u/FPSCanarussia

Ever since the release of Nomads, people have asked for Void Dwellers to be given the same toggle. And I think that's a great idea - without the bonus perks of the Void Dwellers origin, starting on a habitat is hardly overpowered compared to starting on a planet - but I think the developers can go further.

The origins and civics available from Infernals are a good pattern for how to do this. I think that special homeworlds can be accessible the same way Volcanic worlds are: simply being an option for certain choices.

Specific suggestions:

• Void Dweller should be a toggle like Nomadic, simply allowing a species to gain Artificial World preference and an artificial homeworld.
• The current Void Dwellers origin can still exist, offering the bonuses of the Voidborne ascension perk, however it should also unlock the option of choosing a Shattered Ring as your homeworld.
• The Life Seeded and Ocean Paradise origins have no small amount of overlap: I personally think there is an argument to be made for simply making one "Paradise World" origin that allows choosing a regular or Gaia world as a homeworld, just altering the origin's effects slightly based on choices. (Ocean worlds get bonus ice planets and the Aquatic trait, Gaia worlds the features, etc.) The main perk of the origin would be trading guaranteed habitables for a size-30 homeworld.
• The primary draw of Remnants could simply be the early start on Archaeostudies: it should unlock not just Relic Worlds as a possible homeworld, but also Tomb Worlds, Shattered Ring, or even regular planets if someone wants to roleplay.

For a brief overview of what origins and civics could unlock certain homeworlds:

• Gaia: Tree of Life, Wilderness, Paradise World (old Ocean Paradise and Life Seeded), Scion, Agrarian Idyll, Planetscapers. This homeworld type locks you into Gaia preference.
• Tomb: Calamitous Birth, Subterranean, KotTG, Arc Welders, Remnants, Payback, Memorialists, Relentless Industrialists. This homeworld type gives you the Survivor trait and lets you select a species habitability separately. (Basically just make post-apocalyptic a homeworld type rather than an origin)
• Relic: Remnants, Scion, Memorialists, Galactic Curators
• Machine, Hive: Both available via 'Paradise World' start for their respective authorities, at the cost of being stuck with Machine/Hive preference. Resource Consolidation would also still exist.
• Shattered Ring: Void Dwellers, Remnants, Scavengers. Might be too strong, but it feels a pity that it can't be combined with other origins.

Ecumenopoli, available to individualist empires and Rogue Servitors, are an advanced planet type. One of their interesting aspects is the existence of Relic Worlds: ancient Ecumenopoli that were abandoned and ruined, left behind as relics of the past. Besides the abundant lore they give about the game (such as through archaeology sites), they also have a significant impact on gameplay: an individualist empire lucky to find multiple relic worlds can create multiple ecumenopoli without ever taking their ascension perk.

Hive and Machine worlds are the gestalt equivalent of Ecus, being advanced planet types locked behind ascension perks, but they do not have any "ruined" equivalents. Outside of very specific circumstances, gestalts cannot get "their" type of advanced world in the game naturally without taking the respective AP. This is limiting from a storytelling standpoint (gestalts feeling under-represented in lore) and in gameplay, giving individualist empires a potential leg-up that gestalts don't get.

I, for one, think it would be cool if both machine and hive worlds had their own equivalent to relic worlds. They could have their own planetary feature equivalents of Relic world Central Spires, etc, allowing every type of empire to benefit from owning them, and they could work analogously to Relic worlds for the Faculty of Archaeostudies. Then they could also allow their respective type of empire to convert them into full Hive/Machine worlds without requiring the AP.

What do people think?