Stellaris is a game about space civilizations fighting for the galaxy, but in the game you can encounter primitive kingdoms that haven’t gone into space yet. There is not much you can do with them at the moment. You can elevate them to a new independent kingdom, dress up as them and infiltrate their civilization, take over the planet by force, study them from a distance, or just blow up the planet.
They are fun to encounter but game-wise simply implemented. Now this will perhaps change. Paradox has not yet said what their next expansion, which should come in the spring, will be about, but in their Dev Diary #281 so they strongly suggest that it should be about primitive races with a cryptic message.
“Warmest greetings from Minamar Specialized Industries! We delight in meeting new peoples and welcoming them into the greater galactic community. With over 143 successful uplifts to date, we’re the acknowledged leaders in the field of social and technological ascendancy. We’re thrilled to finally make your acquaintance, and hope to add your world to our success story. We understand that this is all very sudden. Receiving a transmission ‘from the stars’ has likely come as a surprise to you, but we’ve been watching your world for some time and your civilization scores very highly on several relevant metrics. With an evaluation score of ?ERROR_UNDEFINED, the people of ?ERROR_HOMEWORLDNAMENOTFOUND have been flagged as particularly worthy of cooperative enlightenment. Congratulations! We have assigned some of our best specialists to your case, and our representatives will be arriving on world shortly. We can’t wait to meet in person to discuss the benefits of ascendency as well as the terms of this beautiful arrangement. Enlightenment may not be free. But at MSI, it’s always worth the cost. Your friends at Minamar Specialized Industries.”
Sounds like a MegaCorp looking to make a deal. But for those with sharp eyes, the message begins and ends with:
«»» ««« «» ««« « « »«» »»« »»» « « »»»» » ««
And
« »»»» »» »»» »» »»» »« « »«» »« »««»
Which if you interpret it as Morse code becomes:
“DO NOT TRUST THEM and THIS IS A TRAP.”
Exciting we say, shortly we will find out more about what this is about.
