Europa Universalis IV

Swedish devs. Not that it matters, both are in the same tier. Look at Bohemia, apparently it's less relevant than Japan. Someone at Paradox is about 500 years off.

 

True. Japan at the time was a divided, insignificant feudal backwater. I would've put Genoa, Viyanagar (always becomes a monster in my games), Hungary or Burgundy ahead of them.

Netherlands should be a tier 3, not tier 2. Granted, it was pretty important but it didn't even exist during the beginning of the Grand Campaign, and it doesn't form often (gets swalled by France, stays under Burgundy or stay divided).

Also, they seem really determined to make some unions happen. While Russia makes sense (there was already a seed of the whole Russia thing), why should it always happen?

 

From a game balance stand point? Eastern Europe sucks without a eastern european empire. The first time it ever happened to me was when Hungary formed "Russia" through Poland and Crimea, and it was a pretty awesome game. Especially since the Big Blue Blob just hasn't happened for quite some time now.

From a determinism X freedom point of view? Some manner of determinism is necessary - otherwise the game starts feeling like fantasyland after a few playthroughs. One where nothing has anything to do with our world.

 

Yeah, I agree that you want some semblance of power balance between regions. Eastern Europe is just a cluster fuck in EU3.

Not only that, but Japan completely cut off foreign trade from anyone other than china and the dutch, which were restricted to a tiny island away from mainland japan. This lasted from the 17th century until the US forced it open again in the 19th century. EU3 is about a time period of colonization and trade, and Japan is literally the least involved with any of that in the world.

I'd definitely like to see Burgundy somewhere. It always annoyed me that it was just a pushover for France at the start of EU3, but now it's a nice contender to the throne that has a decent shot of winning. Again, I hope that some French events will carry over to Burgundy whenever Burgundy is dominating.

 

Japan turning completely isolationist isn't something that should be set in stone. Following the Sengoku Jidai they had the best firearms in the world and were Westernising (large numbers of the populace were even converting to Christianity) due to extensive trade and contact with Europeans. It's quite plausible that we could have seen a more aggressive and assertive Japan in the 17th and 18th century had the Tokugawa not gained control and enacted sakoku. With a large population, efficient economy and ready access to Western technology and advances we probably would have seen them expanding into the Pacific, butting heads with the Qing over Korea, and a lot more of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasions_of_Korea_(1592–1598)

 

That said, Pre-Industrial Great Power Japan is pratically ASB unless the Japanese take over Korea and Manchuria and Finally Solve the Korean and Jurchen problem. Even a westernized Japan should't casually fight the Ming.

One thing I would like is stronger Jurchen/Manchu and Mongols. As it is, Ming simply cannot collapse unless you curbstomp it, blockade it for a long time, then use lots of jewgoldz to finance rebels. There needs to exist the possibility of Ming China collapsing.
In MMU sometimes Ming China collapsed into a most hilarious and chaotic lot of warlord states with their own wannabe emperors, and meanwhile the Mongols, Koreans, Jurchens, Viets, Cambojans and even Xi Xia had their fun invading Chinese territory.

 

Yeah, but the point isn't what if. Otherwise Paradox should start putting time into making content for a what-if scenario of Poland taking over the world and reaching space by the 18th century. Or Aztecs invading europe

 

I've read somewhere that Toyotomi Hideyoshi (ie. last paramount Japanese ruler before Tokugawa Ieyasu) was even contemplating an invasion of Spanish Philippines. Given that Japanese guns (teppo) at that time were superior to that of Europeans at that time, I bet they would have completely overrun the Spaniards.

 

Sweden shouldn't be tier 1 at all but its just their bias. Austria/France/England/Castille/Portugal/Muscovy/Ottoman Empire/Poland should be tier 1 with special help aimed at Brandenburg to perform as it did. Scandinavia is utterly unimportant as far as this game is concerned.

 

Exactly. Before the Tokugawa the Japanese were getting their hands into all kinds of overseas business. It should be just as possible for them to Westernise (though for a big stability penalty and probably make them face a huge traditionalist revolt to balance it out) and go onto kick serious ass. This isn't ASB territory as Tokugawa's ascension was hardly a historical certainty.

The AGCEEP mod for the venerable EUII was fantastic on this front. Thousands of complex event chains for majors and minors and alternate history chains. Ruling the English Republic as Cromwell or bring the Reformation a century early as the Hussites were great experiences. I like some specific historical events (if the parameters are similar to the situation that the event occurred in real life) because the generic EUIII-style events simply can't model something like the English Civil War.

 

You jelly potato?

 

Sweden was rather significant in the 30 Years War and in the Great Northern War. I hate to say it but for the timeline they're quite important.

 

Sshhh, don't put words of sense in here! It's all about everyone's national butthurt about to overflow!

 

Sweden was, is and will be an unimportant wasteland no one is interested in.
Eventually, they will die out, as they suck on librul homo propaganda and soon every male there will be gay and every kid aborted.

 

See what I mean? M:

 

The worst part is that us Finns have nowhere to go in this! In a way we should probably support the Swedes in hopes that they make the Hackapell decision better or add a special Idea about the scruffy Finnish cavalry. But on the other hand they're fucking tar-stealing Swedes.

Sengoku Jidai is a bit too nuanced for a game operating on EU scale though. It doesn't help that the whole period was turned on its head by minor underdogs suddenly starting to kick all kinds of ass around them (I'm talking about Nobunaga and the Battle of Okehazama, which the war mechanics simply could never handle, what with some 2,000 men defeating ten times their number)

 

Yes, it's also sad that paradox games rely so heavily on the infamy crutch. The only way to replicate the various great people of the world who conquer entire nations is to give them CBs everywhere, otherwise lol you took 4 territories in your ruler's lifetime MUST EXTERMINATE. Someday decades from now when Paradox gets a worthwhile AI programmer they need to scale back how much the infamy system dominates everything. Kind of goes back to my "Why is only England allowed to decapitate France while everyone else has to nibble away?" question.

 

I wouldn't be as quick to criticize Paradox's AI programmer. So far he has done "good for what it is" job and slowly improves (check the difference between ie. Vicky 2 and CK2). In comparison check the AI of Total War games (which isn't Artifical Intelligence but Random Roll) and other strategy games (which usually means very simple AI).

 

I meant AI in the "Grand Strategy" part, not the "moving men into a blob and moving the blob onto your's correctly" part. The AI just doesn't care about a player growing larger, it doesn't covet the player for taking valuable provinces, it doesn't try to form strategic alliances to contain aggressors. It just has a "worse than hitler" switch built in at the infamy limit. If anything Vicky 2 was the best at this since great powers would sometimes intervene if you were building up too much strength kicking around minors.

At least Wiz got hired, we might see some improvement since his mods are generally good from what I've seen. But then modders failing hard when they get the job wouldn't be a new thing.

 

Infamy System is history, bro.
It already got axed in CK2, its all relations there now.

EUIV is going to abandon Infamy in favour of Coalition, Rivalries and such. About damn time, I must say. Its probably going to be the main blob-stopper.

 

I hope they fix unfairness of BRO NATIONS FUCK YOU ALL/delete this shit/ so there will be chance and sense of playing lesser states.

 

Are you talking about the classic "All of Europe decides to gang-bang you because you invaded some Italian OPM minor who has one ally who has lots of allies who has lots of allies and allies, etc?"

 

Yea, it'd be good if they introduced some kind of gating to how many alliances are called, and WHEN alliances are called. For example, I don't think something like fucking Luxembourg attacking the British should trigger the alliances of the British, at least not without massive hits to various useful things due to humiliation of asking for help when some bug tries to bite your toe.

 

This pretty much

 

Is that confirmed?

It's not in CK2 because it wouldn't make sense. You play as a dynasty. Would you want infamy because your son decided to declare a war without a CB?

Yeah. The latest CK2 patch made alliances easier to call in to battle, yet take a relations hit every time you did it. A generally good way to model how things should work (assuming the AI can properly estimate whether an ally should be called in, of course).