Currently, Stellaris is about war first, then maybe inter-species diplomacy that sometimes work and some other times just suck. People don’t declare victory based on science, culture, or economy.
Currently, everything is discussed based on the ability to (eventually) build a bigger fleet and go to war. This is kinda wrong on some levels. Utopian abundance is seen as only a strategy, not something worthwhile for its own sake.
This thread is a discussion centered on these ideas,
Science: one big issue is lack of specialization. You’re probably going materialist technocracy. There aren’t lots of variants. You have lots of technologies, but your main choice is the order you research them, and not what you specialize.
Culture(unity): suffers from the opposite problem. There are Byzantine bureaucracy, holy covenant, parliamentary system, trade league, etc… all viable ways to make unity, but not a lot of viable uses. Traditions are generic, most selectable from the start. Ambitions are late-game stuffs with not much meaningful choice. Planetary ascension is a unity sink.
Economy: Is very important, but because the game currently has the player get lost with no clear goal unless they go to war, the economy is for war.
I have a few suggestions, boosting the depth of the game, which is important for meaningful choices.
Faction system rework is a short, new faction system which expands the scope of factions beyond the 8-ish main factions. More use for unity as well.
Excess expansion is about resources. (Incomplete, still lacks more use for trade value, a more interesting trade route system, and so on).
Virtual expansion is about the virtual world and its cultural and scientific impact. A new dimension to conquer!
Further suggestions are that other empires lose value over time, turning the game into the player vs crisis or the player vs galaxy game. The problem I find is that empires can often disappear or get subjugated, but there aren’t new, replacement players for player to interact with. Discussion of such mechanisms recommended.
More suggestions over time, or you can add your own.
Currently, everything is discussed based on the ability to (eventually) build a bigger fleet and go to war. This is kinda wrong on some levels. Utopian abundance is seen as only a strategy, not something worthwhile for its own sake.
This thread is a discussion centered on these ideas,
Science: one big issue is lack of specialization. You’re probably going materialist technocracy. There aren’t lots of variants. You have lots of technologies, but your main choice is the order you research them, and not what you specialize.
Culture(unity): suffers from the opposite problem. There are Byzantine bureaucracy, holy covenant, parliamentary system, trade league, etc… all viable ways to make unity, but not a lot of viable uses. Traditions are generic, most selectable from the start. Ambitions are late-game stuffs with not much meaningful choice. Planetary ascension is a unity sink.
Economy: Is very important, but because the game currently has the player get lost with no clear goal unless they go to war, the economy is for war.
I have a few suggestions, boosting the depth of the game, which is important for meaningful choices.
Faction system rework is a short, new faction system which expands the scope of factions beyond the 8-ish main factions. More use for unity as well.
Excess expansion is about resources. (Incomplete, still lacks more use for trade value, a more interesting trade route system, and so on).
Virtual expansion is about the virtual world and its cultural and scientific impact. A new dimension to conquer!
Further suggestions are that other empires lose value over time, turning the game into the player vs crisis or the player vs galaxy game. The problem I find is that empires can often disappear or get subjugated, but there aren’t new, replacement players for player to interact with. Discussion of such mechanisms recommended.
More suggestions over time, or you can add your own.
