So... I was playing a 1v1 on multiplayer... on one of the 1v1 maps... and the map is perfectly balanced... on each side of the map there is 1 roid, one desert, one volcanic, one ice for each player... and then there are 2 neutrals and a pirate base on one side, and 3 earthlikes in a nice curve around the star...

It was a great game... but... he eventually won... why? well... there were other things going on that contibuted*... but the main reason I lost is simple... his side of the map had 7 more extracters than my side of the map.

and really... on most of the pre-made maps, the planet set up is rather equal... but extractor number (and to a smaller extent... metal vs crystal ratio... but players can adapt easily to this.)

Even on the random maps... your enemy may get 3 extractors on that seemingly ever present roid a short distance away from your homeplanet... but you may get one with only 2 extractors...

Now I realize that randomness is part of the game... (data archive anyone?) but I have a odd tendancy of kinda liking to beat my opponent, not cause I had more extractors.. but because I outwitted him... and skill matchs are really hard unless you feel like restarting untill things are close to even.

*other things including... (dont read anything below this line unless you really want to...)

1. noticing that I had less extractors (7)... and he had 2 civic research stations at his HW... i really really should have rushed to have a chance at winning.

2. when we were battling over the 3 earthlikes... we both built a starbase on the middle world... I am tec and he is vasari... so you can see where that went... and

3. (this is near the end of the game... his +7 extractor economy had already beated me) the 85% build penelty my carrier heavy fleet got when he build a starbase** on my homeworld really really sucked... considering its MY gravity well, (hell MY homeworld), in MY culture, with my own starbase, and... ya... you would think that whatever supply chain issues that could possibly happen that would cause carriers to build strike craft slowly (bombers, in this case to try to take out that starbase) wouldnt happen when my carriers are sandwiched between a starbase, a planet, and a repair bay or 2. 

**I had 4-5 kodiaks, 2 hoshikos, and a carrier or 2 chasing after a... nice little group of migrators... he sent at least 3... and then it as soon a nicely damaged migrator entered my HW's gravity well (I had all my strike craft of my main fleet moved in preperation to finish it off) it instantly started building a undamaged starbase...  with a different armor type, more armor, and dodedo... very fast hp and shield gain.... and I missed the 1 second window  the starbase had less than 100 or so hp.... POINT IS:... I was not not trying to take it out.