And since now financial centers are going to be more useless than ever. . .
Do you heavily subsidize civilian shipping lines? Do you exploit the heck out of the Earth-Luna infrastructure run? Do your games last long enough to exhaust your home system minerals, and do you then move your heavy industry to colony worlds? Do you even build imperial freighters?
I've never found Financial Centres to be useless. In fact, I have always considered them essential. They are literally the first thing I build, every game (since they don't require TN tech). Turning resource-poor, population-rich worlds into banking havens is an essential step towards galactic conquest, and a fine retirement plan for Earth / Homeworld / forge worlds.
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I, for one, would certainly prefer to try Steve's 'solution' to 'the Conv/TN Wealth problem' before suggesting a dozen or more 'improvements' to it. Presonally, I've never found the wealth cushion to be a problem, but I've also never thought about it much. Steve is exactly right when he says "This removes wealth as a consideration for many years and takes away meaningful decisions." Until now, I considered that a good thing; I congratulated myself for my empire's sound financial planning.