Grand Strategy Imperator: Rome - the new grand strategy from Paradox

[Tiger]

A quick reminder on the current state of (((game journalism)))

Despair.png

 

[Elim]

Stop bashing these journalists, it is not their fault for being mentally retarded.

 

[Fedora Master]

A quick reminder on the current state of (((game journalism)))

Meanwhile, the reality check:

But the beta patch is out, maybe they'll fix the ga -

 

[Mortmal]

Stop bashing these journalists, it is not their fault for being mentally retarded.

They aren't mentally retarded, just corrupt.

 

[Fedora Master]

Stop bashing these journalists, it is not their fault for being mentally retarded.

They aren't mentally retarded, just corrupt.

Why not both?

 

[Mortmal]

Stop bashing these journalists, it is not their fault for being mentally retarded.

They aren't mentally retarded, just corrupt.

Why not both?

True that and very likely.

 

[Raghar]

Stop bashing these journalists, it is not their fault for being mentally retarded.

They aren't mentally retarded, just corrupt.

Why not both?

Because they would have problem to write an article. In fact they might have problem with understanding stuff like bribery and simply write honest, no matter if retarded, review. Then they might call it bad. And bad game + retarded reviewer = showing bad parts of game and explaining how much more retarded must be the person who didn't understand why is that bad and release it with that badly working mechanisms.

I'm pretty sure people are spending effort to allow only corrupt reviewers.

 

[fantadomat]

Well being bored,i decided to do a relaxing byz campaign on VH. Did all the missions and decided to add a few vassals.all my dynasty and religion . Here is how i ended before going east to clean alahus.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/how-paradox-is-rebuilding-imperator-rome/

How Paradox is rebuilding Imperator: Rome
But it will take more than a day.

In April, Paradox released its latest grand strategy epic, Imperator: Rome, giving armchair conquerors a massive map of antiquity to paint in their colour. Reviews were largely positive—I gave it 92 and think it's one of the studio's strongest games at launch—but the sentiment hasn't been shared by the majority of players. On Steam, it's the only Paradox game with a negative rating.

"It's been completely different from what we've experienced before," says creative director Johan Andersson. After a string of successful launches and a build-up that involved countless dense developer diaries and streams, he was expecting players to take to it just like they did his last game, Europa Universalis 4. But it didn't happen.

"The post-launch was not all that fun for me personally," he says. "There were multiple times during that month where I was like, 'Fuck this shit, I'm quitting the industry.' It was like, 'I don't know how to make games anymore, I should just retire.'"

Andersson feels like he was honest about what Imperator was going to be, and that a lot of user reviews and criticism has been focused on what it isn't. DLC also crops up a lot in complaints, though Paradox is yet to announce any. Some players are also coming to Imperator from games like Crusader Kings 2, which has grown gargantuan over the last seven years. In comparison, Imperator seems sparse.

That doesn't really account for the amount of negative feedback, however, and it would be unfair to characterise all or even most Imperator user reviews and forum discussions as misunderstandings. Several issues have been echoed pretty consistently, including Monarch Power, nicknamed 'mana', and being able to make instant, direct actions instead of subtly influencing the world. These are among several things being completely redesigned by Paradox.

Last month, the studio revealed its one year plan for Imperator, promising significant changes and overhauled systems. The first step, the Pompey update, is already in beta and will launch on June 26, reworking navies and pirates—which have almost nothing to do at the moment—changing civil wars, finally adding a ledger to keep track of everything and introducing more ways to interact with your government.

The changes are broad, but small in comparison with what's coming next. Spending Monarch Power is one of the main ways you interact with the game, turning all your political influence into a single, simple resource. In 1.2, it will be completely flung out and replaced.

"[Mana] was one of the first features we talked about, and it worked in the game and is a nice, balanced system," Andersson says. "I don't understand why people want to buy a game that has major core features that they don't like. Well, if the customers want something different, we'll just have to change the game to do that."

Despite his disappointment, he believes that the result is a far better system, and one that represents a game-wide shift in how you'll play. Instead of mana, you'll generate political influence based on how loyal the movers and shakers in your nation are. If your nation is full of treacherous nobles that hate your guts, you might find your hands tied and your influence curtailed. You'll have to work harder to keep people happy and make an extra effort to avoid civil war, and what influence you do have will be less direct.

"What we're doing is basically changing the abstract currencies to logical currencies," Andersson says. And these currencies or resources, which still include things like gold and manpower, will be used to "nudge things over time."

This shift away from abstract systems extends to your population, too. Another complaint was how migration and converting pops was as simple and uninvolved as hitting a button and spending a resource, but eventually it's going to happen more organically. The goal is to make it feel more like a simulation and that you've got the powers of a ruler rather than a god.

We'll see these changes in September, when the Cicero update appears, and right now it's being tested internally. Andersson says the new powers and pop mechanics are already making the game feel more balanced, with more strategic choices. The feedback from players has been hard to hear, but it's making the game better.

"I wish I'd thought about those things earlier," Andersson says. "I think I took the wrong lessons for EU4." He thought abstract resources resulted in a better, balanced game, but people have taken such a strong dislike to mana that he's had to rethink things. He still believes that Imperator is a big step up from what Europa Universalis 4 was like at launch, however, but that doesn't matter to him if the players don't feel the same way.

"I want it to be a game that has a large community playing it and enjoying it. I don't really care about exactly what features are in it, because ideas are cheap, execution is everything."

The Pompey update beta is available now for all GOG and Steam users.

 

[LizardWizard]

"There were multiple times during that month where I was like, 'Fuck this shit, I'm quitting the industry.' It was like, 'I don't know how to make games anymore, I should just retire.'"

Johan is not wrong here

 

[Life of the Party]

I don't understand why people want to buy a game that has major core features that they don't like.

 

[Fishy]

DLC also crops up a lot in complaints, though Paradox is yet to announce any.

Like, who are they kidding there? The only way there won't be a ridiculous stream of DLC is if they can the game right now. Even the original Rome failed hard and got a DLC.

 

[Life of the Party]

October, PC Gamer:

I have run out of time, unfortunately. I won't get to see if Cassander survives (I don't rate his chances), but before I go I ask Johan one more question: Paradox is famous for supporting games for years after release with DLC and patches, so I ask him if he plans to do this with Imperator, expecting a non-committal answer. Instead I get a blunt "yes." In fact, he starts reeling off ideas for expansions that give depth to certain cultures: "a Greek one, Persian one, Indian one." He's very matter-of-fact that Rome is here to stay. This is a project Paradox is committing to not just now, but for years to come.

 

[Agame]

October, PC Gamer:

I have run out of time, unfortunately. I won't get to see if Cassander survives (I don't rate his chances), but before I go I ask Johan one more question: Paradox is famous for supporting games for years after release with DLC and patches, so I ask him if he plans to do this with Imperator, expecting a non-committal answer. Instead I get a blunt "yes." In fact, he starts reeling off ideas for expansions that give depth to certain cultures: "a Greek one, Persian one, Indian one." He's very matter-of-fact that Rome is here to stay. This is a project Paradox is committing to not just now, but for years to come.

Funny that, almost like they purposefully shipped out a hollow shell of a game that is utterly devoid of flavor and mechanics for different cultures, so they have years of DLC to make and sell...

"There were multiple times during that month where I was like, 'Fuck this shit, I'm quitting the industry.' It was like, 'I don't know how to make games anymore, I should just retire.'"

Johan is not wrong here

OH MY GOD even he admits he is a hack! YES! GTFO you sniffling retard, for the love of god retire!!

 

[Fedora Master]

I don't think it's just Johan who sabotages the development at Paradox.

 

[titus]

Hopefully this will not have the same fate as EU Rome. For Johan, the wannabe suit, to admit that he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing... encouraging news.

 

[Blaine]

DLC also crops up a lot in complaints, though Paradox is yet to announce any.

Like, who are they kidding there? The only way there won't be a ridiculous stream of DLC is if they can the game right now. Even the original Rome failed hard and got a DLC.

Even completely average Steam plebeians have caught on to (and are describing in their reviews) the reality that modern Paradox games play like hollow frameworks meant to be filled with DLC. That's what the article is referring to.

Though the DLC has yet to be announced, its presence can be sensed, its imminent arrival deduced in much the same way that scientists can predict the existence of an otherwise unobservable phenomenon by virtue of its conspicuous absence from a mathematical model.

But yeah, Paradox not shitting out $500-$1,000 worth of DLC would be akin to a six-year-old walking disinterestedly past an ice cream shop, a fox departing a hen house sans hen, the Sun failing to rise, bears not shitting in the woods, the Pope not being Catholic, etc.

 

[fantadomat]

I don't think it's just Johan who sabotages the development at Paradox.

Well the incompetent hacks do tend to hire low end people so they don't outshine them and get promoted. So it stands to reason that the whole team beneath him are incompetent hack.

 

[JarlFrank]

I don't buy or even pirate Paradox games on release these days because I know it will be a barebones skeleton that will be filled out with DLCs for the coming 5+ years, so the very earliest I try out a Paradox game is one year after release, usually I wait even longer. Because it takes at least a year of patches and DLCs for a Paradox game to actually be finished. Version 1.0 on release is pretty much just an open alpha test you pay for.

 

[Life of the Party]

Early May:

Power / Abstracted Currencies

I understand that there is a part of the community that dislike abstracted currencies like prestige, monarch power, influence or political power, they do make it into games that are possible to balance and

In 1.1, with us adding stability, war exhaustion, aggressive expansion and tyranny to the price structure, you could make a really good mod, replacing all power costs with impacts on those attributes. Such a mod could also completely make the instant culture conversion of a pop cost tyranny instead, making it something you do not want to do in bulk, or you could make changing an idea cost 5 stability, which is not much in direct cost, but limits you in other ways.

The base game will continue to use these currencies, as they make for a better game, but I acknowledge that there is a group of people who dislike them, and prefer another experience, so we will improve the game, to be able to support it.

You could make a really good mod.

 

[Preben]

A quick reminder on the current state of (((game journalism)))

Not journalists. Just paid shills for corporate interests.

https://www.pcgamer.com/how-paradox-is-rebuilding-imperator-rome/

"The post-launch was not all that fun for me personally," he says. "There were multiple times during that month where I was like, 'Fuck this shit, I'm quitting the industry.' It was like, 'I don't know how to make games anymore, I should just retire.'"

feels.jpg

 

[Goliath]

Johan is really butthurt that the stupid gamers didn't realize his genius:

"[Mana] was one of the first features we talked about, and it worked in the game and is a nice, balanced system," Andersson says. "I don't understand why people want to buy a game that has major core features that they don't like. Well, if the customers want something different, we'll just have to change the game to do that."

 

[Space Satan]

I am happy. You can notice from the start that Imperator forums were dead. Compared to Stellaris and Hearts of Iron IV pre-release user presence it was almost nothing. People were simply not interested.
And I am happy that everyone in Paradox understands that hitler mana and monarch points are the cancer and we won't see Victoria III with some mana as the central mechanic.

 

[Preben]

we won't see Victoria III with some mana as the central mechanic at all.

Fixed that for ya.

Paradox went for the casual crowd.

 

[Blaine]

Thankfully, Victoria II is good enough to last a lifetime.