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With the end of several great and long AARs this past year, it may well be that Vicky2 becomes the new stomping ground for the 'epic project' as HOI2 finally gets put to rest. But who knows what the future has in store?

This is probably a decent bet. There are already a few projects that have a good number of years under their belts, and with no Vicky 3 on the horizon (cry) I think the game will probably continue to satisfy that strange pol-prof part of AARland that craves detailed accounts of parliamentary scheming and painstakingly well researched essays on the specifics of trade in the Niger basin in 1840s. And these are the sorts of things that take years to write, as the best part of a decade on here has hammered into me.

And of course it will always be home to our various abortive biennial @Jape projects that captivate us for a few months before dying quiet and much lamented deaths.

Perhaps its because of the communism?

Yes, yes I think it might be that...;)

Here lies DensleyBlair, purged for grand crimes against the true StAARlinist path.

(I'm sorry.)
 
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As a contribution for the Q3 awards I would note that the non-HOI3 Others pulled in twice as many votes as the whole of Imperator Rome category, which I think is another clear bit of evidence that HOI3 should be it's own category so the rest of the Others have a chance to breath. Indeed looking at the results HOI3 works pulled in 35 votes vs 36 for Stellaris, 37 for HOI4 and 30 for EU4. The case for HOI3 having it's own category is surely overwhelming at this point?

that Victoria 2 has exploded in popularity for AARs of great quality and quantity. This only bodes well for the health of the AAR ecosystem.

With the end of several great and long AARs this past year, it may well be that Vicky2 becomes the new stomping ground for the 'epic project' as HOI2 finally gets put to rest. But who knows what the future has in store?
The Vicki 2 area having a resurgence is indeed most welcome, even if it wasn't quite enough to keep interest in a certain project going beyond a select band. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Vicki2 pulled in the most voters overall, beating even CK2, which is a very impressive turnaround from previous rounds.

I was going to dispute HOI2 being put to rest, but I suppose there is a minimum number of works and authors required to actually be an "active area" and I concede those numbers are probably both higher than 1. That said, I do plan on continue my work in those murky depths for quite some time to come, so there will be a few more twitches from the corpse before the end.
 
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even if it wasn't quite enough to keep interest in a certain project going beyond a select band.

I’ll try and get a “the Revolution is being betrayed!” special edition of the Libertaire out in the next few days at least. But otherwise I would highly encourage any and all writers to pick up on this project.
 
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God damnit TBC spoiler alert

I apologise profusely for spoiling the fact that the House of Anjou is mortal and his son inherits ;) :) :eek:

I can certainly recommend reading the next two years worth of stuff if it's any consolation. Mr J had to go full on CKII meme territory at times because G was an AI controlled character before he got ahold of him.

He does all kinds of nasty. Thrilling read.

The Vicki 2 area having a resurgence is indeed most welcome, even if it wasn't quite enough to keep interest in a certain project going beyond a select band.

He's not bitter at all about it.

At least you still got Edward Bearism. You ALL still got Edward Bearism!

I was going to dispute HOI2 being put to rest,

HOI3 is still very powerful in the forums, moreso than many of the more recent titles from paradox. But yeah, HOI2 is very, very close now to being as dead as CKI, which is kept around pretty much entirely as a shrine to Knud Knitling.

It will be sad to watch HOI2 finally go to sleep and not wake up though. Like the trains switching from steam to diesel.
 
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HOI3 is still very powerful in the forums, moreso than many of the more recent titles from paradox. But yeah, HOI2 is very, very close now to being as dead as CKI, which is kept around pretty much entirely as a shrine to Knud Knitling.

It will be sad to watch HOI2 finally go to sleep and not wake up though. Like the trains switching from steam to diesel.

I was doing some housekeeping on my inkwell entry a couple of days ago and I was amazed to find out that my first ever ACA title was in the "CKI/II" category, which made me feel ancient considering I never even played CKI and thought it long dead well before I arrived here.
 
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It could be an idea to merge Imperator into the Other category and switch it with HoI3. Then again, with CK3 coming, we will need to add another category anyways next time...
 
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Bah @TheButterflyComposer I was referring to the fact you called him King Geoffrey not the fact he inherits from his father the Duke!

:confused:

Oh. But there's so many different ways that could have happened. And so many different kingdoms.
 
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Congratulations to all nominees and winners, especially @JabberJock14 again, and @Bullfilter for bodying much of the Other category like a certain virus we all know and love.
Why, that’s the nicest way I’ve ever been compared to a pandemic virus! Thanks TBC. :D At least the AAR that took the category for me was a real ‘other’, from the venerable old EU Rome line. And not a carry over story started in the days of CRT monitors!;) (edit: which isn’t a crack at such gems, more to argue that old games can still be good vehicles for new stories :) )
 
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Victoria 2 has a depth that no other pdx title has

It allows you to imagine the effects of your actions
As an example,
Conquer Egypt as Britain and you can see how it affects the life of the Copt people in Alexandria. You can see how their economic situation changes in the tax interface. You can see how their basic needs are fulfilled or not. You can see how they react to the annexation whether by becoming capitalists, clerks or by violently resisting the annexation
You can see how the British conquest and abrupt abolition of slavery in Egypt(I use HFM which has slave pops and mechanics) suddenly creates hundreds of new labourers and peasants of Azande or Sudanese or African minor culture who suddenly find themselves in a strange situation
You can see how the lives of every one are affected by your actions

That's Vicky2
 
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As a contribution for the Q3 awards I would note that the non-HOI3 Others pulled in twice as many votes as the whole of Imperator Rome category, which I think is another clear bit of evidence that HOI3 should be it's own category so the rest of the Others have a chance to breath. Indeed looking at the results HOI3 works pulled in 35 votes vs 36 for Stellaris, 37 for HOI4 and 30 for EU4. The case for HOI3 having it's own category is surely overwhelming at this point?
HOI3 is still very powerful in the forums, moreso than many of the more recent titles from paradox. But yeah, HOI2 is very, very close now to being as dead as CKI, which is kept around pretty much entirely as a shrine to Knud Knitling.

It will be sad to watch HOI2 finally go to sleep and not wake up though. Like the trains switching from steam to diesel.
A non-HoI3 game nonetheless won in the Other category, so clearly the other games have no problems keeping up with HoI3. Darkest Hour and HoI2 have been less active recently, but for a long time those games had almost as many nominations as HoI3.
It could be an idea to merge Imperator into the Other category and switch it with HoI3. Then again, with CK3 coming, we will need to add another category anyways next time...
One could give Imperator a chance to get a bit more mature and develop, but if it remains a minor title with few AARs it might make sense to have it join the "Other" category. On the other hand I presume that the future of the CK2 category will depend on CK3.
 
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One could give Imperator a chance to get a bit more mature and develop, but if it remains a minor title with few AARs it might make sense to have it join the "Other" category. On the other hand I presume that the future of the CK2 category will depend on CK3.

Oh, I expect at least a few years of very little changeover from ckii to iii, unless the new one is exceptionally deep from the begining in terms of natrative potential. It might be, but momentum and slow adoption rate should keep ckii in vogue for a while.
 
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Oh, I expect at least a few years of very little changeover from ckii to iii, unless the new one is exceptionally deep from the begining in terms of natrative potential. It might be, but momentum and slow adoption rate should keep ckii in vogue for a while.
Another solution might be to adopt the model mentioned by DensleyBlair above. Have categories per type of game, which would imply a single category for EU 1 to 4, one category for CK 1 to 3, one for HoI 1 to 4 and Darkest Hour, one for EU:Rome and Imperator etc. Under this change the "Other" category might disappear altogether.
 
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One could give Imperator a chance to get a bit more mature and develop, but if it remains a minor title with few AARs it might make sense to have it join the "Other" category. On the other hand I presume that the future of the CK2 category will depend on CK3.
Definitely could. I'm just afraid of having too many categories. We already saw a lot of votes for only one or two categories and I think we all know getting our votes set up can be time consuming. As for ck3 and ck2, I expect the latter to be strong for a couple of years more still, minimum.

Right now this is my suggestions for categories:

EU4
HoI4
Vicky2
CK2
CK3
Stellaris
Imperator
Others

With the latter two possibly being merged at some point. Eight categories as above is close to the max we should have, I think.
 
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A non-HoI3 game nonetheless won in the Other category, so clearly the other games have no problems keeping up with HoI3.
No @Bullfilter won and he is an unusual freak of nature (in a good way). He could write an AAR using one of the long dead be-cursed games like Sengoku or even March of the Bloody Eagles and he would still win a piles of awards, he should not be taken as representative. ;)

Right now this is my suggestions for categories:

EU4
HoI4
Vicky2
CK2
CK3
Stellaris
Imperator
Others

With the latter two possibly being merged at some point. Eight categories as above is close to the max we should have, I think.
I'd agree you don't want more than eight categories. As has been said CK3 is going to start slow, it will only have been out for a month when voting opens so it could live as CK2/CK3 for a couple of quarters. That frees up a slot to give HOI3 it's own category and still keep us at eight. By the time CK3 is big enough to need it's own category, say Q1 2021, either HOI3 will have started to die down or Imperator will not have burst into life and can safely be moved into Others.
 
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No @Bullfilter won and he is an unusual freak of nature (in a good way). He could write an AAR using one of the long dead be-cursed games like Sengoku or even March of the Bloody Eagles and he would still win a piles of awards, he should not be taken as representative. ;)


I'd agree you don't want more than eight categories. As has been said CK3 is going to start slow, it will only have been out for a month when voting opens so it could live as CK2/CK3 for a couple of quarters. That frees up a slot to give HOI3 it's own category and still keep us at eight. By the time CK3 is big enough to need it's own category, say Q1 2021, either HOI3 will have started to die down or Imperator will not have burst into life and can safely be moved into Others.

Maybe put HOI3 and 4 together?
 
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First and foremost; Congratulations to all the winners!

There's some cracking stuff out there, and the ACAs are a great way to highlight it. All praise goes to @Nikolai for organising them.

Second; huge thanks to everyone who voted for 1901. At first, I didn't realise I'd just about sneaked into eligibility by starting when I did, and certainly didn't expect to get votes for such a new AAR once I did clock it. It's a real honour to make it on the nominees list.

Third; echo the VIcky II love. It's the game I always return to as my default to play, and it's always the one that most makes me want to Report After Action.

I think what makes it so perfect for expansive history book projects is the combination of the time period (close enough to be recognisably our world, far enough to still have interesting, major divergences) and the length of the game (long enough to have major social and geopolitical changes, not so long that the AI will have blobbed all minor nations out of existence).

HOI, in all its forms, I think, is the natural home of the 'government narrative' AAR. The players are well-known, well-documented, and the time period is short enough that you don't have to find a way to artificially lengthen the characters' lives or change the whole cast list by the end.

CK AARs I'm not as familiar with as I should be, but always considered it tailor-made for the Comedy AAR (this may have something to do with Knud Knytling being my first exposure to a CK AAR).

Last but not least; I still think HOI3 should take Imperator's spot. Even when not having its own category, the total votes for HOI3 AARs rivalled the main categories. Other's never been the most vote-grabbing category, but that's not its purpose. It's there to highlight AARs from places you might otherwise not look. People clearly still frequent the HOI3 subforum and write for it of their own accord. It somewhat defeats the point of Other if it's 'HOI3, and Zoidbergs.'
 
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Another solution might be to adopt the model mentioned by DensleyBlair above. Have categories per type of game, which would imply a single category for EU 1 to 4, one category for CK 1 to 3, one for HoI 1 to 4 and Darkest Hour, one for EU:Rome and Imperator etc. Under this change the "Other" category might disappear altogether.
I like this idea
 
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After some thought I quite like the idea of the series being judged together as per @DensleyBlair above. I think it also rather neatly avoids worrying about cross-over when a new game is launched (as is about to happen with CK of course), and presumably will happen with others in due course.
 
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Yeah that sounds like something to try.
 
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