When it comes to the Big Three of DLC desired by the fans, the only one I really care about is Playable Pagans - I don't mind not playing as Theocracies or, as will be available to us as of January 14th, Republics. I'm still on two minds whether or not I'll buy the upcoming DLC (It sounds great, don't get me wrong, I just have things going on in other aspects of life that would keep me from playing as much as I'd like), but a term being bandied around by Dev Diaries gives me some cause to feel hopeful for the future: "Patrician Families."
Not only does it apparently give those of us who wanted playable barons the right to play a, sort of, republican baron, but it creates a very interesting roleplaying scenario (Agnatic Seniority succession in patrician families sounds something like the Mafia or whatever) for those who like to RP their games a lot, myself included. If I do make the effort to buy the new DLC I'll be looking forwards to seeing how patricians will fit in with the wider scope of feudal lords and how, if it's possible at all, a son of a patrician can become a feudal lord in his own right (a lot of my plans for the upcoming DLC involve starting off as a republican family and eventually becoming feudal lords, so, I'm hoping there's a way to cross between the two).
There's something else that patrician families lay the groundwork for, and it's the first time I've actually been excited about the prospect. As I said, Pagans were the only major DLC I really wanted, with Theocracies coming in a distant third behind the Republics. The new Patrician game mechanic, however, changes things slightly - the Pornocracy has been mentioned on these forums a couple of times, a period also known as the Dark Age of the Papacy when a single Roman patrician family was able to influence a succession of popes. Patricians played a part, so, in the Papacy as much as they did in the merchant republics of the time. In a future DLC making Theocracies playable, the Papacy and College of Cardinals could be influenced by a combination of feudal and patrician factors; combining the two worlds would be interesting and be a challenging new gameplay element. For the first time, I'm actually looking forwards to a possible Theocracy DLC in the future; and just writing this thread has convinced me to buy the Republic DLC in ten days time. Brilliant!
Not only does it apparently give those of us who wanted playable barons the right to play a, sort of, republican baron, but it creates a very interesting roleplaying scenario (Agnatic Seniority succession in patrician families sounds something like the Mafia or whatever) for those who like to RP their games a lot, myself included. If I do make the effort to buy the new DLC I'll be looking forwards to seeing how patricians will fit in with the wider scope of feudal lords and how, if it's possible at all, a son of a patrician can become a feudal lord in his own right (a lot of my plans for the upcoming DLC involve starting off as a republican family and eventually becoming feudal lords, so, I'm hoping there's a way to cross between the two).
There's something else that patrician families lay the groundwork for, and it's the first time I've actually been excited about the prospect. As I said, Pagans were the only major DLC I really wanted, with Theocracies coming in a distant third behind the Republics. The new Patrician game mechanic, however, changes things slightly - the Pornocracy has been mentioned on these forums a couple of times, a period also known as the Dark Age of the Papacy when a single Roman patrician family was able to influence a succession of popes. Patricians played a part, so, in the Papacy as much as they did in the merchant republics of the time. In a future DLC making Theocracies playable, the Papacy and College of Cardinals could be influenced by a combination of feudal and patrician factors; combining the two worlds would be interesting and be a challenging new gameplay element. For the first time, I'm actually looking forwards to a possible Theocracy DLC in the future; and just writing this thread has convinced me to buy the Republic DLC in ten days time. Brilliant!
