Alright, so you came here to leave your dislike because of the edgy thread title. But perhaps you'll hear me out before you do so.
To put things straight, I've totalled probably about 2000 hours in Pdox games, and I've been playing the EU series since EU II, so I've seen quite a bit in terms of grand strategy games, I've learned things the hard way, had quite a few great games, seen quite a bunch patches, DLCs etc come and go.
"So, why this thread then? If you don't enjoy EUIV any more, just play something different."
The problem is that I think EU IV is probably in a better state than any EU game was before. Most new features are awesome, and I'd love to play the hell out of them, enjoy them and see how it all turns out.
The thing is, I can't enjoy it anymore. Because the game lacks the thing a good game needs more than anything: reward. The sense that you achieved something unexpected, that you've beaten the odds.
This was perfectly possible in most earlier versions of EU, and it was great fun to defeat a huge Blobhemia with tiny elite Swiss soldiers, or to restore the Byzantine Empire to all its glory.
Of course, neither of these is impossible in the current game state, but what is impossible is doing this in a rewarding way. If Alexander had played EU IV, there would be no Alexander, you might say.
If you want to achieve anything as a small nation in the current game state, you need 2 things. Strong allies, and lots of patience. Lots and lots of patience. Boy, so much patience.
The essential rule for the game is that you should never, ever, ever start a war that you haven't already won before it started. If there's even the slightest doubt that your enemy is clearly weaker than you, don't start the war.
What are the problems? Well, for instance:
- AI preserves armies like crazy now. New forts have taught it to never commit to pretty much anything. Ever. Unless, as mentioned, the war is pretty much won already anyway.
- This also means that your allies won't help you in decisive battles since they prefer standing in some remote safe spot until the enemy doomstack has somehow vanished (which it usually doesn't do).
- Ambush/guerilla tactics, which used to be so much fun, are now largely impossible. At least, you won't get anything out of them except maybe a bit of attrition for the doomstack, because forts prohibit any real territorial gains.
- Perhaps most of all, the general all-or-nothing tendency of wars. There are hardly any wars left which don't end in complete disaster for one side. In the early game in particular, losing one battle pretty much ruins your game even as a medium-sized nation. Even big stacks can wipe completely in one unlucky encounter (yes, I'm looking in your direction, Mr. "No-you-can't-stop-your-army-from-walking-into-that-doomstack-sir"-feature), and if they don't wipe in the first encounter, they most likely will in the second or third. The only way to avoid this is to, well, play only large nations. Or, to go back to the point I started from, to never start wars unless you already won them in the first place.
- And, lastly, of course, if you lose said battle, you will a) most likely suffer a -100% defeat and will b) lose most of your territory, perhaps be completely annexed in one go, due to the extremely low province warscore cost.
Now, all of this may sound like excitement at first glance. A challenging AI, high stakes in case of an unlucky result, how glorious! Sadly, it leaves a rational human player with only one logical option: to play it utterly, ridiculously safely and carefully. Ally any/all blobs in your neighbourhood. Go afk for half an hour until you got those 10 points. Then declare war on a hopelessly inferior victim. Hooray, nowyou're a conqueror your allies have done all your work for you for some arbitrary friendship points.
After that, you essentially do the same thing for the rest of the game until you're strong enough to take on the rest of the world all by yourself. And because the game is pushing you so strongly towards such boring, low-risk, repetitive tactics, is why I sadly have to call it - boring.
To put things straight, I've totalled probably about 2000 hours in Pdox games, and I've been playing the EU series since EU II, so I've seen quite a bit in terms of grand strategy games, I've learned things the hard way, had quite a few great games, seen quite a bunch patches, DLCs etc come and go.
"So, why this thread then? If you don't enjoy EUIV any more, just play something different."
The problem is that I think EU IV is probably in a better state than any EU game was before. Most new features are awesome, and I'd love to play the hell out of them, enjoy them and see how it all turns out.
The thing is, I can't enjoy it anymore. Because the game lacks the thing a good game needs more than anything: reward. The sense that you achieved something unexpected, that you've beaten the odds.
This was perfectly possible in most earlier versions of EU, and it was great fun to defeat a huge Blobhemia with tiny elite Swiss soldiers, or to restore the Byzantine Empire to all its glory.
Of course, neither of these is impossible in the current game state, but what is impossible is doing this in a rewarding way. If Alexander had played EU IV, there would be no Alexander, you might say.
If you want to achieve anything as a small nation in the current game state, you need 2 things. Strong allies, and lots of patience. Lots and lots of patience. Boy, so much patience.
The essential rule for the game is that you should never, ever, ever start a war that you haven't already won before it started. If there's even the slightest doubt that your enemy is clearly weaker than you, don't start the war.
What are the problems? Well, for instance:
- AI preserves armies like crazy now. New forts have taught it to never commit to pretty much anything. Ever. Unless, as mentioned, the war is pretty much won already anyway.
- This also means that your allies won't help you in decisive battles since they prefer standing in some remote safe spot until the enemy doomstack has somehow vanished (which it usually doesn't do).
- Ambush/guerilla tactics, which used to be so much fun, are now largely impossible. At least, you won't get anything out of them except maybe a bit of attrition for the doomstack, because forts prohibit any real territorial gains.
- Perhaps most of all, the general all-or-nothing tendency of wars. There are hardly any wars left which don't end in complete disaster for one side. In the early game in particular, losing one battle pretty much ruins your game even as a medium-sized nation. Even big stacks can wipe completely in one unlucky encounter (yes, I'm looking in your direction, Mr. "No-you-can't-stop-your-army-from-walking-into-that-doomstack-sir"-feature), and if they don't wipe in the first encounter, they most likely will in the second or third. The only way to avoid this is to, well, play only large nations. Or, to go back to the point I started from, to never start wars unless you already won them in the first place.
- And, lastly, of course, if you lose said battle, you will a) most likely suffer a -100% defeat and will b) lose most of your territory, perhaps be completely annexed in one go, due to the extremely low province warscore cost.
Now, all of this may sound like excitement at first glance. A challenging AI, high stakes in case of an unlucky result, how glorious! Sadly, it leaves a rational human player with only one logical option: to play it utterly, ridiculously safely and carefully. Ally any/all blobs in your neighbourhood. Go afk for half an hour until you got those 10 points. Then declare war on a hopelessly inferior victim. Hooray, now
After that, you essentially do the same thing for the rest of the game until you're strong enough to take on the rest of the world all by yourself. And because the game is pushing you so strongly towards such boring, low-risk, repetitive tactics, is why I sadly have to call it - boring.
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