later on. (I'm not mentioning the a.a. or Xeno expansions because these require more skill to pilot and double develop is more likely to get punished) They provide endless card draw, and coupled with research labs or trade league (most players who spam this strategy don't even know the trick), it's not really easy to run out of cards. Then, there are some devs which boost the strategy even more, one being new economy (who doesn't need a consume strategy to shine), another being military for free settles, so on and so forth. It's quite the flawless strategy. Before you say, hey, it definitely requires skill to pilot, wait a minute. I admit that's true. Finding the right time to play galfed is arguably the most important thing, and figuring out the timing requires about as much skill as selling with alpha centauri move #1. (To be specific, played after a sell with +1/+1 or coupled with investment credits.) And, yes, this doesn't auto win games, but it wins like 90% of games, which is too high for a shallow strategy. (Think of aggressive strategies in card games but with card draw)
What I would like is not to kill the card, but to fix the discount to -1. I think this alone is enough to hinder the strategy. Think of this, say GalFed comes down turn 3~5, and 6~8 devs are played later on, this saves up to 6~8 cards. The thing about this strategy is that it somehow doesn't need an engine to draw, and I believe it's primarily because the discount bonus is too much. 6 cost devs now cost 3, and the card alone can net probably around 10 points. Now, think of Galactic bankers. It's discount is only one (albeit a better ability), it has a consume power (but requires fuel), and the payoff isn't that high when you don't draw Investment credits or Interstellar Bank, netting around 7~8 only. Fixing the discount would still leave the card relatively playable and powerful, but requires better hand-management to pilot.
We can draw some comparisons. The other universally good 6 dev is Galactic Survey-SETI, and it has a really niche power. Yet another is New Economy, arguably one of the best 6 devs in the game. It has a decent ability that draws one, the thing is you don't really play New Economy early for the draw effect; you'd probably set up a consume engine first, so it doesn't do much. Obviously it nets many points, but on its own it does little. Then in terms of similar ability, Replicant Robots is one of the best, but players should be aware that playing into an empty hand is dangerous and costs a lot of momentum (hence Terraforming Robots being good). GalFed is a strategy on its own, but it has support cards, so it's not like that overpowered discount is required to win. I'd much rather it come without the discount at all, that would be a testament to the player's skill, and that SETI doesn't discount anyway.
This is a really nice game with multiple strategies. Hand management is key, as well as reacting or predicting the opponent's moves. There are some oppressive strategies, yes, such as alpha centauri into mining conglomerate, but simply running this engine can't win the game, and double develop/settle early on counters this quite well. Many others require much more setup, or some good hands that come once every ten games, but almighty GalFed doesn't need any of it. From a competitive standpoint, there is a lot to consider with each move, and I praise being defeated by skill. The natural luck factor provides a bit of disruption and fun, and we should be losing a bit here and there because of this. I don't really mind losing to bad draws though. I do mind losing to effortless play.
These are some of my thoughts after 3500+ plays, I wonder what other experts think?