The pop mechanism is quite terrible in 3.0

[Eladrin]

This is already being done by the S-curve growth mechanic, so the penalty per pop in the empire mechanic is essentially superfluous. I see no reason not to just remove it. Planets already naturally peter out in growth as they become populated.

If you have "breeder planets" that don't have jobs, the pops will migrate to your more populated planets. The logistic curve on purely a planetary basis would do almost nothing to reduce endgame population counts.

In many of my recent playthroughs I've got some developed planets and a number of semi-developed resource planets. The pops that grow on those resource planets move from their rural backwater over to get jobs in the big city, eerily simulating urbanization. (Unemployed pops will almost always move to the planet with the most available jobs.)

 

[Enfield_PDX]

Hey all, just wanted to pop in and say that we are paying attention to the response to these changes.

Lets keep the talk constructive, critique is welcomed and encouraged.

 

[Enfield_PDX]

Good to know.

I have to ask (though have no expectation of getting a reply I'm not sure anyone would be allowed to answer this question) Do you think a major rework of pops and jobs, vis a vis tiles etc, is a realistic possibility, from the devs point of view?

What I mean is, how realistic in this game, is it that we might see pops replaced with a system more akin to vicky for example? Or a hybrid system?

I feel it might be the most logical course of action, given that late game performance is so bad in large part due to the pop/jobs mechanics and the AI does struggle to adequately handle the way pops and jobs works now. But while it might seem logical to me (and a few others atleast) Is that too large an undertaking for the devs? Is that something we are more likely to see in a sequel, rather than in this game? Is even something the devs feel would be desireable?

Haha of course I can respond, the response is "I don't know", my personal feeling on the matter is that there's only so many times we can overhaul systems before maybe we should ask some questions about why we keep feeling the need to do that.

 

[Enfield_PDX]

Nearing 700 replies, is anyone keeping track of a consensus, if one exists?

Tough to say, but there are for sure more common complaints.

Issue with talking about consensus on these forums specifically is that, forum users tend to be a self selecting group. Those most motivated to talk about the game, but the vast majority of players don't. So we can't rely on just the forums alone for input.

 

[Enfield_PDX]

I don't think adding a slider indicates they're backing off. I think it's more likely to dampen the negative feedback on the change, thus making it more likely it stays as the default the game is balanced around.

Perhaps I'm being to pessimistic though.

We're not "Backing off" as such, but the whole situation is going to require a more systemic solution. So our current changes and the updates coming with 3.0.3 are the first steps, but it's going to take more work to get where we want to be.

In the meantime, adding the sliders lets you guys control your own experience (at the cost of performance) and keep your Ironman compatibility instead of modding it