Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods - Dev Diary 1 - A Different Europe

[tokle]

What's the reasoning behind making Alfheim Danish?
If you are following the narrative of Heimskringla (which you seem to do, in the way you are showing the unification of Norway.) Alfheim should be either under Westrogothia or Harald Fairhair.

 

[Sykez]

I might actually buy this DLC, can't wait for dev diary 2.

 

[shevchenko65]

Are we getting the second one today?

 

[sreckom92]

So, the Mongols will be playable?
Isn't that a bit too much to put in 1 DLC? I was hoping for a separate DLC for Mongols and all steppe hordes.
Don't get me wrong, I just want to see them in full splendor

 

[ikki]

Masterplan:

Start as Holmgard. Conquer all of rus and tartaria & baltics (incl finland). Raid as required.. like stealing swedish church doors (ahem, they must have been VERY drunk). An empire or two wouldnt hurt.
Await the mongols and fight them with full pagan fury. Only after that consider turning into a (wussified) stable religion.

Althought it would be pretty neat to convert a pagan norse rus into eu2/3/4 and go onward into siberia... and conquer whatever you like while converting to pagan. Only then later turning reformed and making all lands in the world into reformed norse

 

[LinusLinothorax]

Would be better if they rename Francia to Francia Occidentalis and HRE to Francia Orientalis.

 

[Elfryc]

Would be better if they rename Francia to Francia Occidentalis and HRE to Francia Orientalis.

Done.

 

[Nithus]

Eastern Europe looks really weird frm the screenshot. What the hell is Bereg for example? Never heard about such country at that time period (actually, to be honest, never heard about such country in entire European history).

 

[DerOstkonig]

This looks excellent, I can't wait for the earlier start date!! I think the longer total play time is going to necessitate some modifications into how how the consolidation of extended Christian and Muslim conquest works though. At this moment Holy Wars fought by the AI seem to be a form of total ethnic cleansing where entire cultures are displaced over thousands of kilometers, and defeated leaders are unable to convert to the winning religion to keep their land or their lives (history has shown that one's god is quickly forsaken to save one's own life). In reality, any Empires that exist outside of a regional scope (regional meaning, for example, the HRE) are multicultural in nature, and I don't believe this game represents that under AI rulers .For example. in my last game, I had built up the Sultanate of Rum to encompass the whole Byzantine Empire, and preserved Greek noble families as long as they converted to Islam (the Ottomans did this as well). However, when I eventually lost the throne of Rum, the HRE came in and conquered Greece and Poof! any trace of Greek families were gone and replaced by Germans as if they had opened Auschwitz and built a train network 800 years too soon. This trend continued until the whole middle east was ruled by Germans and there were no Arabs Greeks or anything else left to be found even as courtiers or minor nobles (Where are they getting all these perfect Germans?? Even in the 20th century there were not even enough native Germans to settle the Port of Danzig alone, so Hitler had to settle for German-speaking Lithuanians!) . They vassalized me, and as a Muslim ruler I was unable to convert to christanity without cheats (We really should have the option to freely change our religion once in our lifetime, even if it gives us a -80 relationship hit with our former and new religion)! Executed by the Kaiser! Game over! I think its really important to acknowledge the multicultural nature empires and make it harder for the AI to get rid of cultural nobility as it creates ridiculous situations where Medieval states are somehow able to carry out well-organized mass genocide over thousands of kilometers in under 50 years. (Not to mention the idea of fair skinned germans ruling the whole Arabian desert effortlessly as if it were the Rhineland) It just doesnt make sense, and it tends to make large Christian and Muslim Empires "too big to fail" when history has shown us that attempting to eradicate the Nobility of a culture usually leads to the fall of empires, not the preservation of them.

 

[DerOstkonig]

All that said, I believe it will be even more Important that pagan rulers have freedom to choose their religion as well. One of the most seminal moments in European history was the conversion of the Magyars to Catholicism, as it decided the boundaries of Catholic Christendom, and pretty much sealed the fate of the Byzantine Empire's Balkan sphere of influence as well. If pagans are unable to freely convert to Christianity or Islam, a potentially earth-shattering event like that will be prevented from happening! (I think it would be important that Pagans only be able to convert to religions of nations that are directly adjacent to their territory.

 

[Lwantssugar]

This looks excellent, I can't wait for the earlier start date!! I think the longer total play time is going to necessitate some modifications into how how the consolidation of extended Christian and Muslim conquest works though. At this moment Holy Wars fought by the AI seem to be a form of total ethnic cleansing where entire cultures are displaced over thousands of kilometers, and defeated leaders are unable to convert to the winning religion to keep their land or their lives (history has shown that one's god is quickly forsaken to save one's own life). In reality, any Empires that exist outside of a regional scope (regional meaning, for example, the HRE) are multicultural in nature, and I don't believe this game represents that under AI rulers .For example. in my last game, I had built up the Sultanate of Rum to encompass the whole Byzantine Empire, and preserved Greek noble families as long as they converted to Islam (the Ottomans did this as well). However, when I eventually lost the throne of Rum, the HRE came in and conquered Greece and Poof! any trace of Greek families were gone and replaced by Germans as if they had opened Auschwitz and built a train network 800 years too soon. This trend continued until the whole middle east was ruled by Germans and there were no Arabs Greeks or anything else left to be found even as courtiers or minor nobles (Where are they getting all these perfect Germans?? Even in the 20th century there were not even enough native Germans to settle the Port of Danzig alone, so Hitler had to settle for German-speaking Lithuanians!) . They vassalized me, and as a Muslim ruler I was unable to convert to christanity without cheats (We really should have the option to freely change our religion once in our lifetime, even if it gives us a -80 relationship hit with our former and new religion)! Executed by the Kaiser! Game over! I think its really important to acknowledge the multicultural nature empires and make it harder for the AI to get rid of cultural nobility as it creates ridiculous situations where Medieval states are somehow able to carry out well-organized mass genocide over thousands of kilometers in under 50 years. (Not to mention the idea of fair skinned germans ruling the whole Arabian desert effortlessly as if it were the Rhineland) It just doesnt make sense, and it tends to make large Christian and Muslim Empires "too big to fail" when history has shown us that attempting to eradicate the Nobility of a culture usually leads to the fall of empires, not the preservation of them.

I agree with you on the cultural bits but not the religious one: the countless Christians Rome fed to lions or crucified in the waning days of Western Rome are some of the best examples of people being over-zealous pricks about religion

 

[DerOstkonig]

I agree with you on the cultural bits but not the religious one: the countless Christians Rome fed to lions or crucified in the waning days of Western Rome are some of the best examples of people being over-zealous pricks about religion

Please don't misunderstand, I definitely think that religious intolerance is well represented in the game, I merely think that the player should be free to convert without any kind of requirements at least once in their life (perhaps for a penalty).

 

[unmerged(604332)]

Il choose to play as finns