Anybody know how to deactivate the intro movies. I HATE unskipable movies.

Oh, I AM looking forward to XCOM. Now someone's thinking "but it's already released, moron!" and I say "yeah, but I'm not gonna pay 50 bucks for it :P".

and they say "Just get it already and save yourself the heartache of waiting"

Nah, I'm okay with waiting considering my gigantic backlog which includes the whole original series. :P

I think I'm now officially in an abusive relationship with that game. Damn, I lose soldiers more often than in TFTD. But I just keep coming back for more!

smoke,overwatch and flanking are your friend... also dual snipers sucks in classic...

I have to say, this is an infuriating game. Too much randomness. I can have a soldier stand directly next an alien, one tile away, point blank range, with a light machine gun and it's still only 44% chance to hit. It makes no sense at all. The player has hardly any control over the outcome because of this randomness. This is on top of the lack of action points, the lack of stances, the inability to select the path, etc. - the tactical options are limited. XCOM is not a tactics game, it's a gambling game, keeping on reloading until desired outcome. It's only a tactics game if tactics have an effect, but in XCOM, the tactics are meaningless.

Multiple Sectoid Commanders can die in a fire. Ugh. So close to finishing off a giant UFO, but 3 Sectoid Commanders vs. my 3 surviving troops did not end well. :(

1) Learn how flanking works. With Run 'N Gun Assault guys this should generally help.
2) Proper Sniper Training and gear can give them a 75-100% chance to hit even half a map away. Don't forget that they need grapple hooks to get up to high ground faster, they get massive bonuses for this, even better ones with the skill!
3) Gear makes a huge difference, you can avoid wasting money on crafting weapons if you stun gun aliens early on, you'll have a pile of plasma weapons available the moment you've researched the relevant technology and long before you need them. Did I mention my Heavy took down a full health Sectopod tonight, in a single turn? Said Sectopod had 2 elevations worth of height advantage on him at the time.
4) Getting your Psi troopers seriously wounded is bad, you can stabilize/revive them but they will permanently lose Will, this affects their future chances to use those uber powers against the tougher aliens. Don't stick them in harm's way unless it's seriously worth it.
5) Machine gun? you have like the shittiest weapon in the game, do you even have a SCOPE on your guys?
6) Flanking, exposing vs. cover, using cool down abilities, troop turn order, where to place smoke, when to fire rockets/throw grenades, which training you want to take to balance your squad, which techs to research, which items to build, how many back up "trainees" to bring along so they're ready when most of your squad is injured, etc.: the game has both tactics and strategy. As much as some games? No, but way more than most.

For my part, I prefer the following squad: Sniper, Heavy, 2xSupport, 2xAssault. I'll take a long an extra anything if one is out, but I tend towards an extra Support or Sniper. I have brought alone 2 Heavies before, and if they both have dual rockets and you don't mind less loot, you can sometimes make really short work of a mission.

Doesn't matter. A machine gun should not have only 44% chance to hit when a unit and its target are directly adjacent to each other. I can't believe you would suggest that this is normal.

Despite my prior angry post in the heat of the moment, I enjoy the game a lot, but there are obviously issues Firaxis needs to work out.

Was your alien in full cover? If there was a thick wall between your soldier and the alien, 44 % actually sounds normal. Close range is only really good when you flank the opponent.

I'll admit it's not very realistic, but considering that everything dies in a few hits, it's normal gameplay-wise that cover should be really effective.

It's odds of doing damage, point blank with a lot of those aliens would entail trying to still hit a vulnerable spot while avoiding a punch in the face from an armored hand the size of a Christmas ham (or a chitinous spike in your eye).

It's not "chance to hit", it's more "chance to do any damage". I know it says "chance to hit", but the game mechanics make it 100% clear what you need to do to boost your chances. Some guns get reduced chance to hit as you get closer, because they are unwieldy, did you try your pistol? Was your soldier trying not to get plasmaed in the head by that other guy off to the side?

I can't believe we're having a serious debate about "realism" in a game like XCOM anyway...

Colonel Agooda, you were a good man, but let's face it, we all knew you were utterly fucked when we saw the mission objective "Agooda must survive until the end of the mission".

LOL, I had a mission like that. Had to escort some General out of harm's way. Met up with him and I believe we managed to keep him safe for a whole 10 feet or so. He moved 2 SQUARES and was promptly destroyed by Plasma fire from a Sectoid who had been hidden until then.

Not exactly an impressive performance. :)