Depopulate a Planet via Migration

[SilentMage]

So far we know that we can migrate a POP from one inhabited planet to another. Using this process, can we potentially depopulate a planet to the point where it's no longer inhabited?

One example of this where you may want to incur the cost of such an emigration would be if the cost of keeping the planet you colonized proved to be too much. Ex: Maybe the wandering trees on that one planet the Blorg colonized got so violent that you'd end up losing more money just rebuilding structures versus if you just up and moved the entire population off the planet.

Sure, migration may be expensive, but if credits weren't an issue, could a total depopulation be possible?

 

[ahhheygao]

Yes, if you have enough Influence mana, you can "evacuate" your entire planet. Keep in mind, thought, that Influence mana happens to be the one resource that doesn't scale up.

 

[KrilleL92]

Plus it means we can evict the filthy xenos, err I mean relocate the friendly natives to a nice reservation from a habitable planet! *nodnod*

 

[Red Death]

In the case you mentioned, wouldn't just leaving the pops on there without rebuilding still be the better option? Unless you have other new colonies that need to be filled of course.

 

[SilentMage]

Yes, if you have enough Influence mana, you can "evacuate" your entire planet. Keep in mind, thought, that Influence mana happens to be the one resource that doesn't scale up.

Do we know if by "evacuate" that means the planet literally becomes an uninhabited planet again, or would it still be controlled by you (structures built are still there), but there just aren't any POPs on it?

In the case you mentioned, wouldn't just leaving the pops on there without rebuilding still be the better option? Unless you have other new colonies that need to be filled of course.

I suppose we can let our people suffer the wrath of the wandering trees... but given the dynamics of factions, leaving POPs on a planet with roving trees probably would result in some amount of uprising, especially if their government knows of their plight but does nothing about it. Is it more expensive to have an uprising that could spread unwanted ideas to other worlds, or to migrate those folks to a place where they'd be happier?

 

[ahhheygao]

Do we know if by "evacuate" that means the planet literally becomes an uninhabited planet again, or would it still be controlled by you (structures built are still there), but there just aren't any POPs on it?

That we don't know yet. I presume it'd be the former, so it might be best to keep one guy around. As long as the tiles have innate Food tiles, he can feed himself even if all your buildings get destroyed by tree ents.

 

[Brian Bóroimhe]

So far we know that we can migrate a POP from one inhabited planet to another. Using this process, can we potentially depopulate a planet to the point where it's no longer inhabited?

One example of this where you may want to incur the cost of such an emigration would be if the cost of keeping the planet you colonized proved to be too much. Ex: Maybe the wandering trees on that one planet the Blorg colonized got so violent that you'd end up losing more money just rebuilding structures versus if you just up and moved the entire population off the planet.

Sure, migration may be expensive, but if credits weren't an issue, could a total depopulation be possible?

Maybe the game won't allow you to move the last pop from a planet? Not sure there's a definitive answer to it, as we haven't seen anyone try to migrate a planet's sole pop unit away from it.

Something fun you could do instead to the planet in that scenario is evacuate the loyalists and migrate all your empire's dissident pops there to use it as a hellhole prison planet. You could call it Spacestralia! Or Salusa Secundus if you're a sensitive Aussie

Also the planet's infrastructure would be awful so you could just keep crushing the inevitable "prison riots".

 

[Es57]

To purge them to oblivion might be cheaper and quicker, to be honest...

 

[KonradKurze202]

I doubt you can move the last pop off world. It looks like right now the only way to uninhabit a planet is with the spiritual FE war goal.

 

[Baldwin XI]

even if all your buildings get destroyed by trees.

Especially trees of the walking variety!

 

[Es57]

Especially trees of the walking variety!

Or maybe even the orbital-bombarding variety !

 

[ahhheygao]

I doubt you can move the last pop off world. It looks like right now the only way to uninhabit a planet is with the spiritual FE war goal.

That just doesn't make any sense to me. Why wouldn't I be able to resettle that last POP and give up my claim and presence on that planet? What if I purge that last POP myself? Am I not allowed to do that either? And what if I have Free Migration policy, is that last POP not permitted to freely migrate to somewhere better?

 

[SilentMage]

That just doesn't make any sense to me. Why wouldn't I be able to resettle that last POP and give up my claim and presence on that planet? What if I purge that last POP myself? Am I not allowed to do that either? And what if I have Free Migration policy, is that last POP not permitted to freely migrate to somewhere better?

If the planet is in your area of influence and not a fringe planet, where losing the planet would assuredly put it back on the market for anyone to claim, completely depopulating it shouldn't allow another civilization to claim it as their own.

Regarding Free Migration, I am very interested to see how that plays out, especially between species that have a Free Migration agreement between them. I doubt that the game would allow the last POP on a planet to migrate elsewhere on its own, but I'd like to think you could forcefully move that POP yourself, and depopulate the planet as a result.

 

[ahhheygao]

If the planet is in your area of influence and not a fringe planet, where losing the planet would assuredly put it back on the market for anyone to claim, completely depopulating it shouldn't allow another civilization to claim it as their own.

True, but the planet will still no longer be labeled with your empire's tag and not under your direct ownership. If it ever becomes contested (i.e. a primitive species in that star system just went FTL), then you'd lose that planet.

I doubt that the game would allow the last POP on a planet to migrate elsewhere on its own, but I'd like to think you could forcefully move that POP yourself, and depopulate the planet as a result.

The only instance I can think of when free migration shouldn't be permitted would be a newly formed colony, so there may be some mechanism in place that prevents the sole POP on the planet administration capital to leave.

Otherwise, if AI or player was negligent/incompetent enough to leave an unhappy POP as the last one remaining on a planet, then I have no problem with letting the planet fall back into neutral ownership.

 

[I_AM_King_Midas]

I have wondered if I could do this to change the default pop that is produced on a planet to now be my main species instead of what was previously there.

 

[Es57]

Regarding Free Migration, I am very interested to see how that plays out, especially between species that have a Free Migration agreement between them. I doubt that the game would allow the last POP on a planet to migrate elsewhere on its own, but I'd like to think you could forcefully move that POP yourself, and depopulate the planet as a result.

I doubt that POPs would free-migrate to the point that the planet gets unhabited.

My assumption is that only the surplus of POPs will migrate, leaving enough POPs on the planet to just make it self-subsistent in food.

 

[ahhheygao]

I have wondered if I could do this to change the default pop that is produced on a planet to now be my main species instead of what was previously there.

Again, I don't see why not, as long as you're willing to spend the prohibitively expensive Influence mana and deal with a whole planet's worth of pissed off POPs who are unhappy with being forcefully resettlement. You'll also piss off your own species POPs if you forcefully settle them there instead of let them migrate there freely.

 

[flazeo255]

Again, I don't see why not, as long as you're willing to spend the prohibitively expensive Influence mana and deal with a whole planet's worth of pissed off POPs who are unhappy with being forcefully resettlement. You'll also piss off your own species POPs if you forcefully settle them there instead of let them migrate there freely.

If your collectivist and your pops are collectivist then force resettlement won't given them negative happiness from it.

 

[KrilleL92]

If the last pop is a problem, and you simply want to relocate the natives and are too sqeamish/morally opposed to purging, you could always just let a pop of your main species settle in before kindly putting up the expressive signs pointing towards the spacestation...