Numbers that are visibly wrong

[Histidine]

Collating for Mantis (assuming I don't act my typically lazy self and leave it to someone else). Are there any numbers you've seen that obviously don't make sense next to other, related numbers? Post them here!

1) Burlust Blackmail
Yeah, I could spend 5000 credit for 5-60 leverage. Or I could raid a pirate convoy for free and get one or more bribe items worth over a thousand leverage apiece (and could be used elsewhere, if I don't want to deal with the Burlusts after all). Hmmm...

2) Mine Uncolonized Moon rewards
By mid-game (as early as 3020), a major planet can expect stockpiles in the hundreds of thousands with production of over 1k/month. Individual buildings cost 5000-50000.  For the Hydral, 100 resources is 50 credits or +0.5 influence.

As such, the +100/+10 you get from the Mine Uncolonized Moon dispatch is basically irrelevant.

3) University sabotage effect
Most buildings apply a -1-10 penalty to one or more RCI values when sabotaged. Pretty weak given the credit cost and how large RCI values can get, but you're paying primarily for making the building go away, I figure.

But the University? -100 Public Order. Come on, I know pissed off students can be really scary, but this is ridiculous! 

4) Dispatch influence/RCI gains
+0.3 influence and +1 one RCI stat a month is completely insignificant given how large the swings in both can get.

May post more if I can think of any.

[Draco18s]

If you need a lot of money fast and don't feel like going through the process of participating in any kind of tactical combat (due to the timescales between the real world and the gameworld) there is absolutely zero way to generate large amounts of money.

The best option is fleet construction, which pays about 1000 credits per year.  Or the same as blowing up a single flagship.

For the low, low price of 15 years of indentured labor, you too, can buy the Skylaxian senate (cost to join the federation, when I paid it, was just under 15k, and I'm pretty sure it started much, much higher).

Or you could show up unnanounced at the Peltian homeworld, do nothing, and convince them to do anything and everything.  For free.  Because you start with 3000 voting proxies* and I'm not even sure you can SPEND that many before running out of options.

For the discounted price of 9 years of indentured labor you can buy lost Hydral tech (1) from the black market.  Or you can go to pretty much anywhere and loot the ice belt for two, in under a month, and occasionally even get paid for it.

*The first time I decided to interact with their leadership I had 3,300ish proxies.  The prices of various actions were measured in double-digits.  Except joining the federation at the exorbitant cost of 150.  Currently I have over 45,000 voting proxies and have never needed to perform an action to acquire them for the sake of having more.

[Histidine]

Free return of Prisoners: Granted it's sometimes the only option, but 0.25 influence for three returned prisoners is just plain pathetic. I may as well just sell them into slavery.

[Draco18s]

o..O
It went down?  I thought it was 1 per 3...
(Which I thought was low to begin with)

[Histidine]

o..O
It went down?  I thought it was 1 per 3...
(Which I thought was low to begin with)

Hmm, in my recent game it's +1 for 3 with the Evucks, but only +0.25 for 3 with the Acutians. Not sure what's up with that (influence? racial difference? Fear Empire?), I might Mantis it after investigating some more.

[BobTheJanitor]

Did you crash with the Acutians to start? You get a game long influence reduction with your 'starting' race.

[Ryusacerdos]

Best way to make money is wiping out AFA fleets. ~30000 credits per battle.

[Histidine]

Mantis:
0014627: Burlusts blackmail simply too useless (reported by Raide)
0014673: Many dispatch rewards are too low / imbalanced with each other
0014675: University has much higher RCI hit than other buildings when sabotaged
0014680: RCI bonuses from buildings and techs too small

[lifehole]

I know I'm on a bit of a posting spree right now but whatever, I'll go to bed eventually.. soon...

Anyways: What draco said is another major balance problem. The ways of gaming the system is why people can get a federation in 5 years on 1.004, so the solution would be to balance it. Increase dispatch gains, and lower flagship gains. Or something along those lines, adjusted for the situation. There shouldn't be certain obvious ways to play/actions to take, or else it makes all other options seem useless/wasteful, which, right now, they are.

I think that is another key part of why people are so dissatisfied with federation points. It dead-ended that game in that federation points weren't integrated (credits couldn't buy your way into winning) into enough events related to these obvious, easy options, therefore dead-ending the game and forcing you to play the useless, boring way that is too inefficient to make any difference.