Europa Universalis IV – Development Diary 3 – Your envoys are awaiting your orders!

[Dankysh]

Loving all the changes so far. Looks really great. Day one pre-order for me without a doubt. I would even happily do a pre-purchase to get into the beta of this awesome game, like GW2 .

A skill level for the envoys would be really good actually and the spying diplomats sounds great.

Edit - Also does it means one cannot propose WP after losing a key battle and just before their main stack gets wiped, and get away with not losing their main army? I did that many of times when trying to fight a bigger nation and trying to smash & grab a key province. Or is peace deals still instant?

 

[Dovahkiing]

this will be cool how a war can go on while your diplomat is en route to propose peace... Kind of like how the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812 was fought after peace was signed.

 

[Sathariel]

What will the number of envoys you have at your disposal depend on? Political system? Technology? Size of the country? Weather over Stockholm at the time of coding it? .

 

[Macs]

The numbers depend on similar things like EU3.

When an envoy dies -I assume you won't have the same envoys for the whole game- is he replaced immediately?

So does tech, decisions, NIs and whatever concept may replace sliders influence the number of envoys available, but not the rate they are generated anymore (as they are not spendable resources)?

 

[Nephilia]

This looks like a good change, and more realistic and dynamic. I take it then that conducting diplomacy with your neighbors will take far less time than sending a diplo halfway across the Earth? I always found how all diplo actions regardless of distance between you and the target always took the same amount of time.

Also, if this is the case, does travel time speed up/slow down due to technological advance/blockades/war/land connections etc?

 

[Jia Xu]

Is there an advantage to keeping envoys at home?

 

[Blastaz]

Looks like Venice needs to be buffed, it doesn't have any historical fleet names!

Like everyone else I seem to believe that DD4 needs to be Envoys 2 and actually explain how we get them/how many (and how that number is genrated) you can get/replace them/whether they have any personal skill (like advisors) that influences the action chance.

 

[Johan]

So does tech, decisions, NIs and whatever concept may replace sliders influence the number of envoys available, but not the rate they are generated anymore (as they are not spendable resources)?

yes.

 

[Johan]

This looks like a good change, and more realistic and dynamic. I take it then that conducting diplomacy with your neighbors will take far less time than sending a diplo halfway across the Earth? I always found how all diplo actions regardless of distance between you and the target always took the same amount of time.

Yes.

 

[Johan]

Looks like Venice needs to be buffed, it doesn't have any historical fleet names!

Like everyone else I seem to believe that DD4 needs to be Envoys 2 and actually explain how we get them/how many (and how that number is genrated) you can get/replace them/whether they have any personal skill (like advisors) that influences the action chance.

Merchants
Base Value: +2
Merchant Republics: +1
xxx: +1
xyz: +1
etc..

 

[unmerged(63836)]

Very good change! Previous system was present since EU1 - this would be much better, and things like NI's would be more decisive. After all who cared about +0,3 diplomats per month? +1 diplomat, with name and possibly skill, would be so much better.

 

[Chamoisking]

Paradox Interactive presents CK2: Europa Universalis Edition

 

[Fryz]

merchant have name?

 

[Poh]

When you use the envoy how does it work. Do you send it where it takes Z days in transport and X days to preform the action and then they return and the action they performed is still in effect or do you send them and they stay at the location doing the action untill you recall them and then when recalled the actions is also canceled. Or is its a mix, like diplomats doing the former and merchants, missionaries and colonists maybe doing the latter?

EDIT: love the changes btw and nice to see the envoys have names, gives a little something to the flavour. However do you have the same envoys the entire game or does the names change from time to time to simulate that your envoys die and are replaced?

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

Might be an idea to thin out the borders. In places like central Germany, with so many tiny countries, it could look a bit crowded and harsh to have such a density of thick, coulorful borders.

 

[il_loco]

(After seeing the envoy in Wien) Will influence and relationships be connected to envoys housed in foreign countries, for example in Papacy or HRE?

 

[Avrelianvs]

Suggestions?

I like the changes so far and I think that are good improvements. I have three suggestions though, that I don't know if you can put in the game, but that I'd like you to take in consideration.

-Factions. I'd like the idea of different factions inside a province and more in general inside a state. For example, there can be the factions of royalist, nobles, peasants etc. Based on your decision you can gain or lose reputation with a faction, and of course there is no pleasing them all. This'll conduct in a situation in which different factions can and will fight, starting a civil war if you're not careful. We can simulate the American Revolution that way: with the faction of Americans slowly gaining power in the colonies, but at the same time with the faction of loyalist inhabitants of the colonies fighting for UK when Americans rebel, which is historically true. The regular army can have the opition of disbanding or integrating loyalists units but only if they are present in the province.

-State of agitation. If there are different factions (but even if there are not) there should a state of agitation if population of a province is hostile to you. This state of agitation should affect every aspect of the province, as trade, productivity, able men available. That'd mean that if you overstretch and you can controll a province with enough army to clam them down and you don't have good policy the overall efficiency of the state can decrease and even blow up in total civil war, a period of chaos. I think tha this system woulb more realistic that a province suddently rebelling.

-Sieges. In EU sieges have been misrepresented badly. You just need to stay in a province long enough and sooner or latter the province will fall. That is not historically true. Even if there is not an external intervention an army can't stand forever in a place. Case in point Albania: in 1444 the minuscule country rebelled against the Ottoman Empire and resited for more that 30 years against the army that conquered Constandinopoli. They did it because they had a general expert in guerrilla tacticts and some very badass castles. While Scanderbeg attacked Ottomans supplie lines, the castle of Kruja stood against every attack. In the end, Ottomans had to leave before the mountain passes were blocked from snow, because they didn't have the food to spend winter in the siege. Deseases too could very well put an end to a siege. This is totally irreproducible in EU and it was a big tactic problem during medieval times. I suggest very strongly that it should exist at least a time progression in wich friction increases progressively, especially if you don't own the provinces that connect the sieged province with your land (or if there is an enemy army on those provinces) and especially during winter.

 

[Seli]

merchant have name?

Yes for the personal touch.

 

[Raph]

Sensible changes. Will envoys be individuals with names? Will they have different skill levels (and if so, will some diplomats be better at, say, forging an alliance, while others excel att espionage?)?

 

[Primo Teonori]

Trade has just became funny. :laugh: