Playing other games

[Vertigo 7]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm8tpcO4vw

Surprise announcement for Zelda BOTW fans. I'm stoked!

[pjknibbs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm8tpcO4vw

Surprise announcement for Zelda BOTW fans. I'm stoked!

Bear in mind that this sounds like a Hyrule Warriors (aka Dynasty Warriors in Hyrule) game rather than anything like Breath of the Wild was.

[Vertigo 7]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm8tpcO4vw

Surprise announcement for Zelda BOTW fans. I'm stoked!

Bear in mind that this sounds like a Hyrule Warriors (aka Dynasty Warriors in Hyrule) game rather than anything like Breath of the Wild was.

well ya, it's in the title of the game =p but its sounding like the story told in this game is going to be canon for BOTW. I loved Hyrule Warriors. And with the BOTW team working with Koei Tecmo, I really expect this to be quite the gem. They're even using the same voice actors.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

I'm recently amazed by Crusader Kings III.

[GCU Grey Area]

I'm recently amazed by Crusader Kings III.

Same here. Very much enjoying it. Although right now bit worried that the pope's decided to send a crusade my way - apparently doesn't approve much of Lollard Ireland...

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

I'm recently amazed by Crusader Kings III.

Same here. Very much enjoying it. Although right now bit worried that the pope's decided to send a crusade my way - apparently doesn't approve much of Lollard Ireland...

I picked one leader at random and ended up in India. They killed my son, so after the death of my starter I'm now playing my grandson trying to establish some kingdom in southern India. He's born from a marriage somewhere in Tibet, so his religion allows concubines and has like 10 children...

edit: confused grandson for nephew because of english language.

[GCU Grey Area]

I picked one leader at random and ended up in India. They killed my son, so after the death of my starter I'm now playing my grandson trying to establish some kingdom in southern India. He's born from a marriage somewhere in Tibet, so his religion allows concubines and has like 10 children...

edit: confused grandson for nephew because of english language.

Sounds cool. I just carried on from the tutorial start. Couple of generations ago an heir turned Lollard before inheriting titles & I decided to just go with it. Been really quite useful up until now. Founded my own private holy order that only fights 'heathens', though that really means anyone not Lollard (i.e. includes ALL of Catholic Europe!). Also don't need pope's agreement for divorces (House Head can do that, which conveniently is me) & been getting a LOT of duchy level fabricated claims on Scotland, Wales & England, apparently due to religious differences. Downside however is crusade inbound & they've got more troops.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

I picked one leader at random and ended up in India. They killed my son, so after the death of my starter I'm now playing my grandson trying to establish some kingdom in southern India. He's born from a marriage somewhere in Tibet, so his religion allows concubines and has like 10 children...

edit: confused grandson for nephew because of english language.

Sounds cool. I just carried on from the tutorial start. Couple of generations ago an heir turned Lollard before inheriting titles & I decided to just go with it. Been really quite useful up until now. Founded my own private holy order that only fights 'heathens', though that really means anyone not Lollard (i.e. includes ALL of Catholic Europe!). Also don't need pope's agreement for divorces (House Head can do that, which conveniently is me) & been getting a LOT of duchy level fabricated claims on Scotland, Wales & England, apparently due to religious differences. Downside however is crusade inbound & they've got more troops.

As soon as I'm confident in how much I understand game mechanics, I will start at home in the county of Turin and see how things develops.
I'm really having fun managing relations with people instead of nations: you can be at war with another kingdom and, ten years later, their best ally because you got your daughter marry their heir!
Also, I still need to understand when it's good to grant titles and when not. My uncle created his own cadet house (something related to different culture or religion, I guess) and I'm wondering if it's a good idea granting him an entire duchy.

[GCU Grey Area]

Also, I still need to understand when it's good to grant titles and when not. My uncle created his own cadet house (something related to different culture or religion, I guess) and I'm wondering if it's a good idea granting him an entire duchy.

Does seem to be one of the trickier sides of the game. Still trying to work out how not to have a civil war with my dukes EVERY time I have a new ruler on the throne & all the old alliances that kept them in check suddenly cease to be relevant.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Also, I still need to understand when it's good to grant titles and when not. My uncle created his own cadet house (something related to different culture or religion, I guess) and I'm wondering if it's a good idea granting him an entire duchy.

Does seem to be one of the trickier sides of the game. Still trying to work out how not to have a civil war with my dukes EVERY time I have a new ruler on the throne & all the old alliances that kept them in check suddenly cease to be relevant.

I had one of those wars between two vassals (two uncles, one of them was 6 y.o.) in which the older one gained control of the other's county. It happened the exact moment ruler died and the new heir (which wasn't involved in that war at all) rose to power. The winner some time later founded his own cadet house.

[GCU Grey Area]

I had one of those wars between two vassals (two uncles, one of them was 6 y.o.) in which the older one gained control of the other's county. It happened the exact moment ruler died and the new heir (which wasn't involved in that war at all) rose to power. The winner some time later founded his own cadet house.

It's always the Liberty Faction in my game. Constantly lurking in the background muttering about lowering crown authority. Nothing happens as long as I keep enough of them in prison or allied through marriage. New king though - all the old marriage alliances dissolve & can't keep my entire aristocracy in prison permanently. For some reason that completely escapes me that would be seen as 'tyrannical'.

Bad war to lose though. Not so much for the lower crown authority (though that is irritating), but because all the winners get hooks. There's often lots of them & they all start demanding outrageous things - places on the council they're utterly unsuited for, or deciding they don't want to pay tax any more.

Just lost the crusade (bound to happen, they had more than 5x the numbers) & consequences were far less severe. Turned out they just wanted a handful of counties in England & I'm stuck with an annoying 10 year truce before I can take them back. Seems I'll have to find some other Catholics to beat up for a while - Brittany looks tempting...

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

I had one of those wars between two vassals (two uncles, one of them was 6 y.o.) in which the older one gained control of the other's county. It happened the exact moment ruler died and the new heir (which wasn't involved in that war at all) rose to power. The winner some time later founded his own cadet house.

It's always the Liberty Faction in my game. Constantly lurking in the background muttering about lowering crown authority. Nothing happens as long as I keep enough of them in prison or allied through marriage. New king though - all the old marriage alliances dissolve & can't keep my entire aristocracy in prison permanently. For some reason that completely escapes me that would be seen as 'tyrannical'.

Bad war to lose though. Not so much for the lower crown authority (though that is irritating), but because all the winners get hooks. There's often lots of them & they all start demanding outrageous things - places on the council they're utterly unsuited for, or deciding they don't want to pay tax any more.

Just lost the crusade (bound to happen, they had more than 5x the numbers) & consequences were far less severe. Turned out they just wanted a handful of counties in England & I'm stuck with an annoying 10 year truce before I can take them back. Seems I'll have to find some other Catholics to beat up for a while - Brittany looks tempting...

Oh, you meant factions! I've never seen one, yet. At the moment I struggle a bit with money too, but that's because there's always something to buy and I need 500 to "create" the kingdom.

[GCU Grey Area]

Oh, you meant factions! I've never seen one, yet. At the moment I struggle a bit with money too, but that's because there's always something to buy and I need 500 to "create" the kingdom.

Well it's something to look forward to. Think factions only really kick in when you've got a Kingdom level title & more duchies than you can control personally. At least that's the way it worked out in my game. As for money, no matter where you are in the game seems it's always in short supply & too many things to spend it on. Become really quite fond of Stewardship lifestyle, either Wealth or Domain focus. Golden Obligations is a particular favourite - any time I get a hook on someone wealthy I can extort a decent amount of cash out of them. Ransoming prisoner is also a good way of filling the coffers. However sometimes they don't have the cash on hand (particularly after an expensive war), so I'll let them go for a hook & grab their cash later.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Oh, you meant factions! I've never seen one, yet. At the moment I struggle a bit with money too, but that's because there's always something to buy and I need 500 to "create" the kingdom.

Well it's something to look forward to. Think factions only really kick in when you've got a Kingdom level title & more duchies than you can control personally. At least that's the way it worked out in my game. As for money, no matter where you are in the game seems it's always in short supply & too many things to spend it on. Become really quite fond of Stewardship lifestyle, either Wealth or Domain focus. Golden Obligations is a particular favourite - any time I get a hook on someone wealthy I can extort a decent amount of cash out of them. Ransoming prisoner is also a good way of filling the coffers. However sometimes they don't have the cash on hand (particularly after an expensive war), so I'll let them go for a hook & grab their cash later.

And I finally am Maharaja of Tamilakam!
I had to give one of my duchies to a vassal, because three duchies were too much and gave me some penalties, so I granted it to my heir's wife (this way, in the long term, a future heir would inherit).
But, and it's a big funny but (with just a single "t"): a lot of murders happening in my court and, after investigating, I noticed my heir was a serial killer (he even killed his second son!), so I had to kill him as a punishment. This execution needed to be followed by the disinheritance of my heir's firstborn, to have my second son be the legit heir to the kingdom. My ineffable plan went sideways in a couple of years. The Raja of Tondai Nadu, wife of the murderer, after the event became my "friend", someway. I was a bit confused: Middle Age India is definitely a very curious culture... Anyway, the Chola dinasty is going to inherit Tondai Nadu, even if my grandson has a very bad relation with me. I've got time to improve relations, as he's like 10.

[Rug]

I'm seeing a lot of stories pouring out after the CK3 release, but I'm a little curious.

Would the same type of stories not also emerge from CK2 ?

I know the interface has been worked on a good deal to make it better looking and easier to learn your way around, but as I already have CK2 would it really be enough of an upgrade to CK3 ? I'm pretty sure that I can wait this out for a bit, as I've only just started getting into Paradox games, and I've lots of catching up to do !

But if it really is that much better an experience, then would I be foolish to stick with the old version just to save £20 or £30 - especially as the cost per hour for games of this type (and the X games too, of course) is measured in pennies?

I've only played these games after many (years of) updates have been added over the original release, so I've no experience of getting a load of new mechanics after I've got the hang of the original. Is that exciting, or just a bit annoying, having the game become easier/deeper after a time, when I could have had the benefits for the whole experience by waiting a year?

Thoughts ?

Rug

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

I'm seeing a lot of stories pouring out after the CK3 release, but I'm a little curious.

Would the same type of stories not also emerge from CK2 ?

I know the interface has been worked on a good deal to make it better looking and easier to learn your way around, but as I already have CK2 would it really be enough of an upgrade to CK3 ? I'm pretty sure that I can wait this out for a bit, as I've only just started getting into Paradox games, and I've lots of catching up to do !

But if it really is that much better an experience, then would I be foolish to stick with the old version just to save £20 or £30 - especially as the cost per hour for games of this type (and the X games too, of course) is measured in pennies?

I've only played these games after many (years of) updates have been added over the original release, so I've no experience of getting a load of new mechanics after I've got the hang of the original. Is that exciting, or just a bit annoying, having the game become easier/deeper after a time, when I could have had the benefits for the whole experience by waiting a year?

Thoughts ?

Rug

I almost never played CK2, but talking with a friends some differences (between CK3 base game and CK2 with dlcs) are:
- Baronies are now the smallest unit of land (each county contains 5-6 of those).
- Map is expanded in Africa and Asia.
- Your vassals and courtiers can become knights (based on a skill called "prowess", which is the actual ability to fight) and can make a lot of difference in battle.
- There are perks which you can obtain based on the lifestyle you choose (gathering xp points to unlock them).
- You can't play anymore a merchant republic (perhaps you will in a future dlc?).
- You can create your own religion reform by spending "faith" and choosing from quite a large variety of characteristics (e.g. you can be a buddhist, but having the communion trait. I think, but may be wrong because some "traits" are limited to certain kind of religion, but I'm sure you get what I mean).
- Councilors' skills are what matters in managing your territories and state affairs.
- You can only choose to start in 867 or 1066.

Edit: I really like it, I think it's worth the price, even if I have to admit I got it for free from MS Game Pass.

[GCU Grey Area]

Would the same type of stories not also emerge from CK2 ?

Probably, however there's enough new stuff in CK3 to make it a significantly different experience. In particular the Lifestyle system whereby each character (including all NPCs) can specialise in different aspects of the game. Stress system also adds to this - provides a big incentive to play in a manner that suits your character's personality traits. Can still do out of character stuff if it's essential but best to avoid that whenever possible. For example, a Compassionate character should really try to avoid too much assassination - tends to stress them out & they might go mad.

And I finally am Maharaja of Tamilakam!
I had to give one of my duchies to a vassal, because three duchies were too much and gave me some penalties, so I granted it to my heir's wife (this way, in the long term, a future heir would inherit).
But, and it's a big funny but (with just a single "t"): a lot of murders happening in my court and, after investigating, I noticed my heir was a serial killer (he even killed his second son!), so I had to kill him as a punishment. This execution needed to be followed by the disinheritance of my heir's firstborn, to have my second son be the legit heir to the kingdom. My ineffable plan went sideways in a couple of years. The Raja of Tondai Nadu, wife of the murderer, after the event became my "friend", someway. I was a bit confused: Middle Age India is definitely a very curious culture... Anyway, the Chola dinasty is going to inherit Tondai Nadu, even if my grandson has a very bad relation with me. I've got time to improve relations, as he's like 10.

Congratulations. Wouldn't worry about all the murdering - family trees just need to be pruned on occasion to ensure the right people inherit. Had to do a fair bit of that in my game recently. Currently up to 4 kingdom titles, all now under a Tanistry succession system. It's elective - dukes & earls also get to vote & sometimes the insist on picking the wrong people. Consequently a bit of pruning became essential to ensure the line of succession was consistent for all 4. Really need to get an imperial title. Think that cuts the earls out of the vote, so less bloodshed needed to get the votes to line up neatly.
This is the death list for my current ruler:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7pzq5k8rbio6c ... 1.jpg?dl=0
Last two on that list weren't part of the succession pruning, they were Court Chaplains with truly dreadful Learning.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Congratulations. Wouldn't worry about all the murdering - family trees just need to be pruned on occasion to ensure the right people inherit. Had to do a fair bit of that in my game recently. Currently up to 4 kingdom titles, all now under a Tanistry succession system. It's elective - dukes & earls also get to vote & sometimes the insist on picking the wrong people. Consequently a bit of pruning became essential to ensure the line of succession was consistent for all 4. Really need to get an imperial title. Think that cuts the earls out of the vote, so less bloodshed needed to get the votes to line up neatly.
This is the death list for my current ruler:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7pzq5k8rbio6c ... 1.jpg?dl=0
Last two on that list weren't part of the succession pruning, they were Court Chaplains with truly dreadful Learning.

My character is "compassionate", so I got a lot of stress from that choice. And now he's "inappetetic", which is pretty unrealistic for me, considering "gluttony" is my personal favourite sin.

[GCU Grey Area]

My character is "compassionate", so I got a lot of stress from that choice. And now he's "inappetetic", which is pretty unrealistic for me, considering "gluttony" is my personal favourite sin.

Compassionate - ugh! That is unfortunate, most inconvenient, you have my sympathy. Had one of those a couple of generations back. Didn't last long in the job, ended up drinking himself to death a few years after taking the throne. Didn't even do all that much murdering, mostly just too many events which caused stress.

[GCU Grey Area]

Think I've found a CK3 trait that's even more inconvenient than Compassionate. Strongly suggest avoiding any ruler with Shy - if they're in the line of succession should be immediately murdered (for the good of the realm) before they get any chance to inherit the throne. It truly is an awful trait for a king. Every single attempt to Sway another character (which my rulers generally do pretty much all the time) causes a big chunk of Stress. Worse than that, one of the best stress management options, Hold Feast, is utterly useless for reducing Stress. Somehow don't see this particular ruler lasting long in the job. Since Sway isn't really an option, decided to go full Tyrant for this (hopefully) short reign - max out Dread, imprison/torture anyone who even looks at him & hope like hell all his vassals end up too terrified to cause him much bother. Gong really well so far - arrested 2 of the Liberty faction & the rest instantly rose up in revolt...

Edit: It gets worse, just discovered I can't even bribe other characters (pretty much essential for successful hostile schemes). This king is also Greedy so giving away anything also causes Stress. Lesson learnt - ALWAYS check every single detail of potential heirs before deciding which ones to prune from the family tree.