Just recently picked Stellaris back up with Utopia and enjoying it for the most part.
However one bit has really let me down. Civics and the general government changes were a good idea. If players wanna min-max they can aim for that, or you can roleplay as your race and build the fantasy government they begin with go ahead, plenty of options from mundane but functional to amazing flavor are available. However in a way, I think of the Civics of their empire, as their governmental "traditions" this is how you were before they became a stellar empire, and these things carry forward and have effects as you move into the stars, Police States are better at handling rebellious pops, governments strongly influenced by mining interested are actually more efficient at mining and so on.
This makes it a total let down when you get to Galactic Administration tech, this used to be the point where you upgraded to the advanced forms of government. You could become Democracies where everyone voted by having their subconscious mind read or other cool and flavorful fantasies, also you just doubled your old government bonus which was pretty good if all you care about are the numbers. Now you get an extra civic point, so instead of becoming a futuristic government, you can hire a few extra cops, make sure the king learn's some Plato before his coronation or learn to make buildings more simply. This is both less impressive and doesn't entirely square with the idea that these civics were "traditions" ways the government was structured for decades if not centuries leading up to FTL. More importantly why is doing slightly more of what could be done decades if not centuries ago something impressive in a vast stellar empire?
To put it simply, why are there no Advanced Civics? Why not have Galactic Administration unlock not just an extra civic point, but a whole host of new and interesting advanced Civics tied to tech, ethic, traditions or ascensions, instead of just the mundane starting Civics? These could be anything from advanced versions of old civics, such as maybe an empire with Mind over Matter can unlock an upgraded Police State, where Psionic Officers use their powers to suppress the population, reading minds to find decedents while Psionic Detectives can rip memories from criminals head to use as evidence in court, -40 unrest and +10% government ethics attraction. Or they could be new Civics that would have made little sense and had little use in a base start, like a Cross Species Cultural Exchange Program, probably requiring Xenophile and at 3 species living in your empire, All Pops gain +5% happiness for each other species on a planet.
These numbers might be completely silly that isn't the point. The point is while I think Utopia did a lot to increase the fantasy of being a Scifi Empire, becoming more and more advanced via things like Traditions and Ascension, and it increased the fantasy of who you were at the start via the Civics, it has completely gotten rid of and failed at the fantasy of feeling your state becoming more and more advanced to fit the more advanced empire it is controlling.
However one bit has really let me down. Civics and the general government changes were a good idea. If players wanna min-max they can aim for that, or you can roleplay as your race and build the fantasy government they begin with go ahead, plenty of options from mundane but functional to amazing flavor are available. However in a way, I think of the Civics of their empire, as their governmental "traditions" this is how you were before they became a stellar empire, and these things carry forward and have effects as you move into the stars, Police States are better at handling rebellious pops, governments strongly influenced by mining interested are actually more efficient at mining and so on.
This makes it a total let down when you get to Galactic Administration tech, this used to be the point where you upgraded to the advanced forms of government. You could become Democracies where everyone voted by having their subconscious mind read or other cool and flavorful fantasies, also you just doubled your old government bonus which was pretty good if all you care about are the numbers. Now you get an extra civic point, so instead of becoming a futuristic government, you can hire a few extra cops, make sure the king learn's some Plato before his coronation or learn to make buildings more simply. This is both less impressive and doesn't entirely square with the idea that these civics were "traditions" ways the government was structured for decades if not centuries leading up to FTL. More importantly why is doing slightly more of what could be done decades if not centuries ago something impressive in a vast stellar empire?
To put it simply, why are there no Advanced Civics? Why not have Galactic Administration unlock not just an extra civic point, but a whole host of new and interesting advanced Civics tied to tech, ethic, traditions or ascensions, instead of just the mundane starting Civics? These could be anything from advanced versions of old civics, such as maybe an empire with Mind over Matter can unlock an upgraded Police State, where Psionic Officers use their powers to suppress the population, reading minds to find decedents while Psionic Detectives can rip memories from criminals head to use as evidence in court, -40 unrest and +10% government ethics attraction. Or they could be new Civics that would have made little sense and had little use in a base start, like a Cross Species Cultural Exchange Program, probably requiring Xenophile and at 3 species living in your empire, All Pops gain +5% happiness for each other species on a planet.
These numbers might be completely silly that isn't the point. The point is while I think Utopia did a lot to increase the fantasy of being a Scifi Empire, becoming more and more advanced via things like Traditions and Ascension, and it increased the fantasy of who you were at the start via the Civics, it has completely gotten rid of and failed at the fantasy of feeling your state becoming more and more advanced to fit the more advanced empire it is controlling.
