I'd personally like to have starting terrain knowledge 1 row past where we get it now. I'm pretty tired of building next to a flux well, only to find my base surrounded on three sides by water. Or even just reveal spaces adjacent to the flux wells on the side a player is assigned to start.

Seconded. Keep the build line right where it is, but for Rithig's sake, can we just get a little more info to prevent "insta-boned" situations?

Still against the idea.

Sometimes, akkmedk, you just get insta-boned. Gd knows it's happened to me enough times.
I'm with Mist on this one. The only scenario that just absolutely must be controlled for is having the option to only build on two 1x1 islands at either flux point. Beyond that, having the chance of crap terrain helps limit the prevalence of specialty decks. You'll always need to have terrain altering or terrain compensating cards available.

_________________
-Minds

The only thing close that I might endorse would be a mulligan-ish feature that lets a player sacrifice something [a rather major something] for an extra row of view before any other action is taken. Leave it to the player to decide if it is worthwhile. Me personally, I quite like the risk and chance you take and if the cost was appropriate I'd be quite happy to let someone "pay" to see that extra row if they thought it necessary... assuming either they lost something equivalent to that advantage advantage or I gained something to balance it. This is only off the top of my head and I need to think about it more before deciding if it's a good thing, but perhaps the vision mulligan might take the entire first round for the player using it, essentially giving the other player 3 extra flux and a full round head start in exchange for more intel on your starting location.

That is one option I'd not mind discussing. But as is mentioned every time this comes up, that blind row is a big thing in this game and removing it should absolutely not be done lightly.

I personally haven't had a situation as bad as some people say they have... but if you're worried that you might be building on an island, or that your base my be adjacent to all water squares, you can currently choose to build in more revealed space, or on the other side. You don't always HAVE to build as close as possible to the middle flux well.

I think if you build by the well with the least water this will almost never happen to you.

In a game yesterday I built on a 1-hex island.. such is life.. the other player had the same chances.

That's poetic

nah, poetic would have been

In a game last night
I started on an island.
Foe's luck better.