Map vision definitely sets Amoeba apart more than science bonus. Turn one, knowing which systems to colonize, which systems close to your are worth prioritizing, and knowing where any enemy in the same constellation is, is a huge advantage. If you start well, you can colonize and block your opponent from 1/2 or more of the constellation. This will almost always lead to war, but if you're ready, they're really not doing much more than handing you some precolonized and improved systems.

While I would like to make something clear...DO NOT nerf anyone please the stronger races make it funner if you would like I'm fine with making the terrible races a little stronger. Anyway I would have to agree with most here Amoeba, they were the first I used and are amazing

I think the map-vision is the more important aspect. But the high amount of science due to easy trading certainly plays a pretty big role as well. Would it be lower, it might indeed be enough to not call them strongest anymore.

I guess this thread may be a little dead, but I see amoeba won. One reason amoeba is powerful is due to the huge *science* bonus they get from trade. If they get 100 dust/turn in trade income, they get 200 science/turn. There is a 2.0 multiplier (which is a constant given in the xml files) for this. I have found that amoeba is much less overpowered if this number is changed to 0.5 or 1.0. For people who voted for amoeba, is the high science output the *reason* why they do so well? Or is it purely due to the map visibility?