The logics I'm going to use is it's either:
*too big of a weakness to justify.
*too small of a bonus to justify.
This is my opinion. You are free to state your own.
Gaians:
*minus to police (too big of a weakness to justify, due to Police State gains or impossible to choose: Free Markets synergy).
*minus to morale (depends on how many mind worms you capture based on your planet rating boost, probably a push = ).
*bonus to fungas food (this would be the only reason for choosing the gaians, imo).
Hive:
*bonus to growth (too small of a bonus to justify, due to +2 optimally needed to pop boom with Happiness and Children's Creche).
*bonus to industry (its decent, this would be the only real reason for choosing the hive, imo).
*minus to economy (pays for your "Free" perimeter defense, I think this is a fair tradeoff because choosing Police State means you aren't going to want to choose a Free Market Economy anyway. Instead of going down that path, its the path of Planned, stacking Industry or Green with Cloning Vats, imo. Either choice works well with the Hive).
Univ:
*minus to probe (too big of a weakness to justify, due to needing the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm to overcome, cant choose Fundamentalist).
*reseach (this would be the only reason for picking the Univ. Its worth it because a free Network node > a Rec Commons based on the sadness your population recieves every 4 units. Also you pick up a +2 research too, imo the Univ make a great choice).
Morgans:
*minus to support (too big of a weakness to justify, due to cities realistically using 2+ units at all times, and 1 industry > 10% minus).
*minus to hab complex at 4 instead of 7 (too big of a weakness to justify, based on opportunity costs of other buildings).
*bonus to economy (too small of a bonus to justify, unless you choose wealth, and choosing wealth doesn't make Spartan friends).
*Because that's everything the Morgans are worth, I wouldn't recommend using them. Coming up w/ a playstyle to magnify their bonus without creating more weakness involves a lot of risk, imo.
Spartan:
*bonus to police (too small of a bonus to justify, due to Police State stacking, unless you decide not to bet on Ascetic Virtues later, and "give" that Special project opportunity to another faction).
*bonus to morale (that's a good question, maybe, depending on the interest payments of the "loan" = 10% industry)
*bonus to skunkworks (its great, imo, this can be the ultimate reason for picking the Spartans, if you decide on this path, but their not my favorite Faction to choose based on my playstyle).
Believers:
*bonus to support (too small of a bonus to justify - the average difference of using a standard 2 units at a base would take a war to be any good, imo).
*minus to research (too big of a weakness to justify - based on my playstyle, research is always valid at every stage of the game. Now, if we started the game off with Transcendant thought, I would change my opinion).
*bonus to probe (this would be the reason for picking the believers, its a decent bonus, but the challenge is proving it).
*bonus 25% to attack (nice extra added bonus for choosing this faction. the challenge, I think is finding an advantaged war, instead of being at peace all the time. Imo, given their minus to research, its going to be a tough challenge to find, but it is possible to find a faction with their pants down, like the University. While the University is advantaged, they might be too greedy to compound their research instead of doing an adequate defense against the Believers)
Peacekeepers:
*bonus to Happiness every 4 citizens. (awesome! makes having celebrating cities easier to do. combine this with +2 growth from social engineering and build a children's creche, and see how fast you can grow your cities).
*bonus to double votes (its a small bonus when you are plantary governor +1 econ, but given all things equal, I believe this faction is stronger than the Morgans).
*bonus to Hab complex (nice! expand the population by 2 units before you have to build a Hab Complex)
*minus to inefficieny (this minus doesn't really mean anything early on, imo. Later the minus changes to a plus when you switch to Democratic, imo).
*the Peacekeepers, imo, make a Great choice.
*too big of a weakness to justify.
*too small of a bonus to justify.
This is my opinion. You are free to state your own.
Gaians:
*minus to police (too big of a weakness to justify, due to Police State gains or impossible to choose: Free Markets synergy).
*minus to morale (depends on how many mind worms you capture based on your planet rating boost, probably a push = ).
*bonus to fungas food (this would be the only reason for choosing the gaians, imo).
Hive:
*bonus to growth (too small of a bonus to justify, due to +2 optimally needed to pop boom with Happiness and Children's Creche).
*bonus to industry (its decent, this would be the only real reason for choosing the hive, imo).
*minus to economy (pays for your "Free" perimeter defense, I think this is a fair tradeoff because choosing Police State means you aren't going to want to choose a Free Market Economy anyway. Instead of going down that path, its the path of Planned, stacking Industry or Green with Cloning Vats, imo. Either choice works well with the Hive).
Univ:
*minus to probe (too big of a weakness to justify, due to needing the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm to overcome, cant choose Fundamentalist).
*reseach (this would be the only reason for picking the Univ. Its worth it because a free Network node > a Rec Commons based on the sadness your population recieves every 4 units. Also you pick up a +2 research too, imo the Univ make a great choice).
Morgans:
*minus to support (too big of a weakness to justify, due to cities realistically using 2+ units at all times, and 1 industry > 10% minus).
*minus to hab complex at 4 instead of 7 (too big of a weakness to justify, based on opportunity costs of other buildings).
*bonus to economy (too small of a bonus to justify, unless you choose wealth, and choosing wealth doesn't make Spartan friends).
*Because that's everything the Morgans are worth, I wouldn't recommend using them. Coming up w/ a playstyle to magnify their bonus without creating more weakness involves a lot of risk, imo.
Spartan:
*bonus to police (too small of a bonus to justify, due to Police State stacking, unless you decide not to bet on Ascetic Virtues later, and "give" that Special project opportunity to another faction).
*bonus to morale (that's a good question, maybe, depending on the interest payments of the "loan" = 10% industry)
*bonus to skunkworks (its great, imo, this can be the ultimate reason for picking the Spartans, if you decide on this path, but their not my favorite Faction to choose based on my playstyle).
Believers:
*bonus to support (too small of a bonus to justify - the average difference of using a standard 2 units at a base would take a war to be any good, imo).
*minus to research (too big of a weakness to justify - based on my playstyle, research is always valid at every stage of the game. Now, if we started the game off with Transcendant thought, I would change my opinion).
*bonus to probe (this would be the reason for picking the believers, its a decent bonus, but the challenge is proving it).
*bonus 25% to attack (nice extra added bonus for choosing this faction. the challenge, I think is finding an advantaged war, instead of being at peace all the time. Imo, given their minus to research, its going to be a tough challenge to find, but it is possible to find a faction with their pants down, like the University. While the University is advantaged, they might be too greedy to compound their research instead of doing an adequate defense against the Believers)
Peacekeepers:
*bonus to Happiness every 4 citizens. (awesome! makes having celebrating cities easier to do. combine this with +2 growth from social engineering and build a children's creche, and see how fast you can grow your cities).
*bonus to double votes (its a small bonus when you are plantary governor +1 econ, but given all things equal, I believe this faction is stronger than the Morgans).
*bonus to Hab complex (nice! expand the population by 2 units before you have to build a Hab Complex)
*minus to inefficieny (this minus doesn't really mean anything early on, imo. Later the minus changes to a plus when you switch to Democratic, imo).
*the Peacekeepers, imo, make a Great choice.
