Why do you love Europa Universalis & how would you explain it to a friend?

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Regina

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Why do you love Europa Universalis and how would you explain it to a friend?
Here are some answers from our gamers – do you agree & do you have anything to add?

Please feel free to post testimonials :)

And you wish to fulfill your quest for global domination.
Europa Universalis IV is now available for pre-order, get the game here:
http://www.europauniversalis4.com/buy

Cheers,
regina

Facebook Testimonials:
http://www.facebook.com/EuropaUniversalis/posts/10150955979208697

Facebook Testimonials Round 2:
http://www.facebook.com/EuropaUniversalis/posts/365312433564090

Reza: I can fantasize while I am playing, that's all; being a ruler of a worldwide empire...

Cymon: I'm power hungry, I love watching my empire grow to march across the world! Also my father has played "Hearts of Iron" since I was a little boy so, it’s in the blood I guess....

Erik: Because you can lose.

James: It's a game where you can be any country at any day between 1399 and 1820. You control everything, economy, military, colonies, religion, the nature of your state ... how much it's naval or aristocratic. And the world advances based on your choices realistically. You can take Tibet and turn it into a Protestant merchant republic. It's the best strategy game I have ever played ... and I have played hundreds and hundreds of hours. Pretty much what I've said.

Konrad: A Civilization based game with more political options and lots of micro management.

Orhan: Do you want to command a country? Try this game.

Julian: Staring at a map compulsively for 6 hours a day... But in a good way.

Michał: You can make a coffee without pausing.

Kelar: Ruining history in new and interesting ways!

Greg: I love EU because it's a historical strategy game on a grander scale than any other really. You can play as almost any large nation/people in the world between 1399 and 1820, and even then if you still don't like the selections, you can easily mod in your own nation with a few lines of text. There is so much detail put into the history, who ruled when, what wars changed what, but that level of detail doesn't prohibit you from forging your own version of history.
Yeah, it sacrifices the graphics and action of some of the more popular strategy games, but it does it in exchange for depth, and ultimately gains from it so much more than it loses.

Nicholas: I love EU3 because it's fun to rewrite history and I enjoy the challenge of trying to conquer the world as some backwaters unknown mudbowl in southeast Asia.
How to explain it to a friend?
Europa Universalis is a 4x grand strategy game that takes place from 1399 to 1821 in which in you can play any nation from that period. If after that point you don't get it then EU3 isn't for you.

Greg: What other game can you play a self-made fictional Greek/Turkish culture hybrid, animist civilization who reverses the spread of Islam and Christianity in Anatolia, Palestine, and Egypt, and then colonizes the Americas and Japan?

Mike: It's a game about state and society building in the context of some epic historical things like the reformation, colonization, and the Enlightenment. It is grounded enough in historical detail to turn it into a fun "what if?" machine, but not too overburdened with it that it becomes depressing to play as anyone who wasn't historically successful. I can create a Poland that never gets partitioned or an Ottoman Empire with a representative government that stretches to France and I think that's great.

Describing to a friend:
It's like someone took those multi-colored, before & after maps from history textbooks and made a game out of it.

Тэгар: because there are no specific condition to win the game. It is simply how to make your nation survive.

Pascal: Best game in the woooooorld!

Edvard: The possibilities and the depth of control the game gives you over your country. To be able to change history through strategic planning. Also, an unexpected bonus is that you become a master of geography. To a friend (cause I'm Swedish): Imagine Svea Rike, only 100 times better

Beussy: It's the love child of Risk and Civ. Nuff said.

David: It's a game like Europa that spans through the ages you spawn as an early tribe and finish as an empire. The idea being that players can start at any era. There would be no set events as they would be random and situational as cultures evolve there would be choices to make selecting some would make others harder to reach but not all are required merely optional variations in culture.

Mikołaj: If you're one of those people (like me) that have passion for history and politics, if you're a fan of historical movies, TV series, you listen to Gregorian chants and Renaissance court music on parties (like me), if you wanted to be King Arthur when you was a child and you also spent countless hours moving your units on hex maps of board strategy games, then when you thought it could be fun to play a computer game, you only had one good choice - Europa Universalis.

Nathan: Epic scale.

Mick: Epic scale and extreme modability.

Rafa: Because one can become a creator of history, not an observer solely. Because it's extremely realistic, complicated and sometimes difficult - as reality itself. An you can win or lose in thousand ways. This gives real satisfaction!

Clément: Because you are one of the few companies to innovate and the game is complete ... before I was a fan of CIV ... (when you see CIV5 which regresses into complexity - ")

Erik: The best strategy game ever. The realism and the great amount of different ways to gain power, not just building the biggest and most advanced army like in other games. A navy, trade and colonies are alternative ways to power, and nations with small armies can bring down big empires through espionage and naval blokades instead of military confrontation. Awesome.

Bobby: This is how I explain it to my friends:
Me: It's this game where you play through ~400 years of history as any country.
Them: meh...
Me: There's war!
Them: How much is it?

Sascha: Everything is already said. Just : I Like

Alex: So much choice, the game can be played in many ways.

Christopher: It's the game that allowed me to take the Republic of Novogord from a small merchant republic to the ginormous Russian Empire, destroying the Golden Horde and trampling all of Eastern Europe in the process!

Cade: Ever just wanted to make history cry?

Олег: Because EU is the best game of all times.

John: I usually explain is as a fun, though complicated, mix of Risk and Civilization. There's a LOT more to it of course, but it's just a way to have a simple explanation of what I'm doing for those hours at a time. I love it because I can play with history; the mechanics play out how history might have gone with different decisions. Ok, now I need to play some more...

Gabriel :I tend to say something along the lines of Risk on steroids. It's hard to explain to the uninitiated, but that gets the general point across.

Etienne: It is one of the most accurate history game I ever played. I really like the fact that it is based on long-time strategy and the use of rationality, instead of speed and emotions. Sometime, I just can't believe that kind of game exist in modern days. Videogames are often centered on the «Right here, Right now».
Plus, Europa Universalis helped me a lot during my studies in Liberal Arts. It helped me a lot to situate different factions, particularly in Germany, and to understand their relation. Truly, it is a great game, a thousand times better than Sid Meyer's Civilization. Thanks a lot for this awesome game ! It is truly an artwork.

Adam: It's like Risk on crack, but historically accurate.

Michael: It's epic and it satisfies my megalomania quite well.

James: I usually say "If you thought Civ 4 was too short and uncomplicated. No, Wait. If you want to learn geography with the downside that you remember 16th century names very well and 21st century names not so much. Or if you want a game that's a slower paced but you'll still be playing (one version or another) in ten years." You can't really explain what it is, just what effect it has.

Artur: Besides other features, stated above: It's wide horizon, historical perverse pleasure, and fact , that everything is connected with everything. And really influence it. Without any question best country simulator I’ve ever met.

Ethem: you can almost do everything, it is a perfect sandbox and strategy game. I think that's why I love this game so much.

Ante: Its like history class only better!

Austin: I allows you to do something truly unique, you can forge an empire from the ground up, and unlike so many other games your actions have repercussions that can last from day 1 to the final hour of play.

Tudor: Because EU loves me back.

Sem: More EU gives a deep understanding of the way the civilization was raised after the end of the mid age, meaning all about religion, the holy kingdom, the crusades, the historical fall of catholic dominance, the beginning of the revolutions for democracies. The game teaches us how the world used to work, and still work mostly. Causus bellis and Government forms. This is no small talk nowadays, totally up to date.

William: It’s the ultimate sandbox for history nerds, better than any game before or since. I just wish you guys weren’t such optimists regarding human progress and made the game much darker! I never felt the game properly showed the horrors of war or such events as the Deluge or the 30 years war or the Convention of '93. Also, tactical battles ala Panzer General!

Yu: Because you can lead a OPM like Mecklenburg to world conquest.

Michael: This game helped me pass many college classes(EU2 back then) for my major which was Geography. I am a history dork already so it was the awesome combo to get me hooked since EU1. When I taught history and geography for 8 years for high school I always promoted Paradox games to my students to have fun with history. Every intern I trained got turned on to Paradox games as well.

Ronan: Understanding how and why countries rise and fall is much more understandable when you have some sandbox to watch them rise and fall again. It's like understanding how is evolving our world while playing... A great feeling!

Michael: Best wargame going.

Michał: Show him this screen an laugh. http://i49.tinypic.com/4fzk8p.jpg

Robert: Because of discovering new techs and new lands. I think that discovery of new land and colonizing will be risky and costly.

Elias: I tell them I can invade London with war elephants.

Mike: EU makes me feel like a mythological god, the kinds that ancient people believed controlled the flow of the state. If I'd have to compare to educate a friend.. I'd say it's like Risk, except Risk is to EU what pong is to modern sports games.

Daniel: Because it is the best video game ever!

Zbigniew: I love it because it wasn't created by corporate-minded douche-bags and remained truly unique and faithful to the community and customers. THANK YOU for helping me find love of history and teaching me geography of the world as well as allowing me to become an emperor of my forged state. Go ahead with new games, and make them better and PLEASE do not go the corporate route that destroyed so many good games.

Ernesto: Exact point where history and sandbox become excellence and reign supreme.

Muhamad: I like it coz you could just create an alternate timeline in history, and basically have fun with it.

[video=youtube;W8EkgyBJ6Ig]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8EkgyBJ6Ig[/video]
[video=youtube;W35yQuO4fq0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35yQuO4fq0[/video]
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[video=youtube;nUZvwxucXbw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUZvwxucXbw[/video]
 
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"Want to try drugs?Here i have a paradox game ;)"
 
Since I have a great obsession with maps, and my father bought the first EU3 game I had, I have never lost interest in it. Always played it and always am addicted to it. Told friends in my clan on an MMORPG, a lot of them said wow this game looks awesome. Unlucky only 1 person I told still plays it all the time, mostly with Napoleon:)p) He said this is a great game, and loves it.
 
Because it is one of few real strategy games. And rest are just tactics, or turn games like civ. And it is fun to see riga owning lithuania.
This is true,ive yet to see a game complex as Eu3 outside of paradox
 
Being Dear Leader is one thing. Living as the nation's immortal spirit is an entirely different concept. EU3 does exactly that, and it is awesome.

For my friends, if I had any, I would have a hard time explaining what makes EU3 so great, because there are too many great things about it. I think I would have to force them to sit down and show them all of the game's facets, explaining as we played. Experience is better than speech a thousand times over.
 
Being Dear Leader is one thing. Living as the nation's immortal spirit is an entirely different concept. EU3 does exactly that, and it is awesome.

For my friends, if I had any, I would have a hard time explaining what makes EU3 so great, because there are too many great things about it. I think I would have to force them to sit down and show them all of the game's facets, explaining as we played. Experience is better than speech a thousand times over.

True. More to say speech may make them not like it, aspecialy if you speak too much.

So it may be better for game to speak for itself...
 
Heh Regina no need to try and sell us EU, we are already happily ever after hooked on consumers/addicts of EU3/Paradox Interactive :)



What do i personally like about EU3?

Its complex, but its not complicated.

Its accessible, but its not confusing.

It offers options to personalize your game experience.

It allows for incredible amount of modding, extending your experience for years. The only other game i played for so long was CiV3, and still EU3 beats it by a light year.

IMO the only thing is lacks is bigger definies.txt with more hardcodded game variables exported and made available for modding, specially things about the AI. Let me put it this way: the amount of modding we can do right now extends (personally) playability of DW from about 6 months to a couple of years. If we could tweak the AI it would extend these few years by a LARGE margin.
 
Heh Regina no need to try and sell us EU, we are already happily ever after hooked on consumers/addicts of EU3/Paradox Interactive :)



What do i personally like about EU3?

Its complex, but its not complicated.

Its accessible, but its not confusing.

It offers options to personalize your game experience.

It allows for incredible amount of modding, extending your experience for years. The only other game i played for so long was CiV3, and still EU3 beats it by a light year.

IMO the only thing is lacks is bigger definies.txt with more hardcodded game variables exported and made available for modding, specially things about the AI. Let me put it this way: the amount of modding we can do right now extends (personally) playability of DW from about 6 months to a couple of years. If we could tweak the AI it would extend these few years by a LARGE margin.

I am so not trying that. We are just curious!
We too have trouble putting words to what we like about EU, so we thought that you could help us.
And inspire us to great deeds ;)
 
I am so not trying that. We are just curious!
We too have trouble putting words to what we like about EU, so we thought that you could help us.
And inspire us to great deeds ;)

Well i think its simple, make announcement for EU4 or another EU3 expansion, and youll get a flood of love/gratitude/worship/marriage proposal/so on posts :)

Or start a poll, see how many people would buy another EU3 expansion, not to mention EU4!
 
Well i think its simple, make announcement for EU4 or another EU3 expansion, and youll get a flood of love/gratitude/worship/marriage proposal/so on posts :)

Or start a poll, see how many people would buy another EU3 expansion, not to mention EU4!

Don't forget about ennoblement, titles granted by kings and queens of europe, and afterlife divination... XD
 
This is what I tell people: EU3 is an incredibly detailed attempt at simulating what it would be like to rule a country from 1399 to 1821. And by detailed I mean they measure inflation to the thousandth place. You now have all the information necessary to decide if you want to make that purchasing decision. :laugh:
 
Well i think its simple, make announcement for EU4 or another EU3 expansion, and youll get a flood of love/gratitude/worship/marriage proposal/so on posts :)

Or start a poll, see how many people would buy another EU3 expansion, not to mention EU4!

That simple ey? Might just start a poll then, to find out what you really really want then... :)
 
That simple ey? Might just start a poll then, to find out what you really really want then... :)

If you do start a poll (not sure if you were serious) in one of those other sections of the forum, please link us here, dont wanna miss that poll!!!

You know what would be even better? If all people participating in poll would get a slightly better chance to get into new EU-ish game's (whichever one is next) beta! I think i would kill to be beta for EU4 :)