Having played the game for about 200 hours now, I am going to say this: The people saying that Communism is OP in the game is very much a self-report rather than a genuine take on the game.
I have had runs where I deliberately try to become Communist just for RP purposes, and I never have it work out. Either I almost get there and have a revolt to take the government back to an older Capitalist stance, or I just dont have any momentum to pull it off. Because why would my people do it? If anything, the games I have had CAPITALISM is the OP one. My people have frankly absurd standards of living, have been making tons of money, and have been living reasonable lives, and therefore are not open to radical changes in government (sometimes to the point that I cant even change minor laws because "Its fine as is").
The only way these people can get Communism probably means they are keeping their people in low conditions so they demand radical change, or they just got lucky.
Also, it probably also means they are keeping the price of products high, because other people I have seen on the forums say that Communism worked great...right up until prices started falling and their command economy crashed with it because their government lost income. I have had no such issue with Capitalist runs, and in fact have managed to get to a point where people could buy everything they wanted for reasonable prices while I still had significant export.
Haven't had Victoria 3 yet, but any time I try Communism on Tropico 3, it requires me to start a police state and deport all of my political enemies to keep the bloated welfare state afloat.
I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. The game doesn't allow for free-floating wages, so wage controls are defacto. I've nearly blown up my own economy because I forgot to manually give raises on occasion. The effort to desperately maintain universal healthcare, universal housing, and wage equality, requires me to intentionally destroy all but the most profitable industries, and have them run the entire economy. Anyone who is not profitable, needs to be removed.
This actually meant I had to bulldoze farms because farmers were way over-paid and had a cushy lifestyle compared to my oil industry, but if I did that, I'd get a revolution, so I had to round up the peasants and "deport" them first. Depopulating my island was a great idea in order to preserve the welfare state that had built up, since it was the only thing maintaining my political security. Wage equality required me to round up and kill dissidents and depopulate the island to keep my political security in check.
Actually, I'd say it was either Cities Skylines or Democracy 3.
Cities Skylines can be pretty rough because it kind of ushers you towards a NeoLiberal Corporatist hellscape, especially with it's industries mod (where you, as the state, run entire industrial corporate colonies). Additionally, there's a lot of crazy controls over movement you have, and a lot of subtle mechanisms that make your horrific infrastructure plans profitable. This includes bulldozing all the roads and making literally everyone cycle from home to work, without anyone getting super pissed off. Or the fact that people will actively go hours out of their way to go to overly expensive parks.
Democracy 3 is a ridiculous game because of so many Neoliberal pre-suppositions. Increasing Armed Police doesn't decrease crime; it actually increases ARMED ROBBERIES. You know what increased armed robberies at a 1:1 scale? Lax gun control. Get this straight: unarmed police reduce all crime including armed robberies, but armed police and gun ownership causes them.
I got the Africa expansion to try out, and I took over some former communist, currently islamist, hellscape. In 7 years, I went from having coup threats, extreme crime, active race riots and sectarian murders, total poverty, and an AIDS crisis to: no crime, riots, sectarianism, or coups, but a continuing problem with AIDS... in Africa. Literally no crime. In 7 years, my approval rating went from 0% to... 0%. I SOLVED CRIME AND TURNED YOU INTO A MIDDLE-CLASS COUNTRY AND YOU WANT TO ASSASSINATE ME?!!
Fucking Duterte became massively popular with his "kill all the drug dealers in the street" program. Fucking Idi Aminate people and had support from at least 20% of the country!!!
Now I understand why Neo-Liberals are like "oh just let out all the criminals out!" It's because they literally can't imagine that rampant crime would effect their popularity.
On the other hand, it can be fun to go full gremlin mode and create a city in such a way that it would make your average Modernist NeoLiberal city planner want to pull his hair out (as much as the game will let you anyway).
My typical cities consist of:
Almost everywhere that can be accessed by mass transit can also be accessed by car. And any that cant will at least let you get close. And of course, the road network will not be hostile to motorist (multiple lanes, highways, good access, no reserved lanes, etc).
Extensive suburban and single-family housing for those who dont want to live in downtown apartments with the Bugmen.
Manufacturing jobs available in abundance for those who dont want to be an office drone downtown.
Power provided by reliable means, which means a mix of both "traditional" power (coal and oil), as well as reasonable renewables. This then goes out the window once Nuclear is unlocked and the grid becomes 100% nuclear.
Harsh enforcement of laws by an aggressive police force to keep the criminals in the slammer where they belong.
The main funded and endorsed universities are a Research University and a Trade School, because they are actually important.
If any of the above offends you, you can either live downtown with the Bugmen, or live in the district I dubbed the "Hippie Ghetto", where non-electric vehicles are banned, roads are hostile to motorist (take the tram you smelly Hippie!), housing is "eco-friendly", businesses are organic and social justice-minded, and its also where we dumped the Liberal Arts college. Oh, and I hope you like the additional 2% tax on your business and home for the trouble of stinking up my city, assmunch.
Having played the game for about 200 hours now, I am going to say this: The people saying that Communism is OP in the game is very much a self-report rather than a genuine take on the game.
I have had runs where I deliberately try to become Communist just for RP purposes, and I never have it work out. Either I almost get there and have a revolt to take the government back to an older Capitalist stance, or I just dont have any momentum to pull it off. Because why would my people do it? If anything, the games I have had CAPITALISM is the OP one. My people have frankly absurd standards of living, have been making tons of money, and have been living reasonable lives, and therefore are not open to radical changes in government (sometimes to the point that I cant even change minor laws because "Its fine as is").
The only way these people can get Communism probably means they are keeping their people in low conditions so they demand radical change, or they just got lucky.
Also, it probably also means they are keeping the price of products high, because other people I have seen on the forums say that Communism worked great...right up until prices started falling and their command economy crashed with it because their government lost income. I have had no such issue with Capitalist runs, and in fact have managed to get to a point where people could buy everything they wanted for reasonable prices while I still had significant export.
Haven't had Victoria 3 yet, but any time I try Communism on Tropico 3, it requires me to start a police state and deport all of my political enemies to keep the bloated welfare state afloat.
Raz0rfist was right
I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. The game doesn't allow for free-floating wages, so wage controls are defacto. I've nearly blown up my own economy because I forgot to manually give raises on occasion. The effort to desperately maintain universal healthcare, universal housing, and wage equality, requires me to intentionally destroy all but the most profitable industries, and have them run the entire economy. Anyone who is not profitable, needs to be removed.
This actually meant I had to bulldoze farms because farmers were way over-paid and had a cushy lifestyle compared to my oil industry, but if I did that, I'd get a revolution, so I had to round up the peasants and "deport" them first. Depopulating my island was a great idea in order to preserve the welfare state that had built up, since it was the only thing maintaining my political security. Wage equality required me to round up and kill dissidents and depopulate the island to keep my political security in check.
TIL the proponents of the Great Reset honed their skills in Tropico 3.
Actually, I'd say it was either Cities Skylines or Democracy 3.
Cities Skylines can be pretty rough because it kind of ushers you towards a NeoLiberal Corporatist hellscape, especially with it's industries mod (where you, as the state, run entire industrial corporate colonies). Additionally, there's a lot of crazy controls over movement you have, and a lot of subtle mechanisms that make your horrific infrastructure plans profitable. This includes bulldozing all the roads and making literally everyone cycle from home to work, without anyone getting super pissed off. Or the fact that people will actively go hours out of their way to go to overly expensive parks.
Democracy 3 is a ridiculous game because of so many Neoliberal pre-suppositions. Increasing Armed Police doesn't decrease crime; it actually increases ARMED ROBBERIES. You know what increased armed robberies at a 1:1 scale? Lax gun control. Get this straight: unarmed police reduce all crime including armed robberies, but armed police and gun ownership causes them.
I got the Africa expansion to try out, and I took over some former communist, currently islamist, hellscape. In 7 years, I went from having coup threats, extreme crime, active race riots and sectarian murders, total poverty, and an AIDS crisis to: no crime, riots, sectarianism, or coups, but a continuing problem with AIDS... in Africa. Literally no crime. In 7 years, my approval rating went from 0% to... 0%. I SOLVED CRIME AND TURNED YOU INTO A MIDDLE-CLASS COUNTRY AND YOU WANT TO ASSASSINATE ME?!!
Fucking Duterte became massively popular with his "kill all the drug dealers in the street" program. Fucking Idi Amin ate people and had support from at least 20% of the country!!!
Now I understand why Neo-Liberals are like "oh just let out all the criminals out!" It's because they literally can't imagine that rampant crime would effect their popularity.
On the other hand, it can be fun to go full gremlin mode and create a city in such a way that it would make your average Modernist NeoLiberal city planner want to pull his hair out (as much as the game will let you anyway).
My typical cities consist of:
Almost everywhere that can be accessed by mass transit can also be accessed by car. And any that cant will at least let you get close. And of course, the road network will not be hostile to motorist (multiple lanes, highways, good access, no reserved lanes, etc).
Extensive suburban and single-family housing for those who dont want to live in downtown apartments with the Bugmen.
Manufacturing jobs available in abundance for those who dont want to be an office drone downtown.
Power provided by reliable means, which means a mix of both "traditional" power (coal and oil), as well as reasonable renewables. This then goes out the window once Nuclear is unlocked and the grid becomes 100% nuclear.
Harsh enforcement of laws by an aggressive police force to keep the criminals in the slammer where they belong.
The main funded and endorsed universities are a Research University and a Trade School, because they are actually important.
If any of the above offends you, you can either live downtown with the Bugmen, or live in the district I dubbed the "Hippie Ghetto", where non-electric vehicles are banned, roads are hostile to motorist (take the tram you smelly Hippie!), housing is "eco-friendly", businesses are organic and social justice-minded, and its also where we dumped the Liberal Arts college. Oh, and I hope you like the additional 2% tax on your business and home for the trouble of stinking up my city, assmunch.