Best early game strats?

The skill that i see in scouting is prediction of where and how large an opponents army can be, or what buildings they are likely to have and where by x time in game. Its about determining his potential weak points, then using scouting to confirm it. Scouting unfortunately takes time to do, and we dont always have the time to scout before we attack. But we do have the ability to predict opponents movements and act upon them which is a split second decision.

Prediction is a result of strategy, and i personally dont think it should be negated away to nothing.

Zaphod is known for having a huge lack of awareness of other things happening in the game, otherwise known as tunnel vision. I have seen many of zaphod casts where he misses a nuke that is flying around the planet and blatantly obvious to the viewers.

Gunshin we all usually scout at the start of the game. Currently this is done by more or less randomly giving move commands to a scout so it flies/run around to scout. That in itself is _not_ actual scouting. It is a tedious task that can and should be made easier. The actual scouting happens when you look after what the scout has seen.
Later in the game scouting usually also means "get around enemy defences" which cannot be done by some automated command anyway.
So I can't see your issue.

Oh no another topic is going to be hijacked by the scouting talk.

If we have any form of auto scouting it does not mean you have to use it. So just saying its not an effective way to scout is not a valid reason to not have it. Also jsut because the game has it its not going to compromise the game in any way just because some people don't want to spend the to micro their units so they use it and take longer to find the enemy good for them.

I'm with gunshin on this. This should not be automated. Not everybody scouts the same way. Some people like the circle method whereas I prefer to send the scout first to key areas of the map after I scout where my initial fabbers are going to expand to. Automation lacks instinct, and if kiting like godde is implemented scouts will never die as they are the fastes unit.

Automation like this is so easy to counter so I find it pretty poibtless

Scouting is a vital part of the early game, so a discussion fits in here quite well. Knowing that you are close spawns 30s earlier can be the difference between an easy win and a hard defeat.

Even with fully automated scouting, manual scouting will still always give a benefit. The automated scouting will at best be a random and inefficient path around the planet. Manual scouting can micro around defenses, sit outside of enemy awareness, and give you a much more strategic insight into what is going on. I doubt we'd ever see the automatic scouting used in a competitive setting, so I think both can exist together in PA.

Err... Exactly.

That's the skill in scouting. Keeping an eye on the greater picture.

I.e. the skill in scouting isn't moving your scout to scout. It's observing what the scout is telling you.

For example, Sins of a Solar Empire has an auto scout behaviour. And the auto scout will happily scout the pirate planet, and die.

Scouting costs increase exponentially, for the off-chance that the pirate planet will have been overrun.

Look at how many scouts Metabolical loses, and look at how much information he gains from them (exactly none - they all suicide into opponents bases while he isn't looking)

I can see automatic scouting been used competitively, maybe more accurately then the uber team do tho ( just drag a smaller circle over those mass points your watching, as apposed to leaving it on the ground like is currently done) .

BUT automatic scouting will never take over from manual scouting (for players) like it was said above, scouting juicy mass points will always be a quicker method, bunching up scouts to get past anti air, leaving them in key points.

Then it comes down to the player to use and process the tools and information they have available to them, and that's where the skill lies.