Wondering if I'm the only one to keep restarting ES2 until I get a decent starting position, and what people usually see as most important.

I play on the biggest map size available (and would play on larger yet were it available - I want a long, drawn-out, epic game). There are two main points when I might reset the game.

First, if I find I'm in a corner of the galaxy that's devoted to clouds or potatoes. These are my least favourite resources and I never use them in system development.

Second, if after I've done a lot of exploring, I still haven't seen even one unique planet. This usually means they're all quite far away and I'm going to miss out on some empire flavour (and quests) that I like.

There are some other kinds of variance that I either like or accept - who my neighbours are, how many minor civs there are nearby, how decent the systems are nearby in terms of size and resources, so on.

I sometimes am a bit irritated that all the customization I do at the start of the game needs to be redone every time I restart, but I'm used to that and, absent a scripting language (or my learning the modding APIs), I don't see a way around it.

In terms of starting luxury resources,

• Grass aka RedSang - For most empires I love this start. I often have problems with food at the start of the game, as all the minor populations come from curiosities and supporting my first colony leaves them starving (I wish there were a good way to designate that an outpost must grow entirely on its own, or tweak how *much* food to send)
• Bushes aka Eden Incense - Another awesome start. I want to start banking influence for diplomatic purposes early, and later on this lets me drop a colony near another empire without it being assimilated.
• Hamburgers aka Jadonyx - In a development upgrade, a nice production boost to help my colonies bootstrap their way into improvements carrying them to greatness. Even more important for Riftborn . 
• Wobuffet aka Dustciduous - Rarely something I'll put in my any development upgrade, but the planet boost is nice.
• Mushrooms aka Bluecap Mold - Yawn. No local effects from the development upgrade, and there are better things to hope for.
• Grapes aka Transvine - Bleh. I usually try hard to keep my people happy some other way.
• Potatoes aka Superspids - I keep wanting to like this more, but it's very late in the game when I have the funds to buy things out - avoiding negative balances is a struggle enough. If this is nearby when I start, I restart.
• Clouds aka Dark Glitter - I never use this. If this is nearby when I start, I restart.

I shall now forever call them potatoes and bushes.

pgunn wrote:

• Potatoes aka Superspids - ... If this is nearby when I start, I restart.

In honor of you, and the sentiment we all feel, I have made a new addition to the merch store.