Stellar Emperor Forums

Greetings, Stellar Emperor Community,

Recently, some interest has been expressed to me relative to the possibilty of the reactivation of the PM Academy Alliance in SE.

I had considered the idea of re-activating PMA, but haven't for several reasons: First, time constraints - an issue I am sure we all face. I feared if I reformed PMA I could not devote the time and efforts to do it justice as leader.

Secondly, There really did not seem to be a need for PMA, given the relatively small player base. But since experiencing the excitement of Beta War 3, perhaps there is a place for a peaceful, neutral, non-aggressive, defensive alliance respected by the active alliances.

Lastly, and most importantly as far as I was concerned, I had not yet republished PM Academy Purpose, Philosophy, and Goals statements, or developed PMA History information for potential members of PMA, were I to reactive PM Academy. If I formed it, I would want to do it right, with players who respected all PMA principles.

So, anyway, decided to take the plunge - PM Academy will be an active alliance.

The following is PM Academy Information, for any interested parties. Thanks, Yoda

PLANETARY MANAGEMENT ACADEMY INFORMATION

Welcome to the Stellar Emperor (SE) Planetary Mangement Academy (PMA) Forum Page. Thank you very much for visiting and taking the time to review the contents of this forum.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this forum topic is to allow interested individuals to become acquainted with the Planetary Management Academy (PMA) Alliance, especially:

1.) Any individual player who might be considering membership in PMA, so they may gain and have a clear understanding of PMA's Purpose, Operating Philosophy, and Goals.
2.) Current members of PMA who wish to refresh their understanding of our Alliance Philosophy, and Goals.
3.) Others in the Stellar Emperor Community (SE) who wish to better know and understand the PM Academy Alliance.
OPERATING PHILOSOPHY

The Planetary Management Academy Alliance (PMA) was formed in October, 1998, when a need was recognized for a home and haven for SE players who, because of time constraints that limited their participation in a particular war, or, simply for a break from and change of pace away from constant ship-to-ship combat and/or planetary attacks and defense, and/or, who wished to improve their planetary management (PM) skills with like minded SE players, desired an alliance dedicated strictly to the pursuit of PEACEFUL Planetary Management, respected by other alliances..

PMA was founded and is dedicated to the completely peaceful investigation, discussion, and advancement of the science, indeed the ART of Planetary Management.

PMA members NEVER shoot first; we only fire if fired upon, for defensive purposes. If you wish to engage in lots of space combat, there are martial alliances in SE. PMA is not one of them. However, if you do wish to engage in ship to ship combat, (duels, for example) no problem as long as there is clear consent between the parties to the combat.

PMA automatically honors and seeks peace with ALL other alliances, the Empire, and independents. PMA members will endeavor to maintain scrupulously polite, civil, cordial, and courteous communications on A-1 Channel, open to discussing PM thoughts with all SE participants, when and if possible.

PMA does not initiate planetary attacks, unless to take back our own planets wrongfully taken, or to remove obviously placed "staging planets" from our systems. Military action may be taken after all diplomatic means to resolve the situation have been exhausted, although peaceful Planetary Management is our ultimate goal.

PMA will maintain absolute neutrality in the political and military affairs of the galaxy, neither assisting or hindering other alliances or players, nor will PMA profit from the misfortune of others by colonizing planets open due to combat between other alliances. PMA can be likened to the Switzerland of SE alliances.

Scouting is NOT assigned or required. Any scouting done is strictly voluntary, but, scouting is not discouraged, if you have the time or inclination - after all - knowledge and information are power.

PMA is an alliance - not a dictatorship. We are here to have fun. We are open in our internal communications, using the alliance message system for almost all our discussions, so all members know what is going on and benefit from everyone's experiences. Our Philosophy can be summed up as follows: PM Academy Alliance is a peaceful, neutral, non-aggressive, defensive alliance devoted to Planetary Management pursuits.

PM ACADEMY ALLIANCE GOALS

The PM Academy Alliance, founded and maintained for the purposes of peaceful Planetary Management, has three main goals:

1.) Fun: Simply, to not lose sight of the idea that the game of Stellar Emperor is for FUN; our goal is to have a pleasurable gaming experience for all members.
2.) Camaraderie: To enjoy the interaction with and the company of like minded teammates, both live in the game and through the open message systems.
3.) Planetary Management: To facilitate the improvement of members PM skills, through general discussion, questions, comparison of experiences, and experimentation.

PMA HISTORY

The following history is to the best of my notes recollection. If there are errors, they are entirely my responsibility. If a war is not referenced, PMA was not active.

First PMA Appearance - Andromeda 10/02/98 - 10/31/98
4th Place
Yoda, Hetulik, Kahnn

Andromeda 11/01/98 - 12/01/98
2nd Place
Yoda, Hetulik, Cain, Aesir, Hellfire, Kahnn, Kong, Loner, Jersoc

Andromeda 12/04/98 - 01/02/99
4th Place
Yoda, Hellfire, Hetulik, Kahnn, Loner, Cain, Jersoc, Orion the 5th, Relic, Van

Andromeda 01/15/99 - 01/21/99 (one week war)
9th Place
Yoda, Cain, Kahnn, Hetulik, SilverSurfer, Thor, Van, Ilios
President - Yoda

Andromeda 01/22/99 - 02/18/99
5th Place
Yoda, Thor, Hetulik, SilverSurfer, Cain, Ilios, Meta, Swain, Van
President - Hetulik

Andromeda 03/05/99 - 04/01/99
6th Place
Yoda, Botany, Cain, Ilios, Van, Talon, Pepper, Tafoid, Mach2, Fitch, ThirdDay
President - Botany

Andromeda 04/02/99 - 04/29/99
5th Place
Yoda, Botany, Van, Tega, Ilios, Kon, Tsunami, Cain, Swain, Tomar, Pepper, Decebeal
President - Kon

Andromeda 05/07/99 - 06/03/99
6th Place
Yoda, Tega, Ilios, Botany, Iceman, Swain, Pepper, NoRm

Andromeda 07/16/99 - 08/12/99
6th Place
Yoda, Bat, Ilios, Dog, Invader, Van, Ghost, Claw, Pepper
President - Invader

Andromeda 08/20/99 - 09/16/99
3rd Place
Yoda, Ilios, Dog, Invader, Cain, Pepper, Van, Tega, Swain, Spook, BBNIN, Ghost

Milky Way 09/17/99 - 09/30/99 (two week war)
2nd Place
Yoda, ZinZen, Ginew, Tafoid, Rosebud, Hetulik, Ghost, Orion, Bishop

Andromeda 10/01/99 -10/28/99
4th Place
Yoda, Nitro, Zeus, Thor, Rev, Orion, SirJacob, Pepper, SVegeta, Dog
President - Thor

Alpha War 1 04/06/13 - 05/03/13
1st Place
Yoda, Hetulik
Emperor - Yoda --- President - Hetulik

Alpha War 2 05/03/13 - 05/30/13
3rd Place
Yoda, Hetulik, Bishop

Beta War 6 02/07/14 - 02/20/14
1st Place
Yoda, Thor, Seneca, Hetulik, Rev, Talon, DrZ, Bishop
Emperor - Yoda --- President - Hetulik

Beta War 7 02/21/14 - 03/06/14
2nd Place
Yoda, Bishop, Hetulik, DrZ
President - Bishop

AGRICULTURE/HYDROPONICS

The following babblings are simply my personal thoughts, opinions, and viewpoints, (many of which are probably incorrect or viewed as foolish), developed over the time I have enjoyed the priviledge of playing Stellar Emperor (SE). I am not recommending any particular approach; that is up to each player as they see fit.

There are many ways to handle the Agriculture (Ag) and/or Hydroponics (Hydro) settings in your Planetary Management (PM) Menus.

An important point I wish to make early on - in my opinion, there is really no right or wrong way, or, even one "best" way to PM for Ag/Hydro.

Your settings will depend on how you choose to play SE, and on the goals for the particular planet you are PMing.

By how you choose to play SE I mean the following:
Do you play SE in a semi-role playing mode, where maybe you see yourself as truly the leader of a group of planets, sometimes up to (9), and, if not an independent player (indy), as an equal member of an alliance of some sort, taking into account the "realities" of imagining you are the ruler of actual populated planets set in a
warlike galaxy, perhaps enduring a new Dark Age, plagued by roaming pirate-like space vessels of various classes, manned by ruthless Lords, perhaps, again, one such as yourself?

OR: Do you play SE simply as a gaming exercise - like checkers - manipulating the game system to maximize your advantage and scores regardless of the "realities" of the premise of the Stellar Emperor game?

In the role playing mode, if you see yourself as a kind and benevolent ruler (as Yoda usually does) you will commit people to agriculture - a good starting figure for begin-game is 3.3 to 3.6 percent - to avoid "food riots - a consequence of not placing labor in Ag while Hydro capacity is building. What ruler who truly cares for
his people and their well-being would deliberately cause their subjects to starve and be forced to riot for food?

However, if you fancy yourself, in the role playing mode, as a ruthless warlike Ozymandius type tyrant ("The hand that mocked them, the heart that fed.") of course, the opposite argument could be made - a little starvation, sacrifice, and belt-tightening early in the game is good for the population - that 3.+% labor assigned
not in Ag but in Housing will increase population growth early in the game, when it is most critical. And, Hydro DOES build, at the expense of some of your engineering and metal resources, which are used to develop your Hydro, so eventually, your people will be fed.

It is interesting to note, that, in general, if you are developing a planet for population growth, it may be better to go the Hydro route, since you will not require the engineering resources or metal to build even more engineering or mining capacity or shipyards (SY) early in the game on what is to be a (hopefully) high population planet.

On the other hand, on a builder or war planet, one, for example, where you start your capital (cap) ship for "DD Monday" (in a 4 week war), it is better to go the Ag route (3.7 to 4.0 percent in Ag, depending on how high you set your conscription rate) so engineering resources and metal are not diverted from increasing engineering, mining and SY capacity to develop your Hydro - let the farmers grow food so the skilled engineers do not have to take the time to set up those hydroponics tanks, and can concentrate on building up your lethal war machine!

It seems a precious dichotomy that a ruthless implacably martial dictator finds it to his advantage to feed his people and troops to permit the building of instruments of war, while to grow those HUGE Hetulik style population planets, you starve your people to the point of rioting. It is ironic that you can eat a half bag of chips while clicking endlessly through all those "food riots reported on..." messages generated by growing full Hydro on all your planets early in the game.

In my own humble personal opinion, the "penalty" for food riots, while they are occurring, should be something more than the simple diversion of engineering resources and metal. Seems to me starving your people should have more consequences; not exactly sure what - perhaps a delay in loan repayment and/or a reduction in troop
totals. (Someone has to put down those food riots!)

Ag settings anywhere between 0 and 3 percent can be used if you wish to pursue a dual Ag/Hydro approach. One (1) percent seems to be the prefered setting, as it appears to allow the closest labor settings to actual employment. Hydro will grow, but not to the extent it would with zero (0) labor assigned to Ag. The idea here is to attempt to get the best of both worlds - maximum utilization of labor for housing growth, and, at the same time, minimizing engineering effort being diverted away from mining, engineering, and SY capacity growth.

Your conscription rate (C/R) influences your Ag setting. The more troops, the more food is needed - troops seem to eat more than the general population - Napoleon reportedly said an army marches on its stomach; that axiom appears to apply to SE, also.

Growing Hydro can have consequences at endgame. The percentage of population devoted to Hydro is subtracted from your potential 90 percent service capacity that is optimal for endgame. However, note: If you have gone full or partial Hydro, at endgame, the last hour or two, pound 5 to 10 percent into AG, grow your food stocks, and your Hydro will go back to 0 and you can get the full 90 % capacity in services you need for optimal score.

In summary: Advantages of using Agricultural Labor
-Prevents diversion of engineering effort and metal to build Hydro
-Avoids food riots
-permits certain 90 percent service capacity at endgame
Disadvantes of using Ag
-Reduces available labor that can be assigned to housing build

Advantages of using full or partial Hydroponics
-Permits additional labor that can be assigned to housing build
-self adjusting; no need to monitor food supply
Disadvantages of using Hydro
-Engineering effort and metal are diverted to create Hydro capacity
-Can reduce service capacity percentage at endgame
-causes food riots