Yeah, as first player to take merger R&D it felt like I had a huge advantage.
I used it to convert my spice into siap saji, and in doing so get rid of the production area that was stuck with Cthuludreams’ bad shipping as the only option. I also freed up a slot by merging my own companies at zero cost, and later on arranged a shipping merger to ensure that LaLunaVerde got a big network for virtually unlimited 3 hull shipping that would benefit me the most - I really didn’t want Cthuludreams’ with only 1 hull getting that network, and wasn’t really interested in winning it myself.
My problem was to appropriately value the mergers. I guess this was mainly due to the readability of the board. Having played a couple of 18XX games recently, I appreciate the clear and functional design those game offer. I enjoy the presentation of Indonesia regarding the artwork but I didn’t help me to internalize the values of the different companies. Then again, I have to admit that I didn’t put in the effort to turn on my PC and actually sink my teeth into the game. Anyways, as I said, I’m excited to get this played IRL.
I played the whole game on my phone. Never played an 18xx, so I have no point of reference there. I valued companies incorrectly because I got the game duration wrong - thought we had an extra turn - but I also forgot the doubling of the last turn, so that kind of cancelled out.
The board lacks a bit of readability, sure, but only in terms of region divisions. The values themselves seem quite simple: sales minus shipping times turns left… but only if you actually get to make those sales, don’t get merged, factor in expansion… no problem with “reading the board”, just all problems with fluidity of the game state.
One thing I found interesting was how companies are usually worth very different amounts to different people, so it’s quite possible to bid more than you want to pay, knowing that it’s worth even more to the person who will (hopefully) outbid you.
@lalunaverde@Name1ess Well, that was unexpected. I honestly didn’t realise how much the shipping would pay off, especially with all of you doing your damnedest to avoid long shipping routes and avoid selling any rice or spice.
Two things I wanted to talk about:
One: what was that bidding war over 1 siap saji about in the final turn? The opening bid was 150, which seemed a massive overpayment to me, given that the payout would be… what, 30x2=60, maybe subtract whatever else could have been acquired for the slot.
Two: did anyone consider using R&D to increase my hull? I suppose this is really a question for CthuluDreams, given that he seemed to stand to gain the most, but I was surprised that my shipping bottleneck was allowed to continue.
I miscalculated the remaining duration of the game. Since I own 1/3 of the merger, I’m practically paying 100, not 150. In hindsight, of course, the 50 quid would be the better option.
Yes. But I’m not confident that I’ll be benefitting the most here. I’m spending R&D to allow other players to sell more. I’m not sure how to proceed on that one.
Given you would have had 3 free slots, I suppose the free slot would have been taken by a rice, at best, so I guess the siap saji would have been “worth” 60 (-15x2) = 30 to you, given it was the final turn, for a max bid of 45? With another turn, things get more complicated - I suppose any player could have opted not to acquire a company?
Looking at the board again, I think CthuluDreams was the only player who might really have benefited from increasing my hull. Shame I can’t restore the game to an earlier state to see what might have happened…