2021? Damn, we are in the future now boys and girls!

I wanted to write this diary because it feels like it's been a really long time since we chatted. Well I guess it wasn’t that long actually but 2020 has definitely made everything feel like its taken forever ;D

2020 has probably been the most challenging year so far for the team since release. The COVID-19 situation really messes with your wellbeing, even if your life normally is chilling inside with your cat and computer games so I hope you are all taking care of yourselves. Looking back I think we overestimated direct impacts to work efficiency and absolutely underestimated impacts to mental health and general well being - things that are also incredibly important for doing a good job and being productive, as well as helping to onboard new members to a team. We have absolutely been impacted, and as a result I want to be pretty clear that you should not expect the next big expansion to drop before summer this year, which is what I was planning before COVID hit us right after La Resistance dropped.
I know a lot of you have been asking about dates for diaries to start up and for us to show stuff again, but you are going to have to wait a bit longer for that. I can say though that the expansion we are brewing up is gonna be pretty sweet I think and focus on a lot of things people have been wishing for

So, given that there was no PDXCON last year, where I normally do this, I felt I should take this opportunity to drop some statistics on you all…

Player Counts
With COVID keeping us all inside we and I suspect a lot of the rest of the gaming industry has seen a lot more players than normal playing. I know personally I have gotten a lot more gaming in. It's going to be interesting to see if there is a dip once our lives go back to normal again (whenever that may be).

Top Mods
I am just highlighting the biggest total conversion mods here, and % numbers are based off daily player numbers.

I think the standout here is TNO having jumped up in popularity quite rapidly during the year so congrats to the team behind that! Also feel free to chime in in comments if you think we have any other big up and coming mod to keep eyes on!

Road to 56 and KR keeping their top spots from before, and I also want to say that I am really inspired and impressed by the cool video and other transmedia content the KR team is putting out. I’m eager to see if any other mod teams do similar stuff in the future

Top 20 played nations
Counting most sessions > 5h

Germany - 17.9%
Italy - 7.4%
Soviet - 7.7%
France - 5.5%
Turkey - 5.1%
Britain - 4.7%
USA - 4.6%
Japan - 3.9%
Hungary - 3.7%
Spain - 3.2%
Greece - 3.0%
Romania - 2.0%
China - 1.9%
PRC - 1.9%
Bulgaria - 1.8%
Yugoslavia - 1.7%
Netherlands - 1.5%
Portugal - 1.5%
Mexico - 1.4%
Czechoslovakia - 1.2%

I think it's really cool to see Turkey this high. It was always popular but with Battle for the Bosporus it jumped up overall 60%. Greece and Bulgaria also more than doubled in popularity.

While I got you all gathered here reading, I also want to make sure to highlight here that there was an accidental released update of the launcher and that the launcher team is working on reverting that as quickly as they can as it introduced some bugs. Read about it here. I also want to say that we have received increasing amounts of reports of people using cheat tools to mess with multiplayer games over christmas, and we are looking into it.

See you all later, and to be clear this is not the start of regular diaries just yet. You'll have to be patient a bit longer on that front.

 

[Sbrubbles]

Focus trees is by far the most expensive content that can be made for any of our games I would say. But events arent always great. They are hidden so bad for very important stuff that players need to have good agency over

That's very interesting, I always assumed that, since every mod changed focus trees up, they were easy to make. Country-specific decisions and mechanics seem like it would be more truoblesome, and engine-level changes the hardest.

 

[Axe99]

That's a nice surprise, a DD Cheers Podcat, and Happy New Year (and here's to it getting progressively happier as vaccination programs roll out) to you all

focus on a lot of things people have been wishing for

Man the guns two - even gunnier?!! Bestill my beating heart

Just being silly - but am very much looking forward to whatever you and the team have been beavering away at

See you all later, and to be clear this is not the start of regular diaries just yet. You'll have to be patient a bit longer on that front.

All good things..... Looking forward to when they do resume though

Germany - 17.9%

For the ship pic for this DD, I think I'll go with a ship from the most-played nation. Here's the launching of the ship that got closest to being Germany's only first aircraft carrier, adjusted ever-so-slightly to be appropriate for the forums.

Top 20 played nations
Counting most sessions > 5h

Blatant marginalisation of Tannu Tuva here - what did Tannu Tuva ever do to you?

Sorry - I clearly took my silly pills this morning - carry on

If i recall correctly several people in management delayed their salary payout then and didnt tell anyone so we could run a bit longer.

Much respect - I didn't know this back then (although it was clear at the time things were less comfortable than they are now). I very much hope things stay in the well away from those kind of situations for all of you from here on in

 

[Iskulya]

I can only hope that the long delay means more ambitious changes are in the works. Although a lot of people grumble over it, I think we historically have seen better DLCs when they've had longer development times. Just compare Together for Victory and Death or Dishonor with Man the Guns or LR. Better features, better focus trees. Let's hope we see some impressive new features alongside long desired fixes and reworks.

The bar for the Soviet rework will be high, one of the two superpowers of the 20th century. I think MtG kind of blew it with the United States and did not deliver a depth of content that was consummate with the US' power, importance, and potential for action. The stakes with the Soviet Union are even higher given it's strategic position and huge borders. No pressure!

I do hope you guys manage to get out a patch in the meantime sooner or later. There's still a number of fairly significant outstanding bugs for the new content from BFTB like the destruction of IMRO causing permanent 80+ attrition to all divisions in the state for the rest of the game and Turkey's unremoveable Sectarian Woes spirit.

Thanks for keeping us updated. It's a little sad that there is no specific news on upcoming content yet, but I appreciate the radio silence being broken.

 

[him_15]

Glad to see you guys back!

 

[safe-keeper]

Well duh, it's summer right now

Maybe I should move to Australia, play Barbarossa early.

 

[DicRoNero]

I can say though that the expansion we are brewing up is gonna be pretty sweet I think and focus on a lot of things people have been wishing for

Yay \o/ Finally we'll get meaningful Navies.

 

[GeorgieBest]

The work we are doing now is pretty huge and focused on long term solutions on tricky stuff so thats why we have been hidden away a bit

I don't care if we have to wait a year, I hope this includes a peace conference update.

 

[Skylax]

Soviets - 2nd place; Italy - 3rd;
I would like to see their trees reworked.

While I agree, I want to point out that Germany also needs a reworked tree. The one we have lacks so much content in comparison to others. Usually in 1942 there is not much to do anymore for Germany. The beginning is also quite the same every time.

 

[Xerberous]

While I agree, I want to point out that Germany also needs a reworked tree. The one we have lacks so much content in comparison to others. Usually in 1942 there is not much to do anymore for Germany. The beginning is also quite the same every time.

If you like the new, "mexico-sytle" trees, then yes. Yet I'm not sure, if this is the way to go.

 

[withche.07]

I hope next big dlc will include some kind of better diplomacy and peace conferences.

 

[Hoi Neuling]

Thanks for the Info Podcat. Now we know that it´s a good thing to be patient for the next Patch and DLC. Seems it will be a very big one from what you announce with the Refits, Changes and whatever?

It seems that the Game get at the End a change of Name to Hoi 5 if more of such very big Generalrefits come up?! Would be very funny.

 

[Helicopter200]

stellaris dev team already is working on new Expansion and you guys even didnt start to work on new expansion? btw i really enjoy this game with my friends and next expansion will be called Project Barbarossa

 

[Skylax]

If you like the new, "mexico-sytle" trees, then yes. Yet I'm not sure, if this is the way to go.

Well, since Mexico was such an insignificant part of WW2, I don't mind them getting fantasy trees. Of course, I do not want a socialist German tree. Germany should have a historic tree only, I do not mind the Monarchy branch, even though I have never played it. I just want more variation for Germany.
The buildup should have more choices: get cheaper oil from the Sowjets (with huge benefits for them), improve stability after DOW just to name a few. The buildup of the game is too railroaded right now. Either you go totally against history or you take the full role-play history approach. I want more possibilities while keeping it historically plausible (probably not feasible, because of the damn multiplayer part and keeping it all balanced for MP). And I want more prerequisites for choices. This is what bugs me most about the National Focus system, it's just "click something, get something". Other countries' choices should be influenced by my own choices. I have been asking for interacting and interfering focus tress since before the realese of vanilla. It would be so awesome for the French and Brits to take several choices in reaction to German choices. Maybe unlock another branch if Germany annexes Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately it is tied to WT, but I guess it's too much of a task for the AI.
Also for the war itself there should be certain options. Why not have certain benefits for a Sea Lion operation? If the operation does not succeed in 45 days, then you lose the benefits (the enemy receives other benefits) and get disadvantages instead. Same for Barbarossa or landing on Crete. This would invite you to go for certain war goals at a certain time. You can still chose not to do it, but if you want the benefits, do it. Capture Paris within 45 days and receive a "discount" on resistance. Capture and hold Norway and receive a bonus for nuclear research (heavy water). Not huge, game-changing beneftis, just small incentives to keep things on track historically.

 

[LordSkorpio]

I just hope we eventually get a way to avoid entering total war with everybody, specially when playing a minor. For example, if Im playing as Spain and I only want to recover Gibraltar, I would like a way of doing it without the game literally forcing me to conquer all the British Empire. If this game is supposed to be a WW2 sandbox, it should not force me to enter in a world conquest every time I play. After a few years playing, its just not fun anymore and sometimes you end up with some very unrealistic situations which ruin my immersion in the game.

 

[captain jamorma]

If you like the new, "mexico-sytle" trees, then yes. Yet I'm not sure, if this is the way to go.

I mean, Mexico's tree isn't really particularly laden with anything that's particularly out there, Trotsky is an event and not directly in the tree, like Hilter he's just an easter egg option. Even revoking the Mexican-cession was an actual thing various groups wanted in Mexico at the time. It's not like they included a "Crown Otto von Habsburg Mexican Emperor" option. It gives you a lot of choices for how to manage your economy, how to structure Mexico, ways to balance the precarious power problems it had, and depicts the overall mishmash of interwar Mexican politics wonderfully. It lets a player do a lot throughout the entire game and has a lot of content that doesn't run out immediately after WW2 starts like Germany's sort of does. We could get a lot of good out of things like being given more to do with things like adding more to the OKW v. SS conflict, maybe options for things like the attempted assassinations Hitler faced, a coup by Himmler, adding more to the Reichkommisarats, things like that.

The issue of focus trees lacking isn't even necessarily one relating to historicity and adding more outlandish ahistorical content (which I mean, if they do then that's fine because it should be up to a player if to choose for themselves whether they want a purely hisotrical game or one with deviations. IIRC most people don't play with historical focuses on at all.)

 

[ThaHoward]

I just hope we eventually get a way to avoid entering total war with everybody, specially when playing a minor. For example, if Im playing as Spain and I only want to recover Gibraltar, I would like a way of doing it without the game literally forcing me to conquer all the British Empire. If this game is supposed to be a WW2 sandbox, it should not force me to enter in a world conquest every time I play. After a few years playing, its just not fun anymore and sometimes you end up with some very unrealistic situations which ruin my immersion in the game.

Even then it wasn't around 1943 or something the Allies decided on unconditional surrender. There should be greater flexibility for war and not this either/or system. The Sino-Japanese War moved things in the right direction, shame it was not further expanded upon.

 

[LordSkorpio]

Even then it wasn't around 1943 or something the Allies decided on unconditional surrender. There should be greater flexibility for war and not this either/or system. The Sino-Japanese War moved things in the right direction, shame it was not further expanded upon.

Exactly. Im not totally against wars developing into total wars, I just hope we get a way to decide the scale of the conflict.

 

[ScottyWired]

I just hope we eventually get a way to avoid entering total war with everybody, specially when playing a minor. For example, if Im playing as Spain and I only want to recover Gibraltar, I would like a way of doing it without the game literally forcing me to conquer all the British Empire. If this game is supposed to be a WW2 sandbox, it should not force me to enter in a world conquest every time I play. After a few years playing, its just not fun anymore and sometimes you end up with some very unrealistic situations which ruin my immersion in the game.

Yeah I'd love an option to create border conflicts without the use of events. Maybe only available at low world tension, either side can escalate it if they've got particularly high war support and world tension, maybe only available with a claim or core. It'd be a great way to spice up the early game and open up all sorts of strategic possibilities.

 

[BrotherJonathan]

Yeah I'd love an option to create border conflicts without the use of events. Maybe only available at low world tension, either side can escalate it if they've got particularly high war support and world tension, maybe only available with a claim or core. It'd be a great way to spice up the early game and open up all sorts of strategic possibilities.

Agreed. These would be perfect for places like South America or Eastern Europe, where low-level border skirmishes were fairly common. Just maybe have a restriction that they can't be used by or against a Major Power to avoid triggering the main war too early.

 

[Harin]

Yeah I'd love an option to create border conflicts without the use of events. Maybe only available at low world tension, either side can escalate it if they've got particularly high war support and world tension, maybe only available with a claim or core. It'd be a great way to spice up the early game and open up all sorts of strategic possibilities.

Maybe such actions, taken by minors should not cause world tension as the game uses it. Keep the world tension meter for its main purpose, that to regulate the majors slow broil. For the minors, maybe they could use their individual war support meters as a similar device as world tension, to create local tensions. For example, if a minor starts taking focuses against a neighbor, or DOW on a neighbor, all the other neighbors war support starts to go up, allowing those neighbors to start taking actions. All this minor on minor action would not start the world tension meter to prematurely increase. Like you said it could be a great way to spice up the game and it makes some sense. The democracies proved, in hindsight, that they had little stomach to get involved in a lot of shooting wars, despite a lot of talk.