CKII is released.

[Mortmal]

Only thing helping a bit is to use the cloud for autosave, theres far too many disk access when you are playing iron mode. Also maybe try the linux version.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Been trying HIP lately, some things I like (more laws in particular - in vanilla I usually change all the laws I care for in the first 50 years and then forget about them), some I don't (fucking annoying to have single county counts make themselves dukes in two-county duchies, no idea why they changed that back).

Anyway, I found myself with an empire with mostly viceroyalties under me, except for some 10 feudal dukes that understandably had to go. I didn't want to wait to pick them off slowly, but 200 revoked titles penalty was a bit too much even for me. So I switched to intrigue focus and started spying. 10 years later there are no dukes left and I have 200+ bonus with all my vassals for "crushed major rebellion".

Apparently, everyone of them was guilty of treason, I didn't even need to fabricate anything. I assumed that spying would only discover something if the target is actually plotting something, but it doesn’t look like that. Sure, most of them didn't really like me that much (and liked me even less when I accidentally banished one of them by mistake and got hit with 80 tyranny penalty), but even a content duke that did like me was guilty of something. Talking bad about me, heretical beliefs (same religion as me), devious sexual practices (no idea) - all are apparently enough to try and usually fail (otherwise I just ransom them and try again) to arrest, leading to then easily crushing them with my already raised and waiting army and revoking his ass.

Intrigue and seduction (especially for female rulers that can have +75 bonus with almost all vassals and rulers in the world) focuses are really out of balance with the rest of them.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Intrigue and seduction (especially for female rulers that can have +75 bonus with almost all vassals and rulers in the world)

Bitches ain't nothin' but hoes and tricks.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well, at least they have to work for it - that master seductress bonus takes quite some... practice to reach.

The intrigue focus on the other hand seems to allow you to remove any vassal that even looks at you funny, tyranny free (hell, it will actually give you vassal bonuses).

 

[Konjad]

Now that some patches were out, is the Way of Life worth getting when it hits -50% discount or should I skip it? Does it add to the game or does it break the game?

 

[RK47]

Now that some patches were out, is the Way of Life worth getting when it hits -50% discount or should I skip it? Does it add to the game or does it break the game?

It adds a ton of event, depending on your focus.
I hope you like those.

 

[Konjad]

Now that some patches were out, is the Way of Life worth getting when it hits -50% discount or should I skip it? Does it add to the game or does it break the game?

It adds a ton of event, depending on your focus.
I hope you like those.

Yes, I know what it does. But according to paradox forum users soon after the release, it was broken and everyone romanced everybody.

 

[Zero Credibility]

It's still broken, they just toned it down a bit. That's why they are planing more nerfing of seduction in the next patch - right now the only reliable way of stopping people from banging your wife is to marry a lesbian (well, there is a bug where she can still get pregnant by a female lover, but that's rare and more importantly completely hilarious).

They should also take a good look at intrigue as well, it's fucking annoying when vassals decide to level up by killing or abducting random people in your realm, just because they can. Doubly so if you are playing greek because you just know once abducted they are not coming home with all of their body parts attached and there is not a damn thing you can do about it apart from catching the asshole with blood on his hands or eating tyranny.

 

[Turisas]

(well, there is a bug where she can still get pregnant by a female lover, but that's rare and more importantly completely hilarious).

Maybe it was a "female".


But they didn't add a chastity belt option? Wtf were they thinking? At the very least you should be able to lock up all the womyn of your house into a tower when you're out warring.

 

[Riso]

I've updated my Jarls of India mod; you can now convert your game into EU4.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=323686558

 

[RK47]

When you put life altering events, and allow AI to spam it ... on any random characters for no rhyme and reason because 'it's told to do so' - Way of Life happens.

New Game
I went with a King of Cyprus on the Mongol Arrival bookmark.
Since the liege is a 2 year old, it was 14 years of boring tutorship with nothing much happening.
Once the liege hits 16, I implemented a complete centralization of the entire island kingdom.
Church, City, Castle, all eight holdings income + levy were directly under my control.
This is pretty awesome and made the game pretty much a straightforward max speed and full upgrading on income booster buildings.
And somehow Venice took Constantinople.

The years passed peacefully until I realized I can press a claim on Kingdom of Jerusalem.
I came so close to winning that war until they called in Byzantines into the mix.
Decided not to bother and back off.
What followed was a Crusade on Anatolia, god I joined so late and didn't score first place. Scotland has it now.
Yeah, Scotland replaced Rum, what a wonderful world.

So I'm still stuck.
Decided to just make antipope for the hell of it.
Maybe I'll press claim on Rome one day.

 

[RK47]

I decided on a slow game of fabricating claims off Venice and taking them on piece by piece. It really reminds me of the classic Merchant Republic style of conquest, only slower, and more levy.
It all went well until Byzantine decides they want their de jure back.

Shit. Whatever, it's just a county. I let them siege and warscore to 100%. I didn't surrender cause I want to make sure the truce is signed as late as possible.

So I waited. And watched as the arrogant Basileus challenged the remnants of Rum.

He got wrecked. Somehow his 17,000 strong army couldn't beat the Rumites' 16,000. It's my turn.
Sieged my former county with no issue, went to his capital. His army was nonexistent.

I finished sieging Constantinople and captured his wife.

Too bad, she can't see you right now...

Payback is sweet.

 

[Brzęczyszczykiewicz]

From Paradox forum:

 

[Zero Credibility]

Restored Roman Empire has the Emperor title, I think. Anyway, 1850 courtiers?! Fuck how I hate it when random assholes decide to squat in my carefully maintained, neat and above all small court. I rage when 20 of them arrive because viceroyalties are implemented so shitty, if this happened to me I would quit the game, delete save files, uninstall the game and format the drive, just in case.

 

[Delterius]

To be fair, it seems a covert way to limit expansion.

Want to rule the whole of Europe? Good luck dicking around with your Imperial-sized court!

 

[RK47]

What's the problem? That's enough court to siege a pagan county.

 

[Abelian]

I'm don't like having large courts, but on the other hand it would be historically accurate to have kings fed up with too many nobles running around and then sending them on a crusade...

 

[wwsd]

Finally had a go with Way of Life, albeit with the Game of Thrones mod, after having just finished a regular game without either of them. It seems people here weren't exaggerating. Everyone is bloody at it, shagging like rabbits. Westeros is quickly filling up with noble pick-up artists, peacocking with their sigils and mottos and sarging all the young wenches in the realm. I'm playing as Robb Stark, and Edmure Tully has seduced his sister/my mother Catelyn Stark, and now she's popping out his bastards. What a joke. I think I'll disable this one.

Maybe the next DLC could add an Awesome Button in the Intrigue screen which lets you inseminate any comely wench that you want on command (without having to develop your seduction skills or whatever), and then when the bastard is born, you can name him after yourself, make him first in line to the throne and add whichever traits you want, give him an attrition-free host of 200,000 Mongols, and add an Invasion CB on every realm in the world. Paradox should also add the ability to mod in a picture of yourself for this ruler, because it's all about the player's ego at this point.

 

[OSK]

New patch out.

Patch 2.3.4

MAJOR:

• Fixed CTD issue caused by character flags not being saved properly

MINOR:

• Now unborn children of dead popes no longer inherit a claim on the papacy when they are born.
• You no longer feel bad for having a romantic relationship with your spouse.
• Added console command 'add_lover'
• Fixed a problem with delayed events having the exact same random seed as the firing scope
• Seduction Focus: AI will not try to seduce targets that already have lovers (unless lustful, etc)
• Seduction Focus: AI seducers less likely to acquire multiple lovers
• Seduction Focus: Married women and concubines are less likely to fall for seduction if they like their husband better than the seducer (unless lustful, arbitrary, etc.)
• Seduction Focus: Toned down AI seduction attempts of player spouses and concubines even more
• Seduction Focus: It takes much longer to attempt seduction of distant targets
• Seduction Focus: More personality checks for married women and consorts
• Seduction Focus: Added missing "Seduction in the Wild" event (WoL.431)
• Intrigue Focus: Spying on an adulterer (your spouse, consort or the other party) can now uncover the affair
• Players can no longer see other lovers of their spouses and concubines in the interface without using the 'charinfo' console command
• Hunting Focus: Fixed a bug with duplicate events fired (from WoL.5066)
• Fixed bug where only the last character was visible in the end game list of played characters
• Fixed bug where the AI did not always build buildings.
• Fixed an issue with the trade route chain that could create the trade route for the other party instead.
• Toned down courtier lover creation event (456)
• Seduction events: Fixed some issues where execution would break incorrectly

 

[Redlands]

• Now unborn children of dead popes no longer inherit a claim on the papacy when they are born.

Regardless of how you feel about the game, I for one am glad there's at least one game that exists where this could appear in the patch notes.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Half the patch is just dealing with seduction silliness. Now waiting for them to repeat the same for intrigue focus.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

So you will no longer become The Kings of Cucks?

I guess it's time for a reinstall.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Do levies cost money now? I was trying a cheesy playthrough (I usually play legit) and losing a ton of gold by calling regular levies, not sure if a bug or I fucked up something with cheats.

I also tried the ASOIAF mod and I'm really digging playing as an Iron Man (a totally irrelevant lordling in middle of the ocean). Got to sack the capital of one of the most powerful families in Westeros while they were at war, killed their head in a duel, stole their valirian steel sword and captured three of their women (capturing from sieges is way easier than in vanilla). Unfortunately, instead of getting a nubile 15yo atractive princess as a salt wive I only captured old hags. They got to marry the Drowned God.
Then I got castrated by one of the salt wives I captured while reaving in Essos. Fun.

 

[RK47]

Do levies cost money now?

Liege levy always cost money.
Vassal levy doesn't.

 

[Atomkilla]

Got into this game some time ago, and while enjoyable, it's obvious Paradox fags chopped it down quite nicely for all the DLC shit. My question here is which DLCs are essential?
I don't care about those music and portrait stuff (though listening to same 5 tunes has gotten really boring), I'm interested in the actual meat. I've been going through some comments and posts on various sites, seems to me Islam and Old Gods are the most important packs.
Thoughts?

 

[PocketMine]

Rance Jr starts his training early.

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

Got into this game some time ago, and while enjoyable, it's obvious Paradox fags chopped it down quite nicely for all the DLC shit. My question here is which DLCs are essential?
I don't care about those music and portrait stuff (though listening to same 5 tunes has gotten really boring), I'm interested in the actual meat. I've been going through some comments and posts on various sites, seems to me Islam and Old Gods are the most important packs.
Thoughts?

Sunset Invasion

Spoiler

Seriously, though, you pretty much got it right. But I do like the extra mechanics, so the only ones I'd avoid are Sunset Invasion (because WTF) and Way of Life (because AI is derp). Obviously, India is a weird fit for CK2, but eh, I had some fun with it.
Anyway, what they offer is laid out here, you can decide for yourself which you care for.