Does tech stag support the weaker or the stronger player?

[Skanderbeg]

I am thinking about playing a game in tech stag mode, and I am asking myself wether this option supports
the stronger (more difficulties to get tech, diplomacy becomes more important) or the weaker (AI can't run away in tech so fast, more time to steal tech, less needs to use money to upgrade units) player?

[Horus]

A simply answer would be that stag. tech benefits the weaker player e.g. the AI. This is true as the AI (or a rookie) can't handle complexity the way a battle hardened human player can. And with much tech complexity tends to follow.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Skand,

What I think it really does is empahsize parts of your game you normally wouldn't have to exercise. kind of like using some out of shape muscles.

For example if you are simply used to holding off offensives until you have MMI, chaos or greater weapons and fusion power then Blind forces you to reevaluate and go to war on more evenly matched terms. Perhaps you need to try a impact rover rush instead.

Og

[Aredhran]

Tech Stag favors the traditional conqueror's Rover Rush... Picture this versus any kind of builder beeline and you'll know what I mean:

- Mobility
- Laser weapons
- Impact weapons

optionally throw in Ecology (formers), InfoNets, PlaNets (probes) and SoTHB (fundy) and forget research altogether (100% econ).

Note that I'm talking SP here, cooperative MP (particularly with initial contact authorized) is a different story.

Aredhran

[mark13]

Yeah, I think tech stag very much favours the momentum player, as the time between the discovery of offensive units and their defensive counterparts is much shorter. For instance, in any normal game, a human player would have approx 30 turns to build and launch a PB before ODPs become widespread. In tech stag, this can be increased to 50 turns. It is also true for lower level techs.

[Garth Vader]

I stopped playing tech stag because I thought it was too easy. The AI usually has very little ability to research anything. They seldom get enough research to get out of the mid game.

With tech stag the paltry research points they make leave them in the early game. A competent human player can terraform, use crawlers, etc to widen the tech gap earlier and make it larger.

The last tech stag game I tried was as the Hive on a huge map with double blind research. I ran out of things to build, I was way ahead, I had tons of units and didn't feel like finishing the game because of the time required and the ease of victory.

So I think it favors the stronger player

[Transcend]

Tech Stagnation favors the builders on island maps, and momentum players on continental maps. On island maps, the momentum players have to rely on their limited expansion to research doctrine flexibility. The time to get to Dotrine Flexibility will take very long for factions like Hive and Belivers, so that builders could muster a formidable infrastructure and defense meanwhile. However, momentum players can build vast empires or overrun builders with rover rushes.

Tech Stagnation further hampers the AI, as the computer factions are inept to launch large scale naval invasions.