When I say variance, I don't really mean number or kind, as there are already an impressive number implemented, so far as I can tell. I mean giving bonuses other than the standard FIDS boosts. For example: say you had control over the monster tree anomaly. Instead of giving simply a bog standard food boost, it would also give you a single random organic luxury resource every turn, if you were controlling it via a city or borough. In this case, it makes sense because it is a giant mutant tree made up of different plants. Another example is the moss pearl anomaly. You could allow the civ/empire controlling the anomaly to give a unit the "Moss Pearl Extract Canteen", an accessory that boosts health, health regeneration, or attack, etc., but allow only one to be implemented per anomaly controlled. You could also have "mixed" anomalies, which would include a mishmash of negative/positive effects, just like in Endless Space. This would especially make sense with certain geological anomalies, which may provide FIDS, but also cause tremors and earthquakes, disrupting people's lives. These are just a few simple examples; the game is made with such diversity that it could support a near endless number of variant positive effects. If the effects were too good, it would be easy to balance them simply by nerfing the FIDS bonus the anomaly already produced, or by removing it altogether.



This isn't to say that the FIDS boost isn't good, I still think a raw FIDS boost should be implemented on some anomalies, as settling near them early game can give a huge boost to the first city, as well as to subsequent ones. This is especially true in case the of the "build everything mentality" and population assignment versatility being nerfed/fixed/removed as, chances are, some resources will be prioritized over others in certain cities. For example, you might only be able to build food related buildings in one city, or can only assign so many units of population to food. In this case, if you have a bunch of anomalies related to food surrounding that city, it could become your "food" city, and support your other regions with food (I don't think it is possible to "give" food to other cities currently, though it is an intriguing notion).



Also, as a minor aside, it would be cool to make ruins anomalies, something to do with tourism and crazed archeologists. Say you control an explored ruin, invest in a "dig" of the site. Every turn, there is a 5% or lower chance of randomly discovering a tech 2 tiers below your current tier or unearthing "Something"(Why did you have to dig so deeply and greedily...?). As soon as a tech is discovered, the "dig" ends. To keep it from being abused, you could have the chance of a dig uncovering tech by half for every successful dig on that ruin, so 5% > 2.5%. You could also make multiple digs be cumulative, instead of separate. So, you have one ruin where you succeeded in a dig, and another one where you have not started a dig yet. You start digs at both sites and instead of making separate checks for each dig, you make a cumulative check of 7.5% each turn, as 2.5 + 5 = 7.5. Also, tourist centers, for people who like to max their Dust output.



Well, my rant is over. If you found it interesting, I'd like to hear your opinions on it(Devs plzplzplzplz).

Yes, anomalies need some love. They look interesting, but all they really do is give a few flat fids that are quickly outclassed.



There's already been a ton of suggestions on this - just do something with them already!

Maybe the anomalies could start as "flat", but get unique bonuses as the game progresses, by researching certain technologies. The technologies wouldn't require a building to gain the bonuses, they would just automatically unlock for the anomaly once researched. Or give specific factions specific bonuses. Nature ones have unique bonuses only for Wild Walkers, etc.

Anomalies definitely need to become more interesting. At the very least, the "rare" ones that right now give approval bonuses should become more interesting than flat FIDSI bonuses.



Perhaps some of them could give unique capacities to units produced in that city, or provide empire-wide benefits. Or as Zleeping has already pointed out, provide resources; a life tree could have a chance to give a food booster every turn.

Zleeping wrote:
Also, as a minor aside, it would be cool to make ruins anomalies, something to do with tourism and crazed archeologists. Say you control an explored ruin, invest in a "dig" of the site. Every turn, there is a 5% or lower chance of randomly discovering a tech 2 tiers below your current tier or unearthing "Something"(Why did you have to dig so deeply and greedily...?). As soon as a tech is discovered, the "dig" ends. To keep it from being abused, you could have the chance of a dig uncovering tech by half for every successful dig on that ruin, so 5% > 2.5%. You could also make multiple digs be cumulative, instead of separate. So, you have one ruin where you succeeded in a dig, and another one where you have not started a dig yet. You start digs at both sites and instead of making separate checks for each dig, you make a cumulative check of 7.5% each turn, as 2.5 + 5 = 7.5. Also, tourist centers, for people who like to max their Dust output.

That is actually a good idea, but I think it will need very good balancing.