So I tried out Faction Editor....

[JMN4444]

Probably Sir Dade just got lucky . If he started near Yang, I'm pretty sure he'd have a hard time taking down such a powerhouse.

 

[bvanevery]

Well, the consummability of one's neighbors is a kind of luck. I've seen Morgan on the Monsoon Jungle as a delectable meal before.

 

[JMN4444]

Yep, he's a pretty delicious target for the more aggressive factions, especially considering all that plunder you'd get for conquering his bases. He's like the opposite of Yang in many ways. Where Yang mostly ends up on the top, Morgan usually hits rock bottom and is a common victim of the Pikachu Ball (My Nickname for the Punishment Sphere). If you'd put Yang and Morgan close together, you won't be surprised of the results......

One time I did force Morgan to sign a Pact as Miriam, thought for sure that maybe he'd be a valuable asset....

 

[bvanevery]

Morgan is the starting point for understanding imbalance and weakness of factions. SUPPORT is king. That's why in my mod, nobody gets a SUPPORT bonus, and everyone can gain SUPPORT by mixing and matching their social engineering choices. Now in practice, some factions won't go for SUPPORT. Morgan is still going to go after money. But at least he'll have lots of money, no SUPPORT penalty, and no Hab Complex size restriction. I really wonder at the design decisions that crippled Morgan so much in the original game. They kneecapped him! Perhaps at some point in their development, they thought money was a super threat. Sure never seemed that way to me, but designing rules is a lot of back and forth. Maybe at some point, he really was overpowered, but upon final release he was crippled.

 

[JMN4444]

I really wonder at the design decisions that crippled Morgan so much in the original game. They kneecapped him!

Down to the point where if a hyper aggressive faction comes knocking, even if he's in a monsoon jungle, he's toast! I'm sure he's the ONLY faction to get his behind kicked even if he's got a good start. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Probe teams could be the solution, but its not! Heck, I've never seen the AI build any armored probes at all. No matter how many times I really want to try playing as an ultra cool corp, if the SUPPORT sucks, he's gonna eat the Punishment Sphere early for breakfast. Them fancy energy credits means nothin' once Miriam will end up using them as tithes.......

 

[bvanevery]

Yeah Miriam really rather forces the issue in the original game, because she can't be probed much.

It's possible that they wanted Morgan weak so that you had to engage in the 'snivelling' mechanics, paying bullies off to leave you alone. Proud sort of person I am, I never liked that. Over time, the only way I was willing to do that, was if the Caretakers or Usurpers were going to kill me at the beginning. 'Cuz in the original game, they will. That whole mechanic is abusive though, as quite often, you can't even talk to them before they decide it's time to kill you. It's one thing if they telegraph that you're gonna need to snivel, it's quite another if you're randomly never even given the option to snivel. That's just a Bad Start and I don't think much of games that consistently hand players a Bad Start. So of course in my mod, I took the Aliens down to regular faction strength, and Morgan isn't required to snivel to anyone.

 

[JMN4444]

Sniveling was mostly a player exclusive option. Morgan in the hands of a human player can make it 'till the end. But an AI Morgan will become a pinata for either you or the other folks. It just happens all the time no matter what, an AI Morgan to another aggressive faction will be defiant to the end, or that an aggressive faction sees Morgan as weak due to -1 SUPPORT and then he's history. And you're right on the alien one. If Morgan lands near an aggressive human faction, he might have a chance to survive under player control, but if he lands near the two bickering aliens, then call it quits, because the two has already dug a grave for Morgan. I feel like Morgan is the designated chew toy of the unmodded Alpha Centauri, the penalties are quite potent to cripple him quite hard.

 

[bvanevery]

I started a new AAR. I'm kicking snot with Deirdre. Not having a MORALE or POLICE penalty definitely helps.

 

[JMN4444]

Funny thing is, I decided to remodel the Disciples, removing the MORALE penalty and replacing +1 PROBE with +1 SUPPORT and impunity to Knowledge. This time, they kinda work like a Hybrid of the Believers and the Gaians. They still have -1 POLICE though.......

 

[bvanevery]

Impunity to knowledge, ha ha, doesn't sound like what it means. Well maybe I'm thinking of immunity.

 

[JMN4444]

Oh yeah right, the terms tend to mix LOL. They almost sound the same . ImPunity ImMunity.