I would like to address some issues with the WeatherKin posted over in your entry, Hinin.

-Some consider them not diplomatic enough.  I have recently made edits to try to make them slightly more diplomatic.  Once a faction sees that they get a Constant Rainfall benefit on their planets, it will in fact encourage them to be more diplomatic towards the WeatherKin.

-Some consider them to have no clear motivations.  I would say this is mostly true, as they are so alien that it is hard to relate to their agenda.  I like this part myself, because I find it interesting when, in sci-fi books I've read, humans try to understand unknown aliens by applying their own motivations to the aliens actions, but still end up with more questions than answers.  But I did try to add that they are interested in  and are curious about Applied Science tech.  And the most clear motivation is... the WeatherKin just want to rain on everything!  Which could be to aid any allied/minor faction, and also to repopulate themselves as the water evaporates and forms new clouds.

-Some consider them formless, which is close to being ethereal and not something the devs prefer.  I have written that they do have specific forms in the shape of weather patterns, as well as bio-organic tendrils that can help them operate machinery and learn new technologies.  They can interact with other factions, mostly through producing rainfall and strange clouds shapes/rainbows.  I would say the WeatherKin seem to understand the motivations of other factions more than other factions understand the WeatherKin, but one thing is clear, they are open to diplomacy and will accept most any diplomatic offer.

-Some consider they would not mesh well with the new senate feature.  This portion of the game would not be scrapped for them, but instead of directly speaking, the WeatherKin would be more emotive, instead of saying "I agree with this proposal" they would possibly emote "The WeatherKin bend light into a strange rainbow".  This would leave the interpretation up to the player, but within the senate system, it might be more clear that they have agreed.  

-Some consider the ships to be incompatible with ES2's design.  I only described what the colony/scout ships would look like, massive globules of dust-enhanced water.  I didnt want to go into too much detail, since that is for phase 2.  But I feel a spaceborn weather pattern would have some static form that could house weapons and modules, in the form of static, concentrated dust overlays.  There could be a spinning space tornado with stationary bands of transparent technology.  This would not require a redesign in my opinion.  

Thanks for your comments, I hope I have cleared things up a bit as to how I see the WeatherKin working.

Sounds really good and very different kind of "normal" races, good luck with this! :]

Ok, first things first: really unique proposal. In the terms of how different alien races can be it literally pushes to the edge of understandable and imaginable. 

The text below can be ignored, or not.

But their description still leaves more questions, than answers.  All factions in game are not just pictures, but also a specific gameplay. So here comes the question: how interesting it will be to play as such faction.

My point is (please, do not consider this as an insult): if it passes to the top 3 and second round, it must be carefully tested by game designers, that this faction will be interesting and playable in all situations.

They are very dependent on interaction with other races, because they themselves are too passive (they cannot declare war or peace, etc.). But here comes the problem: in EL the AI is also too passive. Except the fact, that it constantly become more and more angry at anybody for no reasons. This can be solved by devs (and I hope it will be addressed). So it is wouldn’t be interesting to play as this faction, but only to see them as your neighbors.

Senate and interactions with minors/major factions – this is a huge problem in their lore. WeatherKin can understand other races, but others cannot understand them. Any nation or civilization just cannot exist with the absence of normal communication.

Personally I think that this is an amazing proposal as it provides such a unique style of gameplay and flavor lore. It's a bit too passive for me personally, but I think it'll be good for the game to have, and even if it doesn't make it through I'd be sad if it wasn't made into a minor faction.

Thank you for your comment!  The WeatherKin reply with:

Basically, if you colonise a Desert planet as a Wetherkin, it will turn into a Tropical one after 5 or 10 turns, then into a Jungle one after 15 and finally into an Atoll one after 20.

Another example is: Steppes ==(5-10 turns)==> Terran ===(15 turns)==> Forest ===(20 turns)===> Ocean.

Also you could change the Ocean/Gas Giant bonus trait to a Flooded/Gas Giant one.

The reasons why I'm suggesting this change are:

1) If the terraforming progression system is anything like the one in ES1 then this is probably how ES2 will end up doing it, so he closer your suggestion is to actual gameplay, the easier it will be to implement.

2) This will help the faction actually have some choices in what planets they may end up with, ensuring that they don't fall behind or vastly outperform other empires when it comes to one of the FIDS. You wouldn't want to end up with a lot of planets that give massive science output but little else. In multiplayer you will get rushed and annihilated because you don't have the industry to build squat.

This way, you can at least plan your economy ahead. 

I agree with this idea : it gives more stability to your trait and balance it a lot (and relates it more to GDD, which is always better).

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Basically, if you colonise a Desert planet as a Wetherkin, it will turn into a Tropical one after 5 or 10 turns, then into a Jungle one after 15 and finally into an Atoll one after 20.

Another example is: Steppes ==(5-10 turns)==> Terran ===(15 turns)==> Forest ===(20 turns)===> Ocean.

Also you could change the Ocean/Gas Giant bonus trait to a Flooded/Gas Giant one.

The reasons why I'm suggesting this change are:

1) If the terraforming progression system is anything like the one in ES1 then this is probably how ES2 will end up doing it, so the closer your suggestion is to actual gameplay, the easier it will be to implement.

2) This will help the faction actually have some choices in what planets they may end up with, ensuring that they don't fall behind or vastly outperform other empires when it comes to one of the FIDS. You wouldn't want to end up with a lot of planets that give massive science output but little else.  In multiplayer you will get rushed and annihilated by human players long before you even get close to a Scientific victory, because you don't have the industry to build squat and defend yourself.

This way, you can at least plan your economy ahead.

The only issue with that is that means that the trait has almost no downside, something which as far as I can tell the author has actively tried to avoid. From what I can tell right now you trade off being able to choose exactly what type of planet you're running with for the ability to always have a good planet of X type. If you could choose the type of planet (as in science, dust, production), what would be the downside of the passive?

I've replied to your message. All hail the Wetherkind : they are so kind !

There is still a downside, only a not so crippling one. You basically get two more planet types, witch is not a lot considering you won't be able to use 16 other types... not for long anyways.

The biggest downside  is that you have no control over the auto-terraform trait that they have. That alone will affect your play style through the game, unless there are some late game techs you can research to control or stop it.

Maybe I'm just derp because I haven't followed the game play mechanics closely and am thus basing it off of ES1 gameplay, but the production isn't too horrible for top tier planets. Could be just me being stupid though, so please fill me in if I'm missing something.

It is possible to have great production with terran planets, but it requires extensive efforts in order to put the right buildings : rest of the time, it is nowhere near what a lava planet could produce.

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Literally, this faction will live or die based on how good the different Gas Giant bonuses are, because they are the only planets their affinity won't terraform (I hope).

I think the author said that they won't terraform Gas Giants in order to give the faction some chance to create IDS.

That will help for sure, but the problem is, systems are randomly generated and should you be unlucky enough not to find may Gas Giants in your constellation and be boxed in by AI/Player Factions  you would be at a massive disadvantage again.

I truly believe that allowing them to have Ice and Atoll planets will help them a lot in the long run.

That's awesome! 

Only 6 more hours to go, i'll be rooting for you.