This latest expansion doesn't really float my boat and it'll be the first I won't be buying. It's too bland and doesn't address a lot of core features and missing content. That being said, I haven't played it so it's entirely possible my perceptions are wrong, who knows.
I don't visit here very often but what I wanted to do is throw up a hopefully more constructive discussion on the future direction of this game and where I would like to see it go, and see how many of you agree with me. Don't worry, I shan't be offended if you don't, but if you don't agree with any of my points, I ask you to have the courtesy not to 'disagree' but rather open up a dialogue and explain what points you disagree with and why. Hopefully we can change the direction of the development.
So without further ado, I present to you my wishlist of future features.
Diplomacy
1. Comm Frequencies open.
Just because I meet Joe Blogs, my nearest neighbor at the start of the game, does not mean Fanny Adams on the other side of the Galaxy should magically get my comm frequency and initiate contact. If they're part of a federation I can understand that if I meet a federation, or alliance member, they would probably share my frequency, but just because they neighbor each other, there shouldn't be a cascade effect of contact. It takes away the joys of discovery. Only through treaty, or through direct contact with a ship, outpost or planet should contact be made.
2. First Contact.
As it stands, when I do finally make first contact with an AI species, I know within seconds how our relationship is going to develop. If they are a Federation builder, play nice and we'll eventually be allies. Are they a Martial Empire? Show enough strength and we can be friends. Slavers? Probably going to end up butting heads with these guys, and so on and so forth.
Each greeting has three options, one for each of your ethics, and then a neutral option. Thing is, no matter what you pick the outcome doesn't change, only your actions moving forwards. I propose scrapping that. What I would like to see is a proper first contact mini-game that will have repercussions on your future relationship. Should first contact go badly, friendly relations will be all the harder because you are hit with a moderate negative opinion. Should they go well, the reverse with you awarded a helpful bonus. This adds a random element to diplomacy that is missing from the game right now and will make it interesting.
Trade
1. There is no friendship in trade.
First of all let's talk about the lack of ongoing trade. Whilst I can set up a trade deal with my neighbor, there is no physical representation of such. It's just a valuation adjustment to your resources. It's also incredibly limited. Resource for resource. What I want to see is physical representations of trade routes that can be pirated, either in war, at the risk of causing a war, or by Pirates, and let's be honest here, Pirates are a nuisance, rather than a threat. Rather than Pirates Hari Karing themselves against my heavily armed Outpost, or worse, just sitting in their one system because my Outposts are too heavily armed, it would be better if they actually acted as, you know, Pirates, and pirated to trade lanes. Similarly, in war with my neighbor, I should be able to set up blockades for their trade, which clearly would have a negative impact on the opinion of their trading partner.
This would open up a whole new level of gameplay, and create new strategies for war outside of conquering planets.
2. Research Pacts.
Applies a 25% bonus to researching technologies discovered by the other party.
That's nice, if you're some illiterate backwater, but if I'm a technological giant, what's in it for me? It's too basic and needs to be more nuanced. Firstly the multiplier should be across the board, a pooling of our technological research that flows in both directions, and secondly I should be able to do this in return for money. Give me a X amount of Energy or Minerals a month and I'll prop your research up. Join the war I'm having trouble with and I'll give you the plans to this shiny new spaceship with engines and weapons you've never dreamed of. That sort of thing. This way there is something in it for both parties.
Espionage & Counterintelligence
Why oh why oh why is this not in the game? It should have shipped with it, not be more than 2.5 years down the line and still no sign of it. It's self explanatory, right?
1. The life of spies is to know, not be known.
Espionage. I want to spy on my neighbors. I want to know what they're researching, I want to know what planets produce what, what's in their ship queue, what each planet's morale is like, what treaties do they have, who are their friends and who are their rivals. Then I want to manipulate this information to my advantage. Maybe I want to steel research, perhaps a Shipmaster wants to defect with his shiny new Battleship, perhaps a Fleet Admiral wants to come over with a portion of his fleet. The possibilities are as endless as they are entertaining.
2. I never really was on your side.
Leader a little hostile towards me? Current president a warmonger? Let's replace him. Research starting to pull ahead of mine? Let's peg you back a bit. Planet populace enthused by the war? Let's convince them it's otherwise. It really breaks down into two areas.
So my enemy has declared war on me, but I blow a few farms up and their populace is starving. Couple that with anti-war propaganda and all of a sudden they've a problem on their hands with a populace angry that more is spent on the military than feeding them. Let them wage war on me while planets across their Empire start popping up in revolt.
But let's make it more nuanced than that. We're not at war but a neighboring system has a resource I desire. I don't want to conquer it and start a war, so I start a propaganda campaign. I start turning the populace against their own government and the planet populace's roving eye notices how much greener the grass is on my side of the border and flip sides. A bloodless coup. Conquering without invasion.
4. Counterintelligence
Clearly what goes around comes around and what's good for the goose is going to be good for the gander so I need to ensure I'm protected against acts. So you need an effective counterintelligence system in place. If my spies catch their spies I can either eject them, diplomatic censure them, or use it as a pretext for war without being viewed as a warmonger.
You might think this quite ambitious, and if you do, I point you to a twenty year old game. Firaxis' Alpha Centauri which had exactly this. Even most modern 4x games have some level of spy games you can engage in. It's high time Stellaris did as well. Paradox are meant to have a reputation for complex games yet Stellaris is one of the least complex in its genre. Please, fix that.
Now as I said, I'm posting this in the hopes of civilized debate, so please tell me why you disagree if you do. Please also add your own ideas or offer up refinement to my own.
I don't visit here very often but what I wanted to do is throw up a hopefully more constructive discussion on the future direction of this game and where I would like to see it go, and see how many of you agree with me. Don't worry, I shan't be offended if you don't, but if you don't agree with any of my points, I ask you to have the courtesy not to 'disagree' but rather open up a dialogue and explain what points you disagree with and why. Hopefully we can change the direction of the development.
So without further ado, I present to you my wishlist of future features.
Diplomacy
1. Comm Frequencies open.
Just because I meet Joe Blogs, my nearest neighbor at the start of the game, does not mean Fanny Adams on the other side of the Galaxy should magically get my comm frequency and initiate contact. If they're part of a federation I can understand that if I meet a federation, or alliance member, they would probably share my frequency, but just because they neighbor each other, there shouldn't be a cascade effect of contact. It takes away the joys of discovery. Only through treaty, or through direct contact with a ship, outpost or planet should contact be made.
2. First Contact.
As it stands, when I do finally make first contact with an AI species, I know within seconds how our relationship is going to develop. If they are a Federation builder, play nice and we'll eventually be allies. Are they a Martial Empire? Show enough strength and we can be friends. Slavers? Probably going to end up butting heads with these guys, and so on and so forth.
Each greeting has three options, one for each of your ethics, and then a neutral option. Thing is, no matter what you pick the outcome doesn't change, only your actions moving forwards. I propose scrapping that. What I would like to see is a proper first contact mini-game that will have repercussions on your future relationship. Should first contact go badly, friendly relations will be all the harder because you are hit with a moderate negative opinion. Should they go well, the reverse with you awarded a helpful bonus. This adds a random element to diplomacy that is missing from the game right now and will make it interesting.
Trade
1. There is no friendship in trade.
First of all let's talk about the lack of ongoing trade. Whilst I can set up a trade deal with my neighbor, there is no physical representation of such. It's just a valuation adjustment to your resources. It's also incredibly limited. Resource for resource. What I want to see is physical representations of trade routes that can be pirated, either in war, at the risk of causing a war, or by Pirates, and let's be honest here, Pirates are a nuisance, rather than a threat. Rather than Pirates Hari Karing themselves against my heavily armed Outpost, or worse, just sitting in their one system because my Outposts are too heavily armed, it would be better if they actually acted as, you know, Pirates, and pirated to trade lanes. Similarly, in war with my neighbor, I should be able to set up blockades for their trade, which clearly would have a negative impact on the opinion of their trading partner.
This would open up a whole new level of gameplay, and create new strategies for war outside of conquering planets.
2. Research Pacts.
Applies a 25% bonus to researching technologies discovered by the other party.
That's nice, if you're some illiterate backwater, but if I'm a technological giant, what's in it for me? It's too basic and needs to be more nuanced. Firstly the multiplier should be across the board, a pooling of our technological research that flows in both directions, and secondly I should be able to do this in return for money. Give me a X amount of Energy or Minerals a month and I'll prop your research up. Join the war I'm having trouble with and I'll give you the plans to this shiny new spaceship with engines and weapons you've never dreamed of. That sort of thing. This way there is something in it for both parties.
Espionage & Counterintelligence
Why oh why oh why is this not in the game? It should have shipped with it, not be more than 2.5 years down the line and still no sign of it. It's self explanatory, right?
1. The life of spies is to know, not be known.
Espionage. I want to spy on my neighbors. I want to know what they're researching, I want to know what planets produce what, what's in their ship queue, what each planet's morale is like, what treaties do they have, who are their friends and who are their rivals. Then I want to manipulate this information to my advantage. Maybe I want to steel research, perhaps a Shipmaster wants to defect with his shiny new Battleship, perhaps a Fleet Admiral wants to come over with a portion of his fleet. The possibilities are as endless as they are entertaining.
2. I never really was on your side.
Leader a little hostile towards me? Current president a warmonger? Let's replace him. Research starting to pull ahead of mine? Let's peg you back a bit. Planet populace enthused by the war? Let's convince them it's otherwise. It really breaks down into two areas.
2. 1 Assassinations
Whether it's a sector/planetary Governor, faction leader, Heir Fleet Admiral, General or chief scientist in their field, I should be able to attempt to assassinate them. Let's say I look at the heir of a faction Leader, he's a chip off the old block, so I want to take him/her out and replace them with someone a little less talented. Or perhaps the reverse and the Apple has fallen rather far from the tree, so if I take the Leader out now, that faction will be pegged back.
Similarly, take out that lead Scientist and I have a chance of them being replaced by someone less talented. Or perhaps it'll backfire and they'll be replaced by someone better. It adds a little spice to the minigame. Wars should not simply be through force of arms alone, a target should require softening up first. Give us the option for a War of Assassins.
2.2 Sabotage
Of course, one surefire way of pegging their research back would be blowing up their research centres. Clearly the game doesn't have them, but a calculation could be determined by an RNG to add additional time to your research.
Similarly, I want to slow down their martial build up, so blowing up their shipyards will do that. Since these do have physical representations in the game it would require you, or your opponent to rebuild them. But don't stop there. Select specific targets on a planet, or just pick a random one. Combined with espionage, there's a whole new gameplay element opened up. If the Empire is only just producing enough food, blowing up enough farms can send the populace into famine, lower morale, and soften them up for conquest.
Of course there's a third option. I want evidence found as to the perpetrator of the sabotage, only the evidence doesn't point to me, it points to another Empire. I do this to the other guy as well, blaming my neighbor and before you know it, they're both at war with each other rather than with me, I've taken a player off the board and made one of them over extend.
3. PropagandaWhether it's a sector/planetary Governor, faction leader, Heir Fleet Admiral, General or chief scientist in their field, I should be able to attempt to assassinate them. Let's say I look at the heir of a faction Leader, he's a chip off the old block, so I want to take him/her out and replace them with someone a little less talented. Or perhaps the reverse and the Apple has fallen rather far from the tree, so if I take the Leader out now, that faction will be pegged back.
Similarly, take out that lead Scientist and I have a chance of them being replaced by someone less talented. Or perhaps it'll backfire and they'll be replaced by someone better. It adds a little spice to the minigame. Wars should not simply be through force of arms alone, a target should require softening up first. Give us the option for a War of Assassins.
2.2 Sabotage
Of course, one surefire way of pegging their research back would be blowing up their research centres. Clearly the game doesn't have them, but a calculation could be determined by an RNG to add additional time to your research.
Similarly, I want to slow down their martial build up, so blowing up their shipyards will do that. Since these do have physical representations in the game it would require you, or your opponent to rebuild them. But don't stop there. Select specific targets on a planet, or just pick a random one. Combined with espionage, there's a whole new gameplay element opened up. If the Empire is only just producing enough food, blowing up enough farms can send the populace into famine, lower morale, and soften them up for conquest.
Of course there's a third option. I want evidence found as to the perpetrator of the sabotage, only the evidence doesn't point to me, it points to another Empire. I do this to the other guy as well, blaming my neighbor and before you know it, they're both at war with each other rather than with me, I've taken a player off the board and made one of them over extend.
So my enemy has declared war on me, but I blow a few farms up and their populace is starving. Couple that with anti-war propaganda and all of a sudden they've a problem on their hands with a populace angry that more is spent on the military than feeding them. Let them wage war on me while planets across their Empire start popping up in revolt.
But let's make it more nuanced than that. We're not at war but a neighboring system has a resource I desire. I don't want to conquer it and start a war, so I start a propaganda campaign. I start turning the populace against their own government and the planet populace's roving eye notices how much greener the grass is on my side of the border and flip sides. A bloodless coup. Conquering without invasion.
Clearly what goes around comes around and what's good for the goose is going to be good for the gander so I need to ensure I'm protected against acts. So you need an effective counterintelligence system in place. If my spies catch their spies I can either eject them, diplomatic censure them, or use it as a pretext for war without being viewed as a warmonger.
Now as I said, I'm posting this in the hopes of civilized debate, so please tell me why you disagree if you do. Please also add your own ideas or offer up refinement to my own.
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