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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1080 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 7, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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This has my interest. I heard about SoaSE from a friend, I saw #2 come through last year, but $50 is pretty steep for a game you say "still" about.

Playing Sins of a Solar Empire is "still," playing #2 is just regular playing a game that is 15 months old. I eat food that is past its printed date by more than 15 months. I still play FTL, and that's 13 years old.

you can play a quick 30 minute-1 hour match where the later techs aren't even needed, or you can do a 6+ hour epic

This seems like a major flaw if I can't tell which one I'm getting into ahead of time. Although I suppose the answer is you sign up for a 6 hour epic, and sometimes it ends quick. A twelvefold difference in time is extreme.

If you do host, I'll try to play.

I mean, I played the first game in the series for over 10 years.

When I say that the Second has improved on the first in almost every conceivable way, I want to establish that it had a high bar to clear.

This seems like a major flaw if I can't tell which one I'm getting into ahead of time.

Generally you can tell from the game settings at the outset. The Size of the map is the primary determinant as to how quickly you'll come into contact with the opponent, and whether there's even enough resources to build an economy or if you just hop straight to fighting.

And you can set the game speed higher for ship movement, tech research, and resource accumulation to ensure things end quickly, or lower those speeds to stretch the game out and force a more strategic match.

The largest maps start to feel like playing Stellaris but with just the space battles and economics and less of the tiddly empire management.

And there is a contingent of players who seem to not really want to play competitively at all but instead just set up the largest fleet battles possible then just sit back and watch them play out.

As mentioned there's a steepish learning curve for the tech tree alone, knowing what to research and when is a critical factor and the game will NOT hold your hand to show you which path is ideal.

So it is a bit much to ask of someone who isn't familiar with it to start playing with you right off rip.

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