Wow, this "game" is a sham.

[Horrux]

At first it looks fine. I had fun. Then... Well, the aribtrariness of the micro/macro management hit me pretty hard. Then the lack of personnality. Then the fact that this is a cut-down EU4 in a space suit.

Then it hit me: I bought a part of an alpha release. With $200 worth of DLC and a few years, I'll have an actual game. It might even be good. But this is Paradox' "Early Access": Buy a "full game" now, which is anything but, and over the next few years you'll get the rest. For a *LOT* of money.

But as it is right now, this is a really poor excuse for a game. A really, really terrible one. I have 2k hours in CK2, and about 400 in EU4. So you can't say I don't enjoy or understand Paradox games. But this game is a sham. Paradox, you are pushing the greed too far, and you are now looking like Activision and Blizzard in my book. You hurt my feelings.

As much as I was sad that you were not going to publish Bannerlord for Taleworlds, I now applaud that fact. I am disappointed and hurt. I don't like you anymore. Don't do stuff like this, it will only hurt you, as I am sure I am not alone in this, and I feel it's going to become a growing trend as people play more Stellaris and explore its... Lack of personnality, depth, variety, enjoyment, it's lack of EVERYTHING that makes a game.

I searched the web for a review that agreed with me, and found this, which says exactly what I think about the game, in every detail: http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2016/05/18/bone-dry-sci-fi-stellaris-game-doesnt-even-work/

 

[nhytgbvfeco2]

You have to understand that they have a limited time to develop a game. And maybe you are forgetting this, but the dlcs also come with free content. As in, you can keep not buying any, and still enjoy the content coming from the free patches.
Base eu4 today with no dlc looks nothing like the game did on release. Even if you didn't buy art of war, the patch that came with it expanded the map by some 1000 provinces, and you didn't have to spend any money for it.

Tl;Dr the game will continue to develope and improve. And you don't have to pay for said improvements.

 

[IROverRated]

I think the main problem people have going into games like this is, they compare a game that was released 2 weeks ago to a game that was released 2 years ago. Yeah it's lacking in quite a few departments from the get-go, but have you read any of the Dev Diaries? They're aware of it, they're trying to fix it. What were CK2 and EU4 like on release? Were they perfect? Yeah, it probably shouldn't of happened, but unless they come out and explain it everything is pure speculation. It could have been an innocent mistake or it could have been entirely on purpose.

I for one am holding out on PDX, I've read the Dev Diaries and I'm already so excited for what they're looking at implementing over the next month or 2, let alone the next year or 2.

 

[Pen Name]

How many times are you going to repost the same sentiment? I know you didn't get much attention when you posted this in two threads, but starting a new thread for a topic that has been discussed to death (and has plenty of still active threads concerning it that you could have posted in) is just silly.

 

[kmaj]

The game is just enough to keep you entertained for more than the 2 hours during which Steam allows refunds.

 

[Bolachinha]

I have over 400 hours in EU4, 400 hours in CK2 and a couple of hundreds in HO3, EU3 and CK1. I feel the game is empty, I dont feel immersed in it, its boring. (Shrine of Old Gods event was nice)

1- It was announced a strong AI and diplomacy but you can«t do anything diplomatically, even CK2 has more options. You have a small "Empire" of 1 or 2 planets which are fond of you and you want to vassalize, but you are "14 points" negative to do it. You send resources as gift, star maps, research etc and its stuck on "-14" nothing makes it go up. You just cant vassalize it, and they have a pathetic army compared to mine. You can«t threat them with war (no such option, which I think should be present). You cant send gifts like in EU4 to increase their opinion.

2- You get a new species under your empire (lets say you are a tropical species and this new one is an artic one), even so you need to get "artic colonization" so that your "artic-native specie" can colonize it. Just wrong. Makes no sense.

3- You have an ally (I was trying to annex it and proposed an alliance to try to make it accept the vassalization later) they get attacked and they become the war leader. I cant get out of this war. I cant surrender. This war is going for over 20 years and it has brought destruction to most of my Empire and the attackers Empire. Its me thats holding the war (I have 15k and the war leader has 0.6k). Each side in this war has lost over 10k ships, both side planets have been invaded and bombarded. They are willing to accept a white peace although the war leader (AGAIN THE GAME AI) doesnt do this. This is a war thats impossible to win, my economy is destroyed, I cant recruit any more vessels as Im broke af and the AI doesnt do anything. Like in EU4 the stronger nation takes the role of war leader, not the one thats attacked. Its annoying specially when I manage to balance the warscore so I can get out with a white peace (their vessels were twice as mine at the beggining of the war) and the AI just keeps going on this ridiculous war...

From this I can say I wont bother buying another Paradox game as soon as it is released. I ahve been waiting for HO4 but I wont get it as soon as it is published. Im really disappointed.

 

[Horrux]

The game is an exercise in greed. It is incomplete, it is rushed, it lacks TONS of substance. And don't tell me about "they had limited time"... They had LIMITED TIME so that the shareholders could upgrade their yachts with our money for a game that is barely worthy of alpha status.

An example: Allies don't help you. You'll need a dlc that is pretty much a direct copy of the code from "the art of war" from EU4 for allies to behave correctly. The code already exists. This game is EU4 with different graphics. Oh yeah, PDX will sell you THE SAME CODE TWICE. They're already doing that with Stellaris, which is EU4 to begin with. How much code did you reuse, PDX? 80%? 90%? Something like that, and it's obvious. Maybe you sheeple love paying for the same thing twice, but I certainly do not.

Another: Waypoints. That means, once the ship is built, send it HERE. But noooooooooooooo, that'll probably be DLC, now you have to clickity-click every ship to its destination. WHY? Really? Design choice? Nah, they just didn't bother.

More? Sure: A "Land all troop on nearest owned world" button. So you have to clickity-click your army fleets to their homes, repeat, again, again, again, again, again, again... You guys really enjoy that? Spending 20 minutes clicking away to land your assault troops is fun to you guys? In a game that is supposedly Grand Strategy, which means less micro, more macro. But no, this is TONS of VERY TEDIOUS micromanagement.

And then, since we're on the topic of micro/macro, the much more important micromanagement, that of planets, you can't choose to do. An AI sector can have 60 systems in it, and it's all good. But you can only have 5. Why? Because, that's why. This is a completely arbitrary restriction. As in, they didn't know what to do, they came up with that around the coffee machine, put it in, and called it "good enough" and "these little mindless sheeple gamers will gobble it up like milk chocolate".

I don't like being played for a fool. Wake up you idiots! You are supporting a company that now laughs at your mindlessness.

 

[Palmerdale]

I think the main problem people have going into games like this is, they compare a game that was released 2 weeks ago to a game that was released 2 years ago. Yeah it's lacking in quite a few departments from the get-go, but have you read any of the Dev Diaries? They're aware of it, they're trying to fix it. What were CK2 and EU4 like on release? Were they perfect? Yeah, it probably shouldn't of happened, but unless they come out and explain it everything is pure speculation. It could have been an innocent mistake or it could have been entirely on purpose.

I for one am holding out on PDX, I've read the Dev Diaries and I'm already so excited for what they're looking at implementing over the next month or 2, let alone the next year or 2.

You may be right about the tendency to compare a new game to a 2-year old game, but what about when a comparison to a 23-year old game provides the same results? Yes, that 23-year old game is Master of Orion, one of the first generation of popular 4X space games. Stellaris is in a state at the moment that incremental patches aren't going to correct some of the fundamental issues that many people seem to have. It is going to require significant modifications to change/correct/refine core elements that stem directly from the design decisions.

While I have faith in Paradox to fix problems and minor issues, I have less confidence in their ability (or willingness) to gut some of their design decisions that currently hamper this game.

 

[Ifreann]

The worst thing about this thread is the use of scarequotes in the title. Whatever complaints you have about Stellaris, why would you try to suggest that it isn't a game? That's just silly. A game you don't like, whatever the reasons, is still a game.

 

[Horrux]

The worst thing about this thread is the use of scarequotes in the title. Whatever complaints you have about Stellaris, why would you try to suggest that it isn't a game? That's just silly. A game you don't like, whatever the reasons, is still a game.

A game that is a lifeless borefest is not a game. It might be a tech demo. It might be a graphical representation of a spreadsheet. But it's not a game. A game is something you PLAY, not something you spend time in front of a computer being frustrated at, bored, disappointed, saddened, and so on.

No, this is not a game. It's a sham.

 

[Bolachinha]

I also do have hope in Paradox, Im just disappointed and disgusted with this completly souless and broken game that was released by them.

 

[Horrux]

I think the main problem people have going into games like this is, they compare a game that was released 2 weeks ago to a game that was released 2 years ago. Yeah it's lacking in quite a few departments from the get-go, but have you read any of the Dev Diaries? They're aware of it, they're trying to fix it. What were CK2 and EU4 like on release? Were they perfect? Yeah, it probably shouldn't of happened, but unless they come out and explain it everything is pure speculation. It could have been an innocent mistake or it could have been entirely on purpose.

I for one am holding out on PDX, I've read the Dev Diaries and I'm already so excited for what they're looking at implementing over the next month or 2, let alone the next year or 2.

A game, at time of release, is its own product. In case you didn't know, when a company sells a game, unless it's an "early access" gamble, then that's the company saying "Game is done", as in, doesn't need any more work, it's good now. Sure, they can patch it. But they're not selling an alpha or a beta. So yeah, compare a game released last week to a 2-year-old game. If the new release is substandard in comparison, then IT WAS RUSHED. IT WAS SHIPPED WHILE UNFINISHED.

 

[Arentak]

I feel like I've seen this thread before. I'll repeat what I said there here. "CK2 at release sucked. A year later it was awesome. No paid DLC needed."

Now, Stellaris doesn't suck. Some of its systems are a little hollow. There are a few bugs. Paradox made CK2 a great game. They'll make Stellaris a great game too. And it won't cost you $200 in DLC.

 

[Bolachinha]

I just cant understand how you release a game where diplomacy is announced as complex and then you release a game with no diplomatic options. Diplomatic options that were release in CK2 and EU4 in 2012 and 2013.

 

[Horrux]

I just cant understand how you release a game where diplomacy is announced as complex and then you release a game with no diplomatic options. Diplomatic options that were release in CK2 and EU4 in 2012 and 2013.

GREED.

 

[chassepatrick]

Then don't play it...

 

[iamgory]

You may be right about the tendency to compare a new game to a 2-year old game, but what about when a comparison to a 23-year old game provides the same results? Yes, that 23-year old game is Master of Orion, one of the first generation of popular 4X space games. Stellaris is in a state at the moment that incremental patches aren't going to correct some of the fundamental issues that many people seem to have. It is going to require significant modifications to change/correct/refine core elements that stem directly from the design decisions.

While I have faith in Paradox to fix problems and minor issues, I have less confidence in their ability (or willingness) to gut some of their design decisions that currently hamper this game.

Still have MoO + MoO2 installed, continuously, since about 1998. There's more to Stellaris than MoO.

 

[Bolachinha]

No, CK2 AI is quite broken, Allies do dumb moves. "You are Asturias and you are allied with west Francia, theres a small revolt of 0.4k in West Francia and the entire army 5k, just leaves the battlefield to put this down." yada yada yada You end up losing the war as Asturias because of things like this. In other game, Im the duke of Britanny and Im a vassal of Empire of Francia. The Empire of Francia is conquering Navarra in northern Iberia, they have 12k, suddenly 0.6k vikings deploy on Brittany and the AI orders the entire army to abandon the siege of Navarra to attack a 0.6k stack! Its the worst exemple saying that CK2 has a good AI, its just awfull.

 

[General WVPM]

As much as I dislike companies releasing beta's as the day 1 game, it is pretty much the standard.
Stellaris feels like a piece of rock in it's current state, but inside there might just be a diamond.

 

[Magdaki]

I'm enjoying the game as is. It isn't the best game ever as is, but I'm enjoying it none-the-less. With the 1.1 patch the vast majority of the issues I'm having with the game look like they will be addressed. And 1.2 looks like it will make the game even better. In short, I'm satisfied with my purchase right now and will be only happier after the first couple of patches.