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| It is mainly a sim, not a game by Mysterio 11/15/2012, 3:18pm PST | ||||
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| The difficulty curve involves learning how to parse the game's mechanics and information loops, mainly from a set of screens depicting a family tree. Once you are fluent, then your set of choices in any given game will take one of the following forms:
a) I am a weak vassal in a strong kingdom. My only hope of expansion is trying to line up inheritances for my kids by marrying them intelligently and then assassinating everyone who stands in the way of their inheritance. This is long (hours long), tedious (you will spend the entire time looking at family trees, tracing lines of inheritance), and uncertain(assassination is at best a 50% shot, and as a weak vassal your annual income will allow you to attempt one assassination every few years) and utterly execrable if you do not take pleasure in the dynamic unfolding sim aspect of CK2. b) I am a medium power vassal or medium power independent nation. So long as I understand the game's mechanics, there will always be a valid pretext for me to expand my holdings every 5-10 years, and there is no excuse for me to fail because I can always keep strong alliances maintained via marriage and have overwhelming military power through strategic deployment of mercenaries. The AI will never figure out how to mess with my ironclad alliances or cash flow, so they will always lose. The only bar on my success is my understanding of the game mechanics and my attention span. c) I am a large kingdom. There is nothing I can't do. The "difficulty curve", already a fiction in set b, has vanished completely. So, not much of a game. There are enough moving, dynamic parts to make it an interesting simulation if you like the historical flavour. |
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Crusader Kings 2 $10 this weekend on Gamersgate ($20 with all the DLC) by 11/15/2012, 7:09am PST  At those prices, can you afford NOT to get it? NT by 11/15/2012, 10:09am PST Didn't you lump this in with Dwarf Fortress? NT by 11/15/2012, 10:51am PST EU: Rome, yes. I was hoping they improved it maybe? I like political intrigue. NT by 11/15/2012, 7:25pm PST It is mainly a sim, not a game by 11/15/2012, 3:18pm PST I'll pass then. Thanks for the info! NT by 11/15/2012, 7:24pm PST Don't get me wrong, I like it. by 11/16/2012, 3:28pm PST 3 Paradox games for $5 by 11/17/2012, 6:11am PST |
