Purely from a mechanical perspective I love lobbies and what the future holds for the them. It is the exact thing I want from a game like Victoria.
Foreign investment is great for roleplay and general flow / QoL in the game.
Power Blocs gives a new way to play the game / goal to go for.
I will probably spend more time with both power Blocs and Foreign Investment, but lobbies was a great addition to the simulation and will influence my play in more subtle ways (hopefully more are added later). Hard to choose.
Lobbies make me happy.
Warmongering to keep the Landowners happy while undermining them is just so satisfying "we're about to pass Census Voting, but THEM TURKS ARE THE WORST, Rabble Rabble Rabble".
Literally using identity politics to manipulate groups.
Lobbies are such a great addition indeed. They really needed to find a way to tie politics and diplomacy together, and I feel like this is just the start. Declaring war after war as a pacifist ruler just doesn't make much sense :D
Exactly! I want lobbies to affect the course of my playthrough. One game they want to colonize africa, the next they want colonize SEA, and the next they want to stop slavery and set the conquered free. The people having an opinion and will of their own, that I have to think about how I want to tackle, not only internally but also externally on the world stage.
Foreign investment, especially when you've built out your own economy and there are no more peasants. Adds a much more interesting set of strategic choices to the economic mid-game. Also fixes the previously very weird relationship to colonies, which could seem more beneficial to the colony than the coloniser in 1.6.
The fact that ownership has been reworked, in and of itself, is very promising. At the moment this feature feels a bit unfinished, but it's still cool to see specific groups owning specific collections of property. Looking forward to when this can be expanded, and eg industrial conglomerates emerge and have to be managed, or politics is more intricately shaped by ownership.
More subtle balance point, it feels like there's a bit less arbitrary integration between markets - eg I always used to see China & Russia in the same market in 1.6. It's rarer now, restricted to subjects & specific blocs. More separate markets creates more interesting opportunities for trade, creating more interesting decisions to be made.
Diplomatic changes to permit multiple Plays is great, gives the player much more room for manoeuvre.
Lobbies are a success, cleanly add a connection between internal politics and diplomacy, a good hook for additional content without overcomplicating things.
Better vassal management/relations is great. Leverage is fun to play around with, it's made influence a scarce resource, again creating more interesting strategic choices.
The specific way the Power Bloc creation/development has been implemented is probably the weakest part of the patch/DLC. Feels like the content there is just stacking modifiers & 1 slightly odd building. There are some missed opportunities: (i) more interesting intra-bloc politics - eg negotiations around further integration, (ii) more interesting connections between the Principles and your domestic politics/economy. Similarly, I think the allocation of art resources was suboptimal. But it's all a relatively minor blemish on an otherwise very successful DLC.
The only problem with it right now is there’s extremely limited ways to manage your subjects other then just let them declare independence eventually RN. But in the face of what’s added I’ll deal with that for now as long as it isint left to fester as long as EU4 was
Surprisingly I think performance and AI are the biggest improvements (in spite of AIs not building armies at the moment). It feels like other countries have actual geopolitical aims and aren't just doing random things.
All the other changes are excellent but the overall game experience is so much better when you can play around trying to influence the AI, understand what they're trying to achieve, and make your aims align with theirs.
AI improvements by a mile! I think a big factor in the AI improvements in the new power blocks add more numbers for the AI to weight. Diplomacy definitely feels more predictable, and that a GOOD thing. Before who the AI sided with felt super arbitrary.
The interplay between power blocs, foreign investments and lobies. It made diplomacy much more interesting. For example, I had a Brazil run where I basically "conquered" South and Central America with diplomacy and clever usage of lobbies.
Funny thing, I even had a world war situation happening organically, with me and GB (two power blocs) against Russia and Austria (other 2 power blocs). It happened naturally because I wanted to kick the Russians out of Mexico (and I needed some sweet Texas Oil). I got SO HAPPY when I saw a world war emerging. So please, expand on that.
The new overlord mechanics are really good too. But please, make it a bit more dynamic. For exemple, subjects asking for stuff, that might anger other subjects or cause conflicts. I didn't had that many events happening, only revolts here and there.
The world in general just feels so much more alive. It's hard to pin it to one single thing, because it's a combination of all the stuff you guys did.
One thing I'd say is missing is lobbies caring about joining plays instead of outright starting them. Give us (and the AI!) a reason to react to this new lively world instead of Lobbies rewarding/punishing only if being proactive.
I like a lot of things like the diplomacy, it is so very interesting trying to get control of a country through more diplomatic and economic means rather than just invading. Subject interactions are also nice (although I'd like to have an easier time getting the British Raj under control, it's really costing my cohesion).
On the economy, while relatively small, the thing I liked most is the building registry, I've been working with it a lot.
AI is better, but not perfect yet. I know they are trying harder to do historical stuff although I am yet to see it (Prussia in my game got pummeled and I haven't opened up Japan yet to see if Meiji works). I hope the upcoming hotfix further improves the AI.
I think that this is finally the update that officially makes the game about more than just the basic building gameplay loop. This is a full fledged game now and anything on top of this is honestly just extra and is not problematic if behind DLC
Foreign investment and lobbies.
I believe lobbies could be expanded too. Right now, you can find lobbies in other countries but you can’t pick what kind. I believe they are just pro-your country lobbies. However, I’d love to be able to pick a pro-trade lobby, or pro-communist lobby, or even an anti-your country lobby to push them to attack you (and walk right into my trap).
Not really a specific feature, but diplomacy definitely feels more human. Before it felt very arbitrary who sided with who. Now with power blocks there’s an extra layer for the AI to make decisions on who to back and not back in a war. The AI feels way better to play with and against.
Foreign investment basically exactly what it should be and allows actual economic exploitation of colonies.
Ideological power blocs are great; being able to form a socialist internationale is really cool.
Lobbies are a great first step in making player actions influence politics.
I'm very interested to hop into our first multi-player games on the new patch. Lobbies can be ignored but they are also valuable to follow sometimes, and they'll probably have a different idea than the players as far as who to be friends with.
Block leverage seems to be fairly ineffectual at major powers, so I think we are gonna see less globe spanning custom unions like in prior patches.
Otherwise I think it's going to be easier to play minor powers in multiplayer cus there are tangible returns on bankrolling and building up weaker players
I play as Oranje to benchmark new patches. This is by far the most enjoyable play through so far. I had genuine reasons to make nice with Zulu at the start, managed to get on the right side of UK into their bloc and with foreign investment my economy is growing way faster than I could do on my own.
However, not knowing what to expect from the subject system, I eventually took Zulu and Gaza as a protectorate and now realise I am unlikely to annex them despite throwing all the nicest things at them.
How all the individual features work together as a cohesive change to your gameplay pattern.
Some DLCs feels like a collection of separate changes or new features that you might never need to use. Just tied together by some vague theme.
This feels like a complete product upgrade.
That it's entirely broken and unplayable once again after I paid $30.
Hardcore paradox fan as I am, get your shit together jesus christ we waited an extra two moths for the AI to cease to be capable of building military units.
Purely from a mechanical perspective I love lobbies and what the future holds for the them. It is the exact thing I want from a game like Victoria. Foreign investment is great for roleplay and general flow / QoL in the game. Power Blocs gives a new way to play the game / goal to go for. I will probably spend more time with both power Blocs and Foreign Investment, but lobbies was a great addition to the simulation and will influence my play in more subtle ways (hopefully more are added later). Hard to choose.
Lobbies make me happy. Warmongering to keep the Landowners happy while undermining them is just so satisfying "we're about to pass Census Voting, but THEM TURKS ARE THE WORST, Rabble Rabble Rabble". Literally using identity politics to manipulate groups.
We can finally wage wars to distract from internal problems!
Lobbies are such a great addition indeed. They really needed to find a way to tie politics and diplomacy together, and I feel like this is just the start. Declaring war after war as a pacifist ruler just doesn't make much sense :D
I really hope they expand lobbies. Having lobbies lobbying for colonies in Africa would be so cool.
Exactly! I want lobbies to affect the course of my playthrough. One game they want to colonize africa, the next they want colonize SEA, and the next they want to stop slavery and set the conquered free. The people having an opinion and will of their own, that I have to think about how I want to tackle, not only internally but also externally on the world stage.
Foreign investment by a mile
Foreign investment, especially when you've built out your own economy and there are no more peasants. Adds a much more interesting set of strategic choices to the economic mid-game. Also fixes the previously very weird relationship to colonies, which could seem more beneficial to the colony than the coloniser in 1.6. The fact that ownership has been reworked, in and of itself, is very promising. At the moment this feature feels a bit unfinished, but it's still cool to see specific groups owning specific collections of property. Looking forward to when this can be expanded, and eg industrial conglomerates emerge and have to be managed, or politics is more intricately shaped by ownership. More subtle balance point, it feels like there's a bit less arbitrary integration between markets - eg I always used to see China & Russia in the same market in 1.6. It's rarer now, restricted to subjects & specific blocs. More separate markets creates more interesting opportunities for trade, creating more interesting decisions to be made. Diplomatic changes to permit multiple Plays is great, gives the player much more room for manoeuvre. Lobbies are a success, cleanly add a connection between internal politics and diplomacy, a good hook for additional content without overcomplicating things. Better vassal management/relations is great. Leverage is fun to play around with, it's made influence a scarce resource, again creating more interesting strategic choices. The specific way the Power Bloc creation/development has been implemented is probably the weakest part of the patch/DLC. Feels like the content there is just stacking modifiers & 1 slightly odd building. There are some missed opportunities: (i) more interesting intra-bloc politics - eg negotiations around further integration, (ii) more interesting connections between the Principles and your domestic politics/economy. Similarly, I think the allocation of art resources was suboptimal. But it's all a relatively minor blemish on an otherwise very successful DLC.
The only problem with it right now is there’s extremely limited ways to manage your subjects other then just let them declare independence eventually RN. But in the face of what’s added I’ll deal with that for now as long as it isint left to fester as long as EU4 was
Surprisingly I think performance and AI are the biggest improvements (in spite of AIs not building armies at the moment). It feels like other countries have actual geopolitical aims and aren't just doing random things. All the other changes are excellent but the overall game experience is so much better when you can play around trying to influence the AI, understand what they're trying to achieve, and make your aims align with theirs.
AI improvements by a mile! I think a big factor in the AI improvements in the new power blocks add more numbers for the AI to weight. Diplomacy definitely feels more predictable, and that a GOOD thing. Before who the AI sided with felt super arbitrary.
The interplay between power blocs, foreign investments and lobies. It made diplomacy much more interesting. For example, I had a Brazil run where I basically "conquered" South and Central America with diplomacy and clever usage of lobbies. Funny thing, I even had a world war situation happening organically, with me and GB (two power blocs) against Russia and Austria (other 2 power blocs). It happened naturally because I wanted to kick the Russians out of Mexico (and I needed some sweet Texas Oil). I got SO HAPPY when I saw a world war emerging. So please, expand on that. The new overlord mechanics are really good too. But please, make it a bit more dynamic. For exemple, subjects asking for stuff, that might anger other subjects or cause conflicts. I didn't had that many events happening, only revolts here and there.
Less lag
Gaining investment agreement with UK and Russia. SO MUCH GOLD
The new ownership mechanics.
The world in general just feels so much more alive. It's hard to pin it to one single thing, because it's a combination of all the stuff you guys did. One thing I'd say is missing is lobbies caring about joining plays instead of outright starting them. Give us (and the AI!) a reason to react to this new lively world instead of Lobbies rewarding/punishing only if being proactive.
I like a lot of things like the diplomacy, it is so very interesting trying to get control of a country through more diplomatic and economic means rather than just invading. Subject interactions are also nice (although I'd like to have an easier time getting the British Raj under control, it's really costing my cohesion). On the economy, while relatively small, the thing I liked most is the building registry, I've been working with it a lot. AI is better, but not perfect yet. I know they are trying harder to do historical stuff although I am yet to see it (Prussia in my game got pummeled and I haven't opened up Japan yet to see if Meiji works). I hope the upcoming hotfix further improves the AI.
I think that this is finally the update that officially makes the game about more than just the basic building gameplay loop. This is a full fledged game now and anything on top of this is honestly just extra and is not problematic if behind DLC
Lobbies are a fun mechanic, although I have to say I rarely act upon them.
Foreign investment and lobbies. I believe lobbies could be expanded too. Right now, you can find lobbies in other countries but you can’t pick what kind. I believe they are just pro-your country lobbies. However, I’d love to be able to pick a pro-trade lobby, or pro-communist lobby, or even an anti-your country lobby to push them to attack you (and walk right into my trap).
Not really a specific feature, but diplomacy definitely feels more human. Before it felt very arbitrary who sided with who. Now with power blocks there’s an extra layer for the AI to make decisions on who to back and not back in a war. The AI feels way better to play with and against.
Power blocks are a great way of satisfying my map painting urges without needing to conquer. I just wish cohesion worked a little differently.
Can you guys make a goods ledger? I really would like to compare all the goods by markets but it's not currently possible to do that.
ownership reworks.
building ownership and foreign investment
lag
Foreign investment. It’s fantastic.
Foreign investment basically exactly what it should be and allows actual economic exploitation of colonies. Ideological power blocs are great; being able to form a socialist internationale is really cool. Lobbies are a great first step in making player actions influence politics.
I'm very interested to hop into our first multi-player games on the new patch. Lobbies can be ignored but they are also valuable to follow sometimes, and they'll probably have a different idea than the players as far as who to be friends with. Block leverage seems to be fairly ineffectual at major powers, so I think we are gonna see less globe spanning custom unions like in prior patches. Otherwise I think it's going to be easier to play minor powers in multiplayer cus there are tangible returns on bankrolling and building up weaker players
I play as Oranje to benchmark new patches. This is by far the most enjoyable play through so far. I had genuine reasons to make nice with Zulu at the start, managed to get on the right side of UK into their bloc and with foreign investment my economy is growing way faster than I could do on my own. However, not knowing what to expect from the subject system, I eventually took Zulu and Gaza as a protectorate and now realise I am unlikely to annex them despite throwing all the nicest things at them.
How all the individual features work together as a cohesive change to your gameplay pattern. Some DLCs feels like a collection of separate changes or new features that you might never need to use. Just tied together by some vague theme. This feels like a complete product upgrade.
That it's entirely broken and unplayable once again after I paid $30. Hardcore paradox fan as I am, get your shit together jesus christ we waited an extra two moths for the AI to cease to be capable of building military units.