Crusader Kings 2 Redux

[garbon]

I mean on this one it seems like they are potentially making changes that heretofore would have been in an expansion. Some of these look rather far reaching.

[sbr]

I mean on this one it seems like they are potentially making changes that heretofore would have been in an expansion. Some of these look rather far reaching.

Yes they changed their patch/expansion policy a while back, there was some discussion of it here.

In fact here is my post about it from earlier this year, and it is in response to you mentioning a change in the DLC/expansion policy.

Different note - p'dox has said there won't be expansion packs for CK2 - just DLCs.

For anyone interested in the new policy in their words

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/entry.php?1319-A-new-patching-and-expansion-policy-for-the-Internal-Development-Team

A new patching and expansion policy for the Internal Development Team

- How's it been in the past?

We've been making games for a long time, and for that entire time we've been very close to the consumer and worked hard on patching and expanding our games. One thing that we've always wanted to be better at is long-term support. We've usually budgeted part of a title's development on post-release support, a budget very much determined by how many people bought the game during the first month. However, eventually that budget will always run out, and even when we exceed that budget we don't always reach fan expectations on how the games should be.

The earlier solution was to make expansions and release a new one every year or so, with fixes and improvements added to the expansion, as well as new features. That solved a lot of things, but wasn't ideal.

- What's changing?

* Rewards!

People who pre-order a game or buy it on release day should be rewarded. A game at release should come with benefits that someone who waits will have to pay extra to get, and a handful that are entirely exclusive.

For example, we plan to have a certain sub-forum which only 'true fans' of our internal titles can access where we'll let those people have a larger input on what we'll focus on for further development during the earliest part of the game's life-cycle. Of course, there'll also be a special icon indicating that you're a true fan, as well as unique avatars.


* Communication!

We've always had a history of talking with our fans, but we aim to take this even further. We've started with a more direct communication about how patch development is going on for Sengoku. We want even more transparency about what we're doing and why. Besides having a lot of communication going on in various threads, we aim to to have a weekly update about patching progress and what we're working on.


* Stronger patching!

In the past we devoted ourselves utterly to a game's patches for about 3 to 12 man-months. Some games received an insane amount of work (like HoI3) and some needed less. However, patching isn't just about fixing bugs, it's also about improving a title and taking it to the next level of fun. We want to do everything we can to patch a game for longer, with monthly updates including bugfixes, sure, but also AI improvements, gamebalance, and even new features.

* Modular expansions!

This is the big one. In the past, we've released expansions that saw a loss of support for the base game, making for an "all or nothing" approach for the consumer, but supporting multiple executables just wasn't feasible for our small team and we needed to sell expansions to continue supporting the product. Hardly ideal for anyone who didn't want some of the features in an expansion. So, this is something we've thought a lot about in the last year, and have finally decided on a solution.

We've developed a new system to handle modular expansions so that you can buy the small packages that you want when they're released, and it will all be using the same executable, so whichever expansions you own your game will see continued support. There will be no problems with this in multiplayer, and if you have bought one expansion and your friend has bought another, you can still play together. You will have access to the features you bought and your friend the features he bought. Alternatively, if you'd prefer you'll be able to toggle any expansions "off" before the game starts.

We also aim to release smaller expansions and more regularly, maybe once every second month, containing more focused features so that you can buy the ones you want, skip whatever you like and get the most for your money.

We want the process to be as painless and non-intrusive as possible. There will be an in-game store where you can browse all released material and buy them quickly, using for instance Steam or Paradox Connect. There will be no activation limits or the like, nor will you need to be online after purchasing, unless you upgrade or change computer in which case you'll need to log in again.


- How will this work?

Starting with Crusader Kings II and all titles going forward where we're planning DLC, we'll be working on this policy. We hope that you'll like this new development. Ideally, Crusader Kings II should be the only title you need to play for the next few years (...until we make a new grand strategy game).

TL,DR - Early adopters get more benefits, we'll be patching games for longer and expansions will be modular so your installation of the game will always see continued patching.

In that sense the new modular DLC plan seems like a good plan.  They do say that MP won't be affected, but we will have to see.

[garbon]

Oh okay, I remember that now.

[KRonn]

Finally bought CK2.  How the fuck do you play this thing?  Oy!

Hehe... I've been slowly trying to figure it out. Playing Poland, and gobbling up some of Lithuania. Married into the Danish Royal family so have decent allies there. Slowly getting some hang of it, and enjoying it, though much is still opaque to me.   

[Faeelin]

Doh. I was trying to force a Lotharingian kingdom, and then everyone made me emperor.

[KRonn]

Doh. I was trying to force a Lotharingian kingdom, and then everyone made me emperor.

Is that a bad thing??   It's good to be King, no? So better to be Emperor!

[Valmy]

Doh. I was trying to force a Lotharingian kingdom, and then everyone made me emperor.

Is that a bad thing??   It's good to be King, no? So better to be Emperor!

Having a weird Kingdom title as your primary title is cool.  Being HRE is pretty vanilla.  THere is always a HRE.

[HVC]

Have they fixed Germany and France ruining my Iberia games?

[Valmy]

Have they fixed Germany and France ruining my Iberia games?

We have been complaining about Spain not working since the first day CK1 came out.

[katmai]

And how does that answer his question valmy?

[garbon]

Where does crown authority start for France/HRE? Seems like in short order they both become rather centrally controlled.

[Cecil]

[HVC]

Have they fixed Germany and France ruining my Iberia games?

We have been complaining about Spain not working since the first day CK1 came out.

CK1, as least as far as i recall, was a problem becasue the muslims always bet the ai christians. But if you played a christian nation you were good. Now the HRE and france carve large chunks out of iberia. Even when i play a western state like navara or barcelona it doesn't help because france just lands in portugal and gbles up the east side.

[Valmy]

And how does that answer his question valmy?

Ok then: No it will not.

[Valmy]

CK1, as least as far as i recall, was a problem becasue the muslims always bet the ai christians. But if you played a christian nation you were good. Now the HRE and france carve large chunks out of iberia. Even when i play a western state like navara or barcelona it doesn't help because france just lands in portugal and gbles up the east side.

As a human player in CK1 all you had to do was wait for Spain to be taken over by the Muslims (say...two years or so) then swoop in.  The only difference is now the AI does this.