Trade War Vets

These tips are directed to the veteran player who may be a bit rusty, or the relatively new player who has been around the Universe a few times and knows what an SD, merf, and corpie is. Although you might feel some of the advice belongs in the Newbie series, trust me, if aren’t conscious, you make these mistakes. For example, you join a game with the immediate intention of getting to the Star Dock and trading in your Cruiser for a Merf. Without thought you hit (N)(S) and start moving. When You reach the first Trading Port, you learn your ship has 65 holds and takes 2 turns to warp. What? Where are you going? A simple (I) hit at log on would have exposed the specs of the starter ship, a simple (C)(C) would have explained the various other ships available. In short, in this game, one would stay in the Starter until able to buy a version of the Flagship/ISS. How about finding yourself out of turns in a stupid ship you intend to sell at Star Dock, and midnight chiming, and losing your ISS which you’ve left parked there? Hmmmm? It is not enough to know which key activates which option, nor enough to have a ‘game plan’. One has to make certain acts ’second nature’.

The first thing and the last thing, is to put a post-it on your monitor saying; “Check The Specs.” Check ship/planet/alignment/time/turns at regular intervals. As you log on, don’t be so anxious to get to Terra or the Star Dock or move colos, that you don’t start with (I) then (C)heck Ship’s (T)ime. You need to always know how many turns you have left, and what can be accomplished in those turns. Turns burn up fast when you’re fighting. Never waste your turns. Using all your turns wisely is key to success. As long as you have enough to make one more trip to carry colonists, use it. When you’re down in turns, wait, for you get ten every hour. And when you have 0 turns, you can still land on your planet and let off cols, even land on Earth and take them. Yes, basic advice, but often, the Veteran player forgets, and it’s almost funny to see one stranded at the Space Port, having to wait one hour; unable to log off, simply because s/he ran out of turns.