I see we have a new feature where I set the focus of the term. It’s a good enough concept, but there are some issues:
-First is a bug. On the turn where I set my focus, the red icon over the turn end button remains in place after I have set the focus. The result is that I click it to see what mandatory issue needs management and accidentally end turn.
-Second issue: I can just set it to something I was going to max out anyways, typically education, and get a zero effort bonus without any real trouble or game play.
This seems more like a matter which would be discussed at length during an election campaign, rather than after it. It could be more interesting if it were a matter of a guessing game, what are the public going to care about? The earlier I place my commitment the more potential benefit, but the greater the likelihood that I set my focus on education only for the general public to decide that they care more about health and I’m “out of touch”. The later the player sets their focus, the better the odds of getting it correct, but the less sincere it seems. Throw in an active opposition and there could be the risk of seeming like a “copy cat” or a “Johnny come lately” on the matter.
I guessed it was added by accident and yet to be fully implemented since Cliff introduced it in the next DLC thread. Also it lacks some localization strings too. Nonetheless, I’ve experienced the same and generally agree to what you wrote.
The second point is what I have expected. Out of 8 given choices, 4 of them (Violent Crime, Crime, Education, Health) are really easy to min/max and GDP too is kinda stable 100% if you make some efforts. So I’d say it’s not really better than manifesto pledges, which at least rule out already min/maxed stats.
I also agree to active opposition idea and find it feasible. There could be an event that is triggered when priority stat has been remaining min/maxed for enough turns. When triggered, it immediately boosts opportunism of the opposition parties by a step, raising the approval threshold. Then the game can prevent easy vote grab from the priority and get a chance to make opportunism creep visible (and maybe understandable).
Lastly, I’d like to mention that adding a small icon or portraits of voter groups next to simulation icons in the priority choice screen would be a nice QoL improvement.
It is rather surprising you didn’t notice that some voting DLC features were pushed to public until that reddit comment. It has already been reported 21 days ago in your own forum.