About intel in se5

[dogscoff]

Yeah, what PVK just said. Except I think a "priority list" system might be a nice compromise between targetted and untargetted intel: You could have a list of specific ships/ planets (which means you have to have seen those ships or planets, or have found them via intel) which your agents will try to go for - but there will still be a random element.

[StarShadow]

Well, sometimes you really need to have a specific ship disabled. I mean if a star destroyer is heading to one of your systems...
Anyway, I can live without most of the sabotage stuff, but I'd like to keep the ship bomb. Although to balance it out a bit more, maybe make it more likely to fail, if it's used too many times in a row. For the most part though, it might be better if Intel was just for info gathering...unless people can come up with a way to balance it out...

[Suicide Junkie]

If the ship is already on its way, you don't stand a chance of getting operatives aboard to blow it up.

Delivering ordnance via warship makes far more sense.

[Q]

I just know that I didn't use intel in SE III, which has a very similar system as now SE V, because I judged the effect to small to be relevant. For SE IV I used a heavily modded intel system, which certainly was not perfect, but at least gave some profit for the investement you put into intel point generation.
I would have prefered if MM had kept the project for offensive intel as in SE IV, gave the projects a moddable chance of failure even in the absence of any counter intel and made counter intel with priority areas like they are now for attacking intel.
Like it is now I fear that I will switch off intel completely very often in my games.