Idea Group Elimination

[Fluffy_Fishy]

Religious is one of the strongest idea groups with bonuses for any religion. Catholics receive +2 papal influence = +1 free stability in about 30 years. Faster conversions also mean free papal influence. Orthodox and Sunni e.g. receive a very useful CB so that you could take any land you want and create vassals to feed. On top of that some of the best events in the game.

Economic is spending monarch points to get money, while in the long run it should be the opposite. It's a crutch for short-term that damages long-term.

Religious is 2/3 full of rebels and instability 1/3 gaining stability? The papal points are nice but only good for catholics, it just seems too situational to be doing so well in this.

 

[Ol_Dirty]

Religious: 17
Economic: 9
Administrative: 12
Humanist: 5
Influence: 9
Offensive: 12
Defensive: 0
Quantity: 16

9. Exploration
10. Diplomatic
11. Expansion
12. Quality
13. Plutocratic
14. Aristocratic
15. Innovative
16. Maritime
17. Naval
18. Trade
19. Espionage

R.I.P. Defensive. Again, not a bad group but out of the remaining my least favourite.
Humanist is one of my favourite groups so I don't want to see it get eliminated just yet.
BTW, just got the Master of India achievement and Humanist definitely helped with this. I think I only had one rebellion in India the whole time.

 

[Nightwing]

Damn, still half an hour until midnight and I couldn't do it. I'm sorry for failing you Defensive. R.I.P.

 

[kneville01]

Religious: 17
Economic: 7
Administrative: 12
Humanist: 5
Influence: 10
Offensive: 12
Defensive: 0
Quantity: 16

9. Exploration
10. Diplomatic
11. Expansion
12. Quality
13. Plutocratic
14. Aristocratic
15. Innovative
16. Maritime
17. Naval
18. Trade
19. Espionage

I need to defend Influence. The vassal game is so strong.
Economic... I down-vote it again, because ADM is too precious to spend on cash.

 

[Dr.Livingstone]

Humanism is just going through cycles. First, it goes down because of general dislike by the Religion crowd. Then, supporters of Humanism show up and duke it out for a little bit, slowing and eventually stopping the descent for a while. Finally, it rises to just out of danger zone, living for another day. I doubt the cycle can keep going for much longer, but I'm kind of happy it made it this far.

 

[IIWW]

So we are down to final 7, with defensive still making it to final 8 (I think the final 8 should be somehow emphasized, since thats the number of IG one can take in one game).
The final 8:
Places 1-7:
Religious
Economic
Administrative
Humanist
Infuence
Offensive
Quantity
8th place: Defensive
So we have 3 military idea groups, 4 administrative and 1 diplomatic.

 

[markusry]

Religious: 17
Economic: 8
Administrative: 12
Humanist: 5
Influence: 8
Offensive: 12
Quantity: 16

8. Defensive
9. Exploration
10. Diplomatic
11. Expansion
12. Quality
13. Plutocratic
14. Aristocratic
15. Innovative
16. Maritime
17. Naval
18. Trade
19. Espionage

Economic because development reduction
Influence because Diplomatic is better

 

[OldmansHQ]

I bump Humanist down, because I used to be in love with it, but now I see the light. I see that Religious is the right way. I bump Influence up, because out of the leftover Idea Groups it's one of my favourites and has the lowest score. It's best bird mana saver, there's more of course, but this reason should be good enough.

Religious: 17
Economic: 8
Administrative: 12
Humanist: 3
Influence: 9
Offensive: 12
Quantity: 16

8. Defensive
9. Exploration
10. Diplomatic
11. Expansion
12. Quality
13. Plutocratic
14. Aristocratic
15. Innovative
16. Maritime
17. Naval
18. Trade
19. Espionage

 

[Merrivale]

RIP Defensive, out at vote 308 with 24 up votes and 22 down votes.

 

[Ol_Dirty]

So we have 3 military idea groups, 3 administrative and 2 diplomatic.

Actually 4 admin and 1 diplo

 

[perhje]

So we are down to final 7, with defensive still making it to final 8 (I think the final 8 should be somehow emphasized, since thats the number of IG one can take in one game).
The final 8:
Places 1-7:
Religious
Economic
Administrative
Humanist
Infuence
Offensive
Quantity
8th place: Defensive
So we have 3 military idea groups, 3 administrative and 2 diplomatic.

4 admin(rel,eco,adm,hum), 1 diplo(inf)

 

[FieldMedic]

Defensive is gone?! We couldn't hold the line! VaderNoooo!

 

[IIWW]

Defensive is gone?! We couldn't hold the line! VaderNoooo!

We have offensive and quantity. We can send wave after wave to win.

 

[IIWW]

Also, I edited my mistake. Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[Ol_Dirty]

I think from the last 8 groups we can see that diplo ideas depend most on the player and the nation. Thus only one in the last 8. For example if you play a colonising game you pick exploration and trade whereas if play in the HRE you may go for diplomatic and influence. However with admin and military there are some groups you pick regardless of your style or the nation you play. For me these would probably be humanist, admin, offensive and quantity.

 

[Petrucci]

RIP Defensive, out at vote 308 with 24 up votes and 22 down votes.

Is it first group to have more up then down votes?

Wow list is getting tinier and tinier. I wonder what idea group will win? I am pro-militarist!

 

[generalolaf]

Religious: 17
Economic: 6
Administrative: 12
Humanist: 3
Influence: 10
Offensive: 12
Quantity: 16

8. Defensive
9. Exploration
10. Diplomatic
11. Expansion
12. Quality
13. Plutocratic
14. Aristocratic
15. Innovative
16. Maritime
17. Naval
18. Trade
19. Espionage

All of these groups are good, but Economics is definitely the most situational in my eyes, though my playstyle involves a lot of vassalisation. Some people have pointed out, IMO correctly, that Marcher Lords isn't that great, but it's at the end. You don't really need to take it and the idea group is strong enough even without it.

 

[Brecht165]

Religious: 15
Economic: 6
Administrative: 12
Humanist: 4
Influence: 10
Offensive: 12
Quantity: 16

8. Defensive
9. Exploration
10. Diplomatic
11. Expansion
12. Quality
13. Plutocratic
14. Aristocratic
15. Innovative
16. Maritime
17. Naval
18. Trade
19. Espionage

I'll take humanist over religious any day.

 

[generalolaf]

Humanism is just going through cycles. First, it goes down because of general dislike by the Religion crowd. Then, supporters of Humanism show up and duke it out for a little bit, slowing and eventually stopping the descent for a while. Finally, it rises to just out of danger zone, living for another day. I doubt the cycle can keep going for much longer, but I'm kind of happy it made it this far.

They're both really strong groups IMO. Most of the ADM ones are really good, though, so it'll come down to playstyle more than anything. It's not even situational, it's personal preference between them.

 

[Retetop]

Can someone bump religious up for me, and put humanist down 2 notches?

I'll take religious over humanist any day.