Why is victory worth so little? (score-wise)

General discussion about the game.
spacecadet13
Posts: 126
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 2:10 pm

Why is victory worth so little? (score-wise)

Postby spacecadet13 » Mon May 26, 2014 9:13 pm

Two recent runs; very similiar numbers of ships destroyed, beacons visited, and scrap collected in both. One run resulted in victory, the other in defeat at the second boss stage. But still, the game that ended in defeat had a higher score than the one that was successful, even though they were almost identical in statistics.

Why is that? As it stands, I'd argue that defeating the half-built flagship in the Rebel Stronghold sector gives as big boost to your score than beating the full-powered flagship over three stages does. Why is beating each stage of the flagship only worth as much as beating an auto scout or rebel rigger?

I've got a run going with Stealth A, dual lasers, Halberg and Hull Beam, hacking, drone control AND a drone recovery arm, plus the stealth and a couple of zoltans on board to power it all up. It's been a cakewalk so far, I've been decimating every ship I've come across, and if they've had defence drones my hacking can't get through I've just activated stealth and FTL'd away. With the LR Scanners, I've maximised the numbers of ships I've taken on, and I'm sure I'm headed for a 6000+ score. And yet, I know that this set-up as stands has next to no chance of beating the stage 2 flagship. And I'm kinda "meh" about that - a 6000 score is a 6000 score - win or lose - and is a 4500 score with victory really better than a 6000 score with defeat? Really? If beating the flagship is the be-all and end-all of the game, why is it worth so little in terms of score? I'm not saying, I'm just saying...

So what's my incentive to change this set-up (should I get the chance) to give a realistic chance of beating the flagship? As it stands, I'll probably just max out the number of beacons I hit in sector 8 and let the flagship orbit the base for 3 turns. After all, I'll get a higher score doing that than taking it on for even one stage. And given the difficulty of taking on the flagship (in AE) vs an 'ordinary' ship, that just don't seem right. If the flagship was worth 100, or 200 points each stage, it'd be worth the risk to take it on in the second stage. But what's the point when I've got little chance of doing that, and beating a easier ship at another beacon will almost certainly boost my score more than beating the flagship would anyhow?

TL:DR version - IMHO, victory should be worth more than just the word 'victory' on your score.
shadowcrust
Posts: 328
Joined: Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:43 pm

Re: Why is victory worth so little? (score-wise)

Postby shadowcrust » Sat May 31, 2014 11:48 am

I guess it's made thus to make you try again to have a victory as your best ship with an even better run :-)

Does the flagship count as a ship that gives normal points when you destroy it? And if yes, do you get the score only for the last flagship, or all of them?