Returning after 2 years. How to deal with rapid changes?

[penco]

I used to play EU3 and EU4 hardcore. Shortly after the Art of War expansion in 2014 I had to stop playing because RL. I'm thinking of coming back to the game now, but I am finding it impenetrable. There are so many new mechanics and new expansions. It seems like even if I were to master the current state of the game then another big DLC and patch is going to come out and put me back to square one. It's a moving target.

How do people deal with the constant rebalancing and DLCs? I'd like a "stable" experience where I can play the game and participate in the online community. But it seems like being part of the community means leaping at every new update.

I don't mean this to be a whine post. I just like to feel "good" at a game that I am going to sink hundreds of hours into, and I don't want to feel like all my experience will be scrapped every 4-6 months when the next bit patch and DLC is released. Even aside from the cash-grab aspect, the new DLC model Paradox has adopted is really making it impossible to get into their games, CK2 included.

Is there maybe a popular EU4 mod that is fairly stable and not constantly changing? I guess I can just go back to EU3 if nothing else.

 

[Songe]

Or you can stay in an old version you like.

 

[penco]

Or you can stay in an old version you like.

I know. But then I am essentially locked out of the community. If I want to ask a question, no one will have a relevant answer because I am essentially playing a totally different game.

 

[inreadible]

I don't play EU4 full time, but I play at least some amount in every patch. You will of course have problems at first because you have been gone for a long time. But myself, for example, I don't feel like the game changes that much in each DLC because I've always learned the mechanics from the earlier DLCs before the next one comes.

So if you hop in now, learn the game again, and another DLC comes, I think you will find it easy to learn the new stuff in that DLC because you know all the earlier mechanics.

 

[Trin Tragula]

You can in fact choose to stay at or revert to any particular patch as long as you want

 

[Tom D.]

I know. But then I am essentially locked out of the community. If I want to ask a question, no one will have a relevant answer because I am essentially playing a totally different game.

I'm playing EU4 since it came out and I didn't buy a single DLC, not even AoW and I'm not locked out of the community. If you follow the changes (Dev Diaries, general threads on the forums, ...) than you'll definitely be able to stay on par, even without buying every DLC.

 

[aragonFTW]

If you want to ease yourself back in, try a game in the patch just after you stopped, then come forward slowly the same way the rest of us did

Some patches I have felt pretty alienated from and waited for the next one. Forts took me a long time to work out, probably the biggest change in last 2 years other than development and regions, but is about to completely change again.

 

[penco]

If you want to ease yourself back in, try a game in the patch just after you stopped, then come forward slowly the same way the rest of us did

Some patches I have felt pretty alienated from and waited for the next one. Forts took me a long time to work out, probably the biggest change in last 2 years other than development and regions, but is about to completely change again.

Yeah forts, movement locking, and territories/states are the most difficult things at the moment. It is also hard to tell how much of the game I will miss without DLC features like Estates.

 

[hagagaga]

Try Ottomans and see how fast it takes to get coalitioned.

 

[SolSys]

You're exaggerating, EU4 doesn't change that much with every patch. Just play a test campaign now and play for real on the next one.

In fact, I play a full campaign every 3 DLCs [5~6 patches] just to get that new game feeling and to not get burned from the game [happens to all].
While a single DLC does have its changes it feels like an "enhancement" and not as a new game as you imply.

... snippet ...

OP meant staying on an older patch, not playing vanilla [which as you said is good as well].

 

[TenshiN]

Not much more than you had to learn when you booted up a EU game for the first time. Isn't it refreshing to see one of your favourite games being constantly updated and improved, giving you new features to get into? And even if it is a hassle, new patches usually don't add an awful lot of all-new features you really have to spend time to get into. They are usually pretty intuitive, and the tooltips basically guide you by hand and tell you whatever needs attention and what kind of attention you should give it.

 

[ecrurudesby]

Play a nation you are most familiar with, or that gives room to breathe, ideally not a weak nation that requires good knowledge/attention. When you come across a feature that confuses you, read what you can find on the Wiki, which isn't 100% up to date but should be enough for you to become more familiar with the game's features. If you still have questions there's always the Q&A thread in this EU4 section of the forum. The Wiki is also good at outlining what each DLC adds, if you play without DLCs you can then read the headlines for each DLC and consider for yourself or ask the forum how big of a change this or that is.

 

[MaXimillion]

I love the fact that the game keeps getting constantly updated, it keeps it fresh and interesting.

 

[kente]

I know. But then I am essentially locked out of the community. If I want to ask a question, no one will have a relevant answer because I am essentially playing a totally different game.

in my experience, you can still have all the help from the community, even if you play an older version. I'm still playing 1.11.4 and i had several question which the community help me to find an answer. Of course, occasionally, there will be some question which they will remain without answer, but that's happen with the current version too. In my experience the most annoying thing is: everytime i check the eu wiki, i have to click the "view history" button, search for the last entry before my version and hope there is the answer i need