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    Crusader Kings 2

    Is free, to keep forever, on Steam today.

    Steam link

    It will only cost you hours of your life and then money as you get expansions you feel you must have.

    Edit: None of the expansions or DLC are essential. It's pretty great as is.

    #2
    Awesome. It will also cost money when people realise that Europa Universalis IV is an even better game* from the same developers. I've spent months at a time only playing games made by Paradox in the last year.

    * Perhaps fairer to say "equally good" but I've a real thing for EUIV at the moment
    Last edited by SouthdownRebel; 06-04-2018, 17:46.

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      #3
      I should visit the Games forum more often if there's going to be Paradox talk. My disgusting, geeky shame. If I think about the amount of time I have poured into both Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 versus the feeling of reward I get from either I can make myself ill. Let alone the content.

      Two games were the aim is generally to be as much of a bastard as possible, that encourage gameplay styles heavy on the old war, torture, murder, eugenics, and what have you, with a fanbase (by and large) to match. And yet here I am, staying up way past bedtime, staring at a map full of numbers as my attempts to genocide the cursed Walloon continue apace.

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        #4
        I'm not trying to be hipstery here, but I liked the first CK better. It was much smaller, more ramshackle and there was so little information about it that I thought Reputation going up was a good thing. This led to my insane bloodsoaked Scottish thane conquering the whole UK and losing it all to rebellions and invasions, all in 20 years.

        If I ever get into CK2 it will be to lead the pagan hordes to victory over Christendom, no doubt.

        The Paradox game I'd like to play is Stellaris, but I need a puter upgrade for that.

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          #5
          Originally posted by dogbeak View Post
          Two games were the aim is generally to be as much of a bastard as possible, that encourage gameplay styles heavy on the old war, torture, murder, eugenics, and what have you, with a fanbase (by and large) to match. And yet here I am, staying up way past bedtime, staring at a map full of numbers as my attempts to genocide the cursed Walloon continue apace.
          And then there's Hearts of Iron IV, another thoroughly playable game and yet one in which the most commonly played nation is (by some margin) Germany and the most common tactic for other nations is to flip to the fascist ideology.

          To be fair, most of this is because the mechanics mean fascist nations can field larger armies and produce more equipment*. However, I've no doubt that there's an element of the fanbase for who this is a way of playing out a far-right wank fantasy (and equally so for the far-left and the communist nations). I know this because I've seen forum posts and videos from Paradox events where people have essentially asked for a "Hey, it's super-fun to simulate the holocaust!" expansion.

          Obviously anything of that sort is given very short shrift by Paradox and, thankfully, the direction of the game is very much heading into the territory of alternate history - so the latest expansion adds a whole new pathway for Germany that begins with deposing Hitler. That said, that then unlocks a pathway to reinstating the Kaiser so maybe I'm overstating the benefits here.

          My personal enjoyment of these games comes in large part through my interest in history - especially so with CKII and EUIV (I mostly play the latter currently). I've bought books, watched documentaries and listened to podcasts about the history of nations and regions that I have played in game - in that sense there's an educational element to them that adds to the flavour of the gameplay.

          * So for those who like their gaming to be akin to shooting fish in a barrel, this is ideal. Personally I prefer games that keep me on edge, constantly peering over the precipice of defeat

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            #6
            The Paradox game I'd like to play is Stellaris, but I need a puter upgrade for that.
            See, I've never been tempted by the space/sci-fi theme, though what I've seen of the mechanics etc. make it look a ton of fun. I never had the joy of the original CK unfortunately, having only got onto Paradox games through EU3.

            One day I will have time in life for the big epic playthrough I've been thinking of. Start CK2 at the 769 bookmark, build a fuck-off big pagan/republican Scandinavian empire, run it through the CK2/EU4 converter and play through until 1821.

            However, I've no doubt that there's an element of the fanbase for who this is a way of playing out a far-right wank fantasy (and equally so for the far-left and the communist nations). I know this because I've seen forum posts and videos from Paradox events where people have essentially asked for a "Hey, it's super-fun to simulate the holocaust!" expansion
            Absolutely this. I've spent a fair bit of time on the relevant subreddits, as the tutorials in the game themselves are less than useless, and aside from being generally fash as fuck, they also attract a specific kind of boring chip-on-shoulder nerd type who thinks they are twice as clever as they actually are. I can't speak to any expertise in fandoms, the idea makes me recoil a bit, they they really are one of the worst I've come across.

            Which yeah, is a shame, as I also feel like I've learnt a lot about the world on account of playing the games.

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              #7
              I really, really want to love Stellaris but I don't. Since last months update it's now good (they changed the war stuff massively and not it's only hyperlane travel which makes war tactical) but it just lacks the flavour that the historical games have from being buried in real events.

              I do think the HRE could be managed differently though in CK2. But that might just be me being bitter at playing a Polish duke who could never make the kingdom of Poland as I'd have to declare war on the Emperor to claim the county I needed. The most fun play through I had was with an Andalusian dynasty pushing back against the reconquista (and other Islamic rulers in Spain).

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                #8
                What DLCs do people like?

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                  #9
                  If people ever knew how much EU2 I'd played I'd have to disappear myself.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by sw2borshch View Post
                    If people ever knew how much EU2 I'd played I'd have to disappear myself.
                    If people ever know how much time I'd spent customising the unit names, people names and the like in HoI 2 and 3 there'd be a queue waiting to disappear me.

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                      #11
                      Interesting article about the racist modding scene for Paradox games.

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                        #12
                        Thanks for sharing, DM. Interesting read. Even the comments section has a level of civil, sane discourse to it.

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                          #13
                          Kotaku is one of the saner and more considered gaming sites, in my limited experience (Waypoint and Eurogamer also decent).

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                            #14
                            Eurogamer are very good. Got a lot of time for yer man Johnny Chiodini.

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                              #15
                              I've also learnt the term Wehraboo. Me, I fear the rise of the WehrABU.

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                                #16
                                I've put this one on my computer again.

                                I'm kind of rotating through my steam games the last few months. During winter, I was on a Stellaris kick, but the gameplay just moves too slow on my computer for my liking. A lot of time sitting and watching progress bars move. Did a few weeks of Pillars of Eternity (the first one, which I've never come close to finishing) then got disgusted because I realized my computer was running slower than molasses and walking across the city maps was the majority of my session. A few weeks of Endless Legend, which I still like and think is incredibly well streamlined, but as usual got burnt out after a few long games ending in the same victory style.

                                So CK2 is back and running. First game saw my only heir get murdered and my territory handed over to some pretender unrelated. Always fun for laughs.

                                Currently into a long game started with the Count of Nikopolis (sp?), serving amiably under the powerful Byzantine Empire. Expanded far enough to be Despot of Bulgaria. Now I've cut ties with the Byzantines and pledged allegiance to the invading Mongol Empire.

                                As usual, most of the fascination with CK2 is seeing where the game state ends up after letting it reasonably unfettered. It's mid 1200s (I think) and Catholicism is essentially all of Europe and North Africa, and now the Mongol leader just converted too. Orthodox Christianity is practically non-existent (Byzantine having converted to Miaphystite), and the Kingdom of Jerusalem has just been established. Spain is a mess, but Hungary isn't. Islamic states can't get their act together (contrary to almost every other game I've played). Due to the miaphystite situation, my court is quite diverse for the era.

                                It's really fun nonsense at the moment. (Though burnout looms, I'm sure.)

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Levin View Post
                                  What DLCs do people like?
                                  Only 5 months to wait for an answer but here goes...

                                  Favourites are Sword of Islam, Sons of Abraham, and The Old Gods, for the fairly basic reason that I like the different religious and cultural features (and the fact that as a pagan you can attack anybody you like just because you felt like it.) I suspect I would like Rajas of India for the same reason, but even after owning it for the last 3 years I still haven't got round to playing a game as an Indian character.

                                  Others - I like being able to play the earlier centuries in Charlemagne although I can't remember it making much difference to the overall game dynamics. The blinding/castrating feature in Legacy of Rome seemed to get out of hand too quickly so slightly put me off playing that for a while - might give it another go though. The Republic is another one that I bought but never played so can't really comment on that and similarly I tend to leave Sunset Invasion switched off if I want to play with any level of realism (which is always - it was cheap). Reaper's Due is ok but a little disappointing and hasn't seemed to add all that much to the game so far. Way of Life was fun at first but gets a bit repetitive. Most recent purchase is Monks and Mystics - liking the religious societies although my characters seem to die just as things are getting interesting.

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                                    #18
                                    Ah, I should have put my complaining about history in Paradox games here, not in the current gaming thread.

                                    A blog I follow where a (primarily) military historian writes about how history is presented in pop culture has just started a series on Paradox games. He's looking at EU4 to begin with and despite never having played it I really liked the blog.

                                    The series and entries are long but I find them very interesting, from comparisons between how nomadic people's are portrayed on screen to reality to a while series about pre modern agriculture.

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