I wanted to put a post up and see if I can get a feeling on how other people like the new special enviroment that some planets have. Talking about the planets that you need to research techs in order to colonize.

These were added to slow down the colony rush that happened at the beginning of games, but right now I am at a toss up as to if this has really made much of a difference.

In most of the DA games I have played there still seems to be rush to grab the generally habitable planets early on and then as the tech are researched the rest of the galaxy gets sucked up pretty quickly.

I have a couple suggestions/adjustsments I think would make things more interesting and nake the choosing of planets something more than a land grab.

First, I think in the start-up screen there needs to be option for the number of 'hostile' planets. Like the choices for planets in general and habitable planets. With several of my games it seems that the number of habitable vs hostile varies greatly, even though I have not changed my settings.

Second, I would like to see some of the hostile enviroment techs require different levels of research. Some techs, like for aquatic planets should be easier to get that toxic or radiated. Right now, they are all at the same level of research needed and that just doesn't feel right to me.

Third, I think some bonuses for the hostile planets would help make things more interesing. Maybe aquatic planets have a higher chance for food or approval bonus tiles, think fish farms and tropical beaches. Radiated planets have a natural energy source equilvant to a fusion reactor, so you don't have to build one on the planet. High-grav planets might have a high concentration of mineral, so production bonuses.

A few changes like that would go a long way to increasing the fun of the game in my opinion.