Stellaris is boring and tedious

[romothecus]

In all honesty, if you believe that a particular element of the game (such as say, tile management) is boring and tedious I think that's a fair point to make and something we could work to improve. However, if you think the game as a whole is boring and tedious, I honestly don't know what you're doing on these forums. Maybe you should be playing a different game that you like better?

Stellaris isn't perfect (and I intend to make it better) but in my opinion it's a damn good game, and we certainly have a lot of people playing it who seem to think the same.

I think there is a sense among a lot of people that there are numerous design elements of Stellaris that aren't really fixable with expansions or patches. Tile management is just one of those. The ways that fleets move and interact is another. And of course there are the old complaints that you haven't filled the hole left by historical nations in your transition to space; generating a bunch of ethics combinations just doesn't cut it. It's not really "game as a whole" but there are major problems with core systems.

The game has gotten a lot better in that there is a lot more to do when playing (ascensions, megastructures, etc), but I don't really think it's a "good game" like your other franchises. I'm sure you could do better in Stellaris 2, just like EU has evolved dramatically.

 

[jonjowett]

A few things in this thread have set me thinking, so I guess I'll add my 2 cents here (even though I disagree with the thread title).

For me, Stellaris is a lot like Skyrim (!) - the base game is a little buggy and the mechanics get a bit bland after a while, but it's got a fun setting and some judiciously-chosen mods can add a lot of depth.

This is not necessarily a bad thing - but I don't think it's what the devs intended.

I'd suggest it's time to officially put a bullet in the head of that 4X/GSG hybrid experiment. Instead, Paradox should forget the strategic element itself and focus on the pure RPG aspect of a space empire history generator. This is the area where Stellaris shine, where Stellaris is praised by hundreds of ecstatic players, and where Stellaris, rather than revolutioning a traditional genre, created a beautiful niche just for itself and secured a clear path for its own future. In fact, the team at Paradox might very well be already aware of it.

I cannot upvote you enough.

 

[minke19104]

If you're bored with Stellaris after 400 or so hours then that means you love this game...

 

[RELee]

If you're bored with Stellaris after 400 or so hours then that means you love this game...

What about 811 hours? What does this mean?

 

[minke19104]

What about 811 hours? What does this mean?

Means you should be getting paid... thats commitment right there bro.

 

[RELee]

Means you should be getting paid... thats commitment right there bro.

 

[Mrakvampire]

I don't think that Stellaris can't be saved.
It has some solid foundation, and even tile management can't kill this game

But, saying that, there should be very strong and dedicated focus on improving this game and fixing things that doesn't work - and this is my main concern. Dev speed is very slow, some things are being changed over and over again (habitability) but major things (doomstacks) are not being even touched.
And very slow pace of development + at least percieved lack of focus on major parts of game that desperately need fixing and could be fixed - this is what is very, very dissapointing for me at least.

 

[Almond_Brown]

I don't think that Stellaris can't be saved.
It has some solid foundation, and even tile management can't kill this game

But, saying that, there should be very strong and dedicated focus on improving this game and fixing things that doesn't work - and this is my main concern. Dev speed is very slow, some things are being changed over and over again (habitability) but major things (doomstacks) are not being even touched.
And very slow pace of development + at least perceived lack of focus on major parts of game that desperately need fixing and could be fixed - this is what is very, very dissapointing for me at least.

In fairness to the Dev, as 99.9% of players have never made a Game themselves, thus "perceived" lack of is exactly that, "perceived" often based on a lack of real knowledge. (no need to get ones knickers in a knot over that statement. If you have produced a Game, please Link to it so we can provide some more "perceived" feed back for it.)

As for any Major Core component getting totally over-hauled, which according to the Forum is ALL major systems, that is the same as asking those who just built a 15 story Building to remove the 5th and 9th floor so they Buildings new "perceived" design can be implemented. Ain't gonna happen. Doing that kind of stuff is called "Insert game name" @V 2.0".

 

[RELee]

The game is very, very good. My opinion of course.

I still miss some things though.

• A stealth component in ship configuration
• A civilian transport ship for hauling pops and resources around
• I wouldn't complain about an expanded tech tree
• A racial trait that would allow pops to grow while in transit between systems (see civilian transports)
• The ability to hurl large mineral loads using large, mass drivers installed on starbases. Another starbase so equipped could catch the load, or one could hurl them at unprotected worlds. Large enough loads could cause an extinction event.

These would be cool, but I'll survive if I never get them. I just miss Stars!

 

[GuildenSpur]

The thing is, Stellaris has so much potential, that we all want it to be different things. I made Stellaris fun again by modding or using mods to change those parts I felt needed change. As long as they keep on expanding the potential to mod, this game is going to be interesting. As for tiles, they get tedious. There is a mod out there that allows (not sure it functions in 1.6.*) your buildings to automatically be upgraded. I see Stellaris more as a strategic story building game, which it's not due to issues mentioned above.
To much micro, not to much empire uniqueness, no way to play tall or defensively (I mod the stations and this helps ) and so on.

For instance, in my current game, I'm playing as a hive. Why don't they start with the ability to assimilate species they capture. By the time you get the tech, it doesn't add to the story anymore. Same could be said for other builds. They should start with some techs, and maybe some techs should be more specific to a build.
Why allow every empire to research the same things? If you start with kinetic weapons, maybe stick to that, and so on.

 

[Red192]

Personally stellaris I really liked it ... in the first 2 runs, then I just saw in so many possibilities not expressed...
I admit that I felt very betrayed at first

I do not play stellaris anymore, bored me, but I follow the forum because I see many of the things that could be and will be added. Alternating hope and anger for this title

 

[Tim_Ward]

As a player who likes to play semi-tall, and not an expansionist/conquerer playstyle ,my experience with the game is that Stellaris tends to be either:

a) A very compelling and engaging strategy game
or
b) boring and tedious

Depending entirely on the whims of the RNG.

The game doesn't really have the depths of features to support all the game situations the random galaxy is able to produce. This is actually not an uncommon flaw in space 4x games - many a game of Space Empires or Master of Orion have I aborted on the basis of a boring start. I think it's especially pronounced in Stellaris though.

The big problem is that planet and economy management is just so damn dull and shallow that it's completely unable to carry the game on it's own, so if you don't have a game where an interesting dynamic between your local empires forms (i.e. not a bunch of peaceful xenophiles) then the game's just got nothing to offer.

Better economy and better diplomacy and other peaceful interactions between empires - peaceful, but necessarily friendly i.e. espionage, trade, idealogical interactions - should be the order of the day.

If the game is going to insist on randomly generating empires, then has to be able to carry your interest when there are no wars happening, or about to happen.

 

[AlphaAsh]

If the game is going to insist on randomly generating empires, then has to be able to carry your interest when there are no wars happening, or about to happen.

I think making war a lot more involved than doomstacking would really help a game that relies so much on war. But that's beating a dead horse that Wiz and co. are quite aware of and in that particular case I'm actually looking forward to a DLC that focuses on fixing that. I agree with others who have said war is a dull chore. I cringe at it whenever it comes up in my games now. It really isn't fun and modding in some stuff to make it fun is high on my todo list.

 

[stripe7]

Try restricting Stellaris to only hyperdrive travel. This creates choke points and you may have to defend multiple choke points.

 

[Ilushia]

Try restricting Stellaris to only hyperdrive travel. This creates choke points and you may have to defend multiple choke points.

Honestly I find that Hyperdrive Only actually makes the game considerably more boring and predictable in a lot of ways. Empires have limited access to one another's space, meaning you can often hedge off entire invasions by just controlling a few systems. Exploration becomes extremely slow because of limited travel ability abroad, and getting cut off from other empires is common. It's not necessarily a bad way to play, but I haven't ever found it to be particularly more enjoyable than Warp is.

 

[Tamerlane]

The most tedious part of the game is the planetary invasion bit.

In EU4, Civ4 and Endless Legend you bring a big army, and bash the defenders or wait till the siege timer expires.

In Stellaris, its

1) Order transports to follow doomstack.
2) Send doomstack to orbit planet.
3) Order transports to orbit planet instead of following doomstack.
4) Watch fortification tick to 0, order invasion.
5) Order troops to embark when invasion is over.
6) Goto 1

I think transports should be buildable fleet ships that get merged with military fleets. Then have "invade planet" as a separate orbital bombardment policy, where the troops auto-invade as soon as they are likely to win.

 

[FlyingPhoenix]

The most tedious part of the game is the planetary invasion bit.

In EU4, Civ4 and Endless Legend you bring a big army, and bash the defenders or wait till the siege timer expires.

In Stellaris, its

1) Order transports to follow doomstack.
2) Send doomstack to orbit planet.
3) Order transports to orbit planet instead of following doomstack.
4) Watch fortification tick to 0, order invasion.
5) Order troops to embark when invasion is over.
6) Goto 1

I think transports should be buildable fleet ships that get merged with military fleets. Then have "invade planet" as a separate orbital bombardment policy, where the troops auto-invade as soon as they are likely to win.

Try
1) Spam troops.
2) Killl spaceport
3) Order troops to invade planet, regardless of state of planetary fortifications.
4) Win battle, embark,
5) Go to 1.

I don't really like that implementation of troop carriers. It's used in Distant Worlds. Lots of annoying micromanagement in an otherwise heavily non-micro game.

 

[methegrate]

The most tedious part of the game is the planetary invasion bit.

In EU4, Civ4 and Endless Legend you bring a big army, and bash the defenders or wait till the siege timer expires.

In Stellaris, its

1) Order transports to follow doomstack.
2) Send doomstack to orbit planet.
3) Order transports to orbit planet instead of following doomstack.
4) Watch fortification tick to 0, order invasion.
5) Order troops to embark when invasion is over.
6) Goto 1

I think transports should be buildable fleet ships that get merged with military fleets. Then have "invade planet" as a separate orbital bombardment policy, where the troops auto-invade as soon as they are likely to win.

Interestingly enough, I actually kind of like transports. At least, imho, if the doomstack problem were resolved, and if ground troops were a more precious resource (i.e. you can't just spam more), I think protecting troop transports could be a good additional concern. Something along the lines of "I'd really like to hit that outpost, but the fifth fleet is on duty protecting troop convoys. Is it worth the risk of retasking them?"

Admittedly, I think we all project more than a little when paying a game like this. Personally, for example, I'd like my wars to play out like a cross between the Dominion War and a John Scalzi novel, which is why I'm happy to keep troops and transports in the game. But that's just me.

 

[jonjowett]

Try
1) Spam troops.
2) Killl spaceport
3) Order troops to invade planet, regardless of state of planetary fortifications.
4) Win battle, embark,
5) Go to 1.

Yep. And the best target systems are those that have military stations with FTL snares - make sure your transports arrive at the same time as the war fleet and you won't have to waste time flying across the system.

 

[117Killer]

As much as I like Endless Space 2, all that variety is sorta moot when you can reliably finish games by turn 110.
...aka "Beyond Earth" syndrome.

yeah, but I don't even play endless space 2 and I can tell you, when I play stellaris, I wish I didn't have to play for as long as you do. and that's the sign of a boring, repetitive game.