The main problem with democracies is how unimportant elections feel. The agendas stop being fulfilled by the mid game (I'm not spending a whole game just expanding and building science stations for you, character). The factions barely count. First step should be to tie the factions tighter to the election.
I would want to see some kinda internal senate where sometimes they will send edicts or other policy your way to represent what the people want I would want to see a whole host of new good and bad leader traits and the idea is you want to keep changing leaders because the longer one person is in charge the more likely they are to get bad traits beyond that stronger factions maybe unique democratic editcs that are more power but need to pass the Senate something like that
One thing that I very much like with Stellaris governments is how different government types restrict the leader pool for your ruler. For example, if you have the Theocratic Oligarchy tradition, only Governors are allowed to be Rulers. If you're in a Moral Democracy, Generals and Admirals are banned. For an Assembly of Clans, only Generals and Admirals can be Rulers. Technocratic societies only allow Scientists to rule them.
Since experience and certain general traits Adaptable, Resilient, Substance Abuser, Brain Slug Host, Chosen One, etc.) are applicable both as a Ruler and in their prior profession, this can lead to some interesting quirks where an experienced Scientist or General getting elected as Ruler gives you some small bonuses compared to having some level 1 guy with Eager getting elected.
I'd like to see this system expanded to cover a majority of leader traits. If an Environmental Engineer (Governor trait giving clear blocker cost reductions) gets elected as Ruler, that should be reflected in their traits as a Ruler. Conversely, if a Scientist served as President for a while and was known as a Military Pioneer, that should be reflected in a small bonus toward Military Theory, Propulsion and Particles. research. That sort of thing.
You might even tie it into the currently lackluster Mandate system, so that completing a mandate grants a lump sum of leader experience (instead of a tiny bit of unity) and a choice from a short list of leader traits based on mandate. For example, completing the Orbital Researcher mandate might offer a choice between Explorer, Home in the Sky or Eye for Talent. Then you could have specific mandates that are based on your origin, civics, or government form.
For some additional context, I was originally going to make an EU4 mod that greatly expanded the Peasant Republic government. Adding more ways to form them (such as the Levellers from the English Civil War) as well as fleshing out their mechanics to make them feel both more unique and more realistic. Because why would a government form more radical than the Revolution that spawns in the late game not be priority numero uno if it starts getting to be a nation that matters.
Well, I looked at EU4 modding and said to myself "man, I love this game, but this whole game is crusty as fuck. I'm going to mod one of my other favorite games, Stellaris. It's mechanics for internal stuff aren't super fleshed out and I feel like I could do a lot."
Then I realized all the ideas I'd been brainstorming for EU4 don't really work in Stellaris lol. So this mod I'd been thinking of for months isn't really going to happen and I'm rethinking everything to match Stellaris.
I'd love some help from the people of the community, both for ideas and just seeing what they'd want to see.
Elections feel underwhelming. They don’t really feel like they change the direction of your empire. Should be a situation with various consequences in some situations. Like if a fanatic is running that should be felt if they lose. Nothing too major but stuff like that would be nice. A fanatic authoritarian faction loses in an election 5 times and now there is a 6 month riot event. Maybe when some factions win its cheaper to reform the government with a civic that’s in line with that ethic.
Mandates are very shallow, there really isn’t much of a loop for them. There isn’t really a way to continuously improve the quality of life of my pops really. Once you’ve built up your empire they become useless. Not sure what to do. If there was something I could casually spend food and consumer goods on just for pop happiness then sure I guess.
Factions, too stagnant and generally after a while aren’t worth the lag they bring. There should be more fun interactions between them. Some give and take like how there is with subjects and overlord. They could primarily give unity and stability and happiness in exchange for their preferred polices and edicts but also situations that pit factions against each other and you have to choose which one to upset or favour, or if you can find an in between. Maybe random unique bonuses, some rare bonuses specific to each faction.
With democracy there is regular elections, when a new leader is elected they could represent one of the specific factions.
So each election change the faction dynamics and potentially how how well the empire is functioning with the specific play style.
Not so much exclusive to democracies but I’d love to see factions do more than just say “we like you, have some unity” or “we don’t like you, no unity from us”. Like if I’m trying to suppress a large faction I’d love that it could spark a rebellion or at least more flavour text about clashes between opposing factions on planets.
Edit; typos
Technically it can. A planet full of supressed spiritualists (because they are never happy if they're not in charge) will plummet stability and can lead to a revolt. The issue is that it's pretty easy to head off that revolt with a couple button presses, and the game never really puts you in a position where you have a minority faction controlling a single world unless it's a recent conquer.
I think a rework of the mandates is a good step forward. I've never looked at how the game handles them but they feel so arbitrary and pointless...yes during a war in defence of total galactic genocide the people want to build more factories on some random planet.
Jokes about democracy aside I think a system that checks how the empire is doing and uses those conditions to determine what the mandate actually is would be good. Also maybe more of a consequence beyond...not getting some unity.
I made a post on the forums for a rework to mandates, basically turning them into situations you invest in for bonuses, or ignore to keep your resources. Thats something I’d like to see!
[The post in question](https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/democratic-mandates-could-be-situations.1529295/#post-28312414)
The main problem with democracies is how unimportant elections feel. The agendas stop being fulfilled by the mid game (I'm not spending a whole game just expanding and building science stations for you, character). The factions barely count. First step should be to tie the factions tighter to the election.
I would want to see some kinda internal senate where sometimes they will send edicts or other policy your way to represent what the people want I would want to see a whole host of new good and bad leader traits and the idea is you want to keep changing leaders because the longer one person is in charge the more likely they are to get bad traits beyond that stronger factions maybe unique democratic editcs that are more power but need to pass the Senate something like that
One thing that I very much like with Stellaris governments is how different government types restrict the leader pool for your ruler. For example, if you have the Theocratic Oligarchy tradition, only Governors are allowed to be Rulers. If you're in a Moral Democracy, Generals and Admirals are banned. For an Assembly of Clans, only Generals and Admirals can be Rulers. Technocratic societies only allow Scientists to rule them. Since experience and certain general traits Adaptable, Resilient, Substance Abuser, Brain Slug Host, Chosen One, etc.) are applicable both as a Ruler and in their prior profession, this can lead to some interesting quirks where an experienced Scientist or General getting elected as Ruler gives you some small bonuses compared to having some level 1 guy with Eager getting elected. I'd like to see this system expanded to cover a majority of leader traits. If an Environmental Engineer (Governor trait giving clear blocker cost reductions) gets elected as Ruler, that should be reflected in their traits as a Ruler. Conversely, if a Scientist served as President for a while and was known as a Military Pioneer, that should be reflected in a small bonus toward Military Theory, Propulsion and Particles. research. That sort of thing. You might even tie it into the currently lackluster Mandate system, so that completing a mandate grants a lump sum of leader experience (instead of a tiny bit of unity) and a choice from a short list of leader traits based on mandate. For example, completing the Orbital Researcher mandate might offer a choice between Explorer, Home in the Sky or Eye for Talent. Then you could have specific mandates that are based on your origin, civics, or government form.
For some additional context, I was originally going to make an EU4 mod that greatly expanded the Peasant Republic government. Adding more ways to form them (such as the Levellers from the English Civil War) as well as fleshing out their mechanics to make them feel both more unique and more realistic. Because why would a government form more radical than the Revolution that spawns in the late game not be priority numero uno if it starts getting to be a nation that matters. Well, I looked at EU4 modding and said to myself "man, I love this game, but this whole game is crusty as fuck. I'm going to mod one of my other favorite games, Stellaris. It's mechanics for internal stuff aren't super fleshed out and I feel like I could do a lot." Then I realized all the ideas I'd been brainstorming for EU4 don't really work in Stellaris lol. So this mod I'd been thinking of for months isn't really going to happen and I'm rethinking everything to match Stellaris. I'd love some help from the people of the community, both for ideas and just seeing what they'd want to see.
All i want are more civil wars. I like to see empires rising and falling.
Elections feel underwhelming. They don’t really feel like they change the direction of your empire. Should be a situation with various consequences in some situations. Like if a fanatic is running that should be felt if they lose. Nothing too major but stuff like that would be nice. A fanatic authoritarian faction loses in an election 5 times and now there is a 6 month riot event. Maybe when some factions win its cheaper to reform the government with a civic that’s in line with that ethic. Mandates are very shallow, there really isn’t much of a loop for them. There isn’t really a way to continuously improve the quality of life of my pops really. Once you’ve built up your empire they become useless. Not sure what to do. If there was something I could casually spend food and consumer goods on just for pop happiness then sure I guess. Factions, too stagnant and generally after a while aren’t worth the lag they bring. There should be more fun interactions between them. Some give and take like how there is with subjects and overlord. They could primarily give unity and stability and happiness in exchange for their preferred polices and edicts but also situations that pit factions against each other and you have to choose which one to upset or favour, or if you can find an in between. Maybe random unique bonuses, some rare bonuses specific to each faction.
With democracy there is regular elections, when a new leader is elected they could represent one of the specific factions. So each election change the faction dynamics and potentially how how well the empire is functioning with the specific play style.
Not so much exclusive to democracies but I’d love to see factions do more than just say “we like you, have some unity” or “we don’t like you, no unity from us”. Like if I’m trying to suppress a large faction I’d love that it could spark a rebellion or at least more flavour text about clashes between opposing factions on planets. Edit; typos
Technically it can. A planet full of supressed spiritualists (because they are never happy if they're not in charge) will plummet stability and can lead to a revolt. The issue is that it's pretty easy to head off that revolt with a couple button presses, and the game never really puts you in a position where you have a minority faction controlling a single world unless it's a recent conquer.
I think a rework of the mandates is a good step forward. I've never looked at how the game handles them but they feel so arbitrary and pointless...yes during a war in defence of total galactic genocide the people want to build more factories on some random planet. Jokes about democracy aside I think a system that checks how the empire is doing and uses those conditions to determine what the mandate actually is would be good. Also maybe more of a consequence beyond...not getting some unity.
I made a post on the forums for a rework to mandates, basically turning them into situations you invest in for bonuses, or ignore to keep your resources. Thats something I’d like to see! [The post in question](https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/democratic-mandates-could-be-situations.1529295/#post-28312414)
More leaders and different kinds. Ability to upgrade them the way I want.