A modest proposal: Some control points start owned by national factions

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thekingsraven
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 5:16 pm

A modest proposal: Some control points start owned by national factions

Post by thekingsraven »

One thing that jumped out of me during early access is that nations felt a bit empty, it didn't feel like I'm trying to steer powerful behemoths like Russia or America. They were just sitting there waiting for me or another faction to take over them.

I'd like to throw an idea out there and see what people think.

The game fills control points with vested interests representing local government or other power players unaligned with any faction, these VI are based on who is in charge in the real world, but with weighted randomness to represent political chaos caused by the discovery of alien life. Nations with low GDP/high Unrest are more likely to have control points owned by "turmoil" representing that the control point has failed to adapt to aliens and these function like the empty control points in the current gain.

High GDP/low Unrest nations are more likely to have control points owned by something other than turmoil, giving them some effect on the map that players can react to or subtly manipulate and new unique strategies for taking them over. To aid this goal all VIs have a faction sympathy score that you can increase by aiding them in their local goals, you can use the Control Nation directly on a VI control point and their faction sympathy becomes a bonus. This represents significant figures defecting into your faction.

Some examples of VIs:

Turmoil: The default. Turmoil covers most high unrest nations, and rare is the nation without at least one CP in turmoil. These have no effect and can be taken over easily, like the empty CP in the game today. Most turmoil flip into another kind once the New Normal event is triggered.
Imperialists: These guys really like to build armies, and they like to use those armies to expand their borders. They favour nations they have claims over but will target anyone who looks vulnerable. Helping them by weakening their targets, or even taking over their targets and forcing a surrender raises faction sympathy. Feeding nations to imperialists then taking over the imperialists is a valid strategy to build a larger nation capable of resisting the aliens.
Nationalists: Like to build armies and invest in Cohesion but are interested in defending their native soil rather than conquering anyone. However their definition of their native soil might not match others if they have a claim in the wrong place. VIs of any stripe may flip into nationalists if their country is invaded. You can impress them by helping them defend their country from aliens or humans. If they're at peace long enough they may flip into a different VI.
Looters: These guys maximise spoils, and like factions that manage to grow the ecconomy (more to loot) while keeping spoils high (so they can keep doing their thing after joining). Its usually better to purge them than flatter them.
Populists: Like to reduce inequality but their investment priorities are influenced by which faction has the most public support. Public support also gives them faction sympathy. Populists also have a tendency towards spoils, and will invade countries if they have a claim and a big enough military advantage.
Rebels: So long as this VI is around they'll gradually increase unrest until a civil war erupts. Using reduce instability will build faction sympathy for all VIs in a nation with a rebel problem.
Xenophobes: Good news, this faction is really invested in fighting the aliens. Bad news, they're not able to coordinate with anyone else. They build armies and boost, you win faction sympathy by winning fights with aliens and loose it by appeasing them. You may have to purge them just to get past their inability to coordinate, or use control nation without much faction sympathy.
Xenophiles: The flip side of the Xenophobes, someone for the servants and protectorate to try and win over.
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