I am one of those people who feels that no multiplayer game is complete without some kind of CTF "mod". And, while most people don't agree with me, I like flagpod. So, I'm posting this for 2 reasons:
1: Is there anyone out there that likes flagpod and plays on GR on a regular basis?
2. Why is flagpod so disliked?
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In the next world war,
In a jack-knifed Juggernaut,
I am born again.
Flagpod. Eh. Most people don't like flagpod (including me) because we suck at it. Barely any of us play it, and those that do always win, so we get farther away from it. It also is least like the other levels.
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"Well try to kill them with a fork-lift!"
The Notorious Bounty
Hunter,
Boba Fett
judygeof@ix.netcom.com
I've been speculating, and have decided that another reason that flagpod is dislike is the species! Grolk? Come on.
I think that there must be some kind of limitation in the ares engine that requires the ships to be set objects, which rules out allowing people to play as certain species.
I think that maybe if grolk ships weren't so slow and weak and just plain BLAH then more people would play flagpod. Right now, the only thing that I would use Hera for would be to make a better flagpod.
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In the next world war,
In a jack-knifed Juggernaut,
I am born again.
Not everyone hates Flagpod. 
Rep wrote a (url="http://"http://www.axis.n3.net/multi/flagpod.html")flagpod strategy article(/url) a while back, good reading for anyone who wants to sharpen their skillz.
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Pax - Drew Harry
sagitar@earthlink.net
(url="http://"http://www.axis.n3.net/")Ares Axis - axis.n3.net(/url)
"...they say that every five minutes someone dies in a car accident, but how often are there seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses in one hangar?" - Terminal 2, Where are monsters in dreams, Marathon Infinity
The advantage numbers don't just show how powerful a species is - they also show how tactical combat is at that level. In other words, the more powerful the species, the less it matters what formation you use and if you put out distractions, etc. As Audemedon, it really doesn't matter if your flit is split up slightly - they can arrive quickly and start firing the instant they come out of hyperspace. The Gaitori, on the other hand, can't move as quickly or fire at such long ranges.
So, Grolk, with a .50, lets you use tactics like sneaking a flag past while your units distract the enemy, or sending a single ship out to spook enemies out of formations, or whatever else you can dream up. Of course, anyone who just wants to go blow stuff up is really annoyed by the Grolk cruiser's dead-in-the-water engine.
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Replicant
www.axis.n3.net
The thing is that Flagpod is based around mad piloting Skillz, and the extent of the strategy is "Move my flag here, target their flag here, then pilot it home." I feel that Grolk should at least have decent weapons or something, or maybe add a belt so it's more like hide and seek, the way CTF really is. Put some waypoints in the belt and it's like "Hide strike force A here, strike force B here, I'll bring up the middle."
Maybe you could give people X rescources to start, and not give them more, and let them build Blitzers, which are fast but weak in weapons, Light Cruisers and Cruisers for their attack or something.
The thing is that once you've got the flag, you don't need any tactics, its turn rate and accel are much greater than those of the grolk cruisers, so by piloting it around them, you can get back to your planet and it doesn't matter if you have a bunch of cruisers on your tail and yours are all at your moor because they've been killed.
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In the next world war,
In a jack-knifed Juggernaut,
I am born again.
Flagpod really requires a fair amount of strategy, because a direct engagement of the two fleets would result in the "emprisonment" of most of the ships.
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Commander Cicion, commander of Audemedon 6th fleet
"Never tell me the odds!"
-Han Solo
It looks like tactics are just 'order the flag to your home base'... but look at the tractor moors. If you assign a single ship to the tractor moor for your ships, they will be freed instantly... with their orders intact, even. So they'll head right back to following you. Flag sneaks aren't the extent of strategy... even if the flagpod has a better turn rate, cruisers are faster. What's really evil is to sit your flag on your opponent's tractor moor (the one your ships are imprisoned at) and order all your ships to go there. As soon as a ship dies, it is reincarnated. You're invincible until every ship you have is out of ammo. Tag a few onto the friendly tractor moor to prevent your enemy freeing his ships, and you've won.
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Replicant
www.axis.n3.net
