about 2 dozen maps have grouped starting positions ie if you have country a you also have country b
suggestion 1a;this should be included in the "about the game" area of conquer club with a link to the forum topic revealing the master information
1b;if possible those maps legend keys should be retrofitted with an asterisk about this in the legend key but that may take more coding than suggestion 1a
1 example there is a map that seems to have 52 starting positions, but in truth has only 16 …. knowing which 16 is a big advantage in for game for those who know
another map has 104 potential starting positions , or 83 if you discount killer neutrals; ( helpfully if you ignore the legend and click on the map tab if you use panels and think to do so it says there are 8 starting positions,) so you could then go to the "hidden" database or start a non-fog game , or view a non-fog game in round one to see what they are
this makes the gaming experience unfairly biased against those not in the know in a very different way than simply playing an opponent who is experienced on a map, or who has better knowledge of statistics , , strategy, or who has read the strategy fora….
recently I played someone who joined in 2007 in a poly game and when I saw a position one of their starting groups I chatted to myself about their other hidden positions for later reference, but was in unmasked chat; their discus at learning about 13 years of disadvantage seems likely to tip him into leaving conquer club.
I felt the same way when I learned this at the end of me first 2 years , and was disappointed when my mentors said not to post this on the forum those 7-8 years ago … today I decided to post without consultation
we don't like people to farm know recruits on complex maps with non-intuitive strategies … what about old recruits who didn't read the forum that lists starting positions not noted in map keys...
ADDED
I would propose some addition under the about the game tab something more welcoming to newcomers (as well as old timers) to give them a chance to be more quickly competitive, along the lines of
" there are many strategy threads about individual maps and settings, and valuable strategies about attacks, dice odds and game play, as well as a SoC training academy
and here are a half dozen links to of them, and there are more in the forums that you may find equally or more valuable " and link
the old strategy guide page,
the map XML page, school for cooks , t
The thread about whether/when to attack 3 vs 1 , the first moves advice on school for cooks site ,
and even create a page listing the names of the 20+ maps with fixed starting positions E.G.
http://www.conquerclub.com/maps/
Austerlitz, Austrum, Balkan Colesium;Eurasia; Eurasia Mini,Flanders,Gilgamesh, Hive ,Holy Roman Empire,Poker Club, Portland, Rail South America, Salem's Switch,Spanish Armada, The three Kingdoms of China, The Three Kingdoms of Korea, Thyneseal , Tribal War Florida, Tribal War Israel, Vancouver, WWI Gallipoli
I retired the first poll as I hadn't realized it would generate percentages and thus dilute opions of people who voted for multiple options ; it looks like it was 2 for a reveal and 2 against ; ...SORRY TO BE SUCH A NOVICE AT POLLING ; THOSE RESULTS ARE BELOW
under game tab section on special game play after the :" special gameplay; killer neutrals "paragraph , add paragraph " some maps have linked starting positions and include link to the list of xml files (19%) (2 votes)
big wham should encourage/incentivize someone to update map legends 19% (2)
under THE GAME tab include a ninth tab strategy ; including links (19%) (2)
We should change nothing 19% (2)
LEARNING ABOUT this after being here for years is another thing that makes me feel like leaving conquer club (included for the 3 people who told me in chat that was how they felt ) 11% (1)
mention whatever we cc decides in announcements as well for existing members 19% (2)
to indicate maps with a strategy, that is 7, yes 7 out of 240 or so maps, so yes it has a colour indicating old map discussion in 
