by LazyJ
kollapse wrote:
Love following the discussion here. Thanks for the advice and thoughts, though we did end up playing another (more easy to teach) game. Will probably teach this game in phases, with a couple of friends at a time for smaller games first.
That's a good plan in my opinion. 4 is a good number for new people to learn. Play the "big" game once they' have one under their belt. And truly, make them play Terran first. Hook them for round two with the opportunity to play an Alien.
Regarding overall "weakness" comments - it's true that any faction can win. But I would be honest in discussing the downsides of each faction For example "Orion is super powerful military (tech + start cruiser), but if you make a mistake you will have a tough time recovering (4:1 trade and no money planets)" And some factions have a lot more drawbacks than benefits to new players.
If a new player is willing to spend 3 hours on trying a game as complex as Eclipse, I want to help them have the best experience possible. Some Aliens play easy (Hydran guys like research!) and some are subtle (How many Eridani first round actions should I take with that giant pile of money?). Why risk them getting overwhelmed in their first run-through?