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[Zazmio]

Man, I've really tried to like this game.  I really have.  140+ hours of trying to like it.  But I've come to the conclusion that it's hopelessly broken.  People keep saying that DLCs are going to fix it, but I can't see it.

The problem is that it just doesn't make any fucking sense.  The game is basically EU in space.  Galactic empires aren't going to act like 17th century nation-states on Earth.  Well, who knows how they would act, but I can't see a lot of interstellar despots limiting themselves to taking a few systems in a war, or being careful not to bombard populations too heavily, etc..

[Teneb]

I don't really see the game as broken. Just really, really bare. I can still have fun with it, though, but maybe I am easily amused.

[Orange Wizard]

Yeah, I'm having fun. It's not a finished game by any stretch of the imagination, but the base is solid and there's enough stuff with fleet combat and technologies to keep me happy for the time being.

[Putnam]

there should be more event mods

a lot more.....

[Egan_BW]

Pop revolts make the most sense in large empires with few external enemies. Well-designed, a civil war could be a superb end-game crisis, where psionic warriors clash in the corridors of planet-destroying battlestations and sentient robots toil alongside enslaved alien races.... but that's fringe science-fiction, it might not be popular enough to implement in stellaris.

i c wut u did ther

[Flying Dice]

Pop revolts make the most sense in large empires with few external enemies. Well-designed, a civil war could be a superb end-game crisis, where psionic warriors clash in the corridors of planet-destroying battlestations and sentient robots toil alongside enslaved alien races.... but that's fringe science-fiction, it might not be popular enough to implement in stellaris.

Psh. More like science fantasy.

[Malus]

I don't really know what to say if you play a game for 150 hours before realizing you don't like it. Even for a Paradox game that's kind of insane (not the hours played, but hours played without enjoying it). Most games you'll know whether you like it within an hour or so. I think for games like CK2/Victoria 2 you could probably know whether it's your thing within 10 hours.

[NullForceOmega]

Unless the problems with the game are not visible within a short timespan, depending on how you play Stellaris it could be twenty hours of gameplay before you even reach late game material.  I think, based on the posts here and comments elsewhere, that many people actually very much enjoy the early game (I know that I do) and generally enjoy the mid-game, but everywhere I look the late-game is decried as being a unpleasant experience.  So if it takes up to 20 hours to get to the late game (it could be less if you're like me and use the fast timescale for normal play and only drop it to normal during battles), then 140 hours or more is only 7 or less different games.

[Orange Wizard]

I'm sitting on about 100 hours. Mostly been playing through to around midgame, and start over when it becomes a slog or I lose interest.
Endgame's definitely not worth it IMO, but the early stages of grabbing territory and squaring off with rivals is good fun.

[Neonivek]

My major criticism is mostly that the game pretends to be deeper then it is, I guess...

Government, Ethics, "Rare" Tech... All just fluff really.

I actually have to actively roleplay my government because you are still rewarded for being a warmonger even as a peaceful government (you just don't get as good a bonus).

Rare techs come up constantly and you will usually get them all... Instead of being like "Your secret weapon". As well often it feels like the technology has a odd lack of impact... Psionics might end "oddly" (no spoilers here) but I was waiting for psionic control and hive mind of my populous.

Ethics I wish mattered more...

And these elements do not interact with eachother. (I'd love it if Xenophiles and Xenophobes get different sets rare techs)

And a lot of the features aren't as deep as they need to be or are hidden behind unusually large barriers.

STILL one of the best 4x space games I played... but as I said it has just about no competition. Endless Space and Sword of the Stars kind of show the lack of quality in 4x games.

Stellaris feels like in a fair universe it would be a 7 out of 10, good but nothing to write home about games... Rather then one of the top 10 (or top 5) best 4x space games ever.

---

I remember this one 4x game I saw where each race you added to your own was a flat out bonus (representing a bonus you got for diversity). It also featured government types that drastically altered gameplay (for example the Bees had a Monarchy with an immortal ruler... If that leader dies then they get such terrible penalties they basically die off).

It had its fair share of problems but honestly it has many great ideas that I am astonished 4x games just avoid like the plague.

I mean Masters of Orion was inherently a unbalanced mess and honestly that can work for some games as long as they are upfront about it.

[Teneb]

Spoiler: Well, this was interesting (click to show/hide)

[Malus]

Stellaris feels like in a fair universe it would be a 7 out of 10, good but nothing to write home about games... Rather then one of the top 10 (or top 5) best 4x space games ever.

I definitely agree with this sentiment. In my mind, if you compare Stellaris to any other space 4X of recent time, it blows them all out of the water. That doesn't mean Stellaris is a good game.

The stories I can write about my Stellaris empires are far more engaging than the ones I can weave in GalCiv 3 or SotS or Masters of Orion, and in my mind, that makes Stellaris worth playing. It feels a lot like CK2 in that regard: I don't think I actually enjoy playing CK2 that much in the moment, but writing up what happened and telling my friends about it is a big part of what makes that game fun.

Stellaris is in an awkward spot where it's still very much beholden to 4X expectations, so it's lacking any form of chaos and as a result, things stagnate. Empires find their natural borders and just sit there. And they don't start to rot from within. There's no dramatic rising and falling of empires. I have never seen an underdog take on a superior foe and come out on top without my help.

I think I wanted CK2 + Vicky 2 in space, but instead we got this blend of Civilization by way of Endless Space and hey look we kinda have pops too. Victoria 2 actually has so many mechanics that make for interesting storytelling -- I hope some of them make it over in Stellaris' expansions. A deeper economy would be a good start. I'd like to see coups and internal revolutions too.

[Orange Wizard]

Spoiler: Well, this was interesting (click to show/hide)

Oh, having a dozen sets of mining drones in one system? I've seen that a couple of times, it's kinda funny. Lots of debris to study afterwards too, which is nice.

[Flying Dice]

Except that you don't get anything even remotely useful from them. :I

[forsaken1111]

If it's still early and you don't have fusion power yet you can unlock it quickly with drone debris. Otherwise they're pretty useless