Thank you Paradox and GOG for releasing this DRM free.

That's why we really need GOG Connect here!! :=) (which is not going to happen now after release) I really would like to "move" my game from steam to GOG (notice the distinction between small and capital letters? lol) , as i did with all the games that gave me the opportunity. In other cases, there are no more than 1 or 2 DLC's to get the whole pack but here...we need to buy also a good bunch of items apart from the main game, and it's about 70 euros minimum to get it all, and i'm passionate but not rich!

Yeah, one of life's simplest pleasures is the joy that comes from going into steam, right clicking an installed game then deleting all the local files and hiding it from your library.

Yes I'm petty, and no I don't care.

I do wish Stellaris was available on "Connect" as I have the base game on Steam + Horizon Signal. I'd happily pickup the rest of the DLC here if it was on Connect.

As much as I really enjoyed the older titles, fuck Paradox and their "let's see how much can we cut out from the game and sell it separately" business model.

Oh, and the forced telemetry, too. They actually made telemetry mandatory for CK2 users with one of the patches about a year and a half post-release.

And their "'Complete' edition!!one!1! ... JOKE'S ON YOU, SUCKER!"

They used to be my favorite publishers back in the time of EUIII. Now, I'll think long and hard before buying anything from them.

That said, good on GOG for expanding the game catalogue.

So which of the DLC should we get to get the most out of the game at this point in time? Soundtrack any good?
So which of the DLC should we get to get the most out of the game at this point in time? Soundtrack any good?

Utopia is the DLC that adds the most to the game by far and also the most essential.

Upon its arrival here at GOG, I quickly added Stellaris to my wishlist. Then I saw all the DLC packs, read what they contained, and then immediately removed Stellaris from my wishlist.

Interestingly, my decision was further motivated by the fact I'm just playing through Master of Orion (2016) at the moment. Looking at what the base MOO game contains (aside from the one extra races DLC pack), then looking at how Paradox have split up so many "core" game elements to sell as multiple additional DLC for Stellaris, I simply won't be buying.

Like you, I think it's a shady practice to cherry pick some of the more interesting core game elements, then charge extra for them as DLC.

Stellaris is over two years old and very popular, so you have to factor two years worth of expansion packs and DLC into what you're seeing. Paradox have always done significant elaboration to their games. EU3's four expansion packs made the final game unrecognisable from the base game.

As long as it's done well of course. The last Paradox game I played was CK2 back when it was on Gamergate and that was terrible. The interface was littered with features from DLC I didn't own. Nothing like the EU3 model where each version felt like a complete game.

If they've improved that aspect of things I'd probably buy this in the current sale.

It doesn't help that it also means buying the game on release is going to be a somewhat... indifferent of an experience.

This was my experience with CK2 - when the game came out, it was basically a nice game engine with not so much actual gameplay content to it. So much so that I went through the game files, and was shocked to see how little actual effort went into fleshing out the game.

Judging by the early reviews of Stellaris, the situation with that one was even more egregious. A nice skeleton, but not so much meat on it.

So, in between this and the pricing of the actual playable game, a perfect candidate to wait until the "complete" edition comes out. Hell, I got more games than I will ever have time to play (and they just keep making more and more of them), I won't lose much sleep over waiting a couple of years or so. Assuming I won't just decide to pass on the game altogether and get busy with something out of a studio more interested in publishing a final product than the "long trail" of sales Paradox apparently so loves.

It's $66.12 with current discounts (and without the fluff like soundtrack) right now. Normally, I'm OK with paying more for extra content, but the issue with Paradox for a while now is that it's not "extra" content - they design their base game around all those holes that -need- to be filled for a decent experience. Something that their base releases are definitely not. And while I'm perfectly happy to pay $40+ for the likes of Dominions 5, I'm disinclined to put my money in supporting what amounts to partial releases.

As somebody who owned several versions of EUII and EUIII, and was happy to support the company in such a way back then, there is a marked difference between releasing a genuine expansion pack once a year or year and a half, for a game that is perfectly playable and fleshed out on its own, and their current practice of selling most of the game as DLCs.

Exactly.

Going by the early reviews, Stellaris was even worse than CK2 in that respect. I'm sure the game is much more playable now (especially with all the DLCs), but the question that's foremost on my mind with any newer Paradox title is "what core elements are withheld for another DLC?"

Also, their stance on forced telemetry and patching that into CK2 long after I bought it put them on my publisher shitlist. It doesn't help that they plainly don't care much for their customers anymore (Majesty 2 has been sold for years with a broken DLC that you can't access without an unofficial fix, as an example).

In short, to hell with them. Here's hoping some new publishing studio appears, one with less focus on short-term profit and more on maintaining good relationship with all of their customers, not just the diehard fans.

Utopia: ascension perks, megaestructures and play as a hive mind
Apocalypse: planet killers, titans, pirate empires, you can start in gaia or tomb worlds
Leviathans: space monsters, enclaves and the war in heaven (fallen empires "awaken" and all hell breaks loose in the galaxy)
Synthetic Dawn: play as a machine empire and the AI uprising is better
Distant Stars: anomalies a lot more, the L cluster
Humanoid Species Pack: humaoid portraits
Plantoid Species Pack: plant portraits

The soundtrack is good but I don't really listen to music outside of a game.
I would say Utopia and Apocaypse are must have DLC.

Thanks for Stellaris gog and Paradox. Hopefully now you can also bring over Hearts of Iron 4.

That is truly the BEST game-related news for this seasons! So many time waiting for Stellaris on GOG. Already got mine (Nova Version).

THANK YOU!!!

...............

p.s.: I wonder... when the time comes to realease Endless Space 2 on GOG as well... man, that would be THE DAY! :-D

Aaaah watch out with the odd repetition. Don't know how buggy or quirky, but I know the super friendly gog forum community and how it may soon decide that you don't deserve to live.