i would have loved to play a loyal vassal that helps to keep it all together for the overlord.
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I too wish this was an option. It'd be an interesting change of pace.i would have loved to play a loyal vassal that helps to keep it all together for the overlord.
It would be interesting to at least pick the venerable trait for them and give yourself more time before their colapseThe thing that disappoints me most is I can't pick the species of my Imperial Fiefdom overlord? Seems weird considering Stellaris' wealth of customization options.
Yet for some reason on some origin paths, we can pick who our subservient species consists of, such as Necrophage and Syncretic Evolution, so why is that not an option with Imperial Fiefdom?
The thing that disappoints me most is I can't pick the species of my Imperial Fiefdom overlord? Seems weird considering Stellaris' wealth of customization options.
Yet for some reason on some origin paths, we can pick who our subservient species consists of, such as Necrophage and Syncretic Evolution, so why is that not an option with Imperial Fiefdom?
The new situation system would have been great here.
Help the heir consolidate power or stoke the fires of rebellion. And depending on what you do, the empire falls, stays the same or maybe even changes to a new state like "ambitious liege".
The reason it crumbles is because the mechanics do not have the depth to allow for a satisfactory 'escape' from your Overlord. They probably planned to have the Overlord have a chance at crumbling, but due to this expansion being rushed, were forced to make it crumble.
There already videos out on Youtube about how Imperial Fiefdom is outright broken, e.g. infinite alloys from downgrading ships as a Scholarium, overlord paying silly amounts of resources for your special leaders (which you can easily mass-produce via unity, and the overlord will keep buying more and more leaders apparently), even research/migration agreement with the overlord are overpowered because of how many pops/techs they start with (and the research agreement is relatively easy to buy with favours, even if you have zero techs to teach the overlord). The devs will surely nerf/correct several aspects of this origin in a future balance patch. When they do, let's hope they also look at the setup of the collapse of the liege event, so that it doesn't become essentially guaranteed when the first ruler dies or shortly after.
It would be nice if there was more variety as to other outcomes for the Empire’s fate, or greater variability in when it collapses, especially so there was a chance of making use of our Tier 3 Specialization benefits more. As it is, you lose those benefits only a few years after you get them.
Interestingly though, in my game, before I decided to end it and wait for the hot fix, the Overlord actually reconquered most of their rival claimants to the throne (except the two I personally conquered before they could), and went on to conquer an even more expansive empire than before (with both myself and the Prince-Electorate as independent partners in a federation with them). So while it is currently set to crumble that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the Overlord as a major galactic power.
@Zoomy
Here’s an interesting point though, for those who wanted to help their Overlord: while you can’t stop them from falling apart, nothing stops you from Federating with them afterward... I think my Overlord was especially strong because of how much I was able to fund them during almost five decades as a Megacorp Propsectorium. So they reconquered much of their old empire (except for me and their next-strongest vassal, who remained independent), but we’re now all allies in a Trade League federation together, and jointly rule the southern part of the galaxy. So that’s fun and a way of continuing to help your old Overlord.
What I will probably want to do short-term is to add an option to stay loyal even as the empire is crumbling, for those who want to hold onto the vassal bonuses and who doesn't have an interest in breaking free.
That would be ok, having the choice is best choice.What I will probably want to do short-term is to add an option to stay loyal even as the empire is crumbling, for those who want to hold onto the vassal bonuses and who doesn't have an interest in breaking free.
That would be ok, having the choice is best choice.
Other option (not separete): play with time to trigger. 50 years is early, i am not even done with my initial exploration, so it might feel as we havent even had enought of vassal play.
I am not saying you are wrong, because I can imagine situations (hah, see what I did there?) where that could be cool, but they came in quite late in development and I didn't want to start changing massively how the origin worked while we were in a polishing phase.
No. The expansion wasn't rushed, and it was never planned.
A massive change of the collapse event in a hotfix patch is unlikely. I wouldn't want to put in that much new content short-term, as I feel like we wouldn't have time to test it. But if people are interested in having more different outcomes (off the top of my head: golden ages, or maybe there's a succession crisis but then a strong leader rises to the top and becomes militaristic and starts fighting everyone Khan style, or maybe they turn pacifistic and releases all their vassals into a Federation instead), then it is something I could look at down the line. It's not something I am inherently opposed to doing.
What I will probably want to do short-term is to add an option to stay loyal even as the empire is crumbling, for those who want to hold onto the vassal bonuses and who doesn't have an interest in breaking free.
And to answer the thread, I can elaborate a little on what the idea for the origin was.
It is one of two origins we had planned to put a spotlight specifically on vassalization mechanics (the other one ended up being cut for several reasons though, sadly). We wanted to try to do something else than just give you a vassal, or some such, as that would be quite easy, but also quite boring.
- Start as a vassal, so we can put a spotlight on specialist mechanics. It's also a great way to be able to test specialist mechanics early for playtesting interally.
- Be a part of a crumbling empire, sort of like late-HRE, together with other vassals.
- Have a collapse from your overlord, where the vassals and pieces would start fighting each other for the legacy.
- Be able to sweep up the remains and turn into an Overlord of the old area yourself, and get a particularly nice prize if you manage to beat the old capital of your overlord (which is a highly populated Gaia world).