The base game should be FREE

[KamiUnitY]

I've been trying to get my friends into this game but the game is just too expensive to gift to all of them, already gifted to 2.

So back to topic, Can you guys consider making the base game free well with some limitations?
an idea I've come up with is to make an entirely new set of origin for this free version of the game which they could only access to. just make up some origins that would be hell (and fun) for them to play, Doomsday totally fits this category. dont buy the game? sure your planet is gonna explode.

ps. they wont buy it. you know how hard it is to get people with no 4x experience at all into this game? but once I got their hand on it, it's pretty easy from there.

[Elitewrecker PT]

Doomsday Is a dlc origin to begin with.

[Peter34]

Crusader Kings 2 was made free-to-play (base game only) about 8 years after release. Stellaris has been out 5 years and 10 months. HoI4 came out at the same time as Stellaris did (AFAIK exactly the same time) and recently introduced a subscription model for DLC, although I don't know how the specifics of it works.

[xycotta]

I think the game is hard enough without giving new players a more complicated start. If you are wanting to go that route you would do a limited play for free over the weekend or release a demo version that only goes out for 20 years. Heck, they should make a discounted pack of the base game to give to friends.

Wait for sales.

But, I think they are still making sales on the base so I doubt they will make it free.

[Xautos]

Originally posted by Peter34:

Crusader Kings 2 was made free-to-play (base game only) about 8 years after release. Stellaris has been out 5 years and 10 months. HoI4 came out at the same time as Stellaris did (AFAIK exactly the same time) and recently introduced a subscription model for DLC, although I don't know how the specifics of it works.

I was actually thinking along the same lines. It's very likely the subscription model will drop into Stellaris if Paradox believe it's worth the effort.

[Dustreaper]

The base game already has so much content making that free is pretty stupid it's not a like free to play game that has tons of microtransactions where they can make up with that. You just buy their base game when on sale and host a multiplayer save to play together so you don't need dlc or at least the once you would have.

[KamiUnitY]

guys I got the solution the game is on game pass which is only 1$ for the first month. it's pretty great deal. thank you everyone for commenting

[Doom Random]

No experience with 4x is an easy hurdle to get over. With Stellaris, it took me 3 tries due to information overload from the UI.

[ScreamCon]

I actually think it should go the other way. Dlc heavily discounted with base game increased in price. That way its not so much like buying a wall of dlc to make game fun and more like buying into the development of next dlc.

The devs have obviously started this kind of sims style charging model.

[PlutonArioch]

The game has regular sales, and has been part of bundles several times. I picked up two extra copies of it to give to people from humble bundle, for 1$ each (purchase, not subscription like game pass), how is that too expensive?
Developers need to eat, and pay bills too you know. If they make the base game free, they need something else to gain money from, unless the base game does not sell at all anymore.

[Xautos]

Originally posted by PlutonArioch:

The game has regular sales, and has been part of bundles several times. I picked up two extra copies of it to give to people from humble bundle, for 1$ each (purchase, not subscription like game pass), how is that too expensive?
Developers need to eat, and pay bills too you know. If they make the base game free, they need something else to gain money from, unless the base game does not sell at all anymore.

Eventually Paradox will consider Stellaris as developmentally complete and move on to another project, they won't come back and revisit the game if there is no reason to. Shortly after that is made clear the sales will drop off. At this point it's either a constant stream of discounts or a continuous subscription service that provides a regular stream of money at a cheap price so it can continue to sell without having to look after it with more and more sales.

Sure the developers in Sweden need to make money so they can put food on the table for their families, but Stellaris isn't the only project Paradox are working on currently and still support.

[PlutonArioch]

Originally posted by Xautos:

Eventually ...

Eventually is not now.

[mss73055]

all people should have jobs

[Xautos]

Originally posted by PlutonArioch:

Originally posted by Xautos:

Eventually ...

Eventually is not now.

Eventually can be any time in the future.

But you don't disagree with the rest of it?

[PlutonArioch]

Originally posted by Xautos:

Originally posted by PlutonArioch:

Eventually is not now.

Eventually can be any time in the future.

But you don't disagree with the rest of it?

No I don't disagree. I was just talking about the present, and you were talking about the future. We don't know yet how far away it is, and if it will happen exactly this way...

My comment about devs needing to eat was more about the attitude behind "this product I enjoy should be free, so I can give it to other people without paying again".

[KamiUnitY]

"this product I enjoy should be free, so I can give it to other people without paying again".
err I don't think of it this way tho let me clear it up.
while part of it is true yes I just see that it is too expensive to give out the game to all of my friends so they could at least try it out. in the first place, they are not even customer targeting for this type of game I did mention they have no experience on 4x games. so I come up with this "product should be FREE" the idea might be bad for the majority but it just works for us from my pov, one of my friend bought out all the dlc there are for our session after we were having fun on our first game together in my case paradox does get profit even if you doesn't count the base game I gifted to him. it appears that this seems to be rare for other people.

I'm gonna admit we play pirates from time to time we buy games to support the company when we having a blast with the game, and Stellaris is one of them. so I don't even consider pirating on this game.

do you think I expect the game to be free immediately so I don't have to buy them the game again?
no, I don't get ♥♥♥♥ on this thread I will gift them the game regardless of how this topic was going.