That was what I was afraid of. Reviews of the non-satanism (and non-hermetics) societies have been mixed.
Heh, you've discounted roughly 50% of societies, so I'd say it comes up pretty decent on the whole
I'll put my point differently: If you aren't interested in the supernatural, this update is pretty boring. The fact that 50% of societies (which is not actually true: there are the Dominicans, the Benedictines, the Assassins, and secret religious cults) are supernatural
is my problem. It's not 50% of the societies which are supernatural, it's 50% of the
content. My problem is precisely that if the supernatural is boring to me, this update is thus boring, because it's otherwise just a $15 mod-tools update. If the Supernatural is not boring for you, then you know, good for you! No reason we can't feel differently. But that doesn't mean that
I can't be disappointed.
My particular objection, and why I don't like this type of supernatural, is that it seems like Satanism is the sort of supernatural that happens consistently every game. It's not like "oh look, I have the opportunity to join a secretive cult", it's like "Oh, Satanists. Again. " no matter whether you are muslim, catholic, orthodox, even zoroastrians have it (or a version of it for Norse or Hindus). It seems like if I don't want to play as Satanists they are just a perpetual nuisance unless I disable them entirely; in which case why spend 15 dollars on this?
I just feel like I should have thought about this in terms of Sunset Invasion instead of as a must-buy, but I wasn't really thinking. I mean it's not the end of the world, $15 dollars is pretty small. But yes, I do feel disappointed even if I am a minority. And if Satanism is not your thing I would strongly suggest waiting for a sale, because the mods will take time to create anyway. The best part of the Update is the UI changes anyway.
The normal societies are mostly just a way to get a small relationship boost with some other characters, fish for good traits and get some prestige and piety.There's not really much else they could have been.
I think that's not true. There's no mechanism for heresy societies, for example, even though the system seems to call out for it. It's particularly weird because I have observed people who were secretly Catholic under a Cathar ruler, but there's no way to have secret Cathars, which is definitely a missed opportunity. Is it even possible to have secret heretics with the current mechanics? I don't think so, but I'd like to be wrong.