For Europe in particular - and much of the rest of the world, too - the period covered by the game saw a general move away from feudal institutions. At the moment, this is represented by the age abilities, one-off situations (Burgundian Inheritance, French Duchies privilege, etc), and a plethora of tag switching.
I think that EU5 could stand to model the transition from CK-style feudalism, focused around personal titles, to the EU-style idea of nations (which is how every single tag in the game is represented). I don’t mean to say that, when you load up a new game, it should feel like you’re playing late/game CK3, but that there should be a general transition. I’m not entirely sure what that properly should be, but a few ideas:
- Model feudal regions as much more fragmented initially. Not just by having more tags, but being able to show that, for example, in France, it isn’t that there’s a nation of the duchy of Orleans, but that there’s a cadet branch of the Valois who rule Orleans.
- Model dynastic politics better. Don’t just pop out RNG rulers, but something a little less in-depth than the Imperator approach could be sufficient. To use the Orleans example again, there’s your source of heirs as the French King if you happen to die heirless (as happened historically). Don’t just create one-off events for inheritances and personal unions like Burgundy, but have a more in-depth mechanic that is generally applicable the more feudal your realm is.
- Model the various titles claimed and held better than by tag switching or *not* tag switching. Loads of European monarchs had a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but if, say, France actually conquered Jerusalem and the King of France was crowned also as King of Jerusalem, that would not mean that the country would become the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On the other hand, if the Duke of Provence were to secure all of France, it would not be that Provence suddenly happens to have the borders of France - it would be that the person who held the title “Duke of Provence” is now the King of France.
- Have a “feudalism/statism” (I don’t like the name statism, but I figure its better than nationalism) spectrum in the game, with bonuses and penalties to each end, but generally favoring the “statism” end state for, at the least, the end-game. Perhaps one advantage of feudalism is that it is easier to rack up PUs, but harder to unify them (think of the Spanish crowns and then the Habsburg titles). Meanwhile, higher statism would enable better unification, culturally, politically, and economically (think of the Act of Union).
And while this has focused on Europe, there’s many other parts of the map that could use some representation of the same basic dynamics.
I think that EU5 could stand to model the transition from CK-style feudalism, focused around personal titles, to the EU-style idea of nations (which is how every single tag in the game is represented). I don’t mean to say that, when you load up a new game, it should feel like you’re playing late/game CK3, but that there should be a general transition. I’m not entirely sure what that properly should be, but a few ideas:
- Model feudal regions as much more fragmented initially. Not just by having more tags, but being able to show that, for example, in France, it isn’t that there’s a nation of the duchy of Orleans, but that there’s a cadet branch of the Valois who rule Orleans.
- Model dynastic politics better. Don’t just pop out RNG rulers, but something a little less in-depth than the Imperator approach could be sufficient. To use the Orleans example again, there’s your source of heirs as the French King if you happen to die heirless (as happened historically). Don’t just create one-off events for inheritances and personal unions like Burgundy, but have a more in-depth mechanic that is generally applicable the more feudal your realm is.
- Model the various titles claimed and held better than by tag switching or *not* tag switching. Loads of European monarchs had a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but if, say, France actually conquered Jerusalem and the King of France was crowned also as King of Jerusalem, that would not mean that the country would become the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On the other hand, if the Duke of Provence were to secure all of France, it would not be that Provence suddenly happens to have the borders of France - it would be that the person who held the title “Duke of Provence” is now the King of France.
- Have a “feudalism/statism” (I don’t like the name statism, but I figure its better than nationalism) spectrum in the game, with bonuses and penalties to each end, but generally favoring the “statism” end state for, at the least, the end-game. Perhaps one advantage of feudalism is that it is easier to rack up PUs, but harder to unify them (think of the Spanish crowns and then the Habsburg titles). Meanwhile, higher statism would enable better unification, culturally, politically, and economically (think of the Act of Union).
And while this has focused on Europe, there’s many other parts of the map that could use some representation of the same basic dynamics.
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