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Loving the new banners there BT! The Andronikos one and Book Four, "The End of all Things". Truly we're going to be in for some hard times in terms of the story. How long do you think we've got overall though? Another year to go you reckon? Or maybe another year and a half. :D

Still, in regards to continuing in EU III format, I did have a few ideas. The first would be the style of writing. Whilst history book is a good form, your just so good at forming characters and weaving together a brilliant tale. So, what I was thinking of is that you could do mainly a history book form but maybe sprinkle in a little narrative on the way, perhaps? Nothing on the line of Rome AARisen of course but a smattering would be fun to read as the world begins to go forward into a different age entirely.

Secondly, choice of nation. Mali is an interesting choice but my overall concern is that its a country that isn't going to make such an impact on history in comparison to say a European power or the Byzantines. I think, but its your own choice ultimately, is that you should put your efforts into a power that become a true world power like the Romans have been or perhaps returning them to a position of strength....a Byzantine Empire into the 20th century would certainly be an interesting twist.

Either way, I'll be sure to play your mod if its released. Speaking of potential EU III countries, maybe the Holy Roman Empire instead? A powerful Germany this time around could be something interesting.

Anyway, looking forward to your next update regardless.
 
Love the updates (and especially the Persians).

In EUIII, I say play as Persia, Romanion or Sortmark. Persia actually has avenues to expand (Asia, with her lower tech values and lack of unity) while Romanion will be surrounded by developed and hostile successor states, making for a lot of wars and vassalization. Eranshahr is also badass. Sortmark has that same level of badassery- I'd love to see beserk-hussars razing Pest and conquering the Slavs. Mali would be rather droll- yay, we colonized another province of slaves! Inshallah, we are seizing the worthless deserts of Northern and Western Africa. Unless Mali has a navy, don't play them. I wonder how Ethiopia is doing- their Muslim antagonists are weakened. A new Jewish Falasha Abyssinia would be interesting- Ethiopia was never truly religiously unified, and a Jewish Ethiopia would fit right in with Arabia, Aionism, and Roman Orthodoxy. If Yemen or Adal fall to Aionite rebellions, Ethiopia could expand into an Indian Ocean power by seizing the Horn, the Bab al-Mandeb, Mocha, Sanaa and Aden, and Socotra. Imagine, Ethiopian Ceylon! Ras Tafari demands it!
 
Dont listen to the Byztanophiles and stick to Mali. Rome, Persia, Egypt and the rest are all fine and dandy *yawn* but why must we always aim for global conquest and world dominion? Enough with Euro-centric narratives!! Post-modern revisionism is the order of the day: The Rum are past their glory , so let us give them, and their "City" a rest. Do not these images tantalize you, sidi?: Blue-robed Andalusi Magistrates, Tuaregi tribesmen raiders, gold-decked Emirs, Amazonian princesses and a New Maghreb just a pinch away to forge and build!

Oh and let me not forget to mention the cache of Muslim West African sources I can give you! :D
 
No, why should Rome fail every time? Give us a modern Roman Empire, just vastly different geopolitical relations would make that story interesting. Evolution of Byzantines into modern state would be very interesting IMHO. And coupled with your superior writing nothing can go wrong.

Don't get me wrong, I want to hear a lot about Mali, but in a story named Roma Arisen Rome must always be in the center of attention.
 
I echo Calipah. Rome needs a rest. For several reasons:

1) It's nice to have a change every now and then. Constantinople can't always be super-duper-mega-city, for the sake of drama it needs to be left to AI erraticness for a while. We all know the story will eventually return to the city, so it wouldn't be a terrible break in the story, just a temporary pause. :)

2) When the human player guides a nation, it is almost inevitable that he does better than the AI regardless of what he does. Story-wise, this causes creeping disbelief... why are the Roman emperors brilliant all the time, while Germans and Russians are stupid brutes?? The story is better if the "divine gaze" (i.e. human player attention) shifts between nations, rather than stay constant on one nation all the time.

3) There's only so much creative stuff a writer can come up with for one particular subject. Here, the subject is the ahistorical medieval hyperpower of Byzantium. It will eventually become the renaissance superpower of Byzantium, then the 16th century superpower of Byzantium, and then the enlightenment superpower of Byzantium. I think if BT switches to something else in between (so that f.ex. renaissance Byzantium is left to the AI, and only features as a minor location) it would allow him to gather more creative ideas for what 16th century Byzantium is all about.

4) The story has, by now, so many unique and intriguing features besides Roman stuff, that it would be nice to hear about it. Mali was already mentioned. Roman Spain was described but never really got a long storyline of its own. Sortmark ofc is worth an AAR of its own. Persia / Eranshahr as well (if the Perso-Comnenids convert to Islam at some point, they will have to). And if the empire falls apart, any of the successor states would be interesting, most specially of course the ones in Italy and Egypt.

You know what I would most like to see? A story that starts in the Roman Maghreb, following the Kingdom of Mauretania's desperate fight for survival against the encroaching Malinese. Switching to the Malinese point of view once the triumphant Caliph rides through the gates of Casablanca (=Leukoikos?). Mali would then become a mediterranean-centered empire, they could link up with co-religionist rebels in Spain, fight the Romans in Libya and Egypt, combat the Aionite reformation movement in other Muslim states, or look west for the new world. Or try to do all of it together, like Spain in OTL :)
 
Oh and speaking of Muslims... when are the Perso-Komnenoids going to convert to Islam? :)

CK game dynamics are one thing, but in real life it would be hard to explain how Orthodox Christianity would ever become the dominant religion in a country with Iran's social, demographic and geographic features. Iran is nothing like Greece, Anatolia or Europe... it's got fierce nomads who would never accept concepts like church attendance or clerical hierarchies. It's got cosmopolitan cities who have seen many conquerors come and go, with their pomp and circumstance and their pretenses at royal glory. Muslim fatalism ("Inshallah") suits their experiences with history, not the Christian world view. And then there are the people of Iran. There's a long history of contact with the peoples and countries east of Iran, none of whom are Christian. The Christian claim that they are God's chosen people is laughably ridiculous to them. They know that there are vast countries east of Iran, all with their own religions, all happy in their own way. They know India, they know China, much better than the Christian priests and patriarchs who try to tell them that only the Christian god can save them.

In short, I can't see the Iranians abandon their Muslim faith(s) for Christian beliefs. None of the medieval mainstream versions of Christianity fit the Iranian people and their country. Mainstream Christian thought, memes or philosophy have nothing to offer that makes real sense to Iranians. It's like trying to make medieval Spaniards into Buddhists... you may get some converts but by and large, it's a totally alien religion to the people and there's little that Buddhism in terms of stories, parables or ideas than relate to how medieval Spaniards see the world.

Frankly it's okay that the Komnenoids would try to hold on to their memes and customs as long as they can - but eventually they have to get in sync with their population. Not all of Alexandros heirs will have his talents. Either they have to totally reinvent Christianity so that it fits the Persian world view better... or they simply convert to one of the Muslim faiths. :) It has to happen eventually.
 
I expect them to convert to Aionism at some point.

As for Rome needing a rest. Well, no. Either Rome or one of Rome's successor states. This is Rome AARisen, for crying out loud.:p Persia, okay. Some Roman succorstate, okay. Some totally independent country we've barely heard of in the story, bleh.;)
 
I say we leave it up to the almighty creator of this world to decide which course is best.

Besides, we don't even know the names of all the new countries that will appear in the EU3 incarnation, patience! ;)
 
I'd like to pile on the bandwagon here.

I'd be happy to see you play as any Roman successor state. Just not a non-Roman state.

I'd also like to implore you not to go back on your fantastic character writing skills by making the EU portion a history book. I've seen your history book updates in this AAR, and they are very good. But the characters and stories you make are simply incredible.

In EUIII you'll have your heir, your ruler and your 3 advisors to work with in game. I know this is really not alot to work with but I guess we'll be relying on your powers of imagination. :D

Meanwhile the prospect of the long awaited collapse has me almost giddy with excitement. :p

Seeing a country like Rome rise to become an unstoppable power is never as enjoyable of seeing that same, apparently invincible, power collapse. CK is probably the best game at portraying how a state can go from utter dominance to utter oblivion within a generation.
 
I'm just going to add a "+1" to what Tommy said; I agree completely. A Roman successor state or Persia would be fine, but anything else wouldn't really fit the concept of "Rome Arisen". And indeed, I'm sure you could use your incredible imagination to tailor the EUIII characters; history books would be rather dull compared to this narrative of yours.
 
Given that the title of the last chapter is "The End of All Things" I can only presume that this signifies also the end of "Rome Arisen." Therefore, this title will no longer be relevant in the EU3 universe, especially as the Mediteranean world will fragment and (possibly) decline (an earlier version of the decay of the Ottoman Empire and decline of the merchant republics?). I would choose an African state (Roman successor or not) on the Atlantic coast and turn it into a mighty colonial power, eventually placing some obedient puppets to rule over the City of Mens' Desire.
 
Since everyone is tell their opinions here, I guess I'll do that same.

I prefer that he stays with Constantinople. I'm okay with history book style. But I'm fine with whatever country he is gonna play for as long as it interests me. Not gonna read it if it's a random German state in HRE for example.
 
Given that the title of the last chapter is "The End of All Things" I can only presume that this signifies also the end of "Rome Arisen." Therefore, this title will no longer be relevant in the EU3 universe, especially as the Mediteranean world will fragment and (possibly) decline (an earlier version of the decay of the Ottoman Empire and decline of the merchant republics?). I would choose an African state (Roman successor or not) on the Atlantic coast and turn it into a mighty colonial power, eventually placing some obedient puppets to rule over the City of Mens' Desire.
Or: this is the end of the medieval warm period and the beginning of the "Little ice age" which lasted until the 18th century. Harsher climate, cooling temperatures, declining harvests, widespread malnourishment, collapse of Imperial structures and a deep long slide into feudalism and regionalization.

Southern England used to grow wine until the 13th century, after that it got too cold for the vines.

A continent-wide decline of harvests means trouble for large empires... especially one that is as used to budget surpluses and plentiful harvests as the Roman Empire. Some said that the Roman Empire of antiquity collapsed due to climate changes... maybe now the curse will hit the medieval incarnation too?
 
"The End of All Things" would be an overly dramatic name for a book that was about climate change :D

And yet on the other hand, I think some people are taking the title a little too literally; while the Empire will be in general decline, I doubt it'll cease to exist alltogether. Remember the EUIII maps BT posted ages ago?
 
Oh and speaking of Muslims... when are the Perso-Komnenoids going to convert to Islam?

About the same timeframe that the heirs of Umar converted to Zoroastrianism? :p
 
Or: this is the end of the medieval warm period and the beginning of the "Little ice age" which lasted until the 18th century. Harsher climate, cooling temperatures, declining harvests, widespread malnourishment, collapse of Imperial structures and a deep long slide into feudalism and regionalization.

Southern England used to grow wine until the 13th century, after that it got too cold for the vines.

A continent-wide decline of harvests means trouble for large empires... especially one that is as used to budget surpluses and plentiful harvests as the Roman Empire. Some said that the Roman Empire of antiquity collapsed due to climate changes... maybe now the curse will hit the medieval incarnation too?

The Black Death is also just round the corner.
 
Oh and speaking of Muslims... when are the Perso-Komnenoids going to convert to Islam? :)

CK game dynamics are one thing, but in real life it would be hard to explain how Orthodox Christianity would ever become the dominant religion in a country with Iran's social, demographic and geographic features. Iran is nothing like Greece, Anatolia or Europe... it's got fierce nomads who would never accept concepts like church attendance or clerical hierarchies. It's got cosmopolitan cities who have seen many conquerors come and go, with their pomp and circumstance and their pretenses at royal glory. Muslim fatalism ("Inshallah") suits their experiences with history, not the Christian world view. And then there are the people of Iran. There's a long history of contact with the peoples and countries east of Iran, none of whom are Christian. The Christian claim that they are God's chosen people is laughably ridiculous to them. They know that there are vast countries east of Iran, all with their own religions, all happy in their own way. They know India, they know China, much better than the Christian priests and patriarchs who try to tell them that only the Christian god can save them.

In short, I can't see the Iranians abandon their Muslim faith(s) for Christian beliefs. None of the medieval mainstream versions of Christianity fit the Iranian people and their country. Mainstream Christian thought, memes or philosophy have nothing to offer that makes real sense to Iranians. It's like trying to make medieval Spaniards into Buddhists... you may get some converts but by and large, it's a totally alien religion to the people and there's little that Buddhism in terms of stories, parables or ideas than relate to how medieval Spaniards see the world.

Frankly it's okay that the Komnenoids would try to hold on to their memes and customs as long as they can - but eventually they have to get in sync with their population. Not all of Alexandros heirs will have his talents. Either they have to totally reinvent Christianity so that it fits the Persian world view better... or they simply convert to one of the Muslim faiths. :) It has to happen eventually.

Have the Throne of Gabriel convert to one of the Oriental Churches (Nasrani, Assyrian, Monophysite). Or, to be cool, have a Yazidi/Gnostic Christianity. Gnosticism, due to similarities with Manichaeism, may fit the Persian culture. Yazidism worships a peacock angel- that's pretty cool, and that comes from Perso-Kurdish culture. Greek Orthodoxy will not work, but I'm sure Gnosticism (see Cathars and Templars for theology) could be adjusted to be Persian and Christian as well.
 
Wow, look how everybody came out of the woodwork! That's a token of how good this story is -- people are passionate about it.

Regardless of what you decide to do, I'm confident that Rome AsundAAR will be just as epic as Rome AARisen continues to be. Why? Because if you're the one writing it, BT, it's going to be good. :)

P.S. To anybody freaking out about the latest banner heading -- he said it was for the final BOOK, not the final chapter. So the conclusion of Rome AARisen could still be a year away, for all we know.
 
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