Quoting: robertosf92I kinda wish they stopped releasing this expansions, I play the game sporadically, and enjoy it enormously, but every time I want to play, there's something more I want to experience and for which I have to pay.

Please Paradox, release Stellaris 2

It looks like they're shifting focus away from adding mechanics which might be evidence something is in the works. Same for EU4.

Mind you, I wonder if Paradox is feeling the extended development cycles, because EU4 is over a decade old and has dlc in the pipe for at least the entirety of 2024, it looks like - and going by age EU5 is the next one in line.

They might leave HoI alone for a bit longer as 4 is selling like hotcakes, but with how long we're waiting for a new EU... it does seem like the wait is far from over.

And then those barren dlc-dispensers will need to get fixed and populated, so... EU5 first actually playable release in 2028, Stellaris 2 sometime around 2030? Will we even live to see an EU6?

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Quoting: eldarion

Quoting: scaine

Quoting: JarmerFunny enough, it was Paradox's predatory scam dlc behavior

What what? Predatory how? A scam??

Paradox are one of the few publisher's with a well established, regular, value add DLC regime. They support their games YEARS after release. Stellaris, for example, released over 7 years ago, but some of the DLC modules released are just £9 yet add swathes of content.

I wish other publishers would take note instead of trying monetise micro-transactions.

I'll take properly thought out DLC any day over cosmetic shite, Battle passes and "Seasons".

Depends on the game. Remember their flagship, GalCiv? They are constantly remaking the same game, but releasing the next iteration with a skeleton of the features of the previous game and then releasing DLC after DLC to catch up feature wise with the last game. Don't pretend that it's not to earn more money.

That sounds like you're talking about Stardock, not Paradox.

I wouldn't exactly praise Paradox dlc, though. The most recent one for EU4 was a rework of a bunch of stuff from previous dlcs (so you're paying at least twice here), and 30 minutes of music tied into preorder-exclusive dlc for this dlc (yes, dlc for dlc). I'd rather have them work on EU4 for a good long time rather than release EU4-8 in that same timespan, sure, but there are issues with their business model (hard not to notice when they've gone public as a company, for one thing).

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Those new graphics don't work nearly as well as the original lo-fi look.

As an aside, I remember the 5th anniversary of Quake 1 and how that felt like eons have passed. In that timeframe we got Q2, Q3, the many Quake expansions, Dooom 3 was in the works, the many games based on idTech in general, Wolfenstein got a revival after the eternity that was... 8-9 years etc.

And they're saying Dusk didn't release just last month? Time is terrifying.

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Quoting: lejimsterI'm conflicted here, because I love the Starcraft and Diablo series and so have all but D4 on Battle.net (I was waiting for the price to drop). Because of OCD it would trigger me to have only one of their games on Steam, but it would be so much more convenient from a compatibility and ease of install point of view.

I just wish Blizzard had released a native Linux launcher, they could easily support all their games through Proton. It's a shame to hear negative reviews of D4 on here, I certainly hope it's not that bad.

I used to love Blizzard games, played Diablo starting with D1. Massive nostalgia, made me buy D4 even after the disappointment that was D3 (even post expansion).

I find it amusing how the design of D4 renders it perfect at circumventing Steam's refund policy as the initial couple of hours are the most (possibly only) fun you'll have with it - it's the time before you get kicked in the teeth by the level scaling, the realization that the concept of leveling *up* is no longer a thing no matter what certain numbers are saying, or by how thoughtlessly abysmal the itemization really is. And a bunch of other issues.

It's just that the more you play D4, the worse it gets - that's *terrible* for this type of game, and especially for one intended to be an endless (until unplugged) service. It is an example of truly bad design, and I think the best they could do in terms of salvage... is to get it patched up to the level of quality or fun and maybe mechanical cohesion of D3 - another lacking affair in my view. And from the looks of the patch notes it's what they might be going for. And even that is liable to be a huge undertaking with this foundation.

Maybe get it on a *deep* discount for the campaign, but be prepared there's basically nothing to do once you're done with it, that it's bordering on bloated, so doing it all straight will probably break you (and doesn't seem the intended way of playing), and that it's not really a complete story despite that. Yet. The writing does not match D2 (not to mention D1), but is a bit better than in D3? The sidequest bloat kind of works if you spread out those sidequests throughout the endgame, do a quest inbetween some activities or while grinding, but the game currently has nothing interesting going on in when it comes to its endgame. Just mindless grind built atop of several self-defeating systems. Beyond the betas and some playing around I got a single character as high as lvl 70, and that was... 15 tedious levels of me not having any fun? I just gave up at some point.

All that said, I generally liked the art and absolutely adore the music - easily the single best part of the game for me.

So... be careful with D4, is all I'm saying.

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