carolean7 wrote:

Awesome idea. I just stumbled upon it as I perused the submissions, and you beat me to the concept. My submission is similar. The main difference lore-wise is that your faction is actually different species, while mine is a single species but with many subspecies. But yeah, this concept of a major faction being inclusive and strengthened by the many minor factions is quite appealing. Good stuff.

Thanks! Your idea looks interesting too. I've noticed others posting similar ideas to my initial faction so it seems like there is definitely a strong group of us looking for a faction based around multiple cultures/species working together. Hopefully we'll see something like this emerge from the contest as I find major factions with a focus on minor factions to always be fun and interesting to play when compared to more traditional play styles.

I really love your submission here. Partly because it is so close in theme to mine (Champions of Multi-race Empire), but also because it is awesome in its own unique execution of the idea. A diplomatic faction strengthened by the inclusion of other factions into their empire just feels... so... right in the Endless Space galaxy. And fun to play too!

Alas, I feel like that because we are both in the final face-off of the top 12 submissions, and we are appealing to the same crowd, thus we are splitting votes for this concept between us in a third-party candidate sort-of way. Oh well...? Best of luck!  

Agreed. Great post man! Best of luck! Multi-race factions would be baller!

Posting this now because by the time the voting ends tomorrow evening/morning I'll be on my way to work.  Never realized the drastic time differences between PST and CEST until now!

I want to thank everyone who voted for my faction idea. I may still have a chance at making it into the final three if I collect a lot of last minute support, but even if I don't make it in I had a lot of fun. I'm glad to see others began posting ideas about multi-species factions after I did. That showed me that there is support for such a major faction in the community beyond just me. I'm hoping to see either my faction or one similar to mine make it into the finals so we can see a major faction based on multiple species/races together in the game with a focus on unity and diplomacy. Best of luck to everyone going into tomorrow!

Silver2238 wrote:

I quite like this idea, encouraging interaction with other cultures, etc. The most popular concepts seem to be some version of this, and sentient bits of nature. Between the two, this one seems much more fitting for a Major faction, in my humble opinion. I like the variety this faction promises. As mentioned earlier, usually races are rather homogenous, but even more than that, it seems like half the factions in the first Endless Space were just a different group of humans.

Thanks for the support!

Yeah, I've noticed a similar trend in the entries between those wanting a multi-cultural/species Major Faction like mine and those looking for some sentient form of nature. Personally I like all the weird forms of life I'm seeing, but I feel like multi-species factions have been missing in Endless games for some time now. Why limit ourselves to one cool and unique species when we can have multiple ones in the same faction?

I quite like this idea, encouraging interaction with other cultures, etc. The most popular concepts seem to be some version of this, and sentient bits of nature. Between the two, this one seems much more fitting for a Major faction, in my humble opinion. I like the variety this faction promises. As mentioned earlier, usually races are rather homogenous, but even more than that, it seems like half the factions in the first Endless Space were just a different group of humans.

Just dropping a note that I've updated my original post to include some faction traits to further flesh out the Unity and how they would be played in game via various mechanics. I'm always happy to hear any comments or questions!

Thanks Nas!

Interesting faction. You've got my vote.

Awesome idea. I just stumbled upon it as I perused the submissions, and you beat me to the concept. My submission is similar. The main difference lore-wise is that your faction is actually different species, while mine is a single species but with many subspecies. But yeah, this concept of a major faction being inclusive and strengthened by the many minor factions is quite appealing. Good stuff.

Frogsquadron wrote:

I'm not sure we'd be able to sneak in more Minor Factions, unless these are intrinsically part of the Unity, and as such just have different Hero visuals (and different population types).

That is my idea, that they are intrinsically part of the Unity. They would not be full-fledged Minor Factions in their own right and they would be inherently "weaker" than other minor factions individually since their strength comes from unity and the bonuses they get with a more racially diverse empire.

I certainly like the idea of the Unity's unique, starting minor races being able to migrate to other factions to ensure the Unity is seeking peaceful relations most of the time, but really I'm just looking for some diversity in a Major Faction. Most Major Factions in the Endless Universe have been fairly homogeneous, focused around a single species or race. I suppose the Cultists in Endless Legend are the closest to being a multiracial empire given their focus on Minor Factions, but they were warlike and sought to subject those minors. The Unity would be taking things in the opposite direction, but they really would just consist of different Hero visuals and different population types designed around a playstyle that encourages a diplomatic pacifist approach focused on peacefully gathering as many Major and Minor population types together as possible.

I'm not sure we'd be able to sneak in more Minor Factions, unless these are intrinsically part of the Unity, and as such just have different Hero visuals (and different population types).

Yeah, I like the idea of these special minors having freedom of movement. It fits with the Unity's theme of inclusion above all else. It would also force them to play more pacifist because they would get heavy negative FIDSI penalties if they go to war with a faction which contains a portion of their same population. So as an opposing player it might make sense to invite Unity migration into your space as a way to ensure peace with them.

echo2361 wrote:

Frogsquadron wrote:

I'm curious as to what you mean by "unique minor species"? 

I mean they would start with three or so minor species that aren't in the pool of regular minors everyone can encounter in the galaxy. They would be the same every game and each would have slight bonuses to various FIDSI. For example, one of them would have an affinity for science and give a slight boost to that, but not to the level of Sophon populations obviously. However, the more friendly species are added to the Unity's overall population the stronger these bonuses would get. This would ensure the Unity is a faction which has strong late-game potential as long as they are focused on peaceful expansion as pacifist diplomats.

Trying to sneak more factions in eh? More work for the designers and artists eh? 

Jokes aside, I thought this was what you meant by your unique minor species when i read it earlier, if you are going to start off with these extra pops sitting on your home system do you think they should be allowed to... migrate away and populate other systems, perhaps even other players systems as well?

Frogsquadron wrote:

I'm curious as to what you mean by "unique minor species"? 

I mean they would start with three or so minor species that aren't in the pool of regular minors everyone can encounter in the galaxy. They would be the same every game and each would have slight bonuses to various FIDSI. For example, one of them would have an affinity for science and give a slight boost to that, but not to the level of Sophon populations obviously. However, the more friendly species are added to the Unity's overall population the stronger these bonuses would get. This would ensure the Unity is a faction which has strong late-game potential as long as they are focused on peaceful expansion as pacifist diplomats.

I'm curious as to what you mean by "unique minor species"? 

Many thanks to those who have voted for the Unity thus far! If there are any suggestions or questions you have about the faction I am always happy to receive feedback. I didn't go into a ton of detail about specific bonuses to food, industry, and so on since I think its best to keep the submission short to hold people's interest, but I could expanding on things if requested.