More Good Player "Crises"?

[Lazy Name]

Initially there was one Crisis path, and the Custodian to oppose it. Since then, another Player Crisis has been added and two more options are on the way, so perhaps the good side deserves some love as well?

I'd be interested in an expansion of Defenders of the Galaxy to actually use the same framework as Player Crises, except they gain their "crisis points" only by fighting other Crises. It makes the perk increase in value the more wrecked your galaxy is, and it means that if you come out on top you'll have actually earned your position as defender and the perks that come with it.

I'd also like something along the lines of a Pacifist victory path perk, themed around something like Habinte or Shallash. Something which allows massive megaengineering projects like towing planets, altering hyperlanes, or carving worlds to be perfectly symmetrical, which don't give any immediate benefit but increase your victory score.

 

[Kataclyszm]

How about, we stop overly gamifying this system and let defenders and crises evolve naturally? First Federations, and then it just keeps on going.

 

[Calvax]

I really don’t like these ideas because it feels like putting a full doll house inside of a Lego box. Obviously it’s a sliding scale but a big draw of stellaris is it’s a sandbox. It has tonnes of different mechanics and features, inspired from a breadth of science fiction, that you can clip together in unique ways.

By their very nature crisis paths are very linear. There’s some variety in how you approach them but not much and the “story” is the same each time. I really, really don’t want interesting ideas to be locked behind linear paths out of some sense of balance, that because we have crises we must have other linear paths for different victories.

 

[Dragatus]

I'm pretty neutral on the player crisis paths. They're not what I play the game for, but we have two already and more will increase the variety of options for going crisis mode, so that's good, I guess. It's also worth noting that the framework for these has been laid down in Nemesis and Machine Age and making new ones now takes relatively little effort compared to the amount of work that went into setting up the system in the first place and creating the Nemesis and Cosmogenesis paths.

Basically, I'm not excited for them, but I don't think making new ones at this point presents enough wasted effort for me to get upset.

As for the original topic of "good guy crisis", it had me confused for a bit. If you're a crisis you're not the good guys. Then I realized OP meant unlocking perks like on a crisis path, except you're not a crisis, you just fight them. I don't think that's necessary, I'd rather just have the current Galactic Custodian.

 

[Skeletr0nKing]

I would like it very much if all empires that have "Defender of the galaxy" would be in their own little club and had exclusive group perks to collaborate with the custodian or emperor

 

[Lazy Name]

I really don’t like these ideas because it feels like putting a full doll house inside of a Lego box. Obviously it’s a sliding scale but a big draw of stellaris is it’s a sandbox. It has tonnes of different mechanics and features, inspired from a breadth of science fiction, that you can clip together in unique ways.

By their very nature crisis paths are very linear. There’s some variety in how you approach them but not much and the “story” is the same each time. I really, really don’t want interesting ideas to be locked behind linear paths out of some sense of balance, that because we have crises we must have other linear paths for different victories.

I think the main problem with the currently existing crisis paths is just that they clipped too much unrelated content together; Menacing ships and Star Eaters seem completely seperate, for example, same with the Synthetic Lathe and Fallen Empire ships. I think adding new ones would be fine and interesting for setting directions for your empire to evolve as the game goes on, as long as they stick to a single theme and let the remaining flavour be customizable by the player. I'm definitely NOT suggesting Defenders of the Galaxy get new overpowered ship types and some esoteric megastructure.

 

[Kataclyszm]

same with the Synthetic Lathe and Fallen Empire ships

I mean regardless of my complaints of Cosmogenesis I do think it fits together. Like, the Synaptic Lathe is what lets you speedrun the ridiculous tech the FE spent eons researching the 'normal way'. If you want the power, you'll need to commit some dark deeds. If anything, the path could stand to be MORE reliant on the Lathe to generate its Advanced Logic.

 

[Mmklop_]

Maybe not best served by a crisis path, but I've had the thought for a 'devouring rogue servitor'. Basically a RS that decides it needs to forcibly pamper everything in the galaxy. kinda like a reverse contingency, but as a player.

 

[Kataclyszm]

Maybe not best served by a crisis path, but I've had the thought for a 'devouring rogue servitor'. Basically a RS that decides it needs to forcibly pamper everything in the galaxy. kinda like a reverse contingency, but as a player.

We can already do that as a regular rogue servitor who decides to war a lot.

 

[Normannus]

What I would appreciate is something in the settings to set “Empire-based crisis”, which would control War in Heaven/Awakened FEs, Nemesis, Cosmogenesis, etc. Let me preconfigure a nightmare galaxy where I’m going to be fighting against a crisis-path determined exterminator, a cosmogenesis-path tech rusher, the new Behemoth crisis, all simultaneously while the war in heaven is raging. Give me the true Grim Darkness of the far future.