As many of you are likely aware, there are some decisions and accomplishments that can be achieved in EU4 that leave... a lot to be desired. For me, this centers around a few lackluster rewards for significant changes in and around Europe. In reality, these actions should be massive game changers religiously and diplomatically for Christian Europe.
With the devs' promise to focus more on Europe this year of 2019, and with a seemingly renewed interest in the suggestions forum, it is time for me to talk a bit about some of these things that have been bothering me in particularly and some ideas or inspiration on how to make these potentially massive political changes into something a bit more worthwhile in a mechanical sense.
Thank you for taking the time to read this thread and I hope you have a good rest of your week.
With the devs' promise to focus more on Europe this year of 2019, and with a seemingly renewed interest in the suggestions forum, it is time for me to talk a bit about some of these things that have been bothering me in particularly and some ideas or inspiration on how to make these potentially massive political changes into something a bit more worthwhile in a mechanical sense.
- Forming the HRE
"Never Form Greyskin" is advice that has long annoyed me. This stems from the fact that reforming the HRE is significantly weaker and less desirable than simply maintaining the immensely powerful "Revoke the Privilegia" decision. Not only does uniting the HRE hurt you militarily from the loss of your vassal swarm and a far lower force limit, it also hurts you by stripping every other bonus acquired from the various reforms.
To put it into perspective, upon reforming into the HRE tag, you lose:
-5% construction cost
-5% development cost
+1 Diplomat
+1 Diplomatic Reputation
+0.5% yearly legitimacy
-10% core creation cost
+20% yearly tax income
+0.5% yearly prestige
The strongest vassal swarm in the game
Therefore, my suggestion in this regard is twofold:
1. The "Rome Reborn" modifier should include the other Emperor reform bonuses as well, similar to how the Nahuatl religion gets its various bonuses from reforming its religion. I think the HRE is difficult enough to form to warrant keeping these bonuses upon uniting the tag.
2. HRE Ideas. As a centralized Holy Roman Empire is a bit closer to the "fantasy" spectrum in the game, it allows the developers to get a bit more creative with their National Idea set. My reasoning is that if the Roman Empire gets a good idea set, why shouldn't the Reich?
I feel that these two changes would add a bit more incentive to actually clicking "Renovatio Imperii" and, while not being overtly better than keeping the vassal swarm, could at least make it somewhat more of a choice rather than a mistake. Furthermore, I think the HRE would be a great nation to create a unique government reform/type for, such as increased state count, faster autonomy reduction, or other bonus to rule its new, vast swathes of territory.
- Dissolving the HRE
Looking in the opposite direction, the HRE is an extremely important aspect of European politics and a massive part of what makes playing on the continent special. It's strange to me that such a massive part of European life being dismantled gives 100 prestige and... that's it. This was a feat that took no less than a military mastermind at the helm of one of Europe's most powerful nations to accomplish, and when you accomplish it in the game, it feels like nothing. Especially since you will likely already have high prestige should you be strong enough to dissolve the HRE anyway.
I'd suggest some form of permanent modifier for the nation that dissolves the HRE, perhaps a permanent prestige gain, core creation reduction, or some other worthwhile bonus.
- The Kingdom of Jerusalem
Turning East, to the Holy Land, I'd like to touch upon the Crusader State of Jerusalem. One of the earliest forms of European "colonialism", Jerusalem was a significant foothold in the failed attempt to drive back Islam from former Roman lands and an effort to unite Christianity against an outside threat, rather than tearing itself apart.
In-game, we have the option of releasing Jerusalem. We lose the "Conquest of Jerusalem" modifier, granting +1 yearly prestige and a missionary in exchange for 25 prestige and a small AI controlled nation that will likely die very quickly. The question is: why would we ever want to do this? This decision needs to be much more significant and actually have a worthwhile reward not only in recreating the destroyed Kingdom, but also in ensuring its survival.
I propose releasing Jerusalem give a "historical friends" opinion modifier between Jerusalem and its liberator (possibly even creating Jerusalem as a march or ally upon creation), as well as perhaps a lengthy prestige gain modifier. Furthermore, so long as Jerusalem exists as a nation independent of Muslim rule (IE, Jerusalem is Catholic and is not subject to a Muslim), the whole of Catholicism receive a small bonus to Tolerance of the True Faith.
Unrelated: Jerusalem should probably have its ideas looked at and would also be a good candidate for unique government reforms.
- The Kingdom of God
Finally, the Pope himself. It is no secret that the Kingdom of God is just as fantasy as it is a poor decision. I myself was disappointed upon the first time I passed this decision. It disables the curia (thereby ruining Catholicism for every nation practicing it), but also grants the Papal States a very weak bonus (10% global manpower, +1 yearly prestige, and +1 yearly devotion). While I do think the bonus in itself is fine as is, I don't think it is enough to make this reform beneficial.
As a solution, I propose the Papal States not only retaining this bonus upon forming the Kingdom of God, but, rather than dissolving the curia, instead keep it and make it so that only the Papal State control the curia from then on out. Not only would this make it a much more powerful decision for the Papal States, it would also not completely ostracize the rest of the Catholic Nations as they would still be able to gain and spend Papal influence on the various other Catholic bonuses. Furthermore, this decision should be the path for the Papal States to gain the Empire rank.
Thank you for taking the time to read this thread and I hope you have a good rest of your week.
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