In accordance with prior experience elsewhere it is probable my review of the software will be removed.

Therefore I reproduce my criticism of the software and the company behind it here since they refuse to accept and act to repress dissent wheresoever possible it is otherwise directed at them, either in the form of questioning or statements offered unflattering to their schemes.

My review:
I own this on Steam. I owned it before it was fully released and ever since too. I've invested hundreds of hours in it only to discover endless series of mission-ruining, strategy-impairing, and game-breaking bugs and scripting errors, play-balance issues and like kinds of frustrating, enjoyment-robbing issues with the software. Paradox's strategy seems to be to shut-down and shut-up all criticism of the company in view of the fact they know their software is flawed. It maintains tight control of their forums and even Steam pages to this end. It's as if they're engaging in a bizarre, almost mafia-esque campaign to shutter dissent or serious representations demanding accountability for their practices. Were it not a computer game company (allegedly,) one would hardly be misled believing something worse was behind it! Try criticizing them or their products yourself if you care to get a taste of this treatment and don't believe me! If they're willing to put that much effort into stamping out objections to their policies, I can only imagine what type of company this must be to work for or go up against in their native Sweden! One gets the impression they must enjoy some kind of protected status based on their behavior as a company. In any case, having tried over years now on versions ranging from .8 all the way to 2.2 to enjoy a playthrough without recurring issues with poorly-designed AI, disjunctions in everything from ship transit times, fleet movement behavior and related processes especially related to scripted/scenario events (not to mention all the one-off undocumented, oftentimes inexplicable no-go travel/selection and AI privilege/cheating bugs/design weaknesses) I can only say it's been a huge exercise in frustration really trying to play this as a game and not an endless beta mess. Their never-ending "updates" break mods that were the only things keeping it working! The DLC's therefore end up really being only an on-going cash-grab scam. In all recommend avoid!

I am entitled to my opinion; I've thoroughly play-tested this software (something I strongly contend the company itself DOES NOT or devotes grossly inadequate time/resources to doing!!) and were it merely a matter of dissatisfaction with the product, I would long ago have moved on. I find Paradox's conduct to be abominable as a corporate actor. I go so far as to note the Tencent stake in ownership of the company. Treatment like their critics receive might go over better in a totalitarian country - but I would not - will not stand for it myself...much less so simply as a long-time, very enthusiastic gamer and gaming customer!

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wow
I have this game on steam & gog... willing to bet more hours played than most & I find the game fun

The game does have serious flaws, and the development focus seems to be more on adding content rather than fixing existing problems (which tends to compound those problems), and I do feel the DLC is very overpriced for how much content you actually get. However, it is still a fun game and that is a legitimate redeeming quality. I don't know about Paradox suppressing criticism (because there's legitimately a lot to criticize) so I can't really speak to that.

However, I do feel that the 2.2 patch really needs to be called out. It was too ambitious and there was no way they were ever going to get that to an acceptable state within their development budget. They've fixed the game-breaking performance issues, but the AI is still completely incapable of handling the new planetary economy and user interface and general micromanagement level is still unacceptable. The power creep of the new economy is absolutely massive and the rest of the game hasn't caught up with it, and that's not even counting the various exploits that allow you to do silly things. While it fixed some issues with the game, it exacerbated others, and since they have a DLC schedule to keep to it looks like players are now stuck with that. It's a mess that shows the very worst of the DLC model: keep pumping new content and don't worry if you break anything.

Indeed. The game had some bugs before but 2.2 was alpha status at best and they are still putting together the shattered pieces of all the mechanics that were broken. Once they deliver a halfway mature version of their game I'll freeze updates for good.

The AI always sucked which is why the player was saddled with things like sectors and counter-productive additive R&D. The revolutionary 2.2 fixed none of the existing flaws, made the AI even less competent and broke a bunch of stuff, so not exactly a step in the right direction and it remains to be seen whether the game ever gets fixed.

That said, the late 1.x's were pretty playable and if one chose large galaxies and a bunch of the right mods, then one had a nice Space Empire building game.

So some of the criticism is valid but Paradox should be praised for allowing modding - and modding of almost everything. Now I just have to work out how to mod the GOG version of the game. And hope Paradox unbreaks 2.2.

I'd say with 2.2.7 it's almost as it once was. With Glavius' AI mod (which is one of the few mods available outside of steam) the game is actually fun to play. I hope they release another one or two patches, that focus on performance, balancing and bugfixes before they add new content again.

Last time I checked (a few days ago) their primary focus was on the next DLC.

The three big issues I see right now with the game:
1) The level of micromanagement required to keep your empire running smoothly is excessive and there's no realistic way it can be automated.
2) The AI is a complete disaster zone unable to build functioning planetary economies, creating nonsensical ship designs, unable to manage their space fleets.
3) The late-game threats haven't kept up with the game's massive power creep. Awakened Empires and the Crisis just aren't anywhere near strong enough to be credible threats. The AI struggles with them (because the AI is terrible) and I think a lot of players just don't have the micromanagement discipline to optimize their empire, but the power level you can obtain just with simple micromanagement optimizations is ludicrous by the late-game.

I agree in principle but on the other hand: if the late game threats aren't that threatening anymore, there is no real need to optimize your empire via micromanagement. In my first games with 2.2.x I was moving unemployed pops around like mad. Nowadays my macro economy is so strong, come late game, that I really don't care if a couple of planets aren't running at their optimum. You CAN play really sloppy and get away with it as long as you keep track of your major goals. While I wouldn't call this particulary great game design, it does mean that you can largely skip the tedious parts of the game if you want to.

I'd say the biggest issue at the moment is performance because there isn't really much you can do, once the stutter begins, other than being patient.

Okay well I don't know about all your guys and how long and how high of a place gaming holds in your personal itineraries of values in life. I am a bit of a die-hard and definitely put my heart into it. Playing, modding (even if never-finished or released - QUALITY matters !!). . multi/co-op gaming etc. I've been playing since NES was a thing.

So let me tell you that Paradox is one of the most reprehensible developers I have seen in terms of how they push their products and stifle feedback. You know if your game doesn't work without aftermarket modifications the fact that you allow modification says something actually really terrible about your company! That's what's going on here. That's something I strongly oppose and am denouncing because of the poor and frustrating time I had dealing with not only their own forum moderators but trying to post feedback of their products on other platforms.

At a point in time early in the gaming industry you could get a refund for a product that was non-working or terrible. Those don't exist anymore practically. Never-ending updates and fixes are not a benefits if the underlying product is not complete, stable, or good!

Arguably it is not complete due to the always-inadequate AI performance; it is not good by many measures and widespread criticism that remains valid. It is a stable midget-sized trainwreck. I am not impressed and I am even more unimpressed and outraged at this point by the company's response to my efforts to address these glaring and well-known issues they are more than content to ignore in favor of serving their shareholders in the short-term.

This is post 2.2 version series of releases. 1.0 is a 'finished' product. This was not that then. It is not that now. Not acceptable, not excusable, not explainable other than as I contend I have done so above! You don't get to remake the product in subsequent releases and imagine your customers should be satisfied with your efforts or any excuses that may be provided to cover the poor customer service and lemon still put out!

The fact that these issues are so well-known and the prejudice shown when documenting in writing a comprehensive review of them on their forums confirmed to me the worst aspects of corporate behavior that is not blatantly criminal I have witnessed today (or ever really!) This kind of hucksterism betrays a borderline scam operation. My complaints are sincere and valid. Paradox's conduct is inexcusable.

The new revenue model is being exploited by Paradox to enrich themselves at the expense of unfortunately-trusting and long-suffering consumers (Gamers) who are perpetually kept in suspense awaiting the intended and advertised products!!! Were it a different industry with another product this would be regarded as extortion, fraud or another type of criminal offense. At the very least it would be subject to Consumer Protection standards not yet applied to this industry.

Clearly what Paradox is doing begs the question and serves as an argument in favor of such regulation. As well as perhaps adding potential criminal penalties for some of these practices they may be engaged in. It goes beyond the simple fact of the matter that changes are being made and they claim to be fixing it. At some point enough is enough and I have had more than enough with Paradox to anymore concern myself with the internal matter (for their company) of why their products do not work as they should! Now I believe it is time that enforcement measures need to be examined.

I always found the lack of real game manual to be annoyning.
You need one for a game this complex.
A website and you tube videos are no replacment for a actual manual.

Hi goggin.

This is not Steam/ParadoxPlaza junda club. Your review is respectable on GOG and the community judges it. Here Paradox lackeys have no influence over who gets to post what. Only the GOG.com staff would have a say and they don't repress any kind of review. Only rarely they would do so and for a valid reason, other than appeasing the totalitarian and authoritarian views of certain decadent developers.
Steam community's brainless goons have no place or power here and the GOG community and leadership has chewed such morons out, over and over again as always shall. To say the least.
I welcome you to our ranks if, you are ready to join the future. :P

Personally, I agree with your points. Paradox is inexcusably greedy and anti-consumer, striving towards making an insanely enormous profit, exploiting those who ignore that they are no longer making games, but just milking those already "made", and the fans, who can only hope for the, unquestionably free, updates which will fix the bugs and issues and add features, that should have been in the games since their release.
Paradox has a lot of nerve, to wholeheartedly believe that they deserve/require/have to be paid extra, in order to deliver a working product, while also considering this standard and legitimate business. I expect them to be slowly but surely weeded out by the game development business, due to their dishonest and predatory practices. They resemble more of a bank than a game developer. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the only tool they have in their defense is neither hard work, nor honesty, nor humility, but blatant and unbecoming repression of criticism and righteous outrage.
Shame and pox on them.
I wouldn't be surprised if GOG discontinues the sales of certain Paradox games, or even refuse to sell those which are preposterously monetized, even though it seems that is not happening yet. Imperator Rome is hugely sub-par to GOG's quality standards, but is still allowed in here. Might that be GOG's cue to rethink their partnership with Paradox?
Even though I am secretly hoping they add HOI:IV in their catalog and offer it through GOG Connect. :D

Cheers

Thanks for that; that's another point I made at times for games in general now. I agree completely. Like any complex technical product, the modern lack of docmentation stands as de facto testament to the fact these are incomplete and generally impaired products from a consumer durability or usability point-of-view.

They deliver something that the story changes on but worse they can't even explain in logical and comprehensive fashion to begin with. Crooked.

Thanks so much, your support and concurrence really hits home and I appreciate it! I agree with every point you made. A bank I lol'd at - that's so right-on! Suits making shisse,... Man just get out of the scene with that mentality! Decidedly not the customer base to condescend to, albeit kids money is being taken, and that's a whole other level of wrong and why reform is afoot and will filter to game cos soon enough.

There are a few problems I havw noticed, but I have seen far, far worse things in too many video games over my thirty plus years of gaming to really get upset. This game is rather cheap for what we get actually. I am having enourmous enjoyment of it, though I had a hell of a learning curve when I started it. All in all i love the game, and it is among the best money i have spent on a game in a long time, other then the Witcher 3, which honestly is in a whole legue of its own.

This game needs more work, but I have found they do fix things at a reasonable rate, and the game seems to be a labor of love by the company. I am haveing a heck of a lot more enjoyment with Stellaris and the few DLCs I have bought so far then I have with any of the AAA games I have bought in several years. The game is not perfect, but you are very much being quite overdramatic. It is a good game, and it is fun. There are bugs, and they will likely be fixed.

I have been playing video games since the early 1980s, and most of your post is pure junk. The game industy has always been dodgy at best (With the exception of Nintendo.). I can't tell if your trying to troll us, or are serious...

In light of the desasters in a dozen AAA games with enourmous budgets that I can think of just at the top of my head (that are $60+ before tax, you make such a statement about Stellaris Really? Damn dude, take a break or something. Compared to the train wrecks im seeing all over the gaming world at the moment, this game is a gem. It is getting things fixed. It is not perfice, but I love what they have been doing. I really enjoy the game. There are flaws. I would like to see Armies have more of a role, and a few other things before any more new DLC's. As well as some ai fixes, though i actually enjoy micromanaging my empire a bit. It is really not half bad at all.

At worst, I have gotten my monies worth. Paradox reprehensable in a world that currently containes the horrid practices of EA, Activision/Blizzard, Bethesda and other such gaming companies, who pull the most abusive stunts against the gaming community in a long time you thing Paradox is bad? Get some perspective man. This is a smaller gaming companey. They are allways tweaking the game, trying to fix things, giving us free stuff on occasion, not to mention the dlc, which I find to be mostly reasonibly priced for what I get... And no damned loot boxes and other such pay to win crap. I truly love this game so far in the rather short time I have had it. It is undeniably fun. I am sorry you are un happy with it.

Also - Refunds? Since when? other then the windows allowed by Steam and GOG? Good luck getting refunds any where else, like ever. Before GOG and Steam - Never. if you opened the game, you were stuck with it, period - no exceptions, so I don't know what you are getting on about. It is currently the best it has ever been now for gaming service, and having the ability to redress wrongs commited by gaming companies. For instance No mans Sky, and Fall Out 76 - Easy as hell to gain refunds for those dumpster fires. Steam and GOG do a good job looking out for gamers. as most online game retailers have - except for the Epic Store - screw those guy, they are blatently anti gamer, and consumer protection.