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By Exon
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
1E Risa Regional Champion 2023
#589294
stressedoutatumc wrote:I think this is the central question. Every affiliation, every era seem to have a basic way to report 2 people for free and draw some extra cards. I'm speaking generally, so please forgive me if I am overlooking, but this at least feels correct. That's what I was saying in my last post...I don't think it's really the FF, but TOS Feds that may be the imbalance. Feds generally are, but I think they outpace every other era of Feds...at least off-hand (and I'm happy to be argued wrong).
Reporting 2 people for free is fine as a goal. But what should that cost? There are several kinds of costs - seed slots, location flexibility, personnel flexibility, personnel quality, ship cost and quality.

Most eras/factions have tradeoffs between these different costs to arrive at some sort of balance. Presumably, an affiliation of very high-quality personnel like [OS] should have gotten a somewhat weaker play engine to compensate. Instead, The Final Frontier maxes out on every criteria.

Consider some basic setups of era-restricted decks to get 2 free personnel, a ship, and an extra card draw each turn, with the minimum investment (i.e., not using an Alternate Universe Door if you have a Time Location, etc).

[OS] [Fed] -Sherman (4) : Sherman's Peak, Protect the Timeline, Call for Reinforcements, Five-Year Mission.
Limitations: Must report at Sherman's Planet. Vulnerable to attack. Can only guarantee a ❖ ship. One free play per turn must be unique. Have to manage time travel.

[CF] [Fed] Khitomer (4): Camp Khitomer, Protect the Timeline, Reunite Legends, The Undiscovered Country.
Limitations: Must report at Khitomer. Vulnerable to attack. Ship has to go to an outpost, so another seed card or a Mission II which might be poorly positioned. One free play per turn must be unique. Have to manage time travel.

[CF] [Fed] Outpost (5): : Slingshot Effect, Earth Spacedock, Office of the President, Reunite Legends, The Undiscovered Country
Limitations: Must report at Sector 001 locations. Free plays don't go to same location. Office is limited to specific keywords, mostly VIPs.

[1E-TNG] [Fed] (3): Continuing Mission, Attention All Hands, Outpost
Limitations: Weaker personnel, few special downloads. [WC] card allows only a specific subset of personnel. AAH is ❖ only, does not allow duplicates, [Holo] , [1E-AU] . Card draw is dependent on low-skill personnel. Ship is ❖ only.

[1E-DS9] [Baj] / [Fed] (4): Reshape the Quadrant, Deep Space 9, Chamber of Ministers, We Need You Here
Limitations: Must report at Bajor and/or Bajor Region mission. Both DS9 and HQ reports limited to specific keyword personnel. Must seed card(s) such as We Need You Here to take full advantage of downloads which otherwise cost a card play and all end of turn draws. Moderate quality personnel (higher than [1E-TNG] , weaker than [CF] / [OS] ). Primary Turbolift card draws dependent on playing specific personnel to sites. Station vulnerable to commandeering.

[OS] [Fed] The Final Frontier (4): Alternate Universe Door, The Final Frontier, Five Year Mission, Outpost
Limitations: None, relatively speaking. It beats everyone on personnel quality, selection, and ship quality. Only [1E-TNG] is cheaper by one in seed slots, and comparable in location flexibility, but loses in all other categories.

If TFF returns with something close to its current cost structure, it most likely would continue to dominate indefinitely or require all other affiliations to be given escalatory tools to keep up. I'd consider either of those outcomes undesirable.
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By stressedoutatumc (stressedoutatumc)
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#589329
Exon wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:38 pm
stressedoutatumc wrote:I think this is the central question. Every affiliation, every era seem to have a basic way to report 2 people for free and draw some extra cards. I'm speaking generally, so please forgive me if I am overlooking, but this at least feels correct. That's what I was saying in my last post...I don't think it's really the FF, but TOS Feds that may be the imbalance. Feds generally are, but I think they outpace every other era of Feds...at least off-hand (and I'm happy to be argued wrong).
Reporting 2 people for free is fine as a goal. But what should that cost? There are several kinds of costs - seed slots, location flexibility, personnel flexibility, personnel quality, ship cost and quality.

Most eras/factions have tradeoffs between these different costs to arrive at some sort of balance. Presumably, an affiliation of very high-quality personnel like [OS] should have gotten a somewhat weaker play engine to compensate. Instead, The Final Frontier maxes out on every criteria.

Consider some basic setups of era-restricted decks to get 2 free personnel, a ship, and an extra card draw each turn, with the minimum investment (i.e., not using an Alternate Universe Door if you have a Time Location, etc).

[OS] [Fed] -Sherman (4) : Sherman's Peak, Protect the Timeline, Call for Reinforcements, Five-Year Mission.
Limitations: Must report at Sherman's Planet. Vulnerable to attack. Can only guarantee a ❖ ship. One free play per turn must be unique. Have to manage time travel.

[CF] [Fed] Khitomer (4): Camp Khitomer, Protect the Timeline, Reunite Legends, The Undiscovered Country.
Limitations: Must report at Khitomer. Vulnerable to attack. Ship has to go to an outpost, so another seed card or a Mission II which might be poorly positioned. One free play per turn must be unique. Have to manage time travel.

[CF] [Fed] Outpost (5): : Slingshot Effect, Earth Spacedock, Office of the President, Reunite Legends, The Undiscovered Country
Limitations: Must report at Sector 001 locations. Free plays don't go to same location. Office is limited to specific keywords, mostly VIPs.

[1E-TNG] [Fed] (3): Continuing Mission, Attention All Hands, Outpost
Limitations: Weaker personnel, few special downloads. [WC] card allows only a specific subset of personnel. AAH is ❖ only, does not allow duplicates, [Holo] , [1E-AU] . Card draw is dependent on low-skill personnel. Ship is ❖ only.

[1E-DS9] [Baj] / [Fed] (4): Reshape the Quadrant, Deep Space 9, Chamber of Ministers, We Need You Here
Limitations: Must report at Bajor and/or Bajor Region mission. Both DS9 and HQ reports limited to specific keyword personnel. Must seed card(s) such as We Need You Here to take full advantage of downloads which otherwise cost a card play and all end of turn draws. Moderate quality personnel (higher than [1E-TNG] , weaker than [CF] / [OS] ). Primary Turbolift card draws dependent on playing specific personnel to sites. Station vulnerable to commandeering.

[OS] [Fed] The Final Frontier (4): Alternate Universe Door, The Final Frontier, Five Year Mission, Outpost
Limitations: None, relatively speaking. It beats everyone on personnel quality, selection, and ship quality. Only [1E-TNG] is cheaper by one in seed slots, and comparable in location flexibility, but loses in all other categories.

If TFF returns with something close to its current cost structure, it most likely would continue to dominate indefinitely or require all other affiliations to be given escalatory tools to keep up. I'd consider either of those outcomes undesirable.
I generally agree with you. I think the FF should institute the following changes, and I think it would bring it closer to balance. Keep all current downsides to the Final Frontier and then:

1. It must speed at an outpost that is also at a 23rd century’s location. This would follow a similar restriction to Khitomer or DS9.

2. You can only report era ships as a general restriction.

3. The ship download must be at the start of your first turn, it must be a universal ship, and you cannot download anything else that turn.
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