Greetings!
Tomorrow Tuesday the 21st of January 2020 we’ll release a patch for EU4 called 1.29.4. As this patch will seemingly do nothing for you except change the version number and checksum we thought we should explain what’s going on.
We are running a few experiments aimed at reducing the threshold for new players to access the full EU4 experience. We are approaching this in a data-driven way, somewhat related to what we did in CK2 a few years back (and that test turned out great when it comes to growing the CK2 family around the globe!); which means that we cannot fully disclose how exactly it will look, as that will interfere with the test. What we can say is that it’s fully and completely optional and does not require you to interact with it in any way.
We hope that these experiments do not negatively impact your game experience, but, since updates have the potential to cause unforeseen effects, it is important that you know what is happening.
Tomorrow’s patch changes nothing that should affect mod compatibility. Mods that worked on 1.29.3 should work with no problems on 1.29.4. However, if a mod has specified 1.29.3 as it’s level of compatibility it will say it is outdated in the launcher, even if in reality it would work as normal. Hopefully your mods already have 1.29.* compatibility specified in which case there should be no effect whatsoever. If they are not though: it should be completely safe to run the mods anyway.
EDIT 18:00CET 2020-01-21 (go to pdx_pdawg's post)
Tomorrow Tuesday the 21st of January 2020 we’ll release a patch for EU4 called 1.29.4. As this patch will seemingly do nothing for you except change the version number and checksum we thought we should explain what’s going on.
We are running a few experiments aimed at reducing the threshold for new players to access the full EU4 experience. We are approaching this in a data-driven way, somewhat related to what we did in CK2 a few years back (and that test turned out great when it comes to growing the CK2 family around the globe!); which means that we cannot fully disclose how exactly it will look, as that will interfere with the test. What we can say is that it’s fully and completely optional and does not require you to interact with it in any way.
We hope that these experiments do not negatively impact your game experience, but, since updates have the potential to cause unforeseen effects, it is important that you know what is happening.
Tomorrow’s patch changes nothing that should affect mod compatibility. Mods that worked on 1.29.3 should work with no problems on 1.29.4. However, if a mod has specified 1.29.3 as it’s level of compatibility it will say it is outdated in the launcher, even if in reality it would work as normal. Hopefully your mods already have 1.29.* compatibility specified in which case there should be no effect whatsoever. If they are not though: it should be completely safe to run the mods anyway.
EDIT 18:00CET 2020-01-21 (go to pdx_pdawg's post)
Hi everyone! Pontus, team lead for EU4 marketing supporting Björn real quick. Since “the cat is out of the bag” me and the team wanted to clarify a few things before speculations are running to rampant and are established as truths:
- Yes, we want to test a subscription model for EU4.
We have heard for years from existing and potential new players that the cost of getting the game and all expansions all at once is quite expensive (and might be discouraging for completely new EU4 fans), it's been supported for almost 7 years after all. A subscription model has been suggested to us on many occasions, so we thought we'd run a test to see how popular such a service would be.
- No, we are NOT replacing the current model or changing how anything works now. We are simply adding another option.
Expansions and other DLC's, both existing and upcoming, will still be available for purchase as usual for those who prefer that. We will not remove any content from anyone or make future content exclusive to people with a subscription. Nobody will be forced to pay again for content they have already purchased, and you will get to choose if you want to subscribe to get future DLC or continue purchasing the items individually just as you’ve always done.
- The cost of such a service is one of the things we want to decide based on the test.
This will help us assess how the presentation has performed, and help us determine how we should value any subscription offer in the future (if it ends up being a desired feature). This, unfortunately, is why we were so cagey about this experiment.
In hindsight we might have been a little more open about this process -- we know, as our long-time fans, this model may not be aimed at you (again, none of your existing purchases are going to be charged again). We wanted to try and gather data from people who encountered this new idea without prior bias or discussion (makes for a better experiment). That’s why we were keeping things “on the DL,” as the kids say.
That's pretty much all there is to it at this point. A limited group of people will be receiving this offer, and it's entirely up to these people whether or not they want to jump on the offer or not.
Thanks for your keen interest on this topic. You are of course welcome to share your ideas on what you think of such a service with us.
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