Grand Strategy Crusader Kings III

[Axioms]

I don't understand how people can play this. Aside from Secrets and maybe the vassal contracts thing they added no actual interesting gameplay from CK2. Just gay rights and naked people. Where is the gameplay?

 

[NJClaw]

I don't understand how people can play this. Aside from Secrets and maybe the vassal contracts thing they added no actual interesting gameplay from CK2. Just gay rights and naked people. Where is the gameplay?

Steam says I have played for 55 hours and I have seen exactly one naked person and zero gay rights.

At least for me, the gameplay is in coming up with a plan to increase your family's power and then trying your best to overcome the obstacles you will inevitably encounter while executing it. Characters' traits and the lifestyles' trees play a big role in this, since they determine the effectiveness of the actions you can take.

For example, my last character was an honest and pious man who had to do horrible things to put his niece on the throne of Scotland. Every murder he planned put him on the brink of a mental breakdown, and he managed to pull through only thanks to the solace he found in translating ancient manuscripts and writing his memoirs. During his last years, he gave up everything he believed in and took all his family's land for himself, leaving to his son the arduous task of keeping an empire in shambles together. His son, my current character, is a wrathful sadistic ruler who is keeping his fathers' disgruntled vassals in check thanks to his iron fist approach and his impeccable diplomatic training, which allows him to keep a respectable facade despite his tyrannical ways.

 

[Larianshill]

Diplomacy tree did work, but I had to create a 18 year old character minmaxed into prestige to get it by the age of 49.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I keep getting my ironman saves fucked due to the game switching to observer mode on succession.

 

[Axioms]

I don't understand how people can play this. Aside from Secrets and maybe the vassal contracts thing they added no actual interesting gameplay from CK2. Just gay rights and naked people. Where is the gameplay?

Steam says I have played for 55 hours and I have seen exactly one naked person and zero gay rights.

At least for me, the gameplay is in coming up with a plan to increase your family's power and then trying your best to overcome the obstacles you will inevitably encounter while executing it. Characters' traits and the lifestyles' trees play a big role in this, since they determine the effectiveness of the actions you can take.

For example, my last character was an honest and pious man who had to do horrible things to put his niece on the throne of Scotland. Every murder he planned put him on the brink of a mental breakdown, and he managed to pull through only thanks to the solace he found in translating ancient manuscripts and writing his memoirs. During his last years, he gave up everything he believed in and took all his family's land for himself, leaving to his son the arduous task of keeping an empire in shambles together. His son, my current character, is a wrathful sadistic ruler who is keeping his fathers' disgruntled vassals in check thanks to his iron fist approach and his impeccable diplomatic training, which allows him to keep a respectable facade despite his tyrannical ways.

Yes you can just not turn gay rights on or use the naked man religions but they still added them to the game and the stupid 3d models in general.

Also the options you have for your "plan" are so limited and pathetic. Are CK3 fans just morons? Is that it? Is their imagination so deficient that they can't think of any way in which the D/I/P mechanics could be better?[Diplomacy,Intrigue,Politics]

Secrets shoulda been in the first 3 DLCs for CK2, much less CK3. And the Secret system is still very shallow and limited. And it has little to connect to mechanically.

 

[NJClaw]

Also the options you have for your "plan" are so limited and pathetic. Are CK3 fans just morons? Is that it? Is their imagination so deficient that they can't think of any way in which the D/I/P mechanics could be better?[Diplomacy,Intrigue,Politics]

Do you need me to explain to you the difference between "this game can be pretty fun" and "this game is literally perfect and can't be possibly improved in any way"? You do know that you can enjoy something even if it can be improved, right?

 

[Axioms]

Also the options you have for your "plan" are so limited and pathetic. Are CK3 fans just morons? Is that it? Is their imagination so deficient that they can't think of any way in which the D/I/P mechanics could be better?[Diplomacy,Intrigue,Politics]

Do you need me to explain to you the difference between "this game can be pretty fun" and "this game is literally perfect and can't be possibly improved in any way"? You do know that you can enjoy something even if it can be improved, right?

It is one thing to enjoy something that isn't perfect. I can still play CK2. Not a lot but it is doable. It is another thing to play a game you buy for full price that has essentially no meaningful improvements from CK2 but has a bunch of new stuff that is trash. CK3 is unenjoyable because they had it in dev for years and had a ton of time to pick the low hanging fruit and we got 2 very anemic improvements. Secrets and unique vassal contracts which are still a couple DLC from being interesting, for no reason.

That is why I say you have no imagination. What prevents CK3 from being good is that what could be is separated from what is by no meaningful barriers. There wasn't some great mountain to climb that prevented the devs from making the diplomacy, politics, and intrigue vastly better. They just chose to spend time on dumb shit instead. Like the 3D models among other things.

 

[NJClaw]

It is another thing to play a game you buy for full price that has essentially no meaningful improvements from CK2 but has a bunch of new stuff that is trash.

I bought it on sale and I paid less than 15€ what the fuck are you even rambling about

 

[Silva]

Does this game relies on "mana points" like EU4 ? I'm thinking about getting it.

 

[Average Manatee]

Does this game relies on "mana points" like EU4 ? I'm thinking about getting it.

Not particularly. I'd say that the game doesn't have mana at all, but some people define mana more loosely.

 

[Axioms]

As a true blue mana hater I would say it doesn't have mana the way EU4 does. It is still a big disappointment and should only be bought heavily discounted if at all. Maybe just keep playing CK2.

 

[vonAchdorf]

There are several "resource/currency" pools, but none are really Johan style mana in my opinion.

 

[Axioms]

There are several "resource/currency" pools, but none are really Johan style mana in my opinion.

The distinction between something like prestige, or piety, and mana is that mana recharges based on character stats, and in the worst cases random unconnected ones. Non-mana is tied to the overall game state. You gain prestige by doing prestigious shit and piety by doing pious shit. Mana, outside of special events, isn't gained by actions at all.

 

[NJClaw]

Truly a golden couple:

Spoiler

This has to be my favorite wedding planning simulator of all time.

Title-specific succession laws combined with absolute crown authority completely break the game (in a good way). You just need to attach the feudal elective law to your duchy titles and you will never again risk losing them to an unfortunate succession. Then, as soon as you pass absolute crown authority, you can ensure that your best child always gets all your land, regardless of your realm succession laws. You still lose kingdoms to other heirs, but that's not as painful as losing your hard-developed well-build main counties.

 

[Joggerino]

Are you not limited to 1 kingdom anyway?

 

[Harthwain]

This has to be my favorite wedding planning simulator of all time.

The way I liked it was by making marriages politically important, rather than hunting for traits.

I remember being the last landed Saxon count in England. My goal was to cast the Normans out and restore Saxon culture to the land. I was able to form a powerful alliance of nobles against the king (who was a boy and made me his Steward), and a large part of that alliance were my sons and grandsons, who by then became counts and dukes by a string of marriages (sometimes helped by assassinations). It was so powerful that when the time came and I sent a letter to the king, he yielded and I became the king of England with the very same count I started as.

Are you not limited to 1 kingdom anyway?

Only if you're not emperor.

 

[NJClaw]

Are you not limited to 1 kingdom anyway?

What do you mean? You can create or usurp kingdom titles while already being king. If you're not an emperor you will probably lose all your non-primary kingdom titles to your other sons, but losing kingdoms isn't really a big deal, since 95% of your revenue comes from the counties you hold directly (and you can't lose those with the feudal election law). Moreover, losing smaller independent kingdoms is actually a positive thing, since independent kings of your dynasty allow for a faster renown generation.

The way I liked it was by making marriages politically important, rather than hunting for traits.

I remember being the last landed Saxon count in England. My goal was to cast the Normans out and restore Saxon culture to the land. I was able to form a powerful alliance of nobles against the king (who was a boy and made me his Steward), and a large part of that alliance were my sons and grandsons, who by then became counts and dukes by a string of marriages (sometimes helped by assassinations). It was so powerful that when the time came and I sent a letter to the king, he yielded and I became the king of England with the very same count I started as.

In my last two games, the best usage of marriage has been to get a matrilineal marriage with a minor heir and then rapidly kill everyone above him in the succession line. Then, when your weak nephew is on the throne, you can claim his title and win an easy war against his severely weakened army. But obviously, that's possible only if you're the dynasty head.

With that genetically perfect marriage, I was just trying to fish for the Strengthen Bloodline decision.

 

[Axioms]

In one of my first CK2 games I got married as King of Poland to the Queen of Hungary, we had a kid, killed him, killed her, double king! That was way when the game first came out. So it was harder. Also as a Christian back then conquest was hard to get because of no CBs. These days I always play as a pagan.

 

[NJClaw]

Well, this batch of children was definitely a success:

Spoiler

 

[fantadomat]

LoL this game have such a generic soundtrack that it is painful to listen to.

 

[Fedora Master]

They actively made breeding Superhumans harder in CK2 only to go totally in the opposite direction with 3.

 

[Average Manatee]

They actively made breeding Superhumans harder in CK2 only to go totally in the opposite direction with 3.

They were kind of inconsistent in CK2, the game in general got harder (you get way less troops from vassals and factions/revolts are way stronger and more likely) but they also added items and wonders and stuff which made the game a cakewalk after 100 years

 

[vonAchdorf]

 

[Zariusz]

How will you rule when your subjects come to you with their complaints? Building the grandest court in the world may please your vassals and attract interesting people, but it also gives your complaining courtiers a place to find you. Make decisions that will smooth the troubled waters in your kingdom, while impressing visitors with your collection of masterpieces and relics.

The Royal Court expansion to Crusader Kings III adds new ways to interact with the characters in your kingdom or empire, as well as major changes to the cultural system of the game, adding greater dynamism and historical fluidity.

Features of Crusader Kings III: Royal Court include

• Throne Room
  A visual representation of your royal court will reflect all the accumulated majesty and prestige of your dynasty.
• Hold Court
  Interact with vassals and courtiers as they come to you with their problems, seeking a royal judgment.
• Grandeur
  Increase the quality of life at your court with fancier trappings and better food, all the better to impress your rivals and attract higher quality guests.
• Inspired People
  Talented artists, craftspeople and thinkers can work on new projects, adding treasures and artifacts to your court.
• Hybrid Cultures
  Make the most of a multicultural realm, developing a new way of life that is specifically adapted to your population and geography.
• Cultural Divergence
  Split from your traditional culture, adapting it into something new that better fits your aspirations.

 

[LizardWizard]

CRUSADER KINGS 3: ROYAL COURT HANDS-OFF PREVIEW - THRONE ROOM, GRANDEUR, CULTURE SYSTEM REWORK

They were kind of inconsistent in CK2, the game in general got harder (you get way less troops from vassals and factions/revolts are way stronger and more likely)

No not really. Unless you're not using Retinues, which made raising levies completely pointless in most cases.

CK3 definitely gives way too many levies (which are useless compared to Space Knight spam) but at least caps your MAA. Whereas CK2 Retinue doomstacks were just stupid OP especially if you know the meta.