Regarding the Knights, Byzantium, the Church and a few other things

[MadDoctorScientist]

Disclaimer: Before I go to the topic, once again I would like to express concern over how the game basically ignores Jewish presence, influence and history during the period the game is set in.

That said, while playing for Heaven only knows how many hours I noticed a few things that could maybe improve the afore mentioned in the title.

I. As the Knights, I noticed that I am basically forced to seize Byzantine lands, usually allied to Epirus. That makes sense given that historically the knights conquered (stole) Rhodes from the Empire, but if I want to act as a "ecumenical defenders of Christendom" properly, the much complained lack of bonds between (historically) Genoa, the Papacy and Byzantium is felt there. One would expect them to accept help from anyone against the Turks. De facto, that was what happened when the Emperor himself went from court to court asking for help. So, a event of something allowing me to either ally or at least reinforce them (more or less as in the War of the Roses and Religious Wars in the H.R.E.) would help, since Byzantium basically hates anyone other than Serbia.
And I know the Greeks attacked a number of Latin holdings (Athens) to prepare for the Ottoman incursion, but if you exist with the sole purpose of stopping the Turks, helping the Greeks is preferable to allowing Constantinople to fall.

II. The Fall of Constantinople was the 9/11 of the day. It feels weird that anyone in Europe does not receive not even a message that it happened. I mean, even the Sack of Rome is better represented than it, so maybe adding a negative effect, to all Christian nations (specially the closest to "heathens") after it happens would make sense.

III. Not much important, but it feels strange to receive the Byzantine refugees event when I was the one who seized Byzantium.

IV. The not so subtle reference to Age of Empires III* in the mission tree was a lovely touch, plus it references a reference to the Knight's colonies in the Caribbean, but since liberties were taken, why the Ark of the Covenant and the Fountain of Youth, but none (that I am aware of) reference to King Solomon's Mines? I understand it would be more fitting in Victoria's time frame, but nonetheless something to consider since it could enrich the missions.

V. Speaking of Easter eggs, maybe this already happened in a previous incarnation of the game, but I was expecting a mention to the Maltese Falcon regarding Malta's mission/event. Not the most important thing, but anyhow.

VI. Speaking of Malta and the mission tree, as the Knights it is a bit frustating to ally whomever owns the island at the time and then discover that Epirus or Naxos already claimed it and now I have to either fight both Spain/Napoli/Austria/(maybe)Venice while already fighting the Ottomans and Mamluks, if I am to win it from a rival. I am not sure why Malta's mission is avaliable for all crusading states there.

VII. I understand Cyprus is an island, but they treat every war as a distant war unless it is in the Levant. I mean, Cyprus is a Greek island, I would expect them to help me in Greece.

VIII. It still feels strange to create (or conquer) a vassal nation and not be able to decide it's govenerment form.

IX. I noticed the diet's icentive to be in good terms with the Papacy, but the Monastic Orders should have something tieing (yes, that is a real word) them together. The Papal States has a mission to befriend the Orders, the Orders to the Papal States, but none between themselves.

X. I still feel the Knight's langues could be better represented if we were allowed to found priories in Catholic nations in more or less the same way the Pope appoints cardinals, only in a much weaker way. That would the Foreign Noble for a Grandmaster option a bit more meaningful too. I keep appointing nobles that please Naxos while they are vassals under Venice, and is quite useless.

XI. This is a bit too reachy, but the Grandmasters of the Knights were sometimes made cardinals and one (average) knight became a Pope Clement VII (the one that refused Kng Henry VIII's divorce and also the one that under the guard of fourthy two along a secret avenue survived the Sack of Rome), so been given a free cardinal regardless of the religion of the provinces in question would not be a terrible idea. Would greatly help the Knights appease the Greeks in Rhodes, or the Teutonic and Livonian Orders to resist Reformation/Russian Conquest. I am not entirely sure about all the bishops in the H.R.E., however. The Archbishops were often cardinals, but someone else versed in those things could add to it.
Incidentally, the Grandmasters were made Reichsfürsts of the Holy Roman Empre, so a mission allowing you to join the Empire regardless of where you are would be nice too.

XII. About the Council of Trent, if it tends too much towards counciatory, the countries with a harsh stance should have a decision or diet-thing allowing you to meddle more in the clergy's affairs while upsetting the Papacy but increasing True Faith associated values. And the reverse for the counciliatory ones under a harsher Council. Counter-Reformation is complicated business.

XIII.
PLEASE
ALLOW
AUTOMATED
RAIDING
PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having to remember when where to raid and where are your fleets is a real annoyance, specially during a war.

XIV. Someone most likely mentioned this, but picking the monastic brewery/winery reform should give you a choice between becoming a trappist order or maintaning your current structure. Also, the ruler's title should probably change to Abbot or Abbess. Also, if breweries are an option, adding a scholastic (literally) reform would make sense, at least under Saint Benedict's (and his sister's) Rule. But a nice allusion to the Templars there.

XV. Crusading States, the Papal States and anyone embrancing the Counter-Reformation should be allowed to embargoe Protestant/Hussite/Reformed/Anglican nations, even if not extended to other "heretics" and "heathens", albeit the Crusading States probably should do the second half there.

XVI. Forgot to add that when gaining/conquering Malta one should be allowed to freely move capital there. Just as when Scotland forms Great Britain and it moves to London.

XVII. And finally, I once again raise the ever controversial question of if Québec should be a colonial region aside from the historical British Canada. Bit unrelated, but this still keeps me up at night.
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*Please note that the character in question spoke in Gaels, so the conquistador should be of highlander culture, maybe?

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

Addendum:

I was talking to a acquaintance of mine about the celibacy vote during the Council of Trent event plus the Breweries/Wineries and that developed into a discussion about asceticism that I thought could be used as a Govnerment Reform for theocracies. Mostly because rescending clerical celibacy made ne think of the Orthodox model where priests have families, but bishops are chosen from amdist the monks, meanwhile she thought of the Anglican model where basically everyone can have a family, aside from monks and nuns, which are very few unless I am mystaken, but anyhow.
Monastic life has seen a massive decline in both the West and the East, yet back on the days of the game some monasteries still held massive importance, be it the Shaolin Monasteries, the Serbian monasteries turned fortresses against the Turks, the priories of the Knights of St. John, technically the whole city of Rome, and so on.
The point is simply to give them (nonastic orders included, apparently) the opportunity to reconsider they approach to it and how relevant they consider it to be. I started thinking of it in terms of where the major religions usually tend to think of it and with the exception of Animism and Fetichism that are way too generic a label for things to be thought properly and Zoroatrsim that I do not know well enough to have a informed opinion, the decisions could be:

- Promote Monastic Life (predominantly Orthodox, Coptic, Catholicism, assorted Buddhism, Shinto)
- Tolerate/Ignore Monastic Life (mainly Anglican and maybe Shinto)
- Condemn Monastic Life (predominantly Reformed, Confucionism, Protestant, Hussite)
- Our ascets should live as hermits instead (most pagans could fall here depending on how shamanic societies are perceived, Orthodox, Coptic, Hindu, Totemist, Sufism-minded Islam)
- We need educated scholars and burocrats, not useless monks! (Confucian and assorted Islam)
- To each his own (Hindu, Judaism, assorted Islam)
- Focus on the wordly community instead (assorted pagans and Norse, Reformed, Legalism-minded Islam)
- Train warrior monks (this one should be available only to monastic orders and Buddhism, Shinto and maybe Islam)
- Sikhism (because Sikh)

Before someone asks, I put Confucionism in a anti-asceticsm position mostly because Confucius focused in community living and the collective meanwhile Daoism focused on the individual and a much more libertarian approach to things, Wudang communities aside.
Judaism could have two exclusive policies for mantaining Rabbinical Judaism or if Jerusalem is Jewish a Rebuild the Temple and restore the Kohen - if anyone starts caring about Judaism, that is.
Shinto could promote monasticism mainly because of Shinto-Buddhist hybrids, the Yamabushi monks for instance, but depending on how you perceived the shamanic turned priestly practices, the Miko priestesses for example, it makes enough sense to think of the temples as sometimes some sort of community. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
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*To be honest, I have near to no idea what a Anglican theocracy would be like.

 

[Someone Borrowed]

Addendum:
- Promote Monastic Life (predominantly Orthodox, Coptic, Catholicism, assorted Buddhism, Shinto)
- Tolerate/Ignore Monastic Life (mainly Anglican and maybe Shinto)
- Condemn Monastic Life (predominantly Reformed, Confucionism, Protestant, Hussite)
- Our ascets should live as hermits instead (most pagans could fall here depending on how shamanic societies are perceived, Orthodox, Coptic, Hindu, Totemist, Sufism-minded Islam)
- We need educated scholars and burocrats, not useless monks! (Confucian and assorted Islam)
- To each his own (Hindu, Judaism, assorted Islam)
- Focus on the wordly community instead (assorted pagans and Norse, Reformed, Legalism-minded Islam)
- Train warrior monks (this one should be available only to monastic orders and Buddhism, Shinto and maybe Islam)
- Sikhism (because Sikh)

Before someone asks, I put Confucionism in a anti-asceticsm position mostly because Confucius focused in community living and the collective meanwhile Daoism focused on the individual and a much more libertarian approach to things, Wudang communities aside.
_____________________________________________________________________

*To be honest, I have near to no idea what a Anglican theocracy would be like.

Just an aside, I always envisioned EUIV Confucianism as a representation of Mahayana Buddhist practices, Daoist practices and beliefs, and traditional Chinese folk religion wrapped into one that is Chinese "religion".
Confucianism itself is more concerned with how societies should work, it doesn't lay out specific practices or rituals to achieve a goal for this life or the next. It's not necessarily hostile to monastic life in my knowledge, although a case might be made for neo-Confucianism.

Here, monasteries have basically become Buddhist temples, and people will go pray there for stuff like good exam scores. So for a Confucianist country to face no options aside from condemning monasticism and condemning monasticism doesn't look good. Don't get me wrong, the state has lots of reasons to put religion on a tight leash as it does today, but that shouldn't be its only option.

Historically the Tang Dynasty was very pro-Buddhism and gave monasteries lots of land, and I remember monasteries also owned land in Europe, so the landowning aspect of monasteries could also be examined.

Issue is, is this an event? Or a decision? Is it available to all nations? Or only theocracies?

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

(...)

Here, monasteries have basically become Buddhist temples, and people will go pray there for stuff like good exam scores. So for a Confucianist country to face no options aside from condemning monasticism and condemning monasticism doesn't look good. Don't get me wrong, the state has lots of reasons to put religion on a tight leash as it does today, but that shouldn't be its only option.

Historically the Tang Dynasty was very pro-Buddhism and gave monasteries lots of land, and I remember monasteries also owned land in Europe, so the landowning aspect of monasteries could also be examined.

Issue is, is this an event? Or a decision? Is it available to all nations? Or only theocracies?

I thought of it as a Govnerment Reform for theocracies or maybe anyone with religious ideas, if that makes sense.
But regarding the options, unless stated otherwise I listed them as the one most faiths lean towards, not that it would be exclusively those options.
And based on the Shinto event-thing, I assumed Neo-Confucionism was the one represented in the game. But again I am assuming Daoism was left out because, as mentioned, it is a philosophy and "sort of religion" much more individualistic and disorganised, leaving Confucionism as the only possible representation of traditional practices and beliefs associated with assorted areas under Chinese influence back thenwhich is probably one of the reasons for the whole Harmony concept and such.

To be honest, what bothers me the most is that Confucionist ideas in general could/would/did crash not only with Daoism but also with shamanic beliefs that are still in practice to this day, so that one is a bit lacking, but I do not have a better suggestion, so.

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

Second Addendum:

Forgot to mention that the automated diplomats feature could include Improve relations with Same Religion nations, Electors in the H.R.E., everyone in the H.R.E. and Same Culture nations.
And automated raids, please! I am begging you!

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

I forgot yet another thing about the Knights and one about the Council.

Cagliostro claimed to have received secret mysthical knowledge from Jesuits and the Knights of Malta. Both are possible yet romantic, but it is a fact that he was acquainted with Grandmaster Manuel Pinto de Fonseca, who was well known as a freemason and a alchemist of sorts. Even if the secret teachings were inventions to add credibility and esoticism to his persona, Cagliostro probably either beguiled or intellectually intrigued the Grandmaster. Some historians and conspiracy theorists believe that his ambiguous relationship with de Fonseca is one of the many reasons while the Roman Inquisition eventually had him arrested, in addition to the fact his involvement in the whole necklace scandal in France which revolved around prince-Cardinal de Rohan, who was a distant relative of Grandmaster Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, who became leader of the order two years after de Fonseca's and immediately after Ximénes de Tejada's death. Some want to see de Tejada's short rule as something suspicious, but he was an oldman leading a order bankrupt by his predecessor and I think it was just Nature taking its course.
Anyhow, when I first saw the Fountain of Youth in the Crusader States' mission tree I thought it was a reference to Cagliostro until the actual easter egg became obvious. So, maybe this could enrich the game somehow.

Incidentally, speaking of Jesuits and Catholic Mysthicism (Council of Trent), I never play as Iberian nations and rarely as Italian-French nations, so is there a reference to Baroque and everything it implies for non-Anglo-Slavic-German-Celtic nations that embrace the Counter Reformation? It could be used somehow to highlight it should the Council tend towards the Harsh Stance. Technically it could also be somehow used for England specifically in a (High) Anglican context, but no idea how really. Baroque architecture never went that much North and baroque literature is implied by Shakespeare's presence (albeit he had classicist elements and is considered a transitional figure while most people after Rev John Donne could be called baroque per se). I never survived long enough to see if music was implied, but Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart could be used somehow if they were not already.

 

[MadDoctorScientist]

Third addendum: the Knights should not suffer the decrease of clerical loyalty with the general hospital event.

And to answer the question everyone is asking, aye I do suffer of ADHD.