Strategy/Etiquette Question

[JaifGaldbloom]

I’ll lead off by saying I don’t THINK this has happened to me, but I was wondering if any players will use an action to recruit passengers specifically to block opponents from claiming certain cruises, or to increase the amount of ads an opponent will need to recruit passengers for their reserved cruise?

Seems unnecessarily mean in a game that doesn’t really require that much cutthroat strategy, so was just curious if some players would consider (or have made) moves like that.

[Jontia]

I think I would consider it. After all, the recruit passengers action brings some income with it. So it is an action you many need to use when you don't need the recruit currently. If you're already doing that, which I don't think is generally the most efficient action, the getting some extra value out of it by slowing down an opponent seems sensible. The whole game is about efficiency and optimisation after all.

I've definitely been in games where cruises are filled with passengers when I start looking at those actions. More than other players readying cruises would require. So blocking or passengers as income, it is a move that gets used.

[owangolama]

Hopefully I don't come off as a meanie for saying this, but with more experienced players, I think it's almost a necessity. The game requires action economy and tight management of resources. If you can make that management harder for other players, that (imho) is completely inbounds. I've definitely suffered from other players grabbing passengers that are not optimal for them, but makes my own situation significantly worse. And for the record, I respect that move. Without it, I could just bide my time and wait to take passengers whenever I please, which would seem to a big advantage.

[ruhrohraggyPB]

I've certainly done this in plenty of games, especially when I'm later in the turn order and another player got the best flight plan before I had a shot at it. I'll gladly take some extra income and reputation to slow down an opponent's very strong first flight. This is especially true for the GSS or the GSSP flight when there's a guest type that gives reputation on days in space, which would allow a first launch to get Holistic Logistics followed by maximum reputation, all in one go.

G = green destination
S = day in space
P = purple destination