• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Hello and Welcome to another development diary for Europa Universalis IV. As it is another one written by me, it might be a bit shorter than you’d like, but I hope the information is interesting enough.

One of the things we wanted to focus on with Leviathan was to strengthen the ability to play “tall”,or in other words, how to become more powerful without necessarily expanding all the time. We talked in an earlier diary about the first of three new features regarding playing tall, Expand Infrastructure, which allowed you to stack multiple manufactories in the same province.

---
Today we’ll be talking about the second of the ‘play tall’ features for Leviathan, as we delve into Concentrate Development.

Concentrate Development is an interaction that is done to either one of your territories or to one of your subjects states or territories.

This will reduce the development in that area by an amount comparable to a horde razing it, and then that development will be distributed to your country.

Fifty percent of that development will be going directly to your capital, while thirty percent will be distributed randomly among stated provinces, while the final twenty percent is lost.

There is a cooldown of 50 years for how often you can do this in an area.

Doing this to one of your subjects will upset them and also increase their liberty desire, so be careful.

There are also two government reforms that makes this loss less painful, as it removes the twenty percent lost, and instead adds that development to the capital.
  • The Mandala Reform, available to the chinese techgroup and either dharmic, eastern or muslim religions.
  • Siamese Absolutism - which is given from some missions.

Speaking of the Mandala Reform, it's a first tier reform, that besides giving you free development concentration also grants the following.
  • +15% Vassal Income
  • +1 Vassal Force Limit Bonus
  • -33% Governing Capacity

eu4_21.png


Connected to this, is a new peace treaty called Pillage Capital!
As sometimes you want to grow your power, and weaken your enemy, but you do not want to take on more territory. In that case, just use the new “Pillage Capital”(™) peace treaty, which will concentrate development on their capital state, benefiting you!


Stay tuned for next week, when we will talk more about playing tall, and maybe something about canals.
 
After a brutal five-year war, the Ottoman and Venetian diplomats finally meet to make peace and end the bloodshed. The Ottomans managed to capture most of Venice's territory, but the island itself managed to resist the invaders thanks to naval superiority. The Ottomans demanded Istria and the Aegean islands that were under Venetian control as well as war reparations. "What else should I ask for?" wondered the Turkish envoy. Suddenly, Mehmet's eyes widened and he smiled, "Why don't you let us raze your capital for a few days?", he said. His Venetian counterpart was shocked "Let you raze our capital?! Then what, you're just gonna leave?". Mehmet nodded, noting "Yes, we'll just loot and raze your capital to the ground and then leave like nothing happened." Seeing no other choice, the Venetian accepted.
When he returned to the island, the Venetian diplomat was declared a madman and thrown into a prison.
 
  • 8Like
  • 4Haha
  • 1
Reactions:
The Deluge in Poland caused by Sweden. Though most of the plundering was used to maintain mercenary wages in order to keep plundering.
See, that looks exactly like the thing Sack of x events in the game trying to model. A pillage capital peace term seems so out of the place.
 
  • 4
  • 2Like
Reactions:
Any precedent from the EU4 era?
Swedes in Bohemia in 30 years war
Nader Shah sack of dehli
After a brutal five-year war, the Ottoman and Venetian diplomats finally meet to make peace and end the bloodshed. The Ottomans managed to capture most of Venice's territory, but the island itself managed to resist the invaders thanks to naval superiority. The Ottomans demanded Istria and the Aegean islands that were under Venetian control as well as war reparations. "What else should I ask for?" wondered the Turkish envoy. Suddenly, Mehmet's eyes widened and he smiled, "Why don't you let us raze your capital for a few days?", he said. His Venetian counterpart was shocked "Let you raze our capital?! Then what, you're just gonna leave?". Mehmet nodded, noting "Yes, we'll just loot and raze your capital to the ground and then leave like nothing happened." Seeing no other choice, the Venetian accepted.
When he returned to the island, the Venetian diplomat was declared a madman and thrown into a prison.
It'll likely have - 1000 reasons if you don't own the capital
 
  • 6Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Swedes in Bohemia in 30 years war
Nader Shah sack of dehli

It'll likely have - 1000 reasons if you don't own the capital
Doesn't stop a player in multiplayer unless it's impossible to select as an option if they don't control your capital. One country razing another's capital is no rarity historically, but I find it being a peace term a bit ridiculous "We'll just raze your capital, ok?". If you control their capital, why do you have to ask for permission to raze it? The only example of this happening was Rome in 455.
 
Last edited:
  • 2
Reactions:
achievement idea:

Can't have sh*t in Detroit: steal development from the province of Potawatomi (Detroit) for certain total amount (comparable to like pillaging it like 5 times)
 
  • 3Haha
  • 2
  • 1Love
Reactions:
Fifty percent of that development will be going directly to your capital, while thirty percent will be distributed randomly among stated provinces, while the final twenty percent is lost.
The idea is good but in my opinion, if the idea is centered around tall play the following changes should be made:

1- Cooldown should be reduced but it should be a empire wide cooldown and not a cooldown for each area, otherwise wide will benift more than tall because wide will have more territories and more areas.

2- The numbers, 50% for capital, 30% for states and 20% lost should be changed. For example, 20% lost is fine, 50% for capital should be greatly reduced and 30% for states should be proprotionally increased but development gained by states should include capital state. The reason for this change is that wide will have more states, so, development gained will be more distributed between states (including capital state) and will result in lesser development density and lesser benefits, while tall will have less states and better capacity to concentrate development more in his capital.

3- AI should not spam "pillage capital" peace term, otherwise, regions with higher tag density like the HRE will become the less developed area of the game while regions with little tag density would be unaffected.
 
  • 2Like
  • 1Love
  • 1
  • 1
Reactions:
I don't know how I feel about the whole thing. I think the consolidate development feature is neat, but I feel like it will turn into another regular button push for the player to push every 50 years and isn't inherently due to a overall lack of vassal-overlord play in the current game. The new government reforms are always welcome, but I don't think I will ever choose to go down that group since vassal play is not inherently difficult due to the current limits on vassalization to development instead of relative size making them a nonthreat. Pillage capital seems like a awful CB. If you take AE from taking development you might as well go for gold or Show Superiority(which is technically worse in regards to mana, but doesn't cost AE). I hope these features are elaborated on or there are some real changes to the economic/development system for tall players to mess around with.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
See, that looks exactly like the thing Sack of x events in the game trying to model. A pillage capital peace term seems so out of the place.
They should just expand the looting mechanics. Devastation and prosperity could play a bigger role in game and sacking areas for gold can passively increase your development. This could also play a role in army professionalism and merc upkeep.
 
  • 5
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Because it matters far more for game balance, Naples and low countries are high dev, Scots and Irish aren't, so being unable to release the latter doesn't matter
I see, the Irish and Scottish aren't very important in the grand scheme of things for this period, so they should be erased from the face of the (old) world.
Screw them, right?
And screw it if the English decide to ship ever Frenchmen, Dutch, German, Danish or everyone else in existence to the old world as well, they get a free pass because of reasons.
The post mughal pre British era is called The Anarchy for a reason
Ah, so in that period the British turned India into Siberia.
Must have missed that in my history lessons.

All joking aside, mate, we clearly disagree in this issue, but the fact remains that they changed the mechanic for that reason.
Agree or disagree with it all you like, that fact remains.
 
  • 3
  • 1
Reactions:
I am not sure how this construes as playing tall when you're just redistrubiting the points from one part of your country to another with some losses in between. The only part of that that i'd call playing tall is the declaring war to steal people's development in their capital. Which also conflicts with the whole not going to war 90 percent of the time. I don't think i'd ever use it on my own country... maybe on France or Turkey as Austria or someone else, or upon my vassals to reduce the cost of annexing them... BUT it causes them to dislike me.... which in turn makes the relationship unstable and take longer to bring them up to annex them.
 
  • 2Like
  • 1
Reactions:
I am not sure how this construes as playing tall when you're just redistrubiting the points from one part of your country to another with some losses in between. The only part of that that i'd call playing tall is the declaring war to steal people's development in their capital. Which also conflicts with the whole not going to war 90 percent of the time. I don't think i'd ever use it on my own country... maybe on France or Turkey as Austria or someone else, or upon my vassals to reduce the cost of annexing them... BUT it causes them to dislike me.... which in turn makes the relationship unstable and take longer to bring them up to annex them.
You could do it whilst annexing them to speed it up
 
How is concentrate development a tall play feature if it can only be used on territories or subjects? What is someone playing tall gonna do, sell those provinces and release subjects after using it?
 
  • 3Like
  • 1
Reactions: