Violence is the Last Refuge of the Incompetent...

[Tallfellow]

In my experience? Committee meetings

This actually made me laugh out loud... And made my girlfriend look at me funny!

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

No strategy game I have ever played a game with an engaging espionage system. Hopefully this will change things, but I'm doubtful.

If only a certain game which must not be named starting in E and ending in West had come out. That would I bet serve as a good model for how to do things not just for this game, but for many others.

 

[13Foxtrot]

When the time comes to act, and, as a pacifist, I have the choice of all out war or subtle subterfuge at every possible government level of the empire I am at odds with, I'm taking the path of least resistance.

That answer may be all out war.

 

[13Foxtrot]

To start, I would like a least a workable espionage system. DLC the hell out of it later. While Paradox has had a massive amount of experience at historical games, this is a bit of uncharted territory. I expect some growing pains and for the game to evolve significantly as time goes by. Any espionage system is probably something that will get more intricate over time.

 

[Smiles_]

Wait a minute...if violence is the LAST refuge of the incompetent, then what do incompetents turn to first?

But seriously, I am VERY much looking forward to an espionage aspect to this game.
The possibilities of covert operations are extensive.

Different computer viruses, some of which can dramatically slow research, or cause drains in energy.

Biological warfare. Assassination. Bribery. Defection of leaders. Sabotage. Fomenting unrest.
And if your empire excels at espionage, you might even be able to make it look like your actions were committed by another Empire, or a faction within the target Empire.

And lots of these features might require a more extensive tech "tree". The more unique techs I can research, the happier I am.

I'd like these.


Smiles

 

[208]

Also, OP, I prefer: "War is merely diplomacy continued by other means."

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a big stick."

 

[6076]

In my experience? Committee meetings

And that's diplomacy, shoot, when smoke clears everything will be fine, or at least clear.

 

[barny]

Personally I'd prefer a dedicated DLC for trade and a dedicated DLC for espionage

That is what I meant. Two DLCs tackeling both topics because they seem to be the biggest "gaps" in the gameplay of Stellaris.

 

[UpperLorraine]

And thus, we should have means to sabotage other empires beyond naked force. Some of this is in the game already, some would probably be good for DLCs/mods/etc. Why face a battlefleet head-on, when you can:

- Incite unrest among enemy POPs who share your ethos or species
- Establish trade relations decades before the war... then activate the kill switch in all the equipment you sold your enemy in the peace
- Mind-control the enemy Star Emperor with psychic robots
- Install a computer virus in the enemy's wormhole network to reroute their ships.

And if Fanatic Pacifist Fallen Empires are in, they should be the absolute best at this. It should look like they're putting up no resistance, you're taking their worlds... and then your whole empire starts falling apart

Phew, I was worried this was some limp-wristed shitpost. Good points you made.

 

[Alexander Seil]

I'd like to see intelligence mechanics focused on corrupting the Leaders, which would cover many cases you could consider, including faction support.

However, I'd like to see impactful, flavorful options and not just "+X to Faction Attraction." I want to be able to hand a disgruntled species in another empire a virus bomb that only targets the dominant race. Or corrupt a planet governor into outright defection.

The counterintelligence mechanic can be centered around a new Leader type (let's call them Agents), assigned to other leaders (i.e., every leader position gets a second slot). These would monitor regular leaders they're assigned to, and generate various event chains depending on what these regular leaders are doing. That leads to false accusations, corruption of the Agents themselves and other !FUN!

No strategy game I have ever played a game with an engaging espionage system. Hopefully this will change things, but I'm doubtful.

If only a certain game which must not be named starting in E and ending in West had come out. That would I bet serve as a good model for how to do things not just for this game, but for many others.

I'm not saying that what I suggest is a better alternative to the usual "open espionage menu, click Sabotage, wait for dice to be rolled," but it totally is.

 

[Arkangilos]

I would like to see a system with similar outcomes to the system in Space Empires IV. Like funding terrorists who will detonate bombs in an atmosphere to lower the quality of the world.
Funding people poison the food and water supplies that will diminish food.
Sabotaging ships.
Deploying bio weapons on a planet.
Hiring terrorists to wipe out or damage buildings.
Finding out fleet movements, locations, and planet information.

I would also like to be able to sell ships to rebel factions so I can help them without getting involved directly involved.

 

[Alliegorical]

In my experience? Committee meetings

Or blaming everyone else for their incompetence...

I just got a mental image of a committee meeting in which a guy breaks into a cold sweat, starts blaming everyone else in the room for everything that's gone wrong, and finally flings a chair across the room, screams, and goes full feral attacking everyone else before being easily overpowered and wrestled to the floor.

 

[Franconian]

I just got a mental image of a committee meeting in which a guy breaks into a cold sweat, starts blaming everyone else in the room for everything that's gone wrong, and finally flings a chair across the room, screams, and goes full feral attacking everyone else before being easily overpowered and wrestled to the floor.

I personally was reminded of the expert video:

 

[TheBromgrev]

I personally was reminded of the expert video:

I kid you not, one of my suppliers is exactly like this, with me playing the role of the expert. I've had one instance where the manager was explaining why he didn't have to do something, because it wasn't in the spec. I had him pull up the spec on the projector and pointed to the line that required him to perform the action. He said with a straight face that the bulleted line item wasn't there. It might have been funny, if my product wasn't a jet engine

 

[Korashy]

I'm somewhat reluctant to welcome an espionage dlc, largely because few games do espionage well. DW:U does it pretty good, but spies can get way too strong in that game if you are lucky.