I went into Stellaris knowing ethics divergence was a major game mechanic, and I have rapidly understood its importance; I annexed the civilization of another race only to have them hate me due to different ethics. So that's why I'm lucky as a fanatic collectivist that I have the social engineering edict, with -15% ethics divergence for ten years.
This sounds good until you realize the x.1 multiplier to the chance, meaning that it only gives you a 1.5% yearly chance to indoctrinate a pop. However the edict lasts for ten years, which in turn brings us to a 15% chance to convert a given pop. Only 15%? This means that you'd need at least 7 pops to expect a conversion (6 x 15 = 90 7 x 15 =105) and even then it'd only be one. Keep in mind that edicts cost 150 Influence. That's three leaders. That's more than winning a war with the Humiliate wargoal*. That's more than four years of base Influence income. That's a whole 15% of your total influence (assuming you have the full 1,000) just to convert a few pops in an empire that will have dozens of them.
In short, the Social Engineering Edict is very underpowered, but I've noticed this trend with other edicts. It would be one thing if edicts doubled or tripled production but spending 150 influence for a modest increase in one planet's output seems a little weak.
Although on the other hand I guess planetary edicts are more for the early game where planetary management is the core of the game. Once you transition from managing planets to managing sectors I guess the idea of grooming a single planet to perfection is quaint in the big scheme of things.
This sounds good until you realize the x.1 multiplier to the chance, meaning that it only gives you a 1.5% yearly chance to indoctrinate a pop. However the edict lasts for ten years, which in turn brings us to a 15% chance to convert a given pop. Only 15%? This means that you'd need at least 7 pops to expect a conversion (6 x 15 = 90 7 x 15 =105) and even then it'd only be one. Keep in mind that edicts cost 150 Influence. That's three leaders. That's more than winning a war with the Humiliate wargoal*. That's more than four years of base Influence income. That's a whole 15% of your total influence (assuming you have the full 1,000) just to convert a few pops in an empire that will have dozens of them.
In short, the Social Engineering Edict is very underpowered, but I've noticed this trend with other edicts. It would be one thing if edicts doubled or tripled production but spending 150 influence for a modest increase in one planet's output seems a little weak.
Although on the other hand I guess planetary edicts are more for the early game where planetary management is the core of the game. Once you transition from managing planets to managing sectors I guess the idea of grooming a single planet to perfection is quaint in the big scheme of things.
It might help with faster growth, or it might just do almost nothing like Minerals/Energy edicts.
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