Opinions on the historicity of the writing in the game (Events, descriptions, etc.)?

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SmokeyMcSubpoena

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Nov 24, 2022
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Morbid curiosity, what do people think? I'm not a HUGE lit buff, but writing analysis is one part of my day job, which, deffo is the reason I don't enjoy reading for fun* anymore.

All that for context being said.

I'm ok with 80% of the descriptions, not a whole lotta ways you can talk about the Bessemer process or steam donkeys, and I'm super happy they didn't use a term like "Hydraulic engine" (if that would even apply, I dunno, not my lane).

The events though? Like straight out of a monday morning staff meeting, reuter's article, or a police incident report (which is hyperbole, ofc, unless you've read a few and recognize the fact-inteensive diction). Even an honorific or two like in civ would help imo. "My King, the landowners have brought to the Cabinet's attention that farms in X are being....underused.".

All the pomp and circumstance of Romantic writing that happened in this era, and they couldn't even throw in a quote from Byron? Psychology unlock? Sounds like it's straight out of the DSM: "The idea that mental disorders can be approached medically". What an absolute missed opportunity to quote Freud, cause that's the one everyone cares about.

I dunno, literature is debatable, and I'm not a writer, but I do feel like the game could've benefitted from an underpaid Victorian lit student who'd work for coffee and pizza, and maybe make a few passes over some of the events.

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Specifically not discussing WHY this was the case, that's another can of worms, but I haven't seen any posts about the quality of the writing, which, imo, was stronger in their last gen games.
 
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The events have dye-d in vain...

smh...
 
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The events have dye-d in vain...

smh...
Ima be honest, I was already mean to them on a diff post about that , but yes. That one specifically. Very much yes. Like, yes period.

In this thread, I'm hoping to be either strongly disagreed with, or maybe catch the eye of someone who'd be paid to do something about it if I'm not in a minority about wanting better writing rofl.

___________

PS: apparently it's in 2 as well, event ID 12710 I think "Dyeworks accident". Complete facepalm, they copypasted the worst one possible that I've seen as far as tone.
 
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they copypasted the worst one possible that I've seen as far as tone.
Considering the complete lack of flavour and events Vic3 has, its a shame they didnt just copypaste more, wholesale, from Vic2.
 
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Considering the complete lack of flavour and events Vic3 has, its a shame they didnt just copypaste more, wholesale, from Vic2.
I've tanked a small business so I say this with a grain of salt, but I'm legit curious how many like, paid manhours it would take, cause half my job's copy pasting bits of motions I've written for new motions, so like, there's a definite quantifiable like, it woulda cost too much to pay them to spend a day doing that.

God Willing, I'll never have to look for corpo work.
 
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I've tanked a small business so I say this with a grain of salt, but I'm legit curious how many like, paid manhours it would take, cause half my job's copy pasting bits of motions I've written for new motions, so like, there's a definite quantifiable like, it woulda cost too much to pay them to spend a day doing that.
Copypasting the fluff isn't the problem, though I think Vicky 3 is translated into at least one language not supported by Vicky 2.

The problem is converting the crunch to work with Vicky 3's mechanics.
 
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I agree that a lot of the writing needs another pass. It doesn't necessarily need to be historical quotes, but that might be a good approach because verisimilitude is difficult. It's not just the grey event text that needs work either; the main language of events and decisions could use work, as well as tooltips and the interface.

A lot of the language used sounds stilted in present-day English, let alone being historical. One that especially stands out to me is messages like "France have declared us their rival." Most people today would say "France has declared us its rival." Victorians would say "France has declared us her rival."
 
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Speaking of the historicity, I should note that some events are actually based on a fictional piece of work, albeit set in this timeframe the game took place in, rather than an actual historical event. The best example of this would be the so-called "game" on an island where a man hunted another man (which resulted in an unfortunate death of one of your game characters). I cannot recall the title of that story but I immediately recognized it from a story that was a required reading for the class I took in college.

EDIT: Found it. It was entitled "The Most Dangerous Game", written by Richard Connell.
 
I might ask PDX why Canberra is the capital of NSW or why Australia went from a big colonisable area in Vic 2 to just the southern part of Western Australia being colonisable in Vic 3
I imagine come 1.2 they might tweak a lot of the colonizable areas, as the 'claim' system would allow historical borders without filling in half the continent. Would be nice to not finish colonizing the great plains basically in a year or two as the US for example.
 
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A lot of the language used sounds stilted in present-day English, let alone being historical. One that especially stands out to me is messages like "France have declared us their rival." Most people today would say "France has declared us its rival." Victorians would say "France has declared us her rival."
That's an American/British English distinction. Collective nouns in the UK are generally plural, but in the US, they're generally singular. While I support using the American version for consistency (I think Paradox's policy is to use American English in their games), the other way isn't wrong by any means
 
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The Rick and Morty IQ copypasta is literally referenced in the game and its fine. I think a mix of tongue in cheekness like the dyeworks event is fine.

I do agree that a solid pass over everything by a Victorian english intern would do wonders. Even eu4 feels more period in character..
 
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Iʼve actually put a mod up on Steamworks thatʼs a first pass at this—Acme Translations. It also tries to correctly use “curly” quotes, apostrophes, and em and en dashes, as well as consistently using second person instead of first when the game is “talking” to the player.

TBF, I havenʼt tackled events or decisions yet, and I hadnʼt thought of trying to “Victorify” them. But itʼs on my list…and I work overnight as a security guard, so I have lots of spare time to edit. Donʼt know if I picked the best name to represent what it does, but it amuses me, for whatever reason.

EDIT: Meant to add that I donʼt know how good a job Iʼd do at Victorian language; Iʼm not a bad writer, but Iʼve never tried that style. Iʼll give it a try and see how it works.
 
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While I support using the American version for consistency (I think Paradox's policy is to use American English in their games)
I support, heavily, a change in this.

British English is just so much better. Favour has a U in it goddamn it!
 
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That's an American/British English distinction. Collective nouns in the UK are generally plural, but in the US, they're generally singular. While I support using the American version for consistency (I think Paradox's policy is to use American English in their games), the other way isn't wrong by any means

It might be accepted in Britain today, but not traditionally. It's wrong because it doesn't fit the style.

It is not in Japan's interests to allow negotiations to drag on once their armies are ready to deliver the final blow.—Times.

The personification of Japan must be kept up by her.

Fowler, The King's English, 2nd ed., p. 68.
 
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I support, heavily, a change in this.

British English is just so much better. Favour has a U in it goddamn it!

All the random Us you find in British English really enhances the writing experience. Armour, colour, favour, etc. Marvelllous!

Edit: Thx @grommile for pointing it out.
 
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All the random Us you find in British English really enhances the writing experience. Armour, colour, favour, etc. Marvelous!
Two 'l's in marvellous, if you would, while you're singing the praises of British spelling :)
 
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