Omg I also most forgot! If you need someone to help you hit enter, global chat. Even in single player pop your questions and most likely someone will help you. There is a second chat for your own multiplayer games too. We had 600+ people in chat on Saturday. Good stuff. Yes it can be distracting so you can just close it too. (click global to make it stop blinking) Also devs are in there time to time. Their names are in bold. 

the chat is an IRC chat also if you want to pop in out of game

today we had 997 ppl max in chat

Oh this just in someone will be posting more videos on breaking the game down! Thank Rorschach- 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GEqT_ISUbc

Oh hey Sots Complete (1&2) 5$ http://www.gamersgate.co.uk/DDB-SOTSC/sword-of-the-stars-complete-collection-bundle

Overall I'd say it was very playable. Just remember to turn off SSAO, DoF etc as they are fps killers on anything except the very highest end graphic cards (by that I mean at least gtx670).

Also expect long turn times if you play on largest galaxies.

-- I like the design changes from the original SoTS. The game is about logistics rather than civ-style building and the changes emphasize this.

Plus it's just very immersive  to be thinking about your xx fleet commanded by admiral yy based out of system zz rather than stacks of units.

Rorschach- www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJzRTbYXJIg

Strategic Screen.

Very much agree. The new way of moving fleets is hard to get used to but its much more effective once you do. The haters of the system just aren't patient enough to handle it.

Well...

I'm not playing the game, and honestly don't think I will play it anytime soon if at all, but really?

The haters just aren't patient enough to handle it?

That's not a very compelling sales pitch... and there are legitimate reasons to handle fleets differently, even if the system they chose is also entirely legitimate.  It works, but some people don't like it mechanically, so they are impatient haters

Lame.

Rather than impatient haters, I'd like to view them as people who played SotS Prime a ton (like me) that got very used to that fleet system. Changing the mechanics to a completely different system in a niche game will tend to ruffle a few feathers. HoMM IV got a lot of flak for radically changing the game mechanics (although I thought HoMM IV was an excellent game).

I don't like the mission system because it adds a layer of micromanagement that wasn't there previously (even though in the late game it can be faster than the old system). I also haven't played 1000 hours of SotS 2 like I did the first one. I'm sure as I play SotS 2 more I'll get more used to it.

As time goes on, and i get used to the mechanic i can probably grow to like the mission system, but "right now" it is quite a challenge. Especially coming from SoTS 1. The learning curve is very steep. That in itself can turn new players off. I still stand by what i say that SoTS 2 is "Advanced 4X". First time 4X players are going to be overwhelmed by the games complexity.

Saying that you don't have the patience to give it a chance is wrong. It shouldn't take 1000+ hours of the school of hard knocks to enjoy this game! When the game was first released there was no tutorial to really introduce you to any of the new features. The Manual was vague at best. It took a third party guide to show people how all this stuff worked.

However the game IS getting better with each update. The game does have great potential. Just don't expect to figure everything out in just a few short sessions.

That's why I am not a salesman.

Actually the system Sots1 used is used by most 4x games, at least most popular ones. 

Them changing it is same problem MoO3 had when they decided to completely change the planet development mechanics and fucked up the game as a result. Nobody wanted this change. 

The system used by most 4x games aka copied from Civ make no sense whatsoever.

Civ gets away with it because everything else is equally absurd... so what the hell... if your armies that take a century to move, sure they can also magically live off the land.

SotS is great because unlike "most 4x" it is not a civ copy. Building stuff on planets (which always feels surreal) is abstracted, logistics are elaborated. What's wrong with that?

- Has it never bothered you playing space 4x that you don't need to resupply and fuel your fleets? This has ALWAYS bothered me in these kind of games and SotS and Space Empires are the only titles that address this.

I really enjoy galciv but it never at any point feels 'real'... I like having the alternative of a space 4x that does.

Ermm...

I believe we were only concerned with the fleet system, not with other 4x standards...

The new system isn't bad or good in my opinion (from what I understand of it), it's just different.  It has some benefits, it has some negatives.  Mostly it's a question of personal taste in what an individual wants.  I'm fine with them changing it, but I don't see how that change makes the mechanic superior to the mechanic in SotS1.

Different, yes.  Better... too dependent on personal tastes.

I was replying to the post before mine re: "most 4x". The idea that units in 4x games should be able to 'walk the earth' like roving heroes and not being able to is tyranny!

And yep I agree the change from sots prime is no better or worse mechanically (aside from admirals). I just happen to like it because it adds to the sense of 'realism' which is why I like about sots in the first place. In that sense I think it's an improvement.

I think Torin was just refering to fleet management though, but no matter

I also think I would enjoy the new fleet system, if only because I like variety, and Kerb has always impressed me with their implementations of various mechanics.  So it should not just work, it should work well

That said... the rest of what they did with SotS2 hasn't really drawn my attention so much.  I'm sure it works, and I'm sure it's well done (well, now, it clearly wasn't a year ago...), but meh, I think my interest in that game just kind of evaporated for whatever reasons.

Maybe after the expansion(s) I'll give it another look, frankly, I don't have the time to devote to it at the moment anyway.