There is not much to add as long as there is no response from dev team. Also this Feature is so needed for MP games that I'm not surprised that people like to bump thread to make it spotted by dev team. If you have suggestion what should we write to include to this topic to increase chance of getting such feature in Stellaris then it's welcomed.
As for how i hope that MP lobby should work:
1. Lobby should display list of existing empires with indicator who played them before
-Player: with player name
-AI: type, indicator for advanced start or any other buffs AI have that would be retained by players.
-Lobby should have option to be player locked, so player could select only his own empire. Selecting other empire require Host permission. This option would be extremely useful for rehost during exploration phase.
2. Selecting empire should show:
- explored territory(without details, as much as see empire that got diplomatic contact) and relations with other empires(alliance, vassalige/protectorate/tributary/rivalry)
- ethos, primary specie, planet count, population count.
- researched techs grouped by type(ex. 10 physics, 7 sociology, 22 engineering) as this can be checked by players anyway(open trade with someone and propose research agreement (use your tech count, add enemy advantage and subtract your advantage)
3. Hotjoin: When player tries to hotjoin as empire that is not played by him earlier then it should show basic info(planets, population, previous controller etc.)for host to let him decide if player should be allowed to pick that empire(to avoid player picking advanced start if there is any)
4. non-blocking Hotjoin: players that could do some stuff during paused caused by rejoin/resync/hotjoin are much less frustrated if they could do some micromanagement in his empire or just watch stuff they didn't have time when time was ticking.
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