I haven't posted here in a long time, but I have always followed your games, development blogs, and lerk over the forums. I have a high degree of respect and admiration for you Chris Park! Your a great example for any aspiring Game Designer/Developer looking how to use community feedback in the right way.
My first post here in fact was my most memorable moment on any forum I ever posted in. Back in the 2.0 days IIRC correctly of AI War, I made a topic about how I was confused about multi homeworld starts. Mostly in the fact that both had to stay alive, losing 1 was game over, and resources! Within 15 minutes of posting the topic, there were dozens of posts and the first few where from you yourself Chris. Over the week that topic grew to three pages. A patch came out some days after and a much better multi-homeworld mechanic was made! and it was much less confusing
After reading your last blog post about "Crowdsourcing" I just felt like coming in and saying, DON'T EVER CHANGE! If it wasn't for how you deal with design choices, and reassesing what your players are telling you, I doubt any of your games could have come along as quickly, or as polished if you hadn't. AI War has and always will be my all time favorite RTS, it's a brilliant game. And it's still worth playing to this day. So I look forward to a constant future for The Last Federation!
I wish I could jump into The Last Federation, I am really excited to see how it turns out. In fact I been waiting for a game that simulates the whole 4X like mechanics in the background, while I get to be behind the scenes manipulating everyone, MUwahaha!
Not sure if the Alpha is still open, but I'm gnawing at my lip to test and see what the fuss is all about, loving everything I've seen
I'm jealous I can't test the A.I. with the rest of the testers
It's my favorite part of the game.