party differences manual vs game and points for abilities

from Stardock Forums
I always have been curious why the party bonuses as described in the manual differ for almost every party in the game itself. In most cases the bonuses are decreased or absent;take for example the War Party-in the manual it decribes a bonus for ship HP, attack and soldiering but in my up-to-date version of GalCiv the game lists only a 50HP bonus for this party. As there are parties available with MUCH better bonuses I would never choose to go with the War Party.

Also I hope that the point system for ability bonuses with be streamlined for GalCiv 2. By this I mean some of the abilities IMHO are (using sports references) "1st string, 2nd string and even 3rd string." In terms of usefulness (and the ability to survive in the game) I consider research and social production bonuses to far outclass the potential bonuses in soldiering, population and even attack/defense,with items like economics, range and trade falling in the middle; while everything offered is OK to a certain extent I (and the AI) know that if you cannot research or produce social items, wonders etc. quickly you will be toast in no time. A simple solution IMHO could go either direction with the points themselves-make the 1st string abilities cost more points or make the 2nd/3rd string abilities cost less points.
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
I consider research and social production bonuses to far outclass the potential bonuses in soldiering, population and even attack/defense
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I am not sure but research or production bonus aren't free: it costs money to use them. More, you mustn't forget that theses bonus are just added to other bonus from planet improvements or empire wid bonus (like ressources).
So they are worth as long as you can have a 100% spending rate :) If you have only a 80% spending rate, you won't really benefit from theses bonus: the spending rate won't be the same but the total spending would be the same.


Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
I always have been curious why the party bonuses as described in the manual differ for almost every party in the game itself.
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The manual was originally written before the GM release eight months ago, and GalCiv has had regular changes since then. Parts of the manual were updated, and parts of it are still in pre-release state.

A simple solution IMHO could go either direction with the points themselves-make the 1st string abilities cost more points or make the 2nd/3rd string abilities cost less points.
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They already do to a point: there's a reason +5 PQ costs seven picks, compared to the usual 1-2 for a +10%. Some of them are just a little off in their estimation of value (or more likely, their relative value has changed since the system was originally designed and the picks were never updated). Some of the picks have a drawback that goes beyond the use of one of your picks too, as our avian friend here has mentioned.

~SDC~
Sins of a Solar Empire II