What should I get the full starter pack or just the basic game?

[stockholmesyndromed]

Thinking of trying this game out. Should I get the full package or just the basic to start off with?

[Old Ben]

After 4500+ hours I'm calling it enough is enough, tired of broken mods and roll-backs due to constant updates and DLCs. At one time this was my favorite game..... no more. Best wishes on your decision of what to buy.

[HappySack]

The starter pack is fine since it comes with an easier playstyle type with both types of gestalts (hivemind and machine empires) from the DLCs, the only reason you're getting it is for Utopia as its the only must-have DLC but with how old it is you can potentially get it for $10 or less outside of Steam.

Either way you can wait for the next sale so there's no need to rush anything.

Originally posted by Old Ben:

After 4500+ hours I'm calling it enough is enough, tired of broken mods and roll-backs due to constant updates and DLCs. At one time this was my favorite game..... no more. Best wishes on your decision of what to buy.

Yeah sure and I have a million hours with this game too.

Ever heard of Irony Mod Manager? you can create a stable "copy" of the game with your mods only usable for whatever version of the game you want so no future updates ruin it.

[Crusaderjack]

Originally posted by Old Ben:

After 4500+ hours I'm calling it enough is enough, tired of broken mods and roll-backs due to constant updates and DLCs. At one time this was my favorite game..... no more. Best wishes on your decision of what to buy.

4500 hours is quite a bit if you follow the "Dollar per hour" rule, sounds like youve got quite a bang for your buck even if you purchased all the dlc.

[Old Ben]

Originally posted by HappySack:

Yeah sure and I have a million hours with this game too.

Actually you have only 1119.9 hours play time, way less than mine, just hover over my avatar.... of course you're an expert so you should know that.....

Mod managers....been there, done that.....

[MrBagHead]

Originally posted by Old Ben:

Originally posted by HappySack:

Yeah sure and I have a million hours with this game too.

Actually you have only 1119.9 hours play time, way less than mine, just hover over my avatar.... of course you're an expert so you should know that.....

Mod managers....been there, done that.....

what does it matter how many hours you got in the game? besides hovering over your name does nothing and your profile is private so you could say any amount of hours is what you have in stellaris and noone could disprove you,

Stellaris is by far my favorite game and nothings really gonna change that, but i will say it gets real aggravating when a new dlc drops and we still got all these bugs that havent been patched not to mention its almost impossible to make it late game without tons of lag, seems to have gotten better in recent years although it could have something to do with my hardware upgrades too so idk

[Archbishop Desmond Calorie]

Originally posted by Crusaderjack:

Originally posted by Old Ben:

After 4500+ hours I'm calling it enough is enough, tired of broken mods and roll-backs due to constant updates and DLCs. At one time this was my favorite game..... no more. Best wishes on your decision of what to buy.

4500 hours is quite a bit if you follow the "Dollar per hour" rule, sounds like youve got quite a bang for your buck even if you purchased all the dlc.

Time spent /= quality.
The sooner you realize this, the better.

b-b-b-but why would he spend this much time with a game he doesn't enjoy!?
PDX games change constantly. Could be 3k hrs with a game he did somewhat enjoy, and the rest just playing out of habit, after it went to ♥♥♥♥ in his mind.
Not to mention that PDX basically has a monopoly on this genre, based on players not wanting to accept "less", so each new company trying a GSG is killed off immediately by lack of support.
Meaning that I can definitely see people playing a PDX game even though they think its garbo, simply because its the only one like this on the market.

Stockholm Syndrome is real.

[Ryika]

Originally posted by Old Ben:

Originally posted by HappySack:

Yeah sure and I have a million hours with this game too.

Actually you have only 1119.9 hours play time, way less than mine, just hover over my avatar.... of course you're an expert so you should know that.....

Mod managers....been there, done that.....

I have 5567.4 hours of playtime and I disagree with you, so your complaint is invalid.

[HyperKnight]

A monthly expansion subscription costs half of a starter pack so if your feeble mind crumbles under the weight you dislike the game you will spend less that way.

[Peter34]

The problem with buying more than the core game is that the All DLC subscription then becomes less attractive.

Given that Stellaris' 9th birthday is very close, this game isn't going to keep getting updates for more than a couple years probably, before they start making Stellaris 2. So going for the subscription is increasingly attractive, with each passing year.

Wait until there's a -75% or so off sale on the core game, then buy the core game and grab a 3-months subscription.

And given the upcoming changes, buy the core game on sale, but don't actually pay for the subscription and start playing to early June, or at least late May, because there's gonna be bugs when 4.0 comes out. Lots of bugs.

[Old Ben]

For those that don't know, when you hover over another person's avatar you will see their mini profile, but only if they are on-line in Steam. Of course they can set themselves to off-line, but it will still show the mini profile unless they are truly logged out. Enjoy your game...

[HappySack]

Originally posted by Old Ben:

For those that don't know, when you hover over another person's avatar you will see their mini profile, but only if they are on-line in Steam. Of course they can set themselves to off-line, but it will still show the mini profile unless they are truly logged out. Enjoy your game...

No one can see your hours played since you have your profile settings set to private to hide your lies. You can easily verify this by trying to look for this information using a different internet browser or private mode where you're not logged in.

I don't have anything against you but I don't like it when people try to make a statement using authority that isn't there.

[Mr.M]

Originally posted by Old Ben:

Originally posted by HappySack:

Yeah sure and I have a million hours with this game too.

Actually you have only 1119.9 hours play time, way less than mine, just hover over my avatar.... of course you're an expert so you should know that.....

...if i do that it doesnt work, because when i click on your profile steam tells me that your profile is FREAKING PRIVATE...

Of course you are an EXPERT and should know that...

Originally posted by Old Ben:

For those that don't know, when you hover over another person's avatar you will see their mini profile, but only if they are on-line in Steam. Of course they can set themselves to off-line, but it will still show the mini profile unless they are truly logged out. Enjoy your game...

Or they set themselves to PRIVATE and act smug for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON...

Originally posted by HappySack:

I don't have anything against you but I don't like it when people try to make a statement using authority that isn't there.

I personally hate people that act smug without being able to back their smugness up...

[Doug Dimmadong]

Dude asked for advice on what to buy and a salty guy for absolutely no reason immediately derails it. Classic. However to answer your question OP, no. Utopia is a must buy and Synthetic Dawn is good also, however it throws in Galaxy Edition with is just nothing really, forum avatars, soundtrack, etc. The put it in there to hope people buy it by mistake.