Shared Burdens reform

[DarkHelmet110985]

Shared Burdens is a Fanatic Egalitarian Civic that is supposed to yield the ideals of Communism. Yet I find the true value of what Shared Burdens proposes to be is in the Greater Good Resolution tree in the Galactic Community(more specifically Tier 5 Universal Prosperity Mandate). The Tier 5 Mandate yields the following:

+100% Diplomatic Weight from Pops
+100% Worker Political Power
+5% Worker Happiness
+10% Worker Output
+5 Stability
-10% Empire Size from Pops
-10% Housing Usage
-10k Resource Storage Capacity
Greater than Ourselves Edict(Automatic Resettlement Chance: +200%)
Bans Slavery and most Living Standards

Councilor Post: Head Arbiter +10% Living Standard Effect and +10% Egalitarian Ethics Attraction per level

What I propose for Shared Burdens is that it takes what it has now(+5 Stability, -75% Pop Demotion Time(up from 45% to match Kinship in Harmony Tradition) and Living Standard restrictions) and adds Political Power, Worker Happiness, Worker Output, Empire Size from Pops and Housing Usage. Communal Building becomes a Planet Limit of 1 and applies -5%/-10% Housing Usage buff to the Planet along with additional Housing and Amenities. It's respective Holding remains the same in helping to promote Egalitarian Ethics.

Basically, if you take Shared Burdens, you should have the effects of Tier 5 Greater Good Resolution from the start. If you impose it on the rest of the Galaxy via Galactic Community, you can effectively double the bonus while increasing your Diplomatic Weight from Pops. This also makes the Rebel outcome on Under One Rule more rewarding as you shift to Fanatic Egalitarian and consequently adopt Shared Burdens. This combined with Harmonized Society modifier... *Chef's Kiss*.

*Edit* I'm adding a reform proposal for the Councilor slot. While the +2% Worker productivity is ok, I find that Shared Burdens would do best if its Councilor slot did something else. Firstly, it buffs Egalitarian Ethics Attraction by 10% per level. Its Holding does this for vassals so I'm applying to the Empire at large to solidify Empire cohesion under the Egalitarian banner. Would be quite strong when going on an Egalitarian crusade or for shifting/converting immigrants from foreign empires who may not share our Egalitarian values.

The second thing the Councilor post would boost is Living Standards effect. The reason behind this is due to the fact that Shared Burdens limits the Living Standards you can actually use. Given those limitations, it would be beneficial if the Councilor post actually buffs them by a notable degree and this, to me, would be far more impactful than 2% Worker output. You would gain stronger Happiness buff, more Trade Value per Pop and a far larger impact for Unemployed Pops with respect to Utopian Abundance.

If the Councilor change were to happen, I would advise Beacon of Liberty be changed to something else. Having two Civic posts doing the same thing isn't ideal and unfortunately, this thread really isn't the place to discuss it despite my proposal to replace it with -Empire Size from Pops.

 

[HFY]

That's an interesting comparison and I like the symmetry.

 

[Beauty Nova]

Not a fan of communal housing being planet unique, because then you have no housing building to work with after that. I've always seen the swap of 5 amenity/3 housing luxury residences to 5 housing/3 amenities communal housing as one of the better and more flavorful effects of the civic.

I have a wishlist a mile long for it too, but I feel it's not the place for it. Nearly half my builds use it though.

 

[DarkHelmet110985]

Not a fan of communal housing being planet unique, because then you have no housing building to work with after that. I've always seen the swap of 5 amenity/3 housing luxury residences to 5 housing/3 amenities communal housing as one of the better and more flavorful effects of the civic.

I have a wishlist a mile long for it too, but I feel it's not the place for it. Nearly half my builds use it though.

The building applies a -5%(tier1) or -10%(tier 2) Housing Usage modifier on the Planet. That’s equivalent to adding Communal Trait to all Pops present. That combined with -10% Housing usage I’m proposing for Shared Burdens, Fanatic Egalitarian Culture Workers yielding 2.5% each(up to a maximum of 20% in a Holy Covenant) and other Housing reduction buffs you can get means you have no need for more. Plus the impact on Housing has negligible impact on Pop Growth and if you need more Housing despite those perks, I don’t know what else to say.

 

[Ohirra]

I like the idea of a Fanatic Egalitarian civic, but I find Shared Burdens just isn't worth taking most of the time.

It needs a buff to make it a contender for which of my three civics (out of a couple of dozen options), will make me want it.

Housing usage is pointless for a Virtual empire, but that's going to be a very niche situation. Everything else you suggest will make it worth taking even if you do go for the Virtuality ascension.

 

[DarkHelmet110985]

Housing usage may not mean much to the average Bio Empire but if you want to maximize Ring Worlds, you'll want to have it. Given that you get 10 jobs to go with the 10 Housing, to get the "Ecumenopolis Treatment", you'd need Housing reduction of roughly 40%(or better) to truly maximize those Ring Segments. Given the Civic and Culture Workers would give you 25%(30% with Holy Covenant), that leaves another 10-15% to go(which you can get via the Unique Communal Building, Galactic Community or Adaptability). That way you don't have to use precious District slots on City for Housing and instead can put it towards Industrial, Food, Research or Trade.

Also, I've been contemplating what to do with the Shared Burdens Councilor post. Presently it increases Worker productivity by 2% per level, which is perfectly fine as is. Yet I've been exploring what else we could change it to. Given that Shared Burdens largely bans other Living Standards, one idea I had regarding Shared Burdens was that it would boost the effect of Living Standards by 5% per level or 50% at level 10. For Shared Burdens Living Standard, that would result in +7.5% Happiness(from 5%) and 0.375 Trade Value per pop(from 0.25). Utopian Abundance would get +30% Happiness(from +20%) and 0.75 Trade Value(from 0.50). Basically, making the Living Standards that you do have much stronger and I'd even consider 10% per level or +100% at level 10 because why not?

I'd then add 10% Egalitarian Ethics Attraction per level because Shared Burdens is a Fanatic Egalitarian Civic. It should attract the Populace to being Egalitarian considering the Holding does just that for vassals. Since Beacon of Liberty does this, I'd replace the Ethics Attraction on Beacon of Liberty and instead have -1% Empire Size from Pops to further build upon the -15% the Civic provides(which is what people take the Civic for, not the Unity output). I fully realize this would push Beacon of Liberty to S-Tier(if not beyond) but Beacon of Liberty requires Egalitarian and Democracy Authority(including Democratic Concurrency). Meaning a Shared Burdens + Beacon of Liberty faction could hit 50% Empire Size from Pops before Traditions and other factors apply. Pacifist Ethic would then be a luxury as opposed to a necessity to hit -100% Empire Size from Pops. Ditto with Democratic Concurrency as Pacifist can take its place, hence non-Cybernetic Empires can achieve this mark.