Increase 3.0 Medical Workers' Habitability Bonus to at Least +2.5%

[Mímisbrunnr]

It has been frequently opined that while giving medical workers the ability to increase habitability is a step in the right direction (as they are far too weak in 2.8), making the bonus only 1% is so low to not be worthwhile. (Some have even called it "laughable").

I would suggest boosting it by at least a factor of 2.5x to +2.5%.

That way, a 2-worker Gene Clinic would give +%5 habitability - equal to an extra habitability technology on a single planet at the cost of a valuable building slot, and a presumed 4-worker cyto-revitalization center would boost habitability by +10%. These bonuses are more interesting and might get more people to consider Gene Clinics. I also don't think these numbers are so large that they'd break the game. To massively boost planet hab. would require wasting too many building slots that could be used for productive purposes, so I don't see this regularly being used to bring 20% worlds up to say 60%+ or anything like that.

 

[The Founder]

The whole growth formula changed, so we have to see how much 1 habitability is.
They also might still have other bonuses, like direct growth and usefull amenities - they always worked like a Entertainer Swap too.
Finally building slots are a lot less rare, now being unlocked by the Capitol.
No question it sound irrelevantly small, but there may be more impact then you think at first.

 

[The Founder]

Okay, the bonus is actually as small as you feared.
2.5 or even 5 Habitability per Healthcare worker sounds good.

 

[Mímisbrunnr]

It looks like my suggestion was adopted as one of the changes for 3.0.3. That, or the devs arrived at the same conclusion by coincidence, though I'd like to think that my suggestion was helpful. I'm really glad to see such a buff be made to Medical Workers.

 

[Objulen]

There are still the same problems with medical workers - worse now, given the change to pop mechanics.

Each medical worker produces 5 amenities, boosts pop growth by 0.15 points per month, and provides a 1% habitability boost, for 1 CG.

The pop growth boost is still tiny, and the pop mallus makes it even less useful than it was before. You're getting half the amenities of an entertainer, no unity, and a 1% habitability boost is negligible and only provides a real benefit in a very narrow band.

Even a 2.5% habitability bonus stops mattering once you get habitability up to 100% and/or Gaia worlds. You could tack on a 1% happiness or stability bonus, but stacking small bonuses until they're worth considering seems a bit silly to me. Even with the bonuses, they're entirely optional - you're either going get enough out of them at planet size X to make them useful, or you won't ever use them.

Medical workers either need to be given a niche, be necessary, or be removed. A good niche along habitability lines would be reducing penalties from habitability (not increase habitability, just reduce the penalties) by 33%, with only 1 medical worker for the buildilng, or 2 once upgraded. The upgraded building could also provide a small % chance of an event that shifts the species' habitability to the type of planet they're on.

 

[Mímisbrunnr]

By the way, they actually DID change it to 2.5% habitability with the 3.0.3 beta today, so its no longer a hypothetical.