Since pops are king, why the xenophobic and purge memes?

[PackieTackie]

Just curious I haven't been playing this game for a long time, but I dont think being a single species empire has any advantage whatsoever rn, is it just RP stuff or was there a time where purging was actually useful?

[John Cena]

it stops the true end game crisis, lag

[Garatgh Deloi]

Originally posted by CyberScorpio:

Just curious I haven't been playing this game for a long time, but I dont think being a single species empire has any advantage whatsoever rn, is it just RP stuff or was there a time where purging was actually useful?

Because, unless you are playing a competitive multiplayer game*, most people make thematic empires instead of optimal meta empires.

*Should be noted that i am sure you will find plenty of thematic empires in multiplayer as well, but it likely depends on how competitive the games are.

[PackieTackie]

Originally posted by Garatgh Deloi:

Originally posted by CyberScorpio:

Just curious I haven't been playing this game for a long time, but I dont think being a single species empire has any advantage whatsoever rn, is it just RP stuff or was there a time where purging was actually useful?

Because, unless you are playing a competitive multiplayer game*, most people make thematic empires instead of optimal meta empires.

*Should be noted that i am sure you will find plenty of thematic empires in multiplayer as well, but it likely depends on how competitive the games are.

fair enough, I dont consider myself a meta follower nor do I play competitive multiplayer, but whenever I play xenophobes I just enslave aliens it just feels a waste to purge

[Doragor]

Assimilate > all

[Roadie]

There's a non-insignificant amount of Warhammer 40K fans who "leaked" into the Stellaris playerbase (since there's really no 40K empire builder on the market), and a big part of 40K is "purge all xenos." So unsurprisingly, a lot of player like to play as xenophobic empires that have every other empire as a target, hence the memes.

I have personal experience with the fact that playing a xenophobic empire is actually NOT that easy despite the simplicity of being a one-species empire; your pop growth is slower, you have to wait for terraforming to colonize certain planets, you can't subjugate to grow your economic power, and EVERYONE will eventually want to kill you so you HAVE to be prepared for that and have a huge military. Everyone WILL unite against you eventually.

[Damedius]

Xenophobe gives pop growth.

[Roadie]

Originally posted by Damedius:

Xenophobe gives pop growth.

In early game it's useful but xenophile will always end up outpacing it by midgame simply by way of having immigration pacts with other empires.

[Corey Greyfox]

For me personally I tend to play xeno just because it makes empire management easier and has the growth bonus. Plus I can still give zenos residence status if I need them, which is useful early game to get a working class that is good at things your species is not. And mid game, xenos make great livestock.
And I agree, complete purge does tend to seem like a waste, unless the species is completely useless(too many bad traits) and you haven't researched the ability to fix that.

[Damedius]

Originally posted by Roadie:

Originally posted by Damedius:

Xenophobe gives pop growth.

In early game it's useful but xenophile will always end up outpacing it by midgame simply by way of having immigration pacts with other empires.

The game is about the early game. Getting a leg up and snowballing.

[Comrade Burrito]

Good pops are king. Bad pops serve better as raw materials and/or free labor.

[Roadie]

Originally posted by Damedius:

Originally posted by Roadie:

In early game it's useful but xenophile will always end up outpacing it by midgame simply by way of having immigration pacts with other empires.

The game is about the early game. Getting a leg up and snowballing.

Early game bonuses only go so far especially by midgame when all the other empires have consolidated into 2 or 3 mega federations. At that point the xenophobe bonuses don't mean much.

[Legiondorf]

I really dislike the Warhammer community and I say that as a WH3 fan.

[monkeypunch87]

Originally posted by CyberScorpio:

Originally posted by Garatgh Deloi:

Because, unless you are playing a competitive multiplayer game*, most people make thematic empires instead of optimal meta empires.

*Should be noted that i am sure you will find plenty of thematic empires in multiplayer as well, but it likely depends on how competitive the games are.

fair enough, I dont consider myself a meta follower nor do I play competitive multiplayer, but whenever I play xenophobes I just enslave aliens it just feels a waste to purge

Displacing pops can cause huge problems for empires, who welcome refugees. If they don't have the room, it can cause stability problems and crime. I have seen some rebellions, where I would say it was the cause.

But mostly, it is just RP and I play RP.

[Garatgh Deloi]

Originally posted by Roadie:

Early game bonuses only go so far especially by midgame when all the other empires have consolidated into 2 or 3 mega federations. At that point the xenophobe bonuses don't mean much.

If you are playing fanatical exterminators right you have half the map by midgame (or at least a large chunk of it if we are playing a huge map). If we are just playing xenophobes you can still easily enslave other species.

[Oakshadow]

Originally posted by Garatgh Deloi:

Originally posted by Roadie:

Early game bonuses only go so far especially by midgame when all the other empires have consolidated into 2 or 3 mega federations. At that point the xenophobe bonuses don't mean much.

If you are playing fanatical exterminators right you have half the map by midgame (or at least a large chunk of it if we are playing a huge map). If we are just playing xenophobes you can still easily enslave other species.

^ This.

The civics provide Xenophobes with a lot of bonuses. The gameplay is more straight forward. And you're not necessarily purging aliens right away. Rather you're enslaving them.

That said, it's not as good as it used to be. Slavery got a massive nerf way back as the slavery production bonuses no longer apply to slaves occupying specialist jobs. It's still fine. But it's a lot of micromanagement.