by davypi
Anarchosyn wrote:
.. later purchases were rewarded with a higher value due to the increased hardships implicit in acquiring a ship later than soon.
Actually, its the opposite. Its more difficult to build them early as resources are more scarce. Unless you have a healthy competition, the early ones are the hardest to build. The reason for the point differential has to do with the food reward. Assume a 3P game. A wooden ship acquired on round 4 will provide 15 rounds of free food - netting 45 food. A wooden ship acquired on round 6 will provide 13 rounds or 39 food which is three more food. The point differential is there to offset the fact you get less food from the boat. If you factor in the food benefits of each boat, earlier boats actually are worth more than later boats of the same type. You're just focused on the number in the gold coin instead of the overall benefit.
why reveal a lower cost option afterwards
Luxury liners are different from other boats in that they do not provide any benefits other than the points. You cannot ship with them nor do they provide food. Again, returning to the idea that the necessary resources are more scarce earlier in the game, the higher point reward for the first boat rewards the player who can get there first. This, of course, gets a little weird because if the first lux liner is not built, a second one covers it up, making the second build less valuable than the first. Its probably the only mechanism of the game that I don't like, but I've also never seen anybody lose the game because of the build order of lux liners, so its not worth fretting over.
