Europa Universalis V confirmed

[The Minsky Moment]

Fine!

I have preordered. 

I don't think you need to preoder Hanse.  You can probably just download it from an abandonware site.

[Tamas]

 

[Josephus]

I've read reviews which basically say that most major nations (Spain, Russia, etc) don't form. I think this is a byproduct of the early start date. I really, really wish they include later start dates in a later patch/DLC. I've always played the 1492 start date in previous itinerations, because there's a better chance of something akin to history playing out.
Anyways, I've preordered. 

[garbon]

It feels like we have never resolved how to approximate some historical happenings without it being on the rails. One challenge has often been that even to apporcimate the conditions that lead to improbable historical results seem to really need changing rulesets for the game as time goes on.

I wonder if EUV will advance anything anything in that department.

I guess it comes down to how much you think an event or outcome was very likely to occur, even if a few factors that led to it fall away, or if it was a huge fluke. Formation of Russia, Burgundian Inheritance, England turning Anglican, etc.

Yes, but I also think important that the game can simulate other things if not the historical ones. Like I felt eu3 pretty barren as it didn't generate enough cool alt history moments.

[Syt]

This is an early access timelapse of EU5! It runs from 1337 (the start of EUV) to 1830! Let me know what you thought of the late middle ages into the early modern period with Europa Universalis 5 in this timelapse! Also what do you think of the EU5 ages, EU5 Map and the EU5 AI in this video! Btw the game will release to the public on 11/4/25 so there certainly will be some changes by then!

FYI this was made on the release patch (November 1st) for EU5 and took me over 30 hours, compared to just under 13 hours for the October 16th patch 🫥. Also my laptop is a MSI Raider GE78HX 13VG-020US laptop (I9 13950 HX and 4070 Mobile) with 32 gigs of DDR5 Ram 🫡.

[Sheilbh]

My point is that, in an alternate reality, a gamer could find it unbelievable that Italy and Germany had not formed by 1836.

Now, if we take China, we actually have a number of observations. China collapses every now and then but then reforms into a single state. So the developers can code for that. But Russia, Italy and Germany (or the Iberian peninsula for that matter)...who knows?

Yeah and I think those questions to an extent then also become the hermeneutic. So with China as the example - it's literally the opening line of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "empires long united, must divide; long divided, must unite."

And I think the Western hermeneutic for this entire period is (in different ways) state construction, centralisation and modernisation - which possibly overdetermines things like unification?

[The Minsky Moment]

Agreed that the 1337 start date never made much sense to me. Europa Universalis the board game and the original computer conversion was about the emergence of large centralizing states and Europe and the impact of overseas exploration and trade.  But starting from 1337 and going a hundred years out, neither of those trends look like they are in play. If you had to bet on the future in Europe during that period, one would not bet on the large monarchical states.  France was dysfunctional and disintegrating and England would shortly follow.  The Spanish monarchies experienced their own serious problems.  The HRE appeared in slow decline to terminal status.  The state models that looked the most promising were strong city states like Venice or city leagues like the Hanse. 

[Tamas]

Sure but the Ottomans not expanding is a problem

[Tamas]

https://youtu.be/rkzCLt2_miE?si=7S4pTJrbx-VeXBGv

OPB says it is great if you like history and complex systems, what I liked most is he saying he ended up learning stuff from playing (EU1 and 2 taught a lot of history for me) but he also says it is the LEAST polished Paradox release he has ever played. I hope he didn't play CK1

I don't mind the bugs but if basic stuff past the reformation is bugged to hell it means the devs haven't had time to properly test ergo there will be no semblence of balance.

[Norgy]

 

Looks like Norway may be a little over-powered if you can do this so quickly.

In 1337, this country was in deep crisis, with people dying of starvation. We still find the small remnants of subsistence farming near what we call the "tree boundary", in reality where nothing but moss grows. Some still have surnames hinting at their roots were at some little hellhole like this: <main farm><sub-farm><that shithole in the marshy mountain regions>.

Norway's never been self-sufficient with food, despite the fisheries, since the population reached above 100.000 around the end of the Roman Empire in the west.

And there really was no Norway before the 1040s.

[Tamas]

As a sidenote, I am so tired of attention-grabbing Youtube thumbnails. As I started watching EU5 videos these started popping up and goddamit, it's terribly annoying.

[Norgy]

Sorry for lobbing one more at you. 

[garbon]

As a sidenote, I am so tired of attention-grabbing Youtube thumbnails. As I started watching EU5 videos these started popping up and goddamit, it's terribly annoying.

100%

[Tamas]

Sorry for lobbing one more at you. 

There is no way of avoiding them.

What makes them worse, I guess, is that I do now usually lack the patience to read text reviews. I can listen to a Youtuber's opinion while, say, working in the garden, or, heck, playing a game. I can't read a text review while doing either of those things. So it's much more efficient time-wise (a resource most, most precious), to listen to one of these thumbnail people. Because many of them are actually decent, it's just that they feel obliged to join the thumbnail race.

[Syt]

I only partly blame YouTubers. They are all trying to get the algorithm to put their videos in front of you, and if clickbait titles (seem to) work, it's what they'll do, even if they'd prefer not to.

A channel I'm subscribed to did two videos on FM26. One with everything he likes, one with everything he doesn't like. YouTube only served me the negative one (I had to go to his channel to watch the other), and it had more than twice the views as the positive one had.