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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 havent played republic a lot, so its better many years between ellections or fewer?

It depends. At every election you can choose to keep your current leader, and their skills increase by one, meaning it's possible to cultivate 6/6/6 leaders quite regularly.

However, the Republican equivalent of Legitimacy, Republican Tradition, accrues at 1 a year and drops by 10 every time you re-elect someone, and if it gets too low your government shifts into a dictatorship and possibly collapses into a Monarchy. You can (currently) keep your RT pumped up with military points and the Strengthen Government option, so if you want to do that more often it's your call.
 
How do you unlock the various reforms? My understanding from the previous dev diary was that they're simply sequential, e.g. you choose Oligarchy vs Merchant Class vs Noble Elite, then when you next accumulate 100 + 50*X reform mana you can choose a Republican Virtue, etc etc. But if that's the case, and given the numbers for reform mana accumulation and reform cost specified in the previous dev diary, reaching the last reform as a republic would be practically impossible.
 
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The Electorate one is a bit too obvious. Everyone should/would choose army morale.
early game maybe but in the late game you are better off either with manpower or don't caring
  • Frequent Elections vs consolidation of power
    • -1 years between elections, -10 max absolutism
    • +1 year between elections, +10 max absolutism.
that's a interesting choice
 
i havent played republic a lot, so its better many years between ellections or fewer?
More frequent means more consumption of Adm. points to keep up your stability and republic tradition, a little bit good is you will get a 6/6/6 governor faster and easier even someone appear in 41, sadly it always happen in my game.
compare with the alternatives "+1 year between elections, +10 max absolutism" is an arguably better option plus an absolutely better option, can't image who will choose the other one.
 
Nepotism increasing stats is a bit... opposite of what Nepotism is about. I think something like reducing Advisor cost would be better.
 
It depends. At every election you can choose to keep your current leader, and their skills increase by one, meaning it's possible to cultivate 6/6/6 leaders quite regularly.

However, the Republican equivalent of Legitimacy, Republican Tradition, accrues at 1 a year and drops by 10 every time you re-elect someone, and if it gets too low your government shifts into a dictatorship and possibly collapses into a Monarchy. You can (currently) keep your RT pumped up with military points and the Strengthen Government option, so if you want to do that more often it's your call.
I'd say it's always better with a shorter term. The reduction isn't a flat -10, it's 2.5*term length. A 5-year tenure means a -13 RT for re-electing so there's really no downside to having short terms.

More frequent means more consumption of Adm. points to keep up your stability and republic tradition, a little bit good is you will get a 6/6/6 governor faster and easier even someone appear in 41, sadly it always happen in my game.
compare with the alternatives "+1 year between elections, +10 max absolutism" is an arguably better option plus an absolutely better option, can't image who will choose the other one.

I don't think there's a stability hit at ruler changes for republics, at least not when they fail to get re-elected. If they die mid-term, maybe, but I rarely re-elect leaders when that's a risk anyway to save on RT.

Is it worth lower absolutism? I'm not so sure, but there's probably a breakeven point for which conquest speed makes the the coring discount gained from admin efficiency equal to the extra monarch points gained from shorter terms.
 
Cheers for the DD DDRJake, an election-winning pitch I'd wager :D. I like the sound of all those options, and also like how all the reforms are all 'good' - there's no downside, the trade-off is between good things. Am most curious as to what you all have in mind for tribals :).
 
You could trigger the Court and Country disaster instead. I think this adds many interesting choices. Compared to monarchies and their reforms, republics seem to have a lot more depth and edge.
 
Interesting reforms, even better than in case with monarchy. Nepotism bonus is quite strange though.
 
More frequent means more consumption of Adm. points to keep up your stability and republic tradition, a little bit good is you will get a 6/6/6 governor faster and easier even someone appear in 41, sadly it always happen in my game.
compare with the alternatives "+1 year between elections, +10 max absolutism" is an arguably better option plus an absolutely better option, can't image who will choose the other one.
Doesn't the RT gain based on how often the ruler is reelected?
 
Sorry I don't understand these posts:
are the reforms mutually exclusive or are these all bonuses that can be unlocked at once? In the screenshot, there are 3 options and it looks like 2 are selected?
How does it work?
 
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.
Thanks for making it clearer! So what would happen for people without the expansion? Will is stay the same as how it's today? Or are the reforms just a part of the government's revamp?
 
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.
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.)
 
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