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Thanks everybody. It was great finally finding some time to do some real writing this April, even if my new GPfD comes at the obvious cost of yet again delaying my oft delayed Born to Breed AAR. 
Galactic Pacification for Dummies is a shoutout to my old EU2 AAR World Conquest for Dummies, but where WCfD was my reponse to the annoyance I felt at the general forum population denying the possibility of World Conquest, even after I had already demonstrated in public how to do so, and a desire on my part to really rub it in, teaching a lesson they wouldn't forget, Galactic Pacification for Dummies has a more positive reason for existence: Puzzlement at people finding the 3.11 tech nerfs severe, when they were minor compared to the buffs the tech system has received the last few years. It remains possible to advance faster in tech in 3.11 than it did in 2.0 - much faster - and anybody who understood the post 3.3 tech system should understand that.
Which just went to show that there were an awful lots of people playing Stellaris, who did not understand how Stellaris tech system worked, or failed to understand the implications of how it worked, despite all the numbers being available to them and despite all the efforts veteran players with an understanding of mathematics had made to teach them over the past two years.
Hence GPfD, taking a pretty silly build on the highest difficulty setting and trying to guide players through the strategic decision-making making the build work, starting out gently, not maximizing execution, only slightly over-performing during the first 2-3 decades before the build REALLY takes off.
It is a fair bet that most of those readers who thought they had a good idea of how the game would progress the next decade based on the performance in the three prior will be surprised by the 2240 stats (chapter 4 was just posted today), and after that things will get really wild. (Based on projections and past experience; The current game isn't that far yet.)
By gradually introducing the aspects of tech that are relevant to consider regardless of your build, and showing how even what started as a joke build of mine in 3.10 can turn into a real beast in 3.11 so long as you know what you are doing, it is my hope that the readers will end up focusing less on the specific empire (created to hold their attention with its truly bizarre physics/society/engineering science values) and more on the lessons on game mechanics that are applicable to all games of Stellaris.
I am providing save games for every chapter to allow players to try things out for themselves and inspect the situation, as doing so will teach a lot more than my mere words can do, but I don't know whether anybody is actually availing themselves of this opportunity. I can hope.
I have failed in one regard, though. I hoped that more of the readers would be posting as students in the AAR, whether to ask questions or to play along for fun, but only a few are engaging in that pastime. Perhaps it is just a sign of changing times.
To those who choose to participate, I truly appreciate it. A passive audience doesn't greatly disturb me when I am writing a storytelling AAR, as to a large degree I write those for my own entertainment as a writer rather than that of the reader (sad but true), but when I am writing a teaching AAR, trying my level best to help people, it does.
And to @Sanvone, thanks for the nomination, but, as I am sure you will understand, no extra credits are awarded.
Galactic Pacification for Dummies is a shoutout to my old EU2 AAR World Conquest for Dummies, but where WCfD was my reponse to the annoyance I felt at the general forum population denying the possibility of World Conquest, even after I had already demonstrated in public how to do so, and a desire on my part to really rub it in, teaching a lesson they wouldn't forget, Galactic Pacification for Dummies has a more positive reason for existence: Puzzlement at people finding the 3.11 tech nerfs severe, when they were minor compared to the buffs the tech system has received the last few years. It remains possible to advance faster in tech in 3.11 than it did in 2.0 - much faster - and anybody who understood the post 3.3 tech system should understand that.
Which just went to show that there were an awful lots of people playing Stellaris, who did not understand how Stellaris tech system worked, or failed to understand the implications of how it worked, despite all the numbers being available to them and despite all the efforts veteran players with an understanding of mathematics had made to teach them over the past two years.
Hence GPfD, taking a pretty silly build on the highest difficulty setting and trying to guide players through the strategic decision-making making the build work, starting out gently, not maximizing execution, only slightly over-performing during the first 2-3 decades before the build REALLY takes off.
It is a fair bet that most of those readers who thought they had a good idea of how the game would progress the next decade based on the performance in the three prior will be surprised by the 2240 stats (chapter 4 was just posted today), and after that things will get really wild. (Based on projections and past experience; The current game isn't that far yet.)
By gradually introducing the aspects of tech that are relevant to consider regardless of your build, and showing how even what started as a joke build of mine in 3.10 can turn into a real beast in 3.11 so long as you know what you are doing, it is my hope that the readers will end up focusing less on the specific empire (created to hold their attention with its truly bizarre physics/society/engineering science values) and more on the lessons on game mechanics that are applicable to all games of Stellaris.
I am providing save games for every chapter to allow players to try things out for themselves and inspect the situation, as doing so will teach a lot more than my mere words can do, but I don't know whether anybody is actually availing themselves of this opportunity. I can hope.
I have failed in one regard, though. I hoped that more of the readers would be posting as students in the AAR, whether to ask questions or to play along for fun, but only a few are engaging in that pastime. Perhaps it is just a sign of changing times.
To those who choose to participate, I truly appreciate it. A passive audience doesn't greatly disturb me when I am writing a storytelling AAR, as to a large degree I write those for my own entertainment as a writer rather than that of the reader (sad but true), but when I am writing a teaching AAR, trying my level best to help people, it does.
And to @Sanvone, thanks for the nomination, but, as I am sure you will understand, no extra credits are awarded.
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I was reading more of Galactic Pacification for Dummies today! Excellent stuff!
World Conquest for Dummies in the EU 2 forum is still worth a read too, if only for the professor's smackdown behavior! I recently read through the whole thing.
Congratulations @Peter Ebbesen! Don't let the fluffy bunnies prevail!
Rensslaer
World Conquest for Dummies in the EU 2 forum is still worth a read too, if only for the professor's smackdown behavior! I recently read through the whole thing.
Congratulations @Peter Ebbesen! Don't let the fluffy bunnies prevail!
Rensslaer
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... And I promise I will participate more. I had fallen behind.
Remediensselaer
Remediensselaer
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I almost reacted after the note from @Peter Ebbesen originally, but the note from @Rensslaer nudged me enough that I had to write. Enjoying this AAR quite a bit, but I am not a player of Stellaris and it is obvious that both Peter and the Professor know the game inside and out. My theory is that more are not participating primarily because the readership do not play the game. However, a sub-theory is that they do not speak up because the potential wrath of the Professor may be too great for them. Either way, many of us do appreciate the great effort shown even if we do not always speak up in class.
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Probably a bit of both. I don't play Stellaris a lot, so most of the strategies over trait picks and such go over my head. But I still enjoy participating regardless.
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