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EU4 - Development Diary - 10th of April 2018

Good day! Today we're getting right into the dev diary by continuing on from last week, where we announced large changes to the Government System in Europa Universalis IV. Last week we talked about Monarchies, today, by popular request, let's look at Republics.

I'll start by re-iterating that these changes will not result in the removal of special government mechanics with or without the expansion. The Militarization of the Prussian Monarchy, Mamluk Government Interactions, Dutch republic mechanics etc will all still be in the game, and tied to Government Reforms rather than being a specific government type in itself.

Also the new government reforms are part of the upcoming yet unannounced Expansion Pack. For those who get the 1.26 update but not the expansion, you will still have access to the different government mechanics, but not the new reform choices seen below.

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Our Government Reforms interface is coming along, with significantly fewer placeholders than before. Now, outside of Hordes, Republics are my favourite government types. No regencies ever, control over which monarch points you get, ruler generals aplenty. That said it's clear to see that since Absolutism arrived on the scene, they have been left feeling a little lackluster, not to mention they have always been that bit too inflexible.

With that in mind, the Republican Reform path contains up to ten different reforms, putting them ahead as the most diverse set we're adding. Let's see what's on offer (all values and effects very subject to balance and change)

  • Oligarchy vs Merchant Class vs Noble Elite
    • Oligarchy: +5% Tax, elections every 4 Years
    • Merchants: Enables Merchant Republic mechanics, -10 max Absolutism
    • Noble Elite: +0.25 Army Tradition, + Nobility Estate influence, elections every 8 years
    • Presidential Despot:
    • Revolutionary Republic - (Special for Revolutionary Target)
    • [Other Special Republics]
  • Republican Virtues
    • Autocratic: -1 Unrest
    • Nepotism: Each candidate get +1 random stat
    • Republicanism: +0.2 republican tradition
  • Frequent Elections vs consolidation of power
    • -1 years between elections, -10 max absolutism
    • +1 year between elections, +10 max absolutism
  • Federalism vs Unitarism vs Confederacy
    • Provincial Governments: -25% State Maintenance
    • Administrative Divisions: +5 States
    • Union of States: +10% Global Trade Power
    • Seizure of Power: [HIDDEN]
  • Parliamentary vs Presidential
    • Parliamentary: Enables Parliaments if Common Sense DLC, else -1 Unrest
    • Presidential Rule: -10% Institution Embracement Cost
  • Consolidation of Power
    • Broaden Executive powers: -15% Stability cost
    • Devolution of powers: +1 Diplomat
  • Guiding Principle of Administration
    • Political Principle - +1 [HIDDEN]
    • Moral Principle - +1 [HIDDEN]
  • Electorate
    • Landholders: +10% Manpower Recovery Speed
    • Citizenry: +10% Land Morale
  • Office Selection
    • Sortition: -0.05 Yearly Corruption
    • Universal Suffrage: +1 Accepted Culture
  • Question of Dictatorship
    • Seize Executive Power: Become Monarchy, lose 4 reforms
    • Proclaim Divine Guidance: Become a Theocracy, lose 6 reforms
    • Strengthen executive powers: +25 Max Absolutism
    • Reinforce Republican Values: +1 [HIDDEN] -25% Republican Tradition Cost of re-elections
    • Revolutionary Empire (For Revolutionary Target): Makes ruler into a Dictator
Next week we will round off by looking at what's in store for Theocracies and Tribals with these government changes. After-which we might even start hinting at where this upcoming expansion and Update focuses on.
 
I don't understand. Does this mean that if you don't get the expansion, you don't get reforms i.e. bonuses, so your government will have the same characteristics in 1800 as it did in 1450, or that you get "reforms" but don't get choices of what those reforms will be, or something else?

It sounds like you'd be better off not updating to 1.26 if you don't get the expansion. (Edit: at least you keep some choices if you don't update, and your upgrades are tied to your government tech level, which makes sense and is a whole lot easier to mod, rather than having what seem to be effectively two government tech levels determined by completely different things.)
you won't get the mechanic at all, your game won't change in that point
 
Republican tradition loss upon re-election scales linearly with the number of years between elections, so there's no downside to a shorter election cycle.
Thanks for correct that. Only experience with Milan the Ambrosian and Venice before. I thought the RT consumption is constant with a specific number. All looks reasonable now.
 
  • Parliamentary vs Presidential
    • Parliamentary: Enables Parliaments if Common Sense DLC, else -1 Unrest
    • Presidential Rule: -10% Institution Embracement Cost
Does that mean a Presidential USA doesn't get access to Congress? That seems so, so wrong. Wouldn't it make more sense to tie Parliaments to whether a republic is Federal, Unitary, or a Confederation?
 
I don't understand. Does this mean that if you don't get the expansion, you don't get reforms i.e. bonuses, so your government will have the same characteristics in 1800 as it did in 1450, or that you get "reforms" but don't get choices of what those reforms will be, or something else?

It sounds like you'd be better off not updating to 1.26 if you don't get the expansion. (Edit: at least you keep some choices if you don't update, and your upgrades are tied to your government tech level, which makes sense and is a whole lot easier to mod, rather than having what seem to be effectively two government tech levels determined by completely different things.)

If you don't own the expansion, you will have the new reform system, however the reforms will be a select group that will give you similar effects to like it did before this patch.
As an example the Ambrosian Republic government reform looks like this(of course preliminary values subject to change!!!):
Code:
#Special for Milan
ambrosian_republic_legacy = {
    # government mechanics flags go here
    legacy_government = yes
    unique_government = yes
    valid_for_new_country = no
    allow_convert = yes
  
    duration = 4
  
    republican_name = yes
    royal_marriage = no
  
    valid_for_nation_designer = yes
    nation_designer_cost = 10  
    max_states = 2
  

   allowed_ranks = { 1 2 3 }
    republic = yes
    modifiers = {
        global_tax_modifier = 0.10
        land_morale = 0.05
        global_autonomy = -0.025  
        max_absolutism = -30
    }
}
 
Does that mean a Presidential USA doesn't get access to Congress? That seems so, so wrong. Wouldn't it make more sense to tie Parliaments to whether a republic is Federal, Unitary, or a Confederation?
Heh! That's a good point, and hilarious too! But IRL whether a republic is federal, unitary or a confederation doesn't effect whether it'd have a parliament either. Federal/unity is about whether it has subdivisions with strong powers (e.g. Canada, Australia, India) or not (e.g. Britain until very recently), and has nothing to do with whether it has a parliament or not (Canada and Britain have very similar parliaments).
 
If you don't own the expansion, you will have the new reform system, however the reforms will be a select group that will give you similar effects to like it did before this patch.
As an example the Ambrosian Republic government reform looks like this(of course preliminary values subject to change!!!):
That makes sense. Thanks :).
 
  • Guiding Principle of Administration
    • Political Principle - +1 [HIDDEN]
    • Moral Principle - +1 [HIDDEN]
Based on this quote, I predict the next expansion is going to be called „The Prince” and accompanying 1.26 patch is going to be „Italy”. The place was a hotbed for governmental experiments and theory. Plus it would enable a bunch of cool flavour events.
 
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Well last diary we had Iberia in the background, and now I spot Savoy and Provence.....Maybe an Iberia focused expansion maybe with some French and/or (Northern) Italian thrown in?
 
Also the new government reforms are part of the upcoming yet unannounced Expansion Pack. For those who get the 1.26 update but not the expansion, you will still have access to the different government mechanics, but not the new reform choices seen below.
Does this mean that for those who don't buy the exspansion they will lose the ability to switch government without compensasion.
 
Can there be an option to prolong election terms? Longer terms increase corruption and decrease republicanism and short terms do the opposite? Maybe some additional bonuses and mauluses.
 
I can spot no map changes for Provence, Lorraine and France Comte. Thus, I doubt it's France. HRE might be possible, but it seems more likely to be India.