Does every game ends with youe country being top world power?
- Thread starter Krajzen
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Yup, it always seems that unless I beat them down myself relatively early, they will rack up so huge score lead that I won't catch up no matter how dominant blob I have in the end.
I like to reach a personal goal; and then, because I dislike steamrolling; I generally kick it into Spectate and see how the AI would handle it.
I purely by accident got to the first spot as Hansa in my current game. Strong alliances with England and Austria. Strategic expansion and then some colonisation of important provinces. Never been in a situation like this. Only been in a similar situation once when I blobbed as Najd, but that was by purely due blobbing.
Now my diplomats are constantly fighting to keep other peoples opinions up to keep them from coalitions.
Now my diplomats are constantly fighting to keep other peoples opinions up to keep them from coalitions.
Two words: Laziness and Roleplay.
Usually I play till the end but I'm not very hesitant to catch every opportunity and expand everywhere I can. So in the end my country may be more powerful than it historically should be but it's rarely able to take on other great powers.
More recently I've tried the game after long pause and discovered AI is more vicious and better in general so last game I didn't even get that. In fact, I've started as Teutons 2 times and died twice. Sad, ain't it?
Usually I play till the end but I'm not very hesitant to catch every opportunity and expand everywhere I can. So in the end my country may be more powerful than it historically should be but it's rarely able to take on other great powers.
More recently I've tried the game after long pause and discovered AI is more vicious and better in general so last game I didn't even get that. In fact, I've started as Teutons 2 times and died twice. Sad, ain't it?
I'm usually trying to blob as much as possible and just conquering anything which borders me, maybe apart from some colonial games, where I take Spain/Great Britain and care about the rest of the world, but not about Europe.
My biggest problem is, but I have this issue in every single game I play, that I become bored at some point. So even with 400 or so hours of EU4, I never ever played past 1700 but rather always start new games. But thats not particular for EU4, its the same for Hearts of Iron or Total War Series.
This may be due to the fact that if you set yourself the goal "conquer everything", its simply not much of excitement when you reach the point where you are bigger than everyone else and think theres no more challenge, even if this is not entirely true (had an Ottoman game in 1680 with my 500k army and didn't manage to beat Russia).
Another thing I hate about myself is that I don't like loosing. Ironman helps me a lot due to the autosaves which simply forces me not always to revert the wrong decisions. So I want the challenge as long as I'm winning, but I don't like it if I'm too strong but also don't like loosing. I simply need to force myself to play to the end, because I want to do it, but I don't want to do it. Yeah, I'm strange.
So I decided to get every single Steam archievement now. This gives me a mission, grants restarts with a lot of countries and gives me the goals I need to have.
My biggest problem is, but I have this issue in every single game I play, that I become bored at some point. So even with 400 or so hours of EU4, I never ever played past 1700 but rather always start new games. But thats not particular for EU4, its the same for Hearts of Iron or Total War Series.
This may be due to the fact that if you set yourself the goal "conquer everything", its simply not much of excitement when you reach the point where you are bigger than everyone else and think theres no more challenge, even if this is not entirely true (had an Ottoman game in 1680 with my 500k army and didn't manage to beat Russia).
Another thing I hate about myself is that I don't like loosing. Ironman helps me a lot due to the autosaves which simply forces me not always to revert the wrong decisions. So I want the challenge as long as I'm winning, but I don't like it if I'm too strong but also don't like loosing. I simply need to force myself to play to the end, because I want to do it, but I don't want to do it. Yeah, I'm strange.
So I decided to get every single Steam archievement now. This gives me a mission, grants restarts with a lot of countries and gives me the goals I need to have.
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Achievements and ironman (local save!) is the way to go. Some are fairly easy while others are far more outlandish. What it does is get you out of your comfort zone and makes you play a bunch of different nations.
I typically try to dominate my nation's strategic goals. In Europe that means shutting down France and the HRE. In the rest of the world it could be dominating trade or keeping the Europeans out of the area which is a challenge all of its own.
The best way to keep the game interesting even while blobbing is setting unusual goals. In my Commonwealth game I vassalized Denmark and took over their three little colonies in Virginia. Afterwards I made it my goal to build up the colony, release it as the USA, ally them, and help them conquer all of North America proper. It involved lots of wars with France, Spain, and Great Britain, but ended up a fun challenge.
I typically try to dominate my nation's strategic goals. In Europe that means shutting down France and the HRE. In the rest of the world it could be dominating trade or keeping the Europeans out of the area which is a challenge all of its own.
The best way to keep the game interesting even while blobbing is setting unusual goals. In my Commonwealth game I vassalized Denmark and took over their three little colonies in Virginia. Afterwards I made it my goal to build up the colony, release it as the USA, ally them, and help them conquer all of North America proper. It involved lots of wars with France, Spain, and Great Britain, but ended up a fun challenge.
I'm doing achievement runs and since I got all the easy stuff out of the way, it's now mostly obnoxiously difficult stuff. I got At the Edge of Madness, took one look at Sunset Invasion, and ended that particular campaign.
Can you even really call it propaganda? I mean, it's so completely divorced from reality that giving it the pseudo-legitimacy of propaganda is insulting to things like Pravda and Xinhua.
I mean, it's not even like George III did much. He basically just nodded at whatever his cabinet suggested. He wouldn't go completely off his rocker until later and even then he was hardly malevolent.
Can you even really call it propaganda? I mean, it's so completely divorced from reality that giving it the pseudo-legitimacy of propaganda is insulting to things like Pravda and Xinhua.
I mean, it's not even like George III did much. He basically just nodded at whatever his cabinet suggested. He wouldn't go completely off his rocker until later and even then he was hardly malevolent.
It depends on the country. I don't feel right blobbing with a country that historically didn't blob. It would make me feel weird to see "Danzig" slathered across a map of Europe. I'd feel more comfortable if it was Germany, the HRE, or France.
I do enjoy helping my allies grow, and giving them land to create pretty borders. Borders uber alles.
I do enjoy helping my allies grow, and giving them land to create pretty borders. Borders uber alles.
I generally like to roleplay a bit, and just make myself strong enough to hold my own against regional enemies. Now, there are times I blob (when an achievement demands it) but for the most part, I like to play it out and become a medium/large power, but avoid being a superpower. I also tend to play how I feel the country would act (take trade power/ fleet basing rights as Venice, colonize as Portugal, try to restore the Pentarchy as an Orthodox nation, etc)
In the first of my Tyrone games that didn't go horribly wrong, I transformed Tyrone (subsequently renamed Ireland) into the world's greatest power, with the largest navy and second largest army.
It helps that my Colonial Nations are usually able to beat up other players' Colonial Nations.
It helps that my Colonial Nations are usually able to beat up other players' Colonial Nations.
In SP I'm generally tops in everything except score assuming I survived the start. I like risky starts though, so there's a decent number where I have to throw in the towel early. Of course, the fact that I lose ground early isn't enough to call it, because I'm out for an entertaining game and revenge is quite rewarding. I don't win score because I wait too long to build a fleet.
In MP it's either me or the other guy in pretty much all categories except score.
But then there was also this game (actually series of games):
Stupid Timurids! I hate playing as the Timurids! Baby's first horde, my @($*!
In MP it's either me or the other guy in pretty much all categories except score.
But then there was also this game (actually series of games):
Stupid Timurids! I hate playing as the Timurids! Baby's first horde, my @($*!
Happens for me as well, my country, culture, and religion become the largest across the world.
Given that the majority of posts about "what should I do" here when a bad situation comes up, the answer is "restart" or something similar, I suspect that majority of games (even after ignoring reloads or start scum) appear to end in misery.
I would guess that by 1600 anyone who's stuck it out is going to end the game #1 or close enough. Most games, based on comments here, smell like they are given up in the first 2 decades.
I would guess that by 1600 anyone who's stuck it out is going to end the game #1 or close enough. Most games, based on comments here, smell like they are given up in the first 2 decades.
This, basically. If I get through the start, I will become the dominant nation. The most common late-game impediment is actually annoyance; I will avoid going to wars I can win if it's just too annoying to deal with it. This is common if it's a naval invasion war against a strong power I care nothing about. Yes, I will win, but only if I spend 30-60m of tedium with an outcome that lacks reward. Yawn.
Finding nations to play that stay interesting after 1600 is tough. I do like the new random world states for this, though. It helps.
Depending on the country that you choose to start, maybe it takes more time, or happens to you what happened to me as England, (but I warn you I'm a bad player) I conquered all the easy to conquer land (Scotland and the Irish minors) formed Great Britain and there was nothing more for me to do; to the west, the new world (I decided to not colonize in that playthrough) at the south, the big blue blob, at the east nothing I could get claims on and at the north... Coca-Cola bears
Even worse, Benjamin Franklin, one of the most prominent founding fathers of the USA, was actually in England at the time, and was consulted on the tax before it went through. He thought it would be okay.
Nice borders are top priority. I always have an idea of where I want to expand before I start a campaign, and I generally stop playing once my goals are met.
E.g. as Papal States, I decide I want to form a new "Roman Empire," and eventually I did, so I ended the game there.
E.g. as Papal States, I decide I want to form a new "Roman Empire," and eventually I did, so I ended the game there.
I try to play so I can make as many disconnected areas as I can. I thrive in chaos, so I give myself bonus points for every hole I can completely surround, the more I look like Swiss cheese, the better.