When you play Trade Wars you learn "point standing" means nothing. The only significance of points is in alignment. The player with the most points might have far less credits, less assets than one on the bottom. Some players will mask their true power by avoiding gaining points.
When it comes to good or evil, the single Evil player gets killed fairly quickly. Wise Evil players form Corps to protect each other. The useful thing about good/evil categories, is that they expose undiagnosed psychopaths. There are players will kill newbies for fun. They'll kill non-threatening players. Some will blow up Space stations.
If you find yourself in a game with psychopaths, leave. Find another game. There's no sense in playing with someone who has no purpose except to retard your progress without advancing his. Players are defeated when they expend resources on meaningless kills. The fool who chases Ferrangis when s/he should be planet building will find someone has not only claimed his/her home planet but dumped so many fighters on it s/he's killed as s/he tries to land.
When you've gotten your planets up and have a lot of resources and are interested in getting a Commission, that's the time you'll blow a Ferrangi or two and go after an evil player. But it is senseless to weaken yourself to the extent you "win" the battle and lose the game.
On Corporations, (corps) the strategies are a bit different. The best Corps have four members; and the work is divided. One ferries colonists, another searches for opponent's planets while trading. On evil corps one player will be the Judas Goat, leading others to slaughter. A bounty will be placed on him and every Tom, Dick and Mary will be tracking Judas Goat, wasting turns, resources, when they should be building. Once you can afford it, buy an extra ship. This is to save you so that just in case your ship is blown you don't have much of a drama getting back in the game. Protecting your planets while you are building them is an art.
You don't want to get much attention so don't make elaborate trails to your safe sector. Putting toll catching fighters into corridors is as sensible as a sign; "My Planet is Here!" One of the tricks some players use is to learn how many planets can be in a Sector and create twice as many knowing the collisions will create a hazard. A big hazard will take out a ship. Some might deplete all shields and fighters. Using collided planets as a barricade is expensive but very efficient.
Another trick is that Ferrangi love mines. They will start to swarm around mines as roaches around sugar. When you have a Transwarp Drive and are going directly to your world, stuffing mines in all adjacent sectors is a good defense. The player who enters is not only damaged by mines but has to pay tolls to Ferrangi or fight them. The Best home Sectors are 3 - 2 - 2 - 1. That is, three ways in, then one way in, one out, one in, one out, and a dead end.
Putting your home planet(s) in 1 then mining 3 leaving the 2 - 2 Sectors for insertion of a Volcanic planet (or two) with a Quasar Canon and a navigation hazard of crashing worlds in the other, discourages incursions. Simply put, to get through the mines and the Ferrangi, then the Nav hazard or Volcanic planet with quasar canon, is going to cost a couple of ships.
To reach you in your Shielded Sector with googals of fighters is so expensive that you might actually win the game because your opponents have killed themselves. Although a newbie might not appreciate it, Volcanic planets have uses. They are defensive. To get them to the stage of quasar canon is well worth it. Mountainous planets are the best. Faster citadel building and good returns. But always check planet specs. Type 'C' to go to the Computer then "J" to get the specifications of each planet.
Assume nothing. Every aspect of the game can be tweaked, from the ships, to their turns to warp, to the specification of planets. Always spend a bit of time checking the specs of ships and planets so that you don't make unnecessary errors. For example, in one game the Volcanic planets had an 'instant' citadel. No colonists, no fuel or organics or equipment required. Imagine blowing one before reading the specs.
In another game the Cruiser had the specs of a Gunboat. Gunboats are the kind of ship you buy after you have traded in your Cruiser for a Freighter, before you can afford the better ships. As soon as you join a game, check the specs of your ship before you go to the Star Dock. You might find that:
- There are no freighters.
- The Cruiser has everything you could want, from potential for a Trans Warp Drive to expansion to one hundred cargo holds.
Subsequently, check planetary specs. You might find a number of unique worlds which you haven't imagined. Always check the specs!
