by SWC_Seren
Off-topic banter. Be warned.A RAW fan myself, I had to dismiss my rules preferences and go along. I so wanted to play with the new group. I'm glad I went because they were great fun and the game was a blast!
In the end, no matter what the house rules (HRs), I've found TI3 feels like the same great thing to me every time. It's just a menu of variation, part of what I love about it.
When I host I still have my set of preferred rules, but I can roll with whatever set of HRs folks wanna play with so long as I understand them. ;)
I must admit I was worried about the random alien leader draw with the Leadership SC (#6). This card found it's way into my hands about 5 times. Luck gave me lots of extra scientists and I needed them because resources were scarce compared to my neighbors. Having the defender preliminary objective also meant some added defense bonuses for my PDS units. The extra SDs and Techs were nice, but honestly I was hoping for 5 agents and admirals in an attempt to demonstrate the immense power of this HR. Next time. :)
#5 encompasses a lot, but it was kinda cool once you take into account the history of 200+ games that, over a period of three years and a democratic house-ruling system, contributed to their current evolution. Overall, this set of changes is largely based on a theme of removing many ways to score +1 VP via PNs, FF, DS, VoC, etc. There's also some merc-nerfing and FS boosting. Does it make it interesting? Hell yes. Does it shorten the game? Probably not, and good folks like you were missed.
#3 (half-priced FS) was pretty cool. Everyone got their FS on the board---never seen that before. Not sure the FS needed the tech boosts (all DN techs apply to FS), but thematically I can understand all the HRs except #2.
Ironically, #2 comes from our group. #2 is having the option to choose from both Diplomacy and Warfare SCs. I much prefer the SE + Shards SC set using Bureaucracy, no options. Although it felt weird to me, I did take advantage of Warfare I to pull off a big late-game move (although with flank speed and Warfare II, I woulda been okay).
Crap. We are way off topic. Now someone is going to want the full list of HRs.