Am I slow or is it just me.

Depends on your style of play. Pick a target and beat the snot out of them, especially the one giving the other two a bunch of crap. They will admire you and your military strength, by upping their friendship level than you can form an alliance with them... game over.

W/R
Suralle Straykat
Kat Lord @ Large

Suralle has a good point. I tend to be hated for my own neutrality most times, and targetted by evil races because I don't focus on the military unless I'm under attack or I spotted nearby buildup.

It all depends on your playing style. I beat a small one in 1.5 hours.

Sorry, but I got a real kick out of your subject line "Am I slow or is it just me".

I don't think you should be concerned about the time it takes you to 'beat' the game. As long as you are enjoying it, that's what counts. I find that some people start comparing themselves to other players with different styles too quickly and become disillusioned with whatever game they are playing. Best to tackle it at your own pace, in your own way, and then perhaps change tactics later on once you get the feel for it.

yep.. personally, I will be ecstatic if I can play a single game for an entire week and never grow bored. That, in my mind, is the pinnacle of gameplay .

If I can get involved in the game and do things for FUN rather than NEED, then the game is an instant classic to me.

My first game was on medium and took 8-12 hours, I'd guess. At the end my biggest hulls were large, I had base 4 weapons and base 2 defense (in my best weapon/def techs), and I there was a massive amount of techs leftover after I won by conquest.

I could've kicked back and teched up but I was already crushing everyone (on beginner). I'm gonna play on "normal" now and see how it goes.

So, I guess, the tech tree is rather large and unlike some other games you probably won't run it out every time you play.

I'm gonna play on "normal" now and see how it goes.

Move it up a notch so that the AI is playing at 70%... vice 50% at normal than hold onto your socks and make friends with minors fast.

W/R
Suralle "the bad kitty" Straykat
Kat Lord @ Large

No, Play on Tough mode, Its bootcamp after playing on cakewalk

Ya I personally think that it all depends on what type of person you are. For example some people might just rush the ememy and send small ships right away until you beat them(even though you might loose a ton of ships in the process). And other people might just built up a MASSIVE invasion fleet that your oponent mine as well just give up wether then trying to defeat it(thats the way I play ). Everyone plays slighty different ; no two people play exactly the same. So as long as your having fun thats the way you should be playing

right on! you hit the mark with that one. Play styles can be different too. Theres more than one way to win!!

In the campaign, just as I completed every branch of research I could get. . .I won a victory through a little influence starbase I had totally forgotten on the enemy's border

So much for my fleet of 3 4000-troop transports

I haven't beaten the buggers yet, they seem to out-colonise me - any tips for getting ahead?

I tend to play long games too. I've started a normal game, small galaxy, with all races, started it the day of release, and I'm just getting into midgame now.

So, as others said, everyone has their own style. I think that if you configure your game with more AI races, it will appear less slow without getting much more difficult: at the begining things are more levelled (everyone with more or less the same amount of planets) until someone gets the upper hand. It allows for more variaty in the game play (alliances between the weaker ones againt the dominating AI, etc...)