First of all, i must say, that i understand that everything shown in stream is WiP, hot-code, etc..., but i still think i should raise some question about Authoritarian vs. Egalitarian Empire types.
1) The first thing i noticed is that about of starting resource gain is almost equal for both Empires, one have one more energy, and other have one more mineral. But internally they are very different. One is happy (even before factions), they second is not so because....
2)... Caste system looks very strange and contradictory. I got the core idea - it was voiced in Stream - "Your POP will be auto-enslaved based on tile it's working on, so you can forget about them". The problem is that you can't. Your enslaved POPs are quite unhappy right from the start. It makes sense, as they are enslaved, but don't make sense if they are a caste. Sure, not everyone are happy about they status in Caste system, but isn't it a reason to start a faction about abolishing it? And if someone is unhappy by their caste, shouldn't others be happy about their higher status? Current system feels like feudalism with unhappy serfs and "content" free POPs (artisans, scientists, etc) with top elite not being represented at all. And POPs being unhappy leads us to...
3) They need to be suppressed right from the start even on Homeworld. You need to build armies to do so. Not only those cost minerals, they also cost energy to maintain. So it further reduce the advantage of having slaves and slavery system - lesser consumption of general goods is nullified. That leads us to...
4) ... Authoritarian Empire seems not to have any upper hands in resource production at all. Some additional minerals are wasted on armies, energy is crippled by armies maintenance and less overall production. Even food is in red zone - granted, it was partially because of lack of food tiles and not yet implemented global food system - if i get that they saying - it's around 1 hour mark in Stream (and yes, i remember +10% food bonus for Leader of Egalitarian Empire ). But even with all those things in mind, Happy Egalitarian POPs outproduce unhappy enslaved ones on food (and don't require armies to keep unrest in check).
5) Slavery also hammers Unity production a lot. Ofc, you have Traditions to deal with (and some way to cheese them, mentioned in stream
), it's still bad because it somewhat dictate that Traditions you should go for, while Egalitarians are free as a bird in their choices.
6) Even the former glory of Slavery - free and easy conquest isn't with us anymore. Even if our own POPs are so unruly, i'm afraid to imagine how hard it would to deal with them. And their cost seems to be huge, both in Tradition and Science. And along with it, you have a whole Tradition tree, that allow you to suck you vassals dry and integrate them later, without dealing with their furious POPs. So you don't have to conquer neighbors - just liberate\vasalize them.
So all things above was taken from the Stream. My post may sounds bitter and as if i demanding Authoritarians to be buffed, but in fact, all i want is a discussion on how Authoritarian should work in your opinion and maybe Wiz can chip in and share his vision of Authoritarian\Egalitarian balance.
Oh, as always i forgot to add a paragraph.
I spotted that even with one Homeworld planet with slaves and one fresh colony, attraction of Egalitarian ethics is almost on the same level of Authoritarian (if i recall right it was 28 vs 20). Even if POP themselves aren't a problem, the factions they going to form surely will against my Empire principles. Suppression is always with you, i know, but how hard they are going to impart overall politics?
1) The first thing i noticed is that about of starting resource gain is almost equal for both Empires, one have one more energy, and other have one more mineral. But internally they are very different. One is happy (even before factions), they second is not so because....
2)... Caste system looks very strange and contradictory. I got the core idea - it was voiced in Stream - "Your POP will be auto-enslaved based on tile it's working on, so you can forget about them". The problem is that you can't. Your enslaved POPs are quite unhappy right from the start. It makes sense, as they are enslaved, but don't make sense if they are a caste. Sure, not everyone are happy about they status in Caste system, but isn't it a reason to start a faction about abolishing it? And if someone is unhappy by their caste, shouldn't others be happy about their higher status? Current system feels like feudalism with unhappy serfs and "content" free POPs (artisans, scientists, etc) with top elite not being represented at all. And POPs being unhappy leads us to...
3) They need to be suppressed right from the start even on Homeworld. You need to build armies to do so. Not only those cost minerals, they also cost energy to maintain. So it further reduce the advantage of having slaves and slavery system - lesser consumption of general goods is nullified. That leads us to...
4) ... Authoritarian Empire seems not to have any upper hands in resource production at all. Some additional minerals are wasted on armies, energy is crippled by armies maintenance and less overall production. Even food is in red zone - granted, it was partially because of lack of food tiles and not yet implemented global food system - if i get that they saying - it's around 1 hour mark in Stream (and yes, i remember +10% food bonus for Leader of Egalitarian Empire ). But even with all those things in mind, Happy Egalitarian POPs outproduce unhappy enslaved ones on food (and don't require armies to keep unrest in check).
5) Slavery also hammers Unity production a lot. Ofc, you have Traditions to deal with (and some way to cheese them, mentioned in stream
), it's still bad because it somewhat dictate that Traditions you should go for, while Egalitarians are free as a bird in their choices.6) Even the former glory of Slavery - free and easy conquest isn't with us anymore. Even if our own POPs are so unruly, i'm afraid to imagine how hard it would to deal with them. And their cost seems to be huge, both in Tradition and Science. And along with it, you have a whole Tradition tree, that allow you to suck you vassals dry and integrate them later, without dealing with their furious POPs. So you don't have to conquer neighbors - just liberate\vasalize them.
So all things above was taken from the Stream. My post may sounds bitter and as if i demanding Authoritarians to be buffed, but in fact, all i want is a discussion on how Authoritarian should work in your opinion and maybe Wiz can chip in and share his vision of Authoritarian\Egalitarian balance.
Oh, as always i forgot to add a paragraph.
I spotted that even with one Homeworld planet with slaves and one fresh colony, attraction of Egalitarian ethics is almost on the same level of Authoritarian (if i recall right it was 28 vs 20). Even if POP themselves aren't a problem, the factions they going to form surely will against my Empire principles. Suppression is always with you, i know, but how hard they are going to impart overall politics?
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