My last plea

[Frezzin]

This is probably not a very good idea as a starting point. Playing a one province count is a big challenge, and if you don't really know what you're doing it might feel somewhat frustrating as not much tend to happen on its own. If you want to figure out the game mechanics as well as have plenty to do it's better to start as a powerful duke or as a king.

Absolutely. I agree. I'm a vet player and I found starting out as Ossory very challenging. Better to start as a duke within a big kingdom or as a small kingdom.

 

[MasterofMagic]

I couldn't agree more. This is actually what made it extremely hard for me to get into the HoI series (I did manage with HoI2), the amount of stuff going on when you start the game can be overwhelming. I like to start small and build up so that I can learn as I go and really know and understand every little detail of my eventual, glorious empire. Having to worry about so many things right off the bat is extremely intimidating, and even if a king has a margin for error in that screwing up doesn't automatically mean game over, it's often hard to tell when and how you are making mistakes. As an independent count, there's so much less ambient noise that you can focus on learning the ropes.

Exactly and very good points you make as well. ONE COUNT to bind them ONE RULER to rule them all.

 

[panther-anthro]

One, the Multiplayer was really stable.

So, I was essentially giving my friend I was gaming with tips on his starting play.
Generally though, once you get the idea, it flows amazingly well.

"Stable" if by stable you mean OoS errors at least once every 10 years

 

[3inar]

It sounds to me like you were making pretty good choices and justifications for your actions despite stumbling around. I agree that more direction few new players would be nice, but I don't think I'd like it to go so far as to tell me how I am 'supposed' to play and remove all the magic of figuring things out. Reading tooltips and learning how the gears work is part of the magic of Paradox games for me.

Amen to that brother!

 

[MasterofMagic]

"Stable" if by stable you mean OoS errors at least once every 10 years

Not for me. I haven't seen an error in 100 years. Must be your computer.

 

[Federalist girl]

I have to agree with others that starting small is best. I've played a few paradox games, but generally have no idea what I'm doing. I've done decently well in Vic1 and EU3, but HoI3 and Vic2 scare me. There's a lot going on. Now, as a devoted fan of the Roman Empire, I *had* to play as the Byzantines in CK2. There's nobody else I'm interested in. Regardless, I play near the end of the timeline (my current game started in 1290ish) where the Empire is much smaller and thereby more manageable. I like the imperial status, but the vast realm is way too much...

Not that there's any problem with vast realms, but somehow I find them much more manageable if I've gained them over time rather than started out big and have a lot to manage. It's kind of like growing into it?

So right now, I'm mostly just building my economy and powerbase and vassalizing neighbors, and only waging war at last resort to press little claims against little people. It's likely that I'll not fully restore the Empire before 1453, but that's fine. It's a good, casual, starting campaign. Starting as the Empire in 1066 would scare me.

 

[gekkoguy82]

I have to agree with others that starting small is best. I've played a few paradox games, but generally have no idea what I'm doing. I've done decently well in Vic1 and EU3, but HoI3 and Vic2 scare me. There's a lot going on. Now, as a devoted fan of the Roman Empire, I *had* to play as the Byzantines in CK2. There's nobody else I'm interested in. Regardless, I play near the end of the timeline (my current game started in 1290ish) where the Empire is much smaller and thereby more manageable. I like the imperial status, but the vast realm is way too much...

Not that there's any problem with vast realms, but somehow I find them much more manageable if I've gained them over time rather than started out big and have a lot to manage. It's kind of like growing into it?

So right now, I'm mostly just building my economy and powerbase and vassalizing neighbors, and only waging war at last resort to press little claims against little people. It's likely that I'll not fully restore the Empire before 1453, but that's fine. It's a good, casual, starting campaign. Starting as the Empire in 1066 would scare me.

+1

to paraphrase the great Bill Murray: baby steps

 

[Acularius]

Not for me. I haven't seen an error in 100 years. Must be your computer.

Pretty much, I haven't have trouble at all, been the smoothest vanilla game I've played from Paradox since I stopped lurking and joined the forum.

Maybe your fellow players are cheating?

 

[robc04]

Thanks for all the comments. Just wanted to let everyone know I read them all and appreciate you taking the time to write them. Seems like there is a split in the start small or start as duke recommendation. My inclination is to start small like I tend to like in almost any strategy game (I never liked Civilization scenarios because I don't like starting out with stuff). I played one starting small and will now try as a duke. If I run into trouble or can't figure out what is going on then I will retreat and start again as a small count. If I do it right I would eventually become a duke, right? One thing I wonder about small starts though is do you ever get any ambitions? Are the more invloved ambitions reserved for the larger countries / dynasties? Like in EU III, do the big players get more custom events?

Thanks again

 

[robc04]

I decided to start with the Duke of Bohemia. He likes his liege (49), but his liege doesn't like him (-4). They are different cultures. What are the consequences of your liege not liking you? Is there any way to see the consequences in the game? Is there a way to see way my liege thinks of his other vassals? I can see what the other vassals think about him.

Also, does it matter if your dynasty head has a low opinion of somebody else? Since we are controlling them, it seems like their opinion rating for others wouldn't matter. Or does it effect things in subtle ways, like if he has a low opinion of his wife does it decrease the chance for them having kids or something?

Thanks

 

[Landwalker]

I can't confirm (well, I can, but I'm not going to put in the effort to comb through the files and gather the requisite evidence), but my suspicion is that some random events may be tied to relations between characters. Maybe not. But it seems sensible.

Your liege not liking you will probably also have an effect if you want your liege to do certain things for you, like marry his daughter to your son, or foster one of your little brats. Your liege's attitude towards you may (or may not) also impact his willingness to bequeath you new titles.

I realize that's probably not an especially helpful answer, but I think a good rule of thumb can just be "In the long run, good relations make things better / easier / more fortunate than bad relations."


Edit: To answer your other question, yes, there is a way to see what your liege thinks of his other vassals. Open the vassal's character window. In the top right (where it shows his liege) should be two numbers—one that shows the vassal's relation towards his liege, and another that shows the liege's opinion of the vassal.

 

[robc04]

Thanks for the answers Landwalker