How do you learn this game?

[abauer2]

I guess my core fear, so far, is knowing when to unpause. Like with Civ, when I was first introduced to it, I always felt uncomfortable ending my turn, fearing potential actions were being left undone. Naturally, this is just a fear of unknown potential, and I'm certainly not a min/maxer ("winning," as you say, isn't really my concern), but glaringly stupid mistakes are a worry. Still, like you said, I should (and will) just suck it up.

You will undoubtedly make stupid decisions. I've played ~1000 hours and still do. Just try to learn from them when you do. Plus, some of the most fun I've had with this game is trying to fix those bad decisions. They usually lead to some of the best stories.

 

[Silversweeeper]

Regarding the fear of losing, keep in mind that the only win conditions are those you set for yourself and that game over only happens when your dynasty loses its last county. Just pick reasonable goals for your first games (e.g. become king of Ireland and keep the crown for a few generations starting as someone in Ireland) and see if you want to try something more after you do that (e.g. win a crusade, become an emperor, or successfully exterminate the Karlings dynasty that has been a thorn in your side for some time) or if you want to try another start. Once you feel that you have the basics down you can try a harder start or a different religion.

 

[Narr666]

You have the comfort to not play a turn-based game, so you don´t have to worry much. Speed 1 is slow enough to get things done without really losing something. So basically, you can do stuff on pause if there´s much to do and unpause after it. When you realize you have not done anything you simply do it on Speed 1.

I start at normally at Charlemagne even when I´m playing Vikings, so I have no good enough experience how the Danelaw etc is represented, but normally, CKII is really obsessed about historical accuracy, so you should find what your looking for. If not, here´s your long-term first goal: Try to figure out how to invade England and build simply your own Danelaw