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Good morning, everyone! This week we’re going back to Southeast Asia to talk about some extra content that we’re making for some of the tags.

Philippines.jpg


Starting with the Philippines, we have decided to focus on two specific tags instead of giving them all some generic missions. First, we have Tondo. Tondo is located in the island of Luzon, in the northern part of the archipelago. Philippine political organization consisted of a type of “city-states” called barangays, which formed groups of families ruled by a datu. Bigger barangays, as Tondo in this case, would integrate several smaller barangays governed by a paramount datu, whose title would vary in each region (lakan in the case of Tondo). This grand barangay was an important center of trade in all Nusantara, since the presence of Chinese migration resulted in Tondo becoming the main center of Chinese goods, trading all across Southeast Asia.

Tondo.jpg


Some highlights from this mission tree include:
  • Growing Strong will reward the existence of level 2 forts in provinces Tondo, Laguna and Mindoro with +25% Defensiveness in each of them.
  • The Queen’s Channel is a reference to the channel that serves as a natural frontier with Manila, in the Pasig River delta. It was not only an important source of water for said barangay, but also its main opportunity of trading. Gaining control over it will give Tondo a huge +50 Trade Power in the Philippines trade node.
  • Both Befriend Majapahit and Abandon the Dragon refer to the importance of democratic relations in Tondo’s polity. The Majapahit Empire was a powerful ally of the Tondo people, so regaining their trust will result in some extra Diplomatic Power and +1 Diplomatic Reputation. At the start of the game, Tondo is a tributary of the Ming dynasty, so dissolving this union will grant Tondo Legitimacy, Administrative Power and some claims in the coast of China.

Next up, we have Madyas. After the Chola invasion of Srivijaya in the beginning of the 11th century, a group of dissident datus from Borneo and Sumatra fled their land and sought refuge in the Visayas islands, where they encountered the native population and, according to the legend, made a trade treaty with the Ati hero Marikudo and his wife, rightfully purchasing the land in Panay. Madyas thus became another grand barangay in the archipelago, with a special focus on maritime trade and warfare.

Madyas.jpg


Some highlights from this mission tree include:
  • All the Ships of Aklan is a reference to the province of Aklan, seat of the first capital of the polity and center of the Confederation mentioned in the Book of Maragtas that we’ll address later. Because of the naval importance we have mentioned before, having an admiral, more than 8 galleys and building to the 90% of the naval Force Limit will be rewarded with a +5% Morale of Navies, -5% Heavy Ship Cost and -10% Light Ship Cost as our first mission.
  • Going Back Home implies the preparation for the return to their original land. Permanent claims on Borneo will be granted after making a show of force by owning at least 10 provinces in the Philippines.
  • The Book of Maragtas is the legendary book that gives an account of the history of the Madyas people and their arrival from Borneo. Owning the northern part of the island will result in 100 Diplomatic Power, 100 Administrative Power, 100 Military Power and +1 Stability.

In addition to these two mission trees, we have prepared 6 unique missions shared by both Tondo and Madyas in slot 2, regarding the conquest of all the archipelago. These missions will require the player to conquer the inhabited land of each of the three main regions: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, thus granting some morale bonuses and the possibility of immediately conquering unoccupied land in each of these areas, as long as there are two regiments present in each province.

Philippines missions.jpg


Moving on, we have Palembang, one of the pirate nations that can be formed very early on in the game, so we wanted to reflect a bit of the pirate’s life in our missions too! But historically, Palembang was also one of the oldest cities in all Nusantara, once the capital of the powerful Srivijaya empire and main controller of all the maritime trade routes in Southeast Asia. A balance between this major historical moment and the more “modern” piracy was therefore necessary, all of it leading to the restoration of this ancient and powerful realm.

Plb map.jpg
Palembang.png


Some highlights from this mission tree include:
  • Where the Water Leaks is a reference to one possible etymological explanation for the name of this tag, always associated with water. This mission will require the player to build to 100% Naval Force Limit and will grant permanent claims on the Siak and Jambi controlled provinces, thus starting the recovery of their lost land.
  • Orang Laut, Arrival of the Dragonships and Pirate Kings all have the same objective of gaining the best possible allies to continue with the expansion plan. Having the state privilege Orang Laut Privileges and some owned provinces in the northern part will boost your Navy Tradition; dragonships were powerful ships of Chinese origin that will reward your conquests and maximum Navy Force Limit with a Ship Cost reduction and another boost to your Ship Combat Ability (all of them for both light and heavy ships); and having 2 powerful admirals and 4 more provinces in the East will allow access to the admiral Chen (3/3/4/3), a legendary Chinese pirate that ruled over Palembang.
  • Both King Under the Mountain and King’s Court in the second slot focus on the ancient splendor of the Srivijaya Empire, whose Shailendra dynasty came from the neighboring island of Java. Owning some provinces in said location will reduce National Unrest and add a general with 50 Tradition, as well as granting the final cores that will lead to our culminating mission.
  • Restore Srivijaya will require the player to own all of the Sumatra and Java islands, former possessions of the thalassocracy. With the recovered glory of the Empire, Palembang will be rewarded with a permanent Stability Cost Modifier of -10%, +1 Stability and more Diplomatic, Administrative and Military Power.
That’s all for today! Thank you for reading and have a nice week :)
 
I am disappointed with the lack of new playable countries in the Philippines.
At least add two new playable countries namely Igorot society and Dapitan.
 
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Starting with the Philippines, we have decided to focus on two specific tags instead of giving them all some generic missions.

In addition to these two mission trees, we have prepared 6 unique missions shared by both Tondo and Madyas in slot 2, regarding the conquest of all the archipelago. These missions will require the player to conquer the inhabited land of each of the three main regions: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, thus granting some morale bonuses and the possibility of immediately conquering unoccupied land in each of these areas, as long as there are two regiments present in each province.

View attachment 661922
Can all the tags in the phillipines at least get the shared tree so that they're not all stuck with just the generic tree please?
 
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Good stuff, but much too short after a two week wait. I like that Palembang is getting some love. I really would have wished to get a few more teasers before Christmas break, especially as this update/dlc seems to be continuously growing in scope. I hope we get the full official announcement soon.
 
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I more than agree. I guess i am not the only one that delays taking the reward of a mission for decades or centuries if it is a temporary modifier that will be more useful later.
Yeah. Maybe that's adding another layer of strategy onto the whole mission system, but honestly, it's more stressful than enjoyable. Just another thing I have to micromanage that doesn't feel like it's making a real impact on my national character. I like how permanent bonuses make you feel like you've made something about your nation inherently stronger.
 
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Looks good. I don't know that much about Filipino history, and this stuff alone looks a little lean, but I'm fairly confident that there will be more coming next year.
 
Will you please update Sulu with at least raid mechanic and some naval/pirate modifiers?
4. Moro pirates (Sulu) (1444 start)
http://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11766475
https://historyofsulu.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/moro-pirates/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_the_Sulu_Sea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish–Moro_conflict

a. The Moro Pirates, also known as the Sulu Pirates, were Muslim outlaws of the southern Philippines who engaged in frequent acts of piracy, primarily against the Spanish, beginning in the late 16th century. Because of the continual wars between Spain and the Moro people, the areas in and around the Sulu Sea became a haven for piracy which was not suppressed until the beginning of the 20th century. The pirates should not be confused with the naval forces or privateers of the various Moro tribes. However, many of the pirates operated under government saction during time of war.
b. The Sultanate of Sulu became notorious for its so-called "Moro Raids" or acts of piracy directed towards Spanish Settlements in the Visayan areas with the aim of capturing slaves and other goods from these coastal towns. The Tausug pirates used boats known as Proas which varied in design and were much lighter than the Spanish Galleons and could easily out-sail these ships, they often carried large swivel guns or Lantaka and also carried a crew of pirates from different ethnic groups throughout Sulu such as Iranums, Bajaus and Tausugs alike. By the 18th century, the Sulu pirates had become the virtual masters of the Sulu seas and the surrounding areas, wreaking havoc on Spanish settlements. This prompted the Spaniards to build a number of fortifications across the Visayan islands of Cebu and Bohol, Churches were built on higher ground and watchtowers were built along coastlines to warn of impending raids. The maritime supremacy of Sulu wasn't directly controlled by the Sultan, independent Datus and warlords waged their own wars against the Spaniards and even with the Capture of Jolo on numerous occasions by the Spaniards, other settlements like Maimbung, Banguingui and Tawi-Tawi were used as assembly areas and hideouts for pirates. The Sultanate's control over the Sulu seas was at its height around the late 17th to early 18th centuries were Moro raids became very common for the Visayans and Spaniards. In Sulu and in the Mindanao interior, the slave trade flourished and majority of these slaves that were being imported and exported were of Bisaya ethnicity, the term "Bisaya" eventually became synonymous to "slave" in these areas. Its maritime supremacy over the Spaniards, at the time, the Spaniards acquired Steam-powered ships that began to curb Muslim piracy in the region, the Moro piratical raids began to decrease in number until Governor Narciso Clavería launched the Balanguingui expedition to crush the pirate settlements there, effectively ending the moro pirate raids. By the last quarter of the 19th century, Moro pirates had virtually disappeared and the maritime influence of the Sultanate became dependent on the Chinese Junk trade.
d. For three centuries, intermittent attempts were made by the Spaniards to destroy the homes of tihe Moro pirates, who, almost without exception, raided the Spanish colonies throughout the Philippine Islands, south of Luzon, and even occasionally on that island.


Sulu ideas are somewhat ok but could be improved by more naval/pirate modifiers and "raid" option should be added to their country.
 
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Are there any new events or/and mechanics in the Philippines region? That is something that would make it way more unique to play. And also I miss something for the cebu achievement. I.m.o. We don't need any more empty new tags or provinces. A lot of them are feeling like imperator. Just more tags without real flavor everywhere is not making the game better in any way, its making it worse.

edit: BTW the Imperator DDs on the other hand are showing the love that they are trying to bring the game now. A shame they did not do that before and restricted the map on the italian/mediteranian area and focused with flavor in that direction and openend the map with dlcs/patches more. In EU4 its going opposide - every patch more Tags and provinces and just a bit of flavor and small DDs
 
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Was hoping for a couple of new provinces in the Philippines... but the missions are nice :)
I do wish that Pangasinan gained a mission referencing Princess Urduja tho... but looking forward to the next development diary regardless!
 
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I've always thought it's nice if tags have something that makes them truly unique. Maybe Korea could get a mission reward at the very end of their tree that would give -50% to penalties from non-accepted culture (like the kind of bonus that republics get).

Personally I'd like a Manchu/Qing style decision for Korea that allows them to form a unique dynasty tag if they seize the Mandate. And it would change their culture the same way forming the Manchu would, effectively replacing Korean culture with an otherwise identical Korean culture that's in the Chinese group.
 
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Personally I'd like a Manchu/Qing style decision for Korea that allows them to form a unique dynasty tag if they seize the Mandate. And it would change their culture the same way forming the Manchu would, effectively replacing Korean culture with an otherwise identical Korean culture that's in the Chinese group.
Switching to (Chinese-) Korean culture from (Korean-) Korean in the same way Jurchen changes to Manchu could be a reward for completing Korean mission to take the Mandate.
 
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Moving on, we have Palembang, one of the pirate nations that can be formed very early on in the game, so we wanted to reflect a bit of the pirate’s life in our missions too! But historically, Palembang was also one of the oldest cities in all Nusantara, once the capital of the powerful Srivijaya empire and main controller of all the maritime trade routes in Southeast Asia. A balance between this major historical moment and the more “modern” piracy was therefore necessary, all of it leading to the restoration of this ancient and powerful realm.

Hello @skingrado, hello everyone.

I'm really happy that Palembang is being taken care of in this update.

Palembang is my favorite tag, and because of that I am very concerned about your future as well, as other players have already questioned in this post.

As I understand it, new missions will replace the generic palembang tree, but when it becomes a pirate (an event that occurs in the first month of the game), the tree changes completely to the generic pirate tree (which is very good).

In my view, it makes no sense to refuse to be a pirate and lose 1 of stability, to become the Pirate King later.

And worse, without Raid abiliity.

A pirate's main activity is raiding.

I suggest you play at least 5 hours with Palembang as a Pirate Republic to see how cool (and strong) this is.

Many tags already raid without having to be a Pirate Republic, such as the tags that belong to the Maghrebi culture, such as Morroco, Tlemcen and Tunis, but in the case of Palembang, this can be done just like the "The Knights" tag that can Raid using your "ideas".

I say this because I know that there will be no rework in the pirate missions (which, in my opinion, would fall outside the scope of this update), much less a combination of a pirate tree with another mission tree.

I'm sorry if I seemed to be a little rude, but my intention is to help.

I'm really excited about this new update and I really want it to be released.

Thanks!
 
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I have a question: Does Cebu still have galley combat ability in their traditions? It's always seemed kinda dumb since the Philippine waters are not classified as an inland sea.
 
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Regarding the second slot shared missions of Conquering Luzon/Visayas/Mindanao, the wording implies that the you will be able to colonize the uncolonized land of that respective region right away as a reward?

If so, that's pretty huge. I play alot of Madyas and getting free land instead of trying to beeline my way to a colonist and spending resouces on colonizing my home islands will free me up to pursue other things. These missions literally will save me decades of trying to up the home archipelago. Most people who don't play in the region don't realize how much of an upgrade that is.
 
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