Moving on to other projects

[Thracian]

good luck with victoria 3

 

[OldmansHQ]

Well, Johan already spilled the beans in this week's dev diary, but I wanted to make a post regardless: As of this week, I will no longer be in charge of EU4. In the short term, I'll be switching to Stellaris and heading up the AI work on it, after which I'll be moving on to another assignment that I can't yet talk about (still at PDS tho). Johan will be filling in as project lead on the expansion that is currently being developed.

While EU4 is very much Johan's baby, I sort of consider it my godchild. Ever since I took the helm during Art of War's development, I've immensely enjoyed working on EU4. In addition to being one of my favorite games ever, it's also been a very interesting game to design expansions for: Handling the challenges of paid vs free, working new features into a mature and already quite complex game, and balancing the desires of the community against our own plans for the game have all been valuable experiences, and while some mistakes were made along the way, I believe that I leave the game in a very strong shape, and that it will continue to get even better with future expansions and patches.

This is not goodbye. I will continue to be involved in EU4's design (providing input and feedback) and I will no doubt continue to read and post on these forums, I just won't be handling the actual day to day development of the game. As a game developer, I've always considered it important to maintain communication with your fans: They don't always know exactly what they want, and you can never please everyone, but it's always worth listening to someone who truly cares about the game, even if you may not agree with their ideas. I've found the EU4 community full of passion and ideas, and a number of features and tweaks have come directly out of this community, features and tweaks that would never have seen the light of day if nobody was willing to listen to them. So I'll still be around, listening to to you guys and passing on any good ideas I happen to spot.

And of course, I will continue playing EU4 on my own time. After all, I still have some 93 achievements to get.

Whilst I like the general direction of the game. And I actually like the business model and continuous development, and I appreciate you communicating with us peasants. I have to say that you failed in one critical area - AI. I understand that it's difficult to program the AI. Maybe it really is best it could realistically be, but god damn is it dumb! You can almost imagine digital sack of bricks mounting a horse or a throne and commanding the great armies.

Good luck and have fun with Stellaris! Don't forget about us .

 

[Mikaa]

It's an omen !

 

[Daemonic]

You've done a fantastic job! Good luck with Stellaris (it looks awesome) and whatever else follows it!

 

[Cathal341]

after which I'll be moving on to another assignment that I can't yet talk about (still at PDS tho)

Victoria 3 Perhaps? This plus the unexpected Christmas Patch and some pretty big hints
That being said thank you for the immense work you've done with EU4 to make it the game it is today!

 

[oblio-]

Noooooo....TM* Don't leave us to Johan!
* TM Johan.

For those of you who weren't around at the time, I'm just mocking Johan, who, after a few too many beers, replied to a common and popular suggestion on the forums with a laconic "no".

Good luck with your new projects Wiz! I know that at some point you were pretty upset that one of my posts implied that I knew what the developers were working on, I'm sorry for that and I hope to meet you again in Stellaris-land.

 

[LordNeidhart]

Goodbye Wiz, I'll miss being mad at you all the time until I buy Stellaris and can be mad at you again.

 

[Jamey]

I'm sad to see you leve EU4, as I'll miss your constant communication with us, but I'm excited that you're moving on to other games.

I'd also like to thank you for your time at the helm of EU4. I feel like your time at the helm was good for the game, and that you helped renew my interest in EU4.

 

[grandad1982]

Victoria 3 confirmed!

 

[Gilad Pellaeon]

Good tidings and good hunting in your new battleground, Wiz.

You did great things with and for EU4 and its fanbase. May your legacy endure here, and may you grow an even stronger one on Stellaris and [Unknown Project]. Thank you for your time and dedication!

 

[Subbak]

Well, apparently Space Byzantium was in need of nerfing. ;-)

Good luck on Stellaris and your sekret project. Also get Stellaris out soon please!

 

[Quaade]

being passed on to EU4, HOI4 in your holidays, then stellaris and spilling a little info about an upcoming game... Dreams starts Great job Wiz and good luck

 

[Lamahorse]

I'm actually more excited for Stellaris than HoI4.

It's really going to be a coup for Paradox if they can tap into that market. Good luck Wiz and thanks for the one word retorts!

 

[HerrStarr]

I'm a little afraid of this.

 

[Moridin997]

.

Stop it, Wiz.

You're making me cry...

 

[Grand Historian]

Thank you for all your hard work on EU4 and for being so good at listening to the fans! You'll be dearly missed, and we all hope your next project goes smoothly.

 

[svennnnnnnnnnnn]

Good luck and nice work on eu4, hope you have fun on vic 3. Don't forget that Sweden needs to be woefully overpowered.

 

[ashandresash]

Great job in EU4, it's a wonderful game so... thanks for be an important part of it.

I'm quite sure Stellaris will be a great game too, and I'm looking forward to knowing a bit more of that project... The Paradox machine can't stop

 

[Insentient]

Admirable job on EU4. Now get to work on Vicky 3, those Capitalist POPs won't start making financially sound decisions themselves.

 

[Zak Preston]

@Wiz Good luck, man! You aren't the nicest and friendliest person on this forum (like most IT-guys actually are), but I have to admit that pre-Wiz EU4 and post-Wiz EU4 are almost completely different games, improving from every single major patch.