Hi all,
I signed up to Stardock yonks ago, but I've never really bothered to post until now, so consider me a newbie. My question is fairly simple. Will this system be coming back in GalCiv 3?
I'd prefer that it didn't. It was one of my least favourite features of GalCiv 2. I know this is just a game and fictional universe and all, but I personally find that a rigid moral code system like this isn't very.... realistic for lack of a better word. I feel that no person or group of people can be described as good or evil in absolutist terms. It's too subjective. Adolf Hitler is widely seen as an evil man, but along with wanting to commit genocide on the Jews and having a relaxing afternoon drive into Poland, France, and the USSR, he also liked kids (as long as they weren't Jewish or Slavic) and dogs - things you'd normally associate with a 'good' person. I'm not saying Hitler wasn't a bad guy overall, but one man's tyrant is another man's hero. Let's look at the Drengin Empire. They obviously aren't good from the POV of most of the other races, but to them, they see Humanity as the bad guys and themselves as the galaxy's saviours. Remember that the Terran Alliance wiped out a Drengin client race. Justifiably so perhaps, but many people would consider that pretty uncool to say the least. It horrified the Drengin enough to identify Humanity as it's number one target. It's all very subjective and relative.
Maybe it's too late in the dev cycle to make any serious changes (assuming the devs want come on board with me), but I'd prefer this mechanic was done away with. It was entertaining at times I admit. I sometimes picked the evil option just for the lols. But it took away from the experience for me too. I'd like it to be replaced by something else which can be used to identify like minded or philosophically opposing civilisations. What about government type? Or overall value sets? I haven't fully thought through what could replace it, but does anyone else think going to the trouble might make the game more interesting? What could the devs do in this department?