Does anyone actually play SMAC on this site, or what? I might want the occasional game, if there's anyone else out there.

Yep I play, mostly the Alien crossfire expansion, but then again there is almost nothing new about it.
And I really think that the Gaians rulezzz

http://forums.civfanatics.com/ubb/snipersmilie.gif

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Veni Vidi Vici.

Gaians? Good. Spartans? Good. Hive? Bad. Believers? Terrible.

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"The death of the science driven Prime Minister comes quickly when I shove a research beaker in one ear through to the other."

Hear now, the Word of Hippo

What do you mean Hive Bad? The hive is great! If you start on a large continent as the hive and play them right, they're unstoppable! They can expand so quickly and make lots of units.

Data Angels GOOOOOD

+2 Probe, along with Covert Ops Center makes probe teams start as elite !!

-1 Police just means you can't nerve staple.

No Power doesn't matter becase power sucks.

Starting techs are very good!

Believers suck

Cybernetic sucks to play against, they are good (so be the aliens)

Spartans suck to play against in the early game, but later you can kick their butt

Hive is just an all around minor thorn in your side

PKs are kind of annoying (I usually played them before I got SMAX so I don't really know)

University sucks against the Data Angels http://forums.civfanatics.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Cult of Planet sucks and is really annoying

Nautilus pirates kind of suck, but it's good to be at peace with them

Gains are SO militaristic, they get pretty good

IMHO

I play SMAC and SMAC/x quite often. I usually play Morgan, the University, or the Gaians. Sometimes I play the Hive or the Spartans.

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"Shake the world beneath your feet up"
--Johnny Clegg

The Nautilus Pirates are great to play with. On of my best games ever was played with Nautilus Pirates. Data Angels are also great.

I must say that anyone who says the believers suck does not know how to play them. They can beat the !@#$ out of any faction they have a vendetta with and it is so easy to just steal tech from others that the research penalty does not matter than much.

While I must admit the Gians are great (being able to go all mindworm is handy), they are still not the single best.

Since I have not played the expansion much (I think paying $25 for it is kind of high when the original is now going for $10) I can not comment on the new factions.

Peacekeepers! All that they have to worry about is a bit of inefficiency. They have the extra talent too!

Believers are also fun to play as, and they become powerful when played properly.

Data angels are great. I do also like the extra credits of CEO Morgan.

I suppose everyone has their shortcomings. However, the Morganists' "Hab Complex" limit at four is either annoying when building the first "Secret Projects", but they seem to have a great advantage on a larger map, especially with a "Green" economy. Believers and Hive (maybe Spartans; their failure industry is effaced by free prototypes), however, are superb on a cheap, compact map. Anyhow, the only only multiplayer game I played was on a LAN - against one human opponent.

"anybody out there?"

I am ubiquitous, but you have not learned to proper manner to invoke me.

One thing I am beginning to notice from this group of post is that how "good & bad" a faction is really depends on the difficulty level you are set on. For example, the hab4 limit of Morgan is not bad at all on transcend. It just gives you more time to get the antidrone facilities up. The Hive is also better (IMHO) on higher levels. The ability to use 3 scout patrols as police very on in the game makes drones easier to deal with (the support allows this also).
The University's extra drone also means little when on the higher levels due to how quickly you get drone in the first place

On higher levels the Peacekeepers loose a good deal. The bonus to talents means a lot less when you have your first drone coming in at a level 2 city. Sparta lacking industry makes a HUGE difference on transcend also. When the computer is given a slight advantage (I call is cheat) in there economy, research, and such means that Sparta paying up to 130% of units normal cost can be crippling.

Anyway, that is my rant.

I dont play SMAC offten but if I do im the Belivers.Why? b/c i think it the hardest to win w/ them.And if i am going to go to the trouble to play smac i want a good challenge