Does that mean the end of OPMs (One Province Minors) like, fr’example, Ulm?
Not as far as I understand. Areas are just geographic collections of provinces. So Ulm would control one province in an area.
I get it. For some reason I misinterpreted that sentence as meaning all countries would now be 3-5 provinces. Reading… it’s hard.
That looks awesome! Is this a “coming really quick” kind of thing, or a “coming in a few months with DLC” update?
Don’t think they have said yet, have they? Since 1.18 just came out a couple of weeks ago, I would assume we’re at least a month from 1.19.
OK thanks, I won’t wait then lol.
It feels like the model of infinite expansions and patches has really made Paradox’s games a moving target moreso than other publishers’. I really liked CK2 but I feel like the endless expansions have diminished the base game’s overall balance as they focused on more and more esoteric game modes. Yes, you didn’t have to buy the expansions but the accompanying patches are not optional. I always meant to jump back into EU4 but I’m a bit afraid that after I buy the expansions I will find the game more messy than the original release. Please tell me I’m wrong about this…
CK2 hasn’t aged as well as EU IV in my opinion. CK2 feels hit and miss. These days I find I’m less engaged by the game, it has lost its way or I’m seeing the flaws more deeply. EUIV on the other hand has only ever gotten better for me, including Common Sense that was broadly criticised.
If you’re saying this in a literal way, you actually can set the game to play at any patch level you want via Steam.
Refusing to update because you don’t like some of the new mechanics can be a big negative, rather than just neutral - you miss out on bug and UI improvements that are independent of mechanics. In this case “Just stick with the old version” is unsatisfying from PDX or a fan.
Yeah, I get that, @AK_Icebear. In the context of what Fenrir was saying, though, I was just making sure he knew about the option to set the game to whatever patch level you want. It’s fairly well-known to hardcore Paradox fans, but a lot of people have no idea they can do so (it’s not really an advertised feature).
Paradox is already committed to having the game work with or without any of their paid expansions, which I am sure is a major, major QA headache for them. Having bug fixes and UI improvements work with and without every change in base game mechanics over the course of years is just completely infeasible. I get enough version headaches with the software I work on and if I had to do something like that I would jump off a bridge instead.
I suspect it isn’t heavily advertised because marketing is pushing the “more free updates if enough people buy DLC!” theme. If they also say “and those that hate it can revert!” its something of a mixed signal.
Only commenting on the marketing perspective - I personally am a fan of the last year or so of DLC and patches for EU4.
Of course I understand why they are sticking with a single patching path. But I can also understand why “revert” advice doesn’t sound so magnanimous to someone that a) was sold partly on continual support/updates and b) doesn’t like the direction the team has taken post 1.0 development. When a company is selling games that feel quasi-EA on the promise of future support, the direction of the support really matters. While I like how they’ve handled EU4, I’m disappointed with the first 6 months of Stellaris updates and now more skeptical for what lies ahead, so I can see both the pros and cons of the system in these two games.
I can see people being disappointed. I just don’t see anything that Paradox could reasonably do to avoid that. Everyone buying a game with the expectation of future expansions should be aware that the expansions may not materialize, or if they do, they may change the game in ways you don’t like.
If game consumers were that rational PDX wouldn’t sell any copies until the 5-year-anniversary-gold-bundle-edition came out. Their business model relies on consumer speculation of what the future holds.
Example: every review of Stellaris focused heavily on its future potential.
I disagree, I greatly enjoyed EU4 right out the gates. Same with HOI4.
CK2 was fab out of the box too.
How is it that I can grok HOI4 and play it well, grok CK2 and play it well, (and Stellaris sort of well), but EU4 I simply cannot grasp?
So frustrating.
Resist the urge to feel like you have to understand the game completely to play it. It’s possible to just start playing it and experiment with the different subsystems and eventually learn and understand what they do
There are also a number of pretty good tutorials on YouTube about the game (quill18 for sure has some). They won’t be up-to-date with the latest revision but they should be close enough to communicate what you need to do to play the game.