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[Kabouter]

I have not purchased this game.

Reason: Paradox usually puts out games that take a year and three major patches/DLC to work out the kinks.

Any word on how this fares on the Paradox janky/broke-y scale right now?

It's easily their most polished game so far. I'd say on the scale it's somewhere just past EU3: In Nomine in terms of polish/balancing, and of course beyond Divine Wind in terms of features.

Oh wow, you think Vicky is harder than HoI? I thought Vicky was quite hard too, but HoI just throws stones at me when I try to look at it. Maybe I need to give it another go once I got over my initial EU4 phase, or maybe some people just take easier to economics while others take easier to the military level of strategy.

I don't know, HoI2 gave you a lot less to manage than Vicky it felt like, and I could deduce more from just general logic.

 

[Toma]

Portugal Ironman
Its a GO!

 

[Perkel]

Damn i will spend xxxx hours on this... goodbye my life

 

[Hari Seldon]

Series of youtube vids talking about the various mechanics.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH-huzMEgGWBz8XAD77YTwMe6wx-Ql_Ao

 

[Bending_Unit_22]

Cool, forgot this was coming already. Thanks to work the last time I followed a PI game before launch was finding out March of the Eagles was coming out early next year.

Anyhoo, I'll do what I've done for my first game every EU, try to conquer and settle/convert northwest africa in memory of the lost King Sebastian. I'm sure it will be an utter failure like it always is and was for the good king but I can't wait.

 

[Xater]

So I played through the Basic and the Advanced tutorial. So far it seems the game is way better at explaining stuff. Gonna try the tutorial campaign now. It really does seem like they put in some effort to make it somewhat more accessible.

 

[Kabouter]

Portugal Ironman
Its a GO!

Hansa ironman for me, already have a coalition forming against me after annexing Saxe-Lauenburg and Mecklenburg in one war :+.

 

[Clevinger]

EU has never clicked with me before, but I haven't tried all that much. Gonna really try this time.

My first game here will be the Byzantine Empire. I mean, if my first game is a trainwreck, I may as well make it a spectacular one.

 

[alstein]

I have not purchased this game.

Reason: Paradox usually puts out games that take a year and three major patches/DLC to work out the kinks.

Any word on how this fares on the Paradox janky/broke-y scale right now?

Paradox has put out a rather large effort into making their games more polished at launch.

I'm passing on this game for now, mostly due to excessive backloggery and too many crowdfunds.

 

[Toma]

Hansa ironman for me, already have a coalition forming against me after annexing Saxe-Lauenburg and Mecklenburg in one war :+.

Where can you see coalitions against you? And I am trying the standard route of starting into Africa via Morocco. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Bending_Unit_22]

Paradox has put out a rather large effort into making their games more polished at launch.

I'm passing on this game for now, mostly due to excessive backloggery and too many crowdfunds.

That's what I keep hearing, I think my boycott of PI games for the first year or so had run long enough so hopefully that is correct.

 

[FlyinJ]

This guy has some great guides on every aspect of EU4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNnvsaxUTUg&list=PLH-huzMEgGWBz8XAD77YTwMe6wx-Ql_Ao

 

[gabbo]

You can get a personal introduction via chat if you want Just chat me up.

I will certainly take you up on this should I dive into the game.
Thanks for the advice guys. Doesn't seem less daunting, but manageable.

 

[FrontalMonk]

I'm really excited to jump into EU4 when I get home from work! Preordered on steam, so I'm all set. My biggest problem with EU3 and CK2 wasn't necessarily the learning curve to figure out what the hell I'm doing (although that was hard enough), but the learning curve to figure out how to actually play the game _well_.

Patience was one of those things that I really had to learn, but even then, it seems like the vast majority of my CK2 games get screwed within the first few hours because inevitably my ruler dies, and my heir is a sloth, wroth, cynical idiot with low stats and quickly has like 3 factions from all his ambitious uncles and half-brothers who want to oust him from power. After that, I get kinda discouraged from waiting out his whole damn life trying to get back into power, so I quit.

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about really ugly succession wars making my country implode every 30-40 years, so I might actually complete a game of EU4.

 

[PsychoSoldier]

I love Vicky 2 and CK2 but EUIII never hooked me the same way. Hopefully EUIV will hook me though.

 

[Almighty]

I will be EU4ing it up in just a few more hours, I can't wait. Hopefully I have an easier time getting into it then I did with the little I played of EU3. Loved CK2 though.

 

[Manik]

Denmark Ironman for me. Managed to reclaim Osel from the Livonian Order, then got a mission to take a trade node city. Attempted to take Lubeck, who were protected by Austria, who called in just about every other single country. Limped out of that war with my tail between my legs

Do not provoke Austria. Don't even look at them funny. They're tough cookies.

Any other way, apart from a land war, that I'll ever (realistically) be able to take Lubeck? Or am I going to have to go off in search of another trade province?

 

[fizzelopeguss]

I'm really excited to jump into EU4 when I get home from work! Preordered on steam, so I'm all set. My biggest problem with EU3 and CK2 wasn't necessarily the learning curve to figure out what the hell I'm doing (although that was hard enough), but the learning curve to figure out how to actually play the game _well_.

Patience was one of those things that I really had to learn, but even then, it seems like the vast majority of my CK2 games get screwed within the first few hours because inevitably my ruler dies, and my heir is a sloth, wroth, cynical idiot with low stats and quickly has like 3 factions from all his ambitious uncles and half-brothers who want to oust him from power. After that, I get kinda discouraged from waiting out his whole damn life trying to get back into power, so I quit.

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about really ugly succession wars making my country implode every 30-40 years, so I might actually complete a game of EU4.

In CKII it's best to start a one province minor/vassal and build your dynasty from the bottom up, if a retard inherits it doesn't matter as you have a manageable number of holdings to keep things ticking. Also, the first thing anyone should do before they even click the unpause button is to do a character search for the hottest, smartest and strongest wife so you can genetic bomb some super heirs.

 

[Toma]

Denmark Ironman for me. Managed to reclaim Osel from the Livonian Order, then got a mission to take a trade node city. Attempted to take Lubeck, who were protected by Austria, who called in just about every other single country. Limped out of that war with my tail between my legs

Do not provoke Austria. Don't even look at them funny. They're tough cookies.

Any other way, apart from a land war, that I'll ever (realistically) be able to take Lubeck? Or am I going to have to go off in search of another trade province?

Yeaaaah, you better ignore it for now

 

[Fitz]

Where can you see coalitions against you? And I am trying the standard route of starting into Africa via Morocco. We'll see how that goes.

If you bring up the diplomacy tab for your own country and scroll down, usually near the bottom you can see all the people in a coalition against you, the icon is two flags with a sword in the middle.

 

[King Allant]

anyway dose EU4 have CK2 quick save system?

 

[-tetsuo-]

This will take me straight up to Rome 2 D:

 

[Oersted]

Completely missed that, thanks for the reminder. Instant-buy.

 

[witchedwiz]

this time!
this time i'll manage to do it!
hardest difficulty greek civilization surviving the hands of time and conquering everything under the sun! ok the guy managed to almost do it with mayan but obviously i'm not as good as him so i'll take my size on a feasible objective!

 

[Xater]

So I have a problem with converting provinces to christianity. There are those two muslim provinces in the south of Castile. When I send a missionary down there I have a 0% chance to convert them and it doesn't go up. What am I missing?

 

[Manik]

Yeaaaah, you better ignore it for now

Figured as much. Will have to refocus my efforts northward, towards forming Scandinavia instead.

 

[FrontalMonk]

In CKII it's best to start a one province minor/vassal and build your dynasty from the bottom up, if a retard inherits it doesn't matter as you have a manageable number of holdings to keep things ticking. Also, the first thing anyone should do before they even click the unpause button is to do a character search for the hottest, smartest and strongest wife so you can genetic bomb some super heirs.

Yeah, I played an Ireland game back when I first got CK2 to get my feet wet, but after I picked up a bunch of the DLC during the Amazon Spring sale (got pretty much everything but Old Gods) I wanted to bounce around and try other stuff. Byzantium felt incredibly difficult to hold together, I didn't feel comfortable with all the extra trade mechanics the republic brought to the table, and I didn't even bother with playing a muslim nation.

 

[Hari Seldon]

So I have a problem with converting provinces to christianity. There are those two muslim provinces in the south of Castile. When I send a missionary down there I have a 0% chance to convert them and it doesn't go up. What am I missing?

Mouse over the 0% and what does it say? (I am curious not being snarky, still at work )

 

[Hari Seldon]

Yeah, I played an Ireland game back when I first got CK2 to get my feet wet, but after I picked up a bunch of the DLC during the Amazon Spring sale (got pretty much everything but Old Gods) I wanted to bounce around and try other stuff. Byzantium felt incredibly difficult to hold together, I didn't feel comfortable with all the extra trade mechanics the republic brought to the table, and I didn't even bother with playing a muslim nation.

I wasn't a big CK2 fan until Old Gods. I liked it a bit but didn't care for the dynastic stuff that much, I'm more of a war game / strategy guy. But Old Gods is way more fun with all the viking stuff haha.

 

[Xater]

Mouse over the 0% and what does it say? (I am curious not being snarky, still at work )

This is the tooltip I get:

I see the negative factors but I don#t know what to do to get rid of them.

 

[krpiper]

I hate you guys D: After a few looks at the videos and LPs. I had to buy it.

My poor "week before I go to school" wallet

Thanks

 

[Kainazzo]

I've heard that you can play as just about anyone on Earth in this game, but nearly all of the LPs I see are from Europe/North Africa/Middle East. For a first-time player, is it worth it (or even fun for a veteran) to play a game as New Zealand, Canadian natives, or Sub-Saharan Africa? I've looked at the factions page and Korea sounds fun, as far as mentioned ones go.

Above all, I'm interested in the most "unconventional" faction, who would you recommend? Also, is exploring the arctic worth it? I've always got a tick for that in games like this.

 

[Dennis]

It's easily their most polished game so far. I'd say on the scale it's somewhere just past EU3: In Nomine in terms of polish/balancing, and of course beyond Divine Wind in terms of features.

That sounds good. Now tell me how to find the time to play this (and other) games.

Ah, there is never enough hours in the day.

 

[King Allant]

I've heard that you can play as just about anyone on Earth in this game, but nearly all of the LPs I see are from Europe/North Africa/Middle East. For a first-time player, is it worth it (or even fun for a veteran) to play a game as New Zealand, Canadian natives, or Sub-Saharan Africa? I've looked at the factions page and Korea sounds fun, as far as mentioned ones go.

Above all, I'm interested in the most "unconventional" faction, who would you recommend? Also, is exploring the arctic worth it? I've always got a tick for that in games like this.

From my EU3 experience, for a first time player no. A veteran maybe.

 

[MetatronM]

I've heard that you can play as just about anyone on Earth in this game, but nearly all of the LPs I see are from Europe/North Africa/Middle East. For a first-time player, is it worth it (or even fun for a veteran) to play a game as New Zealand, Canadian natives, or Sub-Saharan Africa? I've looked at the factions page and Korea sounds fun, as far as mentioned ones go.

Above all, I'm interested in the most "unconventional" faction, who would you recommend? Also, is exploring the arctic worth it? I've always got a tick for that in games like this.

You don't really see LPs for most other civs because they're really really hard to play as. The game isn't balanced to make it fair for everyone. It takes real history into account and stacks the odds accordingly. Some countries are totally fucked or don't have the resources, under normal circumstances, to expand their power. It is possible to buck the preordained destiny of your nation, but it's tough to do. The fact is that the world was dominated by the Western powers in this era. Sub-Saharan Africa would be divided amongst the major powers, the Maori aren't exactly destined to become a world player, and Canadian natives like the Huron will be quickly overrun by colonial powers.

That said, people have been able to succeed with all of those factions in EU3. That's really advanced level play, though.

 

[Kainazzo]

You don't really see LPs for most other civs because they're really really hard to play as. The game isn't balanced to make it fair for everyone. It takes real history into account and stacks the odds accordingly. Some countries are totally fucked or don't have the resources, under normal circumstances, to expand their power. It is possible to buck the preordained destiny of your nation, but it's tough to do. The fact is that the world was dominated by the Western powers in this era. Sub-Saharan Africa would be divided amongst the major powers, the Maori aren't exactly destined to become a world player, and Canadian natives like the Huron will be quickly overrun by colonial powers.

That said, people have been able to succeed with all of those factions in EU3. That's really advanced level play, though.

From my EU3 experience, for a first time player no. A veteran maybe.

Makes sense, and explains the LP disparity. Thanks!

 

[Toma]

This is the tooltip I get:

I see the negative factors but I don#t know what to do to get rid of them.

I have the same issue in 1444, but in 1492 it wasnt an issue. Anyone got an idea?

 

[Clevinger]

Are there any good tutorials for the trade system?

 

[Ceebs]

Well already managed to lose 2 wars as Castile. Both from not really paying attention to what I was getting into.

I pressed a claim on Aragon and rolled in easily, but spread myself too thin as he apparently had more troop at sea. While I was breaking his siege of of one of my areas, he rolled in and wiped out all the troops I left behind in siege.

I also got involved with Granada trying to wipe out the infidels. Did not realize how many allies they had who all showed up on my doorstep.

Both wars were instant port blockades as well which I am not sure how to break.

 

[Toma]

Oh wow, you only get achievements when playing Ironman mode.

 

[Chairman Yang]

Are there any good tutorials for the trade system?

These are the best I've found so far: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH-huzMEgGWBz8XAD77YTwMe6wx-Ql_Ao

Check out the "Trade Nodes and Flow", "Merchants", and "Trade Steering" guides. The guy's explanations are concise and clear. The rest of his tutorials are pretty good, too, and divided into small, easily-digestible chunks.

 

[tylerf]

I've got this waiting to play but I have this irrational feeling that I need to get CK2 to 100 hours played before switching. (I'm at like 95)

 

[Almighty]

So decided to play as England to get my feet wet. Newcomer to the EU series so wanted to pick someone that looked easy, but still interesting for me. Ended the war with France first thing by giving away all of my holdings on the continent(might of given away more then I needed we shall see). As I want to focus on uniting the British Isles under my rule and then go from there. Anyway it was going good except my incompetent king(0 in everything) had to die with no heir. Which was both a blessing as who ever came next would by default be much better and a curse because it plunged England into the War of the Roses. Which has been a pain in the ass as it has swallowed up my manpower, seems to have ravaged my economy(or at least my income), and the revolt risks in all my provinces keeps fluctuating as factions join one side or the other. Worse yet I have no clue how to end it as I crushed the rebel army(at great cost) but the war/event still keeps going.

So yeah games been fun so far.

 

[Morfeo]

OMG the sequel to the game of the forever is FINALLY here. I just started my first game with the Ottomans (a tradition back from my day 1 purchase of EU2), and Ive had it pretty easy in the balkans so far. I am just playing the game like EU3 for now, to get used to the menus and icons and all the new information, and one thing I must say is that I feel a lot of options are now one more click away than they used to be - or maybe im just n00bing. Anyhow, this does make the game feel a bit slower for me as a pretty experienced EU3-player, which is a shame. Havent really played with the trade-stuff so far, but it does look interesting to say the least.I also really like the monarch points system, the reworked budget and it feels like they got rid of quite a few of the less interesting gameplay mechanics for better ones. This ofcourse is only after a few hours of familiarizing myself with it, so I migth ofcourse be wrong, but so far, so good.

Also, does anybody know if this ever will get a physical release? I am a sucker for those boxes (and actually bought EU3 three times because of that), and would love at least a limited collectors run also for EU4.

 

[Kabouter]

Oh wow, you only get achievements when playing Ironman mode.

Yup. My ironman game is going okay though, playing as the Hansa like I said before. Grabbed a few provinces, got a few vassals, but I did lose a war with Denmark rather painfully when they declared on me and had allied with superblob France . I had to give up a four province vassal to get them off my back ;(.

 

[Morfeo]

This is the tooltip I get:

I see the negative factors but I don#t know what to do to get rid of them.

I dont think you can get rid of those factors, but it does help to raise your piety, so you could get positive chance that way.

 

[GeneralGrey]

Took me a couple hours (and a disastrous turn as Britain), but I'm finally getting the hang of this thing. I think. There are just so many damn systems going at once!

 

[Toma]

Can anyone explain to me why a full moral 18 man portuguese army is losing to 12 man from morocco? I just cant seem to win that battle with the 1444 start date while I had NO issues at all with the demo. Full moral, same tech level. So weird.

 

[Morfeo]

Can anyone explain to me why a full moral 18 man portuguese army is losing to 12 man from morocco? I just cant seem to win that battle with the 1444 start date while I had NO issues at all with the demo. Full moral, same tech level. So weird.

Generals and terrain is also important here. Also, I think the muslim have better cavalry than you, so that might affect the battle as well.

 

[Chairman Yang]

My super-early comments on the game, playing as Castile on Iron Man mode:

* The game's a lot more transparent than previous EUs. This is definitely a good thing, although it might be more of an information overload for new players.

* Trade is vastly more interesting. I'm a little concerned about trade routes being static rather than dynamic, though, especially considering I love taking backward Asian countries and modernizing them. I understand why Paradox didn't go with dynamic routes, because it'd be much harder to implement, but hopefully they'll do something with expansions/DLC.

* I'm not sure I like the huge importance of monarchs. In the short term, you can get by with a slow accumulation of Admin/Diplo/Military points. In the long term, you can be screwed by a succession of bad monarchs and fall behind in tech/ideas for reasons (mostly) outside of your control. The EU series has gradually given more and more agency to the player. This bit, though, seems like a step backwards. This mechanic also brings up a weird dissonance for me: am I, the player, controlling a monarch? If not, what, exactly, am I controlling? If so, why can I make good decisions as a player but somehow simultaneously suck as a monarch? This incongruity was always present in EU but seems stronger here.

* I like that the ping-pong problem of combat seems to be basically solved.

* The graphics are undoubtedly prettier than EU3's, but I have to admit that they obscure things a bit for me (I'm playing on a 1080p, 52" TV, if that makes a difference). I can't glance at the screen and immediately parse everything quite as easily. Hopefully this will change the more I play.

* The inclusion of Iron Man mode, by itself, might be a game changer, because now I don't need continual self-discipline to avoid reloading. I like how the achievements are used to add a little extra incentive to playing in this mode.

In general, I'm as blown away as I thought I would be. This is--by far--Paradox's best grand strategy game at release. I can only imagine how good it'll get with more time.