Note that in certain games (1817, e.g.) there can be up to 200% shares available for a given company so being at 50% is one short of the amount needed to guarantee nobody steals your company from you. :)
If you like deep strategy with tactical maneuvering, then 18xx is as far from dry and boring as it gets--they are an intense rollercoaster ride of timing and risk-taking. If however, you like catch-up mechanisms that allow poor-playing players to catch up to leader who is more skilled, or if you like the thrill of random things which can hammer any player, then 18xx is not your game. There is no randomness to these games and there is no way to win if you are outplayed, and for those reasons, I consider them absolutely brilliant.
