Stellaris, and finding comfort in the cosmic unknown
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- My name is Thane Bishop, and I need to talk about Stellaris.
In this video I talk about why Paradox's dark horse strategy game is so important to me.
Wanna help fund these projects? - / thanebishop
I picked up Stellaris when life wasn't good, and to this day it still makes me feel better. Knowing the things that help are important, so what's your go to comfort game?
Honestly, I'm a lot like you in that sense where I picked up Stellaris when my own life wasn't good, and I don't know if it still is, but this game always makes me feel better
I play Stellaris when I need a reminder of how small and significant all our problems are, and that the most fundamental purpose in life is to simply appreciate and enjoy what's around you.
Sky. It's massive and pointless and potent and I love it. It always makes me feel better about humanity.
Slay the Spire, picked it up when I was in a pretty bad spot, made me love games and live all over again. The way you can go from some shlub with a shiv to an untouchable god in about 45 minutes. Also strangely, Darkest Dungeon, when you get a party that just murders those enemies that have been wiping whole squads of heroes, best feeling ever.
Crusader kings 2, also paradox. Have you played any of the star wars mods for this? I'd love to see you play as emperor Palpatine or Darth revan or just the single planet of manaan sometime.
“When a hostile power decides a people’s home isn’t their home anymore, what are they supposed to do?” Man that hits hard right now.
“Fighting for one’s life doesn’t give a chance to be balanced. From a place of wellness we can readjust once again, but getting there is going to be the most important part”
Maybe I will be okay. I can’t express how bad things have been for me as of late and this is video has been at the least a good distraction, but hopefully I’ll actually commit to something for once and get better
I can’t believe this came from such a small channel
I've been through a lot of really rough shit from as far back as I can remember, which is my fifth birthday. I've gone through literal decades of abuse and suffering and loneliness and depression... I've lost count of all the suicide attempts, and all the people I've hurt in my feelings of despair and unfairness. I struggled with so much self-loathing and remorse and guilt, and for the longest time, I felt like there was nothing worthwhile to live for, and that I deserved to die a thousand times over as well. I used to think that people who said "it gets better" didn't get it, that either their struggle wasn't anywhere as bad as mine or that they never struggled in the first place, that they were full of shit. So believe me, no one is more surprised than myself when I tell you that it will get better. I don't know when, I don't know how, and I don't know if you'll still have a lot of time to enjoy it, but I do know that if you can bear through all the pain long enough, one day, that pain will let up. It will never be gone entirely, and neither will the bad memories, but you'll be able to create new ones, better ones, with better people around you. And when you get there, you'll be able to give new meaning to all the pain, a meaning you choose for yourself. So hold on with all your might. See a therapist to help you with it if possible, otherwise just grit your teeth and bear the pain as best you can. And if you can't do that, then rage, and whine, and kick, whatever you need to make it just a little bit more bearable. But don't end it all. Give yourself the chance to see it all get better. Even if it takes years, or decades. Because then, you'll be glad you have
@@Megalomaniac_Trans_Lesbian Thank you. I really needed to see this right at this moment, your comment could not have been better timed
@@emerson6117 I'm glad to hear that. And hey, the two things that cured my own depression without me expecting them to were 1. constant emotional support from my friends and partners, and 2. watching the Netflix She-Ra reboot. No joke, this show is unironically great to show to people with depression or anxiety or self-loathing. Maybe its final episode will help you the same way it did me ^^
But do make sure you have a robust support network as well, since nothing will get done if you're constantly isolated Cx
hope youre doing alright mate, stay safe
I love the amount of role play I can do in stellaris I even played it on shrooms once and the amount of feeling you get your empire really is the embodiment of you and you can just have lucid dreams thinking of your empires story
Really beautiful take, Thane. Stellaris never really clicked for me, even though I absolutely love everything to do with sci fi and it should by all means be the perfect game for me - but you explaining how it's actually very hopeful and comfortable made me see it in a different light. Thanks for this, excellent work mate
Thanks really awesome to hear, thank you so much! I really appreciate the support.
This was beautifully written and very thoughtful. Ive had a very similar experience with this game and Im glad others see it this way as well. I absolutely loved every video on this channel and I can't wait for more!
Thrilled to hear you enjoyed the whole catalogue, I really appreciate that level of engagement!
This was... very touching, wholesome and hopeful for a video about a glorified excel sheet game (no offense).
Another great video, here's to the algorithm picking you up!
p.s. I have a good time feeling like I'm helping people when I play Death Stranding. Rebuilding roads, and stacking up some random mailboxes with useful items made me feel better, because hopefully they can help another player in need. Or even the basic orders - I don't think it was ever so satisfying to fetch quest in any other game, because here you can bring beer or fresh-baked bread to these disconnected people, who are lost in their own shelters. These deliveries might be a chore to the player, but they are extremely meaningful to the people who order them and helping them makes me feel better.
I'm really glad you liked it, thanks for the support! I love you mini-essay for Death Stranding, and the idea of fetch quests not as filler, but as deeply impacting the world you fulfill them in.
I also find myself repeatedly coming back to Stellaris, I can’t help but love the stories that develop across a play through, especially in multiplayer games with friends, and I have great memories of heroic last stands, grand offensives, and the desperation of discovering the crisis for the first time, not knowing what it was or how to beat it.
Stellaris is a good game made great by the stories it can tell, even if entirely outside of its pre written events
I think it's a game that really lends itself well to roleplay. Because it doesn't have a story to be followed, that allows you to really make your empire your own. You might have started as a Xenophile/Pacifist looking to make a federation, but what is the impact on your culture and people when your only starting neighbor is a devouring swarm? What does 30 years of war for survival as first contact do to a people? So much opportunity for storytelling in this game.
It really helps my mental health since I do a morbid job for a living coming home putting time in my empire helps
Nice work: I just featured your video on my weekly game culture newsletter! Cheers, Rudolf
That's awesome, thank you so much! Do you have a link where I can check out your work?
Again, I’m amazed you don’t have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, your content is immaculate.
Thank you so much man, that's really kind. I'm confident that with a good schedule and a more stable routine, I can possibly see numbers like that in the future.
@@ThaneBishop I believe in you. Your personable style will attract many I'm sure.
Very wounderfull. I share your perspective. Stellaris gives you the feeling that you felt when reading a sci fi book or comic.
I also would be interressted in hearing your experiences with dark crusade.
Thoughts on Dark Crusade? Mechanically, that and Dark Heresy are my favorite TTRPG's. I love the d100 roll system, and having stats that scale, functionally, from 1-100 make it feel super clear on how good a character is at something. I love the way they handle the wizard equivalent with Psykers. Thematically, the whole 40k universe just kinda bums me out lol. The idea of us expanding to the stars, meetings loads of alien races, and having incredible technology, but the only thing we do with all of that is infinite war is a hard sell for me, personally, especially when Tyranids are probably just going to eat it all, anyways. Honestly could probably do a video on my (very) limited thoughts and exposure to the 40k genre. All that said, thanks for the support! Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@ThaneBishop Yeah I also loved the d100 system it left so much room for nuance. You were not just a noob or master at something but it had grades to it. I love the 40k universe but I can very much relate to it feeling a little to depressing and hopeless. I am the most in love with the elements that capture the crazy sci-fi and weirdness of the universe.
I discovered it through Warhammer fantasy, wich is also slightly dark, but much more adventurous and funny.
But I would love to hear you talk pretty much about everything. I just enjoy the way you look at media.
I love to hear all that support, thank you so much! I'll have more stuff coming soon.
Man, you really deserve more recognition. This is a pretty chill, great channel. There are no background musics or anything, just you talking about these interesting stuff. I hope to see you grow much more in coming months. Good luck and please keep posting, we'll be watching.
That all means a lot to me, thank you. After the responses these videos have gotten, and how supportive everyone has been, I'm feeling really confident that with some time and consistency I can make this channel really work.
@@ThaneBishop You got this
I have been in a lot of slumps in my life. Depression, family problems, not able to find jobs, feeling useless, blah blah blah that kinda stuff. However there has always been one thing that has helped me through those times, and that thing is Hearts of Iron 4, that game makes me want to strive for greatness, inside the game and outside in the real world. It means a lot to me lol and i recommend it if you ever want a WW2 grand strategy game. Fantastic video!
This scratched an itch I didn't know I had. Stellaris is my comfort game for many of the same reasons, and I had no idea anyone else felt similarly. Thanks for this.
Nice video. Stellaris really does tackle some of the fears that humanity faces. What if the aliens are hostile?? Should we attack them first?
Stellaris has a special for me. Often times, you can play as a benelovent and accepting empire, integrating other aliens into your own empire's society, giving them citizen rights and utopian living conditions. But these put a huge hit on your economy, it doesn't pay well to treat them well. Instead, what works for your economy is usually taking slaves, and nerve stapling them to ensure compliance. But, after conquering and subjugating every other empire, when the crisis hits, you're left alone in the galaxy, forced to fend for yourself. There's no one to help you, you've killed or enslaved them all. It would be overwhelming, coming up against a crisis alone, where the destruction of one of your fleets may mean that the other armadas fall. There's no other empire to back you up.
I really resonate with your relationship to games. Keep going.
Discovered you recently. I love stellaris, and ive also come to see it as my comfort game. I always play as humans or human related. It makes me happy watching humans win again and again over impossible odds, makes me happy to see humanity win.
You're amazing. Keep up the good work (and yeah, that big break can hurt alot since people really need to remember who you were).
Just got to the Scourge. At this point in the game having several 100k or more fleets isn't a big deal, but they
JUST
KEEP
COMING
Thanks!
Next big thing in this space of RUclips right here folks, without a doubt. Can't wait for more because what you already have is some of the best I've seen from a channel just starting
Very good video good luck on your youtube journey !
Watching this reminded me of that time I broke off from my usual hivemind/machine intelligence empires I do that eventually dominate the galaxy, and went with an (albeit militarized) egalitarian empire that was about a similar approach. In some ways, it was almost more enjoyable at moments since it catered to the side of me that wants to help, who wants to make a difference. Who will offer a hand of friendship and aid, but also is willing to use that hand to shield those who can't defend themselves.
I ought to try doing that empire again, never got far with it last time before an update required me to restart
I struggle with imposter syndrome and depression. I got into Stellaris a few weeks ago after buying it years back. It is wonderful to go full Democracy and unify the galaxy to solve each others problems. I wish I had more control over life but I don't and that's okay. I will do my little bit to make my small part of the planet a little less dark
Who am I to say that something is the best game in the world?
Someone who just really liked it, thats who
I enjoy this, and I connect with this. But for some reason, the crises have never been a threat and just kind of dies, on their own, every time, but that a me problem.
I’m so glad I discovered this channel. I too played a lot of Stellaris, and you’ve perfectly captured just how this game makes people…feel
i really wish my friend(s) would actually roleplay their Empires
Instead they min-max to a unorthodox level and within a few hours they suddenly want to switch Empires or recreate it.
I make my Empires and stick with them to the end. Out of my friends i have been the only one that has "finished" Stellaris
And now I wanna get this game... I've always bounced off 4x games, although friendly is how I try to play them, but that sense of control in a spiraling world you alluded to, makes this suddenly seem a lot more appealing.
Brilliant. I am loving your essays. Keep ‘em comin!
Dude I love your style and the messages you tell. Keep up the good work!
I relate a lot to this, thank you.
That was neat, feels really uplifting.
Kinda reminded me of how I feel when I saw Homeworld Emergence's ending in Mandalore video, this world needs a bit more optimism.
13:28
Amazing video, rewatched a few times. Subbed.
I love stellaris. Might go back to it again soon
My favourite part of Stellaris is the sheer RP potential for countless sci-fi stories. These days I enjoy outpacing the AI, as most do after a while, simply creating an unshakeable alliance with my closest friends, and then just sitting back and giving aid where needed, watching them beat back threats and grow stronger. I station fleets in their capitals and crucial star systems, and I build with their defence in mind. I don't send out more than the occasional fleet, but I will be their bulwark against genocidal empires, killer robots, galactic locusts, and any extra-dimensional or extra-galactic threats that come their way.
Amazing video, also devouring swarm goes brrr
I really like your videos, theyre chill
Stellaris doesn't work as a comfort game for me because every time I come back after being away for more than a couple months they've rebalanced fleets added a complete new management layer and redesigned planet management again.
Your essence of community here, JUST after watching your ODST video nonetheless, makes me REALLY want to do an fun game:
Build a galaxy filled with empires designed by people as their favorite, most intimate version of self in this game. I have ALL content, and anyone willing to put down their formulations is welcome to do so; I will do my best to update how yours goes controlled by the AI.
Stellaris (and to a lesser extent other PDX games) really let's me live out my fantasy of being a Star Trek Federation like Xenophile Empire of diplomacy and exchange. And to do well, not just play with essentially a handicap. Sure you can play Civilization without going to war, but you are putting yourself on the backfoot to do so. And it isn't the only way, if being an Authoritarian Space Sparta is your jam, that is also executed about as well. Is your powerfantasy instead being a Dystopian Megacorporation who live on starbases? Dalek like robot exterminators? Why not. It really is just almost unmatched in roleplaying potential, more than most games that are called roleplaying games.
It's somewhat ironic for someone who finds comfort in understanding the game mechanics to not have a single 100k fleet by 2400.
It's something I've had to come to terms with, the fact that you will never have complete control, and that there will always be unknown unknowns ready to upend your life at any moment. Feeling in control is just an illusion, and you have to constantly embrace bitter failiure to move forward. I'm not sure Stellaris helped me to gain this mindset, but it certainly made me a better Stellaris player.
Also shoutout to the absolute fantasy suggesting the galaxy would band together 😂. I mean it can, but will happen because of centuries of political work, not because a threat shows up.
fokin love me some stellaris.
jokes aside, stellaris was one of the first games i played with people i didn't know. I ran into someone in arma who got me to make a discord account, then someone else (entirely unrelated) on pulsar who invited me to a server, after that it was stellaris time. before that, I was a rather solitary kid, still am, really, that was something like 4-5 years ago, now I've got 1K and change hours in Stellaris, have exams coming up soon, so i can't play that much, much less something I can just stare at for hours and wonder where the time went.
thanks, anyway, and have a good day.
This was NOT about Stellaris. Stellaris was just the vehicle for a hell of an uplifting story, and that's exactly how it's meant to be played.
Thank you.
I'd make a case it's top 3 for space 4X, which is hard to find SPACE 4Xs that aren't literally Civ or the like in a skin. Mind, those are fun, because Civ is fun, and Civ 5 STARTED everything for me in 2011-12 for 4X when 2000s saw me despise them (Born '95, Dad had a few classics I watched him play), but Stellaris and Endless Space 2 grabbed me for changing the specifics massively. Hell, I got to Stellaris searching for something more role-play-y than Endless Space 2 had with prebuilts, which I got to from Endless Legend, which caught me in a free WEEK with it's unique Civ 5 but fantasy with extras Civ 6 "stole".
Stellaris' objective beauty lies in a niche of a genre now lost to being a niche, and doing things unique: real-time amidst growing Civ-cloning turns, WHILE having means to APPEAL to the turn-based fans (like me), and taking the premise of nations based on the real world (multiple Sol starts), TONS from pulp fiction, and some of the POPULAR creativeness of their COMMUNITY (peace-loving shrooms), then opening the flood gates with an INSANE set of choices when you have about a dozen choices EACH with a dozen or MORE choices per. While gameplay balance, especially for MP's sake, restricts total wild uniqueness, you have a LOT of baselines to begin, and a LOT of freedom for EVOLUTION, with INSANELY high success capabilities while rolling-with-the-punches instead of reset for a new seed. 4X struggles with unique journeys from start to finish, and from needing optimal builds and luck together against middle-level AI or skilled-players. It's another imperfect beauty from Paradox to revel in, especially when they keep paid content succinct to concrete factual value that is up to your tastes overall (Not big on Toxoids myself but VERY solid addition past mere portraits). Furthermore, their love for community shines by their additions and silent nods to what is drawn, written and modded through OFFICIAL tools on and OFF Steam (they avoid confirming inspiration due to legal concerns with unregulated mod content, amongst other reasons).
Stellaris caught me not too long after it came out. My life changed forever after I played it for the first time. I’ve played pure evil only four times; I hated all of them. I play benevolent every single time, cuz I’m simply wired against playing evil.
Same for me, I've played as an empire that wipes out or subjugates all the others but after I've done that it always leaves me with the feeling of "okay I've beaten the other civilisations and the crisis but now I've got no one to celebrate it with because all the other aliens either don't exist or just hate me for making them subservient to me... what now?".
It just feels like a hollow victory without any kind of unity or collective victory that we survived together, united... as annoying as being in a federation with the AI can be, it's still the most uplifting kind of victory to get when through hundreds of years of relentless diplomacy(and sometimes the occasional liberation war) the entire galaxy is united together in a federation of equals... it gives that warm and fuzzy 'star trek' feeling that you just can't get by playing as the bad guy.
I'm here for the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance love
if only humans would work as the intelligent species they are supposed to be, this video (and Stellaris for that matter) could be an analogy to the real world and real countries
we are doomed by our inability to coexist
also if you want viewership you could target timeless franchises like metal gear or devil may cry, hotline miami is another good one, bcs every now and again this games appear in everyone's recommended videos (like deadass idk why, maybe the algorithm has a sense of humor and make us watch the same things at the same time)
Stellaris is awesome.
Every single game I play, from the get go, I act a lot like I'm the extremely stereotypical portrayal of the US, exporting "freedom" everywhere and hypermilitazrizing. Then all of the sudden I'm on the Council, and am ramming through an unholy number of favors and banning slavery, starting a massive crusade across the galaxy to end slavery everywhere, and then leaving the nations I assaulted alone. And when people look at me consistently having a stupid huge economy, and only barely lagging behind the min-maxers technologically, and they ask why I don't do x thing that would be more efficient, I tell them that my inefficiency worked. So is it truly inefficiency?
Is it bad that I play civ and stelaris the same way, absolute extinction of all of my enemies And friends and the dominance of my empire alone?
Man this video makes me want to be your friend 😂
Damn Xenophile propaganda!
Haha but seriously great video mate, i stumbled across your channel when your video about night city popped up on my feed and I'm glad it did because this channel is a real hidden gem.
We greet you as equals fellow star traveller o7
Bro this video makes me feel soooo vile because I never play benevolent 😂 utterly without scruples.. when the crisis comes I don't even help empires that request aid, i just let the crisis swamp them so i can claim the real estate after beating back the tide all by myself... jeez.. am i the baddie?
You should try CK3.
6:38 this misunderstands both the mechanics of the game and the real world. It is, in fact, profitable to treat everyone well. Why we don't do it is a good question, but not the one you can answer with a spreadsheet, as much as the apologists of "harsh but necessary decisions" and "scientific" discrimination will tell you.
Militant welfare state for the win
You will be kept safe. Democracy is non-negotiable.
@@ThaneBishop hell yeah man
I think ive been playing a different kind of stellaris human supremacy always
You used stellaris to trick me into watching tau propaganda
I did, yes