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Destabilization and Espionage almost useless?

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Destabilization and Espionage almost useless?

from Stardock Forums
Does anyone else think that Destabilization and Espionge are not very effective abilities? I sure think so. On one game a galactic recession hit the galaxy, and I used this event to take out all of the drengins star bases, one of which had some hefty economic bonuses. I then poured somthing like half my monthy income(700 or so) into destab, but all it did was bring the Drengins morale down by 6 or 7 points down to 47, but then the next turn it jumped back up to 63. It seems to me that the AI is too smart to let thier morale get below 50 percent.

As for espionage, all it really does is tell you what thier morale is and how much money they make. You never really get much info that helps you in any practical way. It would be nice if you could do stuff like sabotage morale improvements as a stage in your destabilizing plan, or do other things that allowed you to establish a coherent covert plan, but so far I think both features are rather useless. Does anybody else agree?
7,766 views 42 replies
Reply #26 from Stardock Forums Top
Yeah it can. It isn't a one-stop solution and not something you can do every 2 years and still have a healthy econ. however, as it is now, there's no real challenge anymore to the elections.

~SDC~
Reply #27 from Stardock Forums Top
Oops, I mean "yeah it can screw up your people" if you slip taxes all over the place- first 0 then 60 then 0, etc... they get pissed.

~SDC~
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #28 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks for the confirmation(again) Dearmad. So it seems that only thing to 'fix' from our perspective is the 'cutoff' point, formerly 50%, now 58%(should go back to 50% in my opinion). I assume this is actually in the .exe, not in one of the easily modified text files?
Reply #29 from Stardock Forums Top
Espionage gives you a ton of info. Over the course of the game, you get various "intel levels". Low, Medium, High for example. At each level, you know a little more about their inner workings (when you reach a level, you'll get a screen telling what you now have the ability to see). Good stuff.
Reply #31 from Stardock Forums Top
Mr. Lucky: I did it one pre-nerfed morale game, but it was with the AI's set to their lowest setting. Didn't see any ill effects, but I probably wouldn't have noticed them anyway - too busy just figuring out the interface and everything else. Now I periodically check the point where the lowest morale of any of my developed planets is about 52 and leave it there. But this is just with all AI set to "Normal". I reckon I'll have to pay more attention as I crank them higher.

The really bad thing is I'm becoming a GalCiv junkie and it's eating into my limited sleep time. That means about half of my game is played with me in a half-stupor. Not really a successful formula for rapidly recognizing cause and effect in a highly complex game.

Bob
Reply #32 from Stardock Forums Top
yeah, but once you hit max espionage, which is fairly fast, it kinda loses it's lustre. further investment doesn't seem to do anything but keep it at that level. it would be nice if you could steal techs, destroy improvements/starbases, or increase your destabilization abilities.

cheers

h
Reply #33 from Stardock Forums Top
Horatio,
Nice ideas, are they in the suggestions thread? I've given up on that beast. How about a suggestions forum?
Reply #34 from Stardock Forums Top
I too would like to see morale made a little tougher. It was pretty harsh pre-nerf, but post-nerf, I always end up with tons of planets not building anything in the social queue because the only things left are morale buildings that I don't need.

Still, this is something that should be easy to adjust... a simple value switch in a spreadsheet somewhere. It's a little too easy to keep people happy - I feel like a little bit of the strategy has ebbed away with the morale nerf. Of course, I'm still getting whacked about half the time at sub-normal, so I should probably shut up.
Reply #35 from Stardock Forums Top
LOL. Nah, just time for you to move up on the AI ladder a bit.

~SDC~
Reply #36 from Stardock Forums Top
Fin Fang Foom fought the Fantastic Four.

Truly.

~SDC~
Reply #37 from Stardock Forums Top
hey now i've gotten to High espoinage level. When I did, I was hoping to see some economic detail about them. i wanted to see their trade income, their tribute income, their tribute expense, their lease expense. Alas I could not find this information. Is it there and I am missing it? I just saw some generic numbers on military/social/research spending as well as their treasury balance.

~SDC~
Reply #38 from Stardock Forums Top
After trying Destab for a while I'm starting to think that it could definetly be improved a bit. There just isnt any imput and I've tried it for a long time and am simply not getting results. It would be really nice if it could be a viable strategy, but right now it doesnt seem to useful, long term or otherwise. If somebody disagrees with me and has any tips on what I might to to make it more useful I would be greatful.
Reply #39 from Stardock Forums Top
I think the gamejsut needs to provide more feedback to the player to let them know what is happening on the destabilization front. I've heard it has a greater effect over the long haul.

~SDC~
Reply #40 from Stardock Forums Top
I wouldnt underestimate espionage. Knwoing what research projects they have currently running will help your own research strategy. And imagine the research turns they will lose when you sell your research project they are currently running (muahaha)
Reply #41 from Stardock Forums Top
There's an "Advanced" stage of espionage after the low, medium, and high stages. I think it is only from that point onwards that you have a chance of stealing technology?