Super Breeder = 100% taxrate? Looks like very very overpowered.

No, they have 4x birthrate at 100% approval rating.

d'oh read it too fast, ok thnx!

I think Hive should be treated differently. Factories aren't something that shoudl be built overnight, that makes no sense. How about make it so Hive races don't lose morale as the planet becomes more crowded, possibly a higher max population also. That sounds like more of a hive than building factories quickly. Plus is scales with the race rather than with the number of planets taken/colonized. At higher levels, you can just buy factories to get a colony on it's way, so it means less. High populations with no morale issues due to population would be a powerful ability, but not somethign that could be used to "rush" in the same way. It would make valuable planets even more valuable as they'd have a higher maximum capability and taxes.

I'd LOVE to see more race specific technologies that only they can research, but might be stealable or tradeable.

Do we get a cool little cutscene when the Spore Ship is used against us (at least for the first time?) That would be sweet.

Here's my 2 cents worth.

I've played a few games as a custom race and these Super Abilities can be gamebreakers. On the larger galaxies with more time to develop, the advantages from having them with the right race attributes can be overwhelming (and therefore boring). They really need to be scaled down in my opinion. Good luck with the tweaking - this will not be a short time effort!

As to being able to steal/trade these abilities - I vote no. I see them as being a race trait just like the other race attributes selected when you start a new game.

Also, I would like to see several items added to either the OPTIONS or one of the the NEW GAME setup screens ---

1) A check box to randomly assign abilities to a race when a new game starts, with perhaps the option to allow more than one race to have the same special ability. This will prevent one from saying "Oh - I know what special ability you have" when meeting a race for the first time in a new game.
2) A check box to disable all special abilities when a new game starts.

I second the option to randomize special abilities. I know you can give a custom race a particular ability, but randomization (as with alignment and intelligence) would aid replayability.

Randomizing special abilities would make the story parts of the game break. Super Hive humans? Super Diplomat Korath? Next, it's dogs and cats sleeping together (not that I haven't seen such more than once).

I understand your comments about the story parts of the game - that's why randomization/elimination of the abilities would be an option - you do not have to use them and can thereby preserve the story line.

For me, replayability is the key. Once I've played the game a few times, I know what to expect when I first encounter a race in a new game - something which was not true the first time I played the game. On subsequent games, one tends to alter strategy/tactics when first meeting a race based on what one has experienced with that race in earlier games. For some - that is fine - it gives them the opportunity to hone their skills from one game to another.

I like the idea of not knowing what to expect when I meet a new race.

So, how's this for a flexible setup ---

I want to play a new game with 4 AI races. I want the Humans to be in the game with the other three races to be fixed/random (where I can set the odds).

On the new game setup screens, this could be accomplished by indicating that ---
1) I want 4 AI opponents.
2) I want the Humans to be one of the AI players.
3) I want the remaining three players to be drawn from a pool of 16 containing the Drath, the Yor and fourteen randomized possible opponents.

In the new game, the Humans WILL be there and the Drath and Yor MIGHT be there.

Any chance of squeezing this in before the official DA release? Heh!Heh!Heh!

Once I've played the game a few times, I know what to expect when I first encounter a race in a new game

I appreciate this impulse and have felt pretty much the same about other games, but I suspect GCII is the best AI set I've played at length and in my experience the races are not all that predictable given how significant initial map conditions are to the unfolding of a particular game.

But maybe that's because I only play on gigantic maps.

While we're open to tweaking them here and thre based on feedback from people who are PLAYING the game, that's about as far as it's going to go. The abilities are tied to the race. period.  They won't be randomized.

We should have a new beta out this week with much tweaked super abilities.

Randomizing special abilities would make the story parts of the game break.

It's not like the game follows exactly the storyline. Why the need to research Trade or Universal Translator, for example, if trading has been going on in the galaxy for eons? And military techs like Laser, haven't they been perfected for millenia? Same goes for most if not all techs available. The storyline is but a teaser, it has little relation to the game itself.

Super Organizer. When they are attacked, all races of the same ethical alignment will come to their aid.

BTW, does this include Neutral civs? If so, why should neutrals care if other neutrals are attacked or not?! They are neutral after all   

It's not like the game follows exactly the storyline

That's part of why I said "story parts" and not "storyline." What I mean is that randomized Super Abilities would lead to some seriousl "out of character" AI players, e.g. Drengin Super Diplomats.

If so, why should neutrals care if other neutrals are attacked or not?!

Because Neutral does not mean indifferent. Another civ that values a balanced approach to life on the GCII map is worth keeping around, at least in my past DL playing. An alliance between two mid-ranked Neutral players can help keep them out of harms way when the "good" and evil folks get to slaughtering one another.

If I were going to balance these abilities with penalties, this is what I'd do. This is based primarily on the "feel" of the super ability; I'm only considering balance as a secondary consideration.

Super Diplomat. Civilization is able to secure much better deals through negotiation that other civilizations.
maybe this should be balanced by ding (negative point) in the relation screen. the ability isn't "super likable". to me it means humans can wheel and deal at the negotiation table, other races perhaps realizing they've been ripped off afterwards. so while human can negotiate good deals, other races will be more likely to go to war when they get fed up with it.

Super Dominator. When they go to war, they receive a group of Corvette class ships. The number they receive is based on their military power.
because their people are general warmongers, they receive a morale penatly for a year or so after signing a peace treaty. this'll also keep players from constantly declaring war and signing treaties.

Super Organizer. When they are attacked, all races of the same ethical alignment will come to their aid.
the name makes me think of bureaucrats. perhaps a production penalty. side note: if the altarians are "super organizers" why is their logistics value so low?

Super Warrior. When in battles, they get the first strike ability. That is, their ships attack first and if their opponent survives only then do they return fire.
makes them sound honorable but impulsive. perhaps they should receive the logistics penalty.

Super Breeder. If their approval is 100% their population increases at 4X the normal rate.
automatic morale penalty when planet's pop max is reached. law population control anger them.

Super Isolationist. Can colonize barren worlds and no foreign ship can travel more than 3 spaces per turn in their area of influence.
influence and/or trade penalties, as suggested.

Super Trader. Gets all the trade techs at start of game and gets 2X from trade.
i like the idea mentioned about about changing this to "super smugglers." they make 2X because they're dealing in black market products. as smugglers, you could also add the bonus that their trade lines are invisible. however, the civs they trade with don't get any money (since the trade is illegal), and thus the korx don't get any boost in their diplomatic relations -- or they're charged negatively for smuggling.

Super Manipulator. Is very good at getting other races to go to war with each other.
i agree that this is very similar to the terran ability in some respects, and it also kind of reminds me of the altarian one. perhaps if they were able to influence another player's opinion of a race it'd be more interesting, or perhaps change it entirely to focus more on the united planets or something along those lines.
either way, i think a good counter balance is that the computer oponents are more likely to declare war on the drath the more they use this ability, the same way they'll gang up on almost anyone who's getting too powerful.

Super Hive. Unlimited range and all factories are built in 1 week.
reduced research ability (hive mind lacks individual creativity), reduced trade (the hive is self-sufficient), reduced diplomacy (the hive isn't used to communicating with others).

Super Adapter. Starts out with aquatic and toxic world technologies.
i'd like to see this one implemented differently. rather than having the techs, the iconians simply have the ability to colonize these worlds. they'll only have access of half the tiles, and all of their production, population, etc. will receive an even greater penalty until they've researched the technology. not sure how i'd balance this ability... maybe since they're adaptable they lack an environment perfectly suited for them, and ALL their colonies suffer some penalty until they research extreme colonization.

Super Annihilator. Can build spore ship which when used on a defenseless colony will eliminate all population and turn it into a toxic world of the same class.
instantly and permanently at war with any race they encounter? that seems a bit harsh. perhaps a better balance would be that they cannot form aliances or even trade.

Super Spy. Gets an agent to start with and worlds are immune from agents.
nice. i'm gonna go with my first instinct: they're spies cost considerably more, since they're so well trained. well, the way the ability is now, it's not that their spies are well trained, but that their civilians are trained in counter-espionage. so maybe give them a significant economic penalty that represents that cost of training their whole population, but allow them to train spies at reduced cost (since everyone already has some training).

...not that you don't have enough work on your hands. some ideas for possible extra abilities (which i think would be a good thing in theory, perhaps too much work in the long run; still, it would be nice to have 1 or 2 for custom races).

super commercialists: a bonus to influence and double or triple income from tourism. balance with trade offers

super spacefarers: starbases have larger areas of effect, planets covered by a SB area of effect automatically receieve a morale bonus.

super survivors: ships destroyed in battle have a some% chance of "surviving" after the battle with 1HP.

super minds: rather than a basic research bonus, the race with this ability can actually skip iterations of certain technologies.

dirty politicians: only half as likely for major party to lose elections/higher window of disapproval for it to happen, receive twice as many UP votes, and kickbacks from halliburton.

wow, that post makes it sound like i have the english of a second grader. that's what i get for posting in the midst of work.