All things to all men...
A long time ago I thought that it would be cool if EU had a more 'Age of Kings' (yeah its an RTS) style tech tree where things didn't just develop on their own but were researched and you could choose your country's path. Then HoI and now Vicky have come along and tis here! Wow!
Along with that I was hoping for a 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' or 'Napoleon' (both by Koei) type 'Grand Tactical combat where you could actually command troops on the field. Probably not gonna happen.
I think the reality of it is that these games are really a presentation of the 'big picture' - while wargamers like me would like a Grand Tactical Game (I've been waiting around for some genius to make a grand tactical simulation of the Hundred Days or Austerlitz/Jena-Auerstadt campaigns that works! and is actually playable) similar to what would be done with boardgames in days gone by - you had a world map or a campaign map, maneuvered around, researched etc but when your forces and the enemy encountered each other then they slugged it out.
I think that ultimately this isn't really 'that kinda game'. If its war and maneuver I want then there are a ton out there. However, this series is almost second to none (okay Shadow President, sadly I never got to play it, a bit before my time y'see) among its contemporaries in simulating diplomacy. Not to say that it's perfect but it sure has a lot more options than just send an ambassador to ask for a treaty and that's it.
About prestige, I think it's a pretty valid thing - the whole point of the era was snobbery and class and national hierarchy. Thats what all those arms races and conquests were about I think - power and bragging rights. Similarly, the 'uncivilized nations' such as the Zulus or what not would never have had any 'ambassadors' taken seriously and, outside of their own sphere, nations like China and Japan were little more than political jokes. It brings to mind the story that John Milius relates in The Wind and the Lion (Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
The Imperial Japanese ambassador to the US was attending a state dinner with the President and as the guest of honor he was sitting next to him. The president offered him a plate of salmon and said, "You likee fishee?"
The ambassador nodded solemnly. Then the president offered him some steaming crabs. "You likee crabee?"
The ambassador again nodded.
Then at the end of the dinner the ambassador rose up and proposed a toast in the most flawless English to the president of the United States and the continuing alliance of their two great nations, making a short speech on their symbiotic relationship etc etc. Everyone was awed by the speech.
Then he sat down and turned to the president and said, "You likee speechee?"
What I'm trying to say is they won't get no respect if they ain't in the Whitish Christianish social clubish.
Another example. At the Treaty of Paris, Imperial Spain sold their greatest Pacific possession, the Philippine islands to the United States for some millions. The thing was, at this time the only thing the Spanish held was the capital city of Manila and an outpost in Baler, in the North, which was under siege. Everywhere else the Filipinos had revolted and established their own revolutionary junta. The Philippine embassy wasn't even let in the door as the two great powers haggled over their country.
I think that's what prestige is supposed to (albeit abstractly) represent.
Best regards,
Richmond
