Crusader Kings II

[OJsDad]

I learned CKII with a lot of restarts.  I would play for a couple of decades and learn a few things, try some stuff and then start over.  I knew that if I tried to learn all of the caveats at once, I would never learn any of it. 

[Jarhead0331]

Jade Dragon. Not what I hoped it would be. I thought you can play China or Chinese Lords.  But no. China is an off map entity that can affect world affairs.  :(

My understanding is that a Chinese DLC is in the works, no? Or is that what JD was supposed to be? Seems odd not to let you play as china.

[OJsDad]

Jade Dragon. Not what I hoped it would be. I thought you can play China or Chinese Lords.  But no. China is an off map entity that can affect world affairs.  :(

I was disappointed also that we cannot play as China.  I did read some where that when they added India to the game, it caused a lot of performance issues for a lot of players, and that may have played a part in not adding China as a playable country.  I'm hoping they'll change their minds on this at some point. 

[OJsDad]

Jade Dragon. Not what I hoped it would be. I thought you can play China or Chinese Lords.  But no. China is an off map entity that can affect world affairs.  :(

My understanding is that a Chinese DLC is in the works, no?

Jade Dragon is the Chinese DLC, but you cannot play as China.  But there will be off map interactions that you can have with them. 

[jomni]

Jade Dragon. Not what I hoped it would be. I thought you can play China or Chinese Lords.  But no. China is an off map entity that can affect world affairs.  :(

My understanding is that a Chinese DLC is in the works, no? Or is that what JD was supposed to be? Seems odd not to let you play as china.

[Cheimison]

I like everything about CK2 except the NPC management/rpg stuff. I really wish there was a version that just had the political and war engine with all the eugenics removed. Especially if there's a Chinesian option now.

[jomni]

I like everything about CK2 except the NPC management/rpg stuff. I really wish there was a version that just had the political and war engine with all the eugenics removed. Especially if there's a Chinesian option now.

That's EU.

[Nefaro]

I like everything about CK2 except the NPC management/rpg stuff. I really wish there was a version that just had the political and war engine with all the eugenics removed. Especially if there's a Chinesian option now.

That's EU.

Yep.  EU4 is the droid you're looking for.

CK2 is quite focused on characters and their interactions.  Although the "Eugenics program" you refer to is barely present.  Only a handful of character traits have a possibility of being passed down.  The developers intentionally limited such things to avoid the breeding program obssession, and stated so.  Most of the character development is a factor of their upbringing, environment, and chance.

Nevertheless, if you don't like all the crazy characters and their rotten backstabbing, and would rather just run a nation-state, you should definitely give Europa Universalis 4 a go.  There is a learning curve, of course.

[Cheimison]

I like everything about CK2 except the NPC management/rpg stuff. I really wish there was a version that just had the political and war engine with all the eugenics removed. Especially if there's a Chinesian option now.

That's EU.

EU's political engine is far too simplified. I'm fine with all the dynastic inheritance, rebellious vassals, and need to raise levy armies that may not actually give you their full promised troop count and get pissed when you keep them for more than three months. I just don't like keeping track of which king has AIDS.

I am already Curb-Stomp level in EU4. I'm several thousand hours in, been playing since release.

[ghostryder]

In the new DLC the closet thing you can play is Tibet---otherwise it's all off map stuff. Paradox is pushing it's the longest change log in the history of ck2 when the patch releases--but all in all your get a couple new religions to play. some new artifacts and some diplomacy tweaks and all that---so we're wait and see if it pans out to be a worthy purchase. They are starting to wind down on the DLC for the title--there will be no unit packs or music packs for this one.

It may not be the last DLC but pretty close to it.

[Toonces]

CK3?

[bbmike]

Victoria III

[OJsDad]

Victoria III

+♾

[ghostryder]

Well my first impressions are rather mixed about this DLC that released today. If you were expecting a good china experience with Jade dragon your going to be disappointed. Much like the latest DLC in Stellaris they half assed it. In the past when you got a new playable faction you got new advisor portraits, holdings and a unique user interface--  not so here. Chinese cultural holdings too lack their own art assets and share the same ones as nomads while using the Indian UI. Building models are middle eastern.  So no matter how large your Han empire is, it is still just a collection of tents. If you planned on playing Tibet and you think your feel like a Chinese emperor---you won't. More like an Indian Nomad. Of less concern but worth noting is the historical errors. I'm pretty ignorant of Chinese history but I have read some reviews noting the errors.

But wait--before you get the impression I'm about to totally trash the expansion....and this is highly based on my personal preference-- the winning things about this DLC is all the rest it includes that really got no fanfare in the promotional hype. For me CK2 is about dynasties and the characters. It's a soap opera RPG with a ton of possabilities and controlling that dynasty just got a whole lot better. You can now arrange marriage on behalf of your landed children and grandchildren, not just those in your court. They will now also always accept your marriage proposals. Both of these features are only usable if they are your vassals or below, and have been rulers for at most 10 years. But alas you can now manage the dynasty right down to grandchildren offspring and your children and grandchildren now have a checkbox on their character page that can be used to prevent them from getting married by the AI useful for ensuring your landed relatives don't get into bad marriages.

For war lovers now we can war for a de jur duchy, instead of wasting time on a single county!Throw in many many many quality of life improvements....say like when you send your chancellor to change religion now the region changes color to represent it--and overall this stuff was things I had hoped for ages.

To be expected there are bugs. And of course most mods are outdated as usual- but if you play the game for the reasons I do you can't miss this DLC.

[Martok]

Thanks for the mini-review, GR. 

I've passed on the last several DLC's, as the new/added content simply hasn't interested me.  Wish we could get just the gameplay and QOL improvements instead; heck, I'd gladly pay $20.00 for that stuff alone.