Xeno-Outreach Agency - does it do anything?

[Kalemenos]

In Megacorp, one of the possible branch office buildings is the "Xeno Outreach Agency." It promises "Corporate Empire Modifier: +25% pop growth from immigration," in addition to the +5% trade value of the branch.

I can't see where or how this is applying. I don't see anything listed under "Empire Government / Modifiers", nor under "/Demographics." On the planet window, population tab, nothing is stated under pop growth "from immigration." Does this building actually do anything?

[Cinnamoon_dragon]

I think most branch offices are absolutely worthless, I always choose the same: Commercial Forum at first, then private Research Enterprises to push science, Corporate Embassy to buff diplomatic weight, and Executive Retreat when it becomes available later. I looked at what AI chooses and these four are the most popular.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by Kalemenos:

In Megacorp, one of the possible branch office buildings is the "Xeno Outreach Agency." It promises "Corporate Empire Modifier: +25% pop growth from immigration," in addition to the +5% trade value of the branch.

I can't see where or how this is applying. I don't see anything listed under "Empire Government / Modifiers", nor under "/Demographics." On the planet window, population tab, nothing is stated under pop growth "from immigration." Does this building actually do anything?

Looking at the code raises some questions. Not sure why they're invoking a planet modifier under country_modifier. It should boost trade on the planet where it's built by 5%.

	country_modifier = {
		planet_immigration_pull_mult = 0.25
	}

	planet_modifier = {
		trade_value_mult = 0.05
	}

Running a broader search on the country_modifier to see if I can find anywhere it's defined or invoked.

EDIT: I'm finding a lot of times where "immigration_pull" is invoked in static modifiers, but they all seem to be within the planet scope. I don't see any other instances of trying to invoke "planet_immigration_pull" from the country scope. I wouldn't say it with high confidence yet, but you may have found an error in their implementation.

UPDATE: There's an edict and a civic that do use "planet_immigration_pull" and should be country-scoped. So I'm not sure it's illegal. Widening the search a little further.

FINAL UPDATE: Search me. I count 29 invocations of "immigration_pull" in static modifiers, always scoped at the planet level. It's invoked by an ascension perk, by a colony type (ringworlds), in branch office buildings, edicts, civics, and government buildings. Also there are some graphic files associated with the modifier (necessary to represent it in the interface).

If you really want to test it thoroughly... save your game, put it on observe, run it on fast forward for five years and note how much pop growth progress is made. Then roll back to the save, destroy the building, and run it forward again to see if it comes out smaller.

[CrUsHeR]

You can see the immigration pull factors in the tooltip breakdown on your planets. I guess the planets need to have active immigration for this to show.

So yeah you should see as many instances of this buff as you have Xeno-Reach Centers built. It is a stacking empire-wide effect and thus very powerful, especially when you have a lot of AI vassals with free migration access through a federation.

Also the 5% trade value is for the planet where the branch office is located. So you indirectly profit from both the increased branch office value, and increased commercial pact income.

[Kalemenos]

Originally posted by Geoff:

If you really want to test it thoroughly... save your game, put it on observe, run it on fast forward for five years and note how much pop growth progress is made. Then roll back to the save, destroy the building, and run it forward again to see if it comes out smaller.

Geoff, your'e a genius, you must dream in script! I didn't know I could do that observe-fast-forward thing. Give me some time to tinker with that.

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

You can see the immigration pull factors in the tooltip breakdown on your planets.[...] So yeah you should see as many instances of this buff as you have Xeno-Reach Centers built. It is a stacking empire-wide effect and thus very powerful, especially when you have a lot of AI vassals with free migration access through a federation.

That's what I rather expected, but I don't actually see it. I went back to saves, and I can show what immigration looks like early and later after I made it an acropolis.

Below are two screenshots of the same planet.

Early, 2349: (immigration growth is at 1.47, if I'm reading the stats correctly)
- 3 Xeno-O.A.'s running
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/10791071666427239/D0BC4ABA3E1CC1D8ECB48CA83B4EDACB4E16D906/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Later, 2426: (immigration is at 1.08)
- 23 Xeno-O.A.'s running
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/10791071666429837/BF8C053FA636486704A20784BF11686FDE7FA4B3/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

I have acropolises ("acropoleis") and ringworlds I'm eager to just stuff with pops, and these agencies don't seem to do anything. I can't read perfectly the script Geoff reports above, but I'm wondering if it's happening in reverse: that THAT planet of my subsidiary is getting the immigration buff, or maybe even the whole AI Empire.

[Kalemenos]

Originally posted by Static-ghost:

I think most branch offices are absolutely worthless, I always choose the same: Commercial Forum at first, then private Research Enterprises to push science, Corporate Embassy to buff diplomatic weight, and Executive Retreat when it becomes available later. I looked at what AI chooses and these four are the most popular.

That's helpful, thanks! I also use the Merc station - as the game goes on, it winds up adding quite a bit of naval capacity which lowers fleet costs substantially.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by Kalemenos:

Below are two screenshots of the same planet.

If you try hovering over the little knapsack on the end of a stick, you'll see another tooltip. That should provide the detailed data on immigration and emigration pressures.

[Kalemenos]

Well I'll be! I NEVER noticed that before. And it's very interesting:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/10791071666580493/231B18CF0D000A062CDA6F231BEFCFFC6EFFCAA5/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

So it states that I'm getting +575% from branch offices. That matches the 23 branch offices I established. I guess that answers the question: yes, they do what they promise if I am reading the stats here correctly, and now I have learned where to see so. Thanks a bazillion!

Nonetheless, I barely notice any boom in pop growth. So I wonder whether it is a worthwhile branch building. The +5% tv is good, though. I wondered why the colony had a higher stat earlier in the game. Immigration pull then was 220, and here later in the game it is 684. But earlier it was a new colony, with a +100% pull. I keep learning new things.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by Kalemenos:

Nonetheless, I barely notice any boom in pop growth. So I wonder whether it is a worthwhile branch building. The +5% tv is good, though. I wondered why the colony had a higher stat earlier in the game. Immigration pull then was 220, and here later in the game it is 684. But earlier it was a new colony, with a +100% pull. I keep learning new things.

There's two kinds of immigration pop growth, I believe. The first is the general increase in pop growth points and that is impacted by the scalar that falls over your whole country to slow population growth down as your pop gets larger. The second is when a population physically picks up from one world and departs for another. I believe that is a spontaneous event and not governed by the whole point scheme. If I remember, there is a tooltip that appears in the itemized breakdown of the individual pop that shows you where it's thinking of moving if it were to pick up and move.

[CrUsHeR]

Doesn't show the immigration tooltip, but as a reminder how good immigration can be

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274158157

[CrUsHeR]

Originally posted by Geoff:

Originally posted by Kalemenos:

Nonetheless, I barely notice any boom in pop growth. So I wonder whether it is a worthwhile branch building. The +5% tv is good, though. I wondered why the colony had a higher stat earlier in the game. Immigration pull then was 220, and here later in the game it is 684. But earlier it was a new colony, with a +100% pull. I keep learning new things.

There's two kinds of immigration pop growth, I believe. The first is the general increase in pop growth points and that is impacted by the scalar that falls over your whole country to slow population growth down as your pop gets larger. The second is when a population physically picks up from one world and departs for another. I believe that is a spontaneous event and not governed by the whole point scheme. If I remember, there is a tooltip that appears in the itemized breakdown of the individual pop that shows you where it's thinking of moving if it were to pick up and move.

Immigration is just one mechanic. You mean Automatic Resettlement of your own unemployed pops.

Pops don't actually move from one empire to another; it's just that the AI with all their unemployed pops generates a huge emigration push, which lowers growth on the local planets and increases it on others.

And which you can benefit from on all of your planets as long as you have enough free housing and jobs.

[MeniliteZ]

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

Doesn't show the immigration tooltip, but as a reminder how good immigration can be

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274158157

That's quite a rainbow of species.

I'm trying to keep my planets all 1 species in my games. Is that a bad thing to do?

Right now I have a game where I'm terraforming a couple planets specifically for refugees.

[MeniliteZ]

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

Pops don't actually move from one empire to another

Then what does a Migration Treaty do?

[Geoff]

Originally posted by MeniliteZ:

I'm trying to keep my planets all 1 species in my games. Is that a bad thing to do?

It's not necessarily bad, but it's not very efficient. If you impose segregation on your pops, it will push them towards xenophobia (living with free citizens of another species on a planet makes pops more xenophilic). So if you're trying to run a xenophile empire that does segregation (like say, giving your refugees new homeworlds of their own), a knock-on effect will be less happiness among your pops.

Also, in general if you allow freedom of movement you'll generally get pops settling on places where they want to be, for free. As opposed to having to spend energy and/or unity to move them around.

However, it's not a very substantial source of economic drag and there are few feats in Stellaris that compel you to play at peak efficiency across the whole game.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by MeniliteZ:

Then what does a Migration Treaty do?

They allow you to produce new pops from species living in the empire you have a treaty with (through growth on a planet or construction of colony ships) which can allow you to settle hostile worlds in your territory long before you get terraforming tech.

[CrUsHeR]

Originally posted by MeniliteZ:

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

Pops don't actually move from one empire to another

Then what does a Migration Treaty do?

It allows the migration mechanic to work between empires.

Otherwise, it only works within your empire.

https://stellaris.paradoxwikis.com/Population#Migration

Originally posted by MeniliteZ:

I'm trying to keep my planets all 1 species in my games. Is that a bad thing to do?

No real direct advantage or disadvantage, but a xenophile empire cannot restrict growth anyways. IIRC the game has a bias to grow more pops of underrepresented species.

Having at least 1 free alien pop on a planet gives 2x Xenophile attraction, and 0.5x Xenophobe attraction. So this can help when people get angsty from genocidal and slaver activities in the galaxy.

https://stellaris.paradoxwikis.com/Ethics#Pop_ethics