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#11

Gaming HQ / Re: Victoria 3

Last post by Josquius - Today at 03:10:45 AM

Well thats scary and bizzare.
I bought humble choice this month and registered vicky 3, haven't played yet though I did install it.
This morning in my spam box is something from paradox.

New Player Guides Part #1: Start Building Your Grand Tomorrow

It is time to start building your grand tomorrow
In order to help you get started with Victoria 3, we will send you a series of resources over the coming days. First up is the Basic Tutorial series, showing you all the basics around the Economy, Pops and Diplomacy.

Already got the Basics? Great! Then start building your society

[Click Here If You Do Not Want To Receive Any Further Beginner Guides]

#12

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 03:05:03 AM

I wouldn't trust Byline Times. It's a polite conspiracy sheet.

I haven't heard that before.
Its not a site I follow too regularly but it is about the only place to get local news beyond a level of "Council to introduce parking charges in Seaham. We sent our sub minimum wage journalist to chat to people on high street to find out what they think" and "Jarrow grandmother SHOCKED to find something in bag of crisps".

I definitely think there may be something fishy about the Freeport stuff which is being picked up by Private Eye - on the other hand it has been looked at by the National Audit Office who said there was no evidence of corruption or illegality. They did however criticise some of the governance structures and said the transparency wasn't good enough - they also said that "value for money" wasn't monitored closely enough particularly because they weren't doing things through formal tenders and public procurement (as someone who thinks our public procurement isn't fit for purpose and that the focus on "value for money" is a cause of lots of problems in under-investment, I'm fairly relaxed about that).

That the current planning system sucks is certainly true. But the checks it involves are there for a reason. The solution isn't to just ignore it where it suits suspiciously motivated projects.
The environmental shortcuts which have screwed things up far beyond the immediate area for instance should be considered worthy of criminal action.

I think he is quite like Johnson if Johnson wasn't who he is. He's fairly comfortable with spending money, he thinks the state has a role in industrial policy, he's a bit populist - the difference is he's actually doing it rather than just talking about it. Which is why, I suspect, he's got over 60% in his area who think he's doing a good job. He's very much a "here's what you could have won" for the Tories of what was possible after the 2017 and 19 election.

Maybe he's a step above Johnson when it comes to actually doing something. But again what he is doing is often very surface level only with little actual meat behind it.

Johnson won a huge majority and had an electoral map that could re-align British politics, having run on the most left-wing big spending Tory manifesto since MacMillan. As Andrew Neil was pointing out in his interview on election night there were two big problems with that: one was that those former Labour voters were only lending their votes to the Tories and expected them to deliver; the other was that lots of the party's traditional base and MPs hated those ideas and wanted standard Tory tax cuts instead. Maybe with focus, attention to detail and a lot of work the government could have delivered for their new voters - but that is immediately impossible if Boris Johnson is your Prime Minister. I'm not sure it was ever possible to reconcile the very centrist big spending manifesto which won a big majority in former Labour heartlands with most of your base being in well-off areas and wanting lower spending and taxes.

And tying yourself to negative growth policies like brekshit

Edit: Also discovered today that Andy Street is apparently in a relationship with Michael Fabricant. I suppose it's progress that I wasn't aware he was gay, far less in a relationship with Fabricant - but it does raise profound concerns about his judgement

That is bizzare.
I somehow don't think he's with him for his looks.... Maybe Street is making a brave sacrifice to defend staffers? (is that one too dark?).
It certainly does put into question the Street is a very non-Tory decent conservative as Fabricant is quite the piece of shit.

#13

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by The Brain - Today at 03:01:20 AM

Four votes? I don't think you should mention this on a public forum.

#14

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Gups - Today at 02:35:23 AM

Quite a long queue at my polling station at 07:15. I splitted my four votes equally between Lab and Lib Dem.

#15

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by The Brain - Today at 02:34:53 AM

Has the idea of campus as a Safe Space been abandoned?

#16

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by Admiral Yi - Today at 02:24:06 AM

Brawling on UCLA campus, looks like pro Israels were on the offensive.  Campus security watched.

#17

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Syt - Today at 01:23:47 AM

#18

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by celedhring - Today at 12:53:40 AM

This time around the revolution will not have a snack break:

Students occupying Columbia library demand school allow food, water into building

Tragically the police cleared out the occupation rather than waiting to see if this would be the first revolutionary movement that would have collapsed due to lack of Takis.

Mmmmm... This made me think. I remember there was a cafeteria in the basement of Hamilton Hall... But it seems it's not there anymore. Damn, this somehow made me feel old.

Also, there were quite a few campus protests when I was over there. One got quite nasty (although not as much as this one, for sure). But these things eventually just blow over. In Europe we get those dime a dozen.

#19

Gaming HQ / Re: New Paradox Tinto Game - "...

Last post by Syt - Today at 12:32:31 AM

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/tinto-talks-10-1st-of-may-2024.1673745/

Let's start with the markets themselves. These are dynamic and will change through the playthrough, as countries can create new markets and disband their old if they so desire.

Each market has a center in a location, and the owner of that location is in control over that market.

Every location and coastal seazone will belong to the most fitting market, which depends on the market attraction of the market, the distance between the location and the market center, diplomatic factors, and more.

A market has merchants, who have a power depending on buildings and maritime presence in the market, and a merchant capacity which depends on the infrastructure for trade that country has in that market. The Merchant Power impacts in which order exports from a market are executed, as there is not an endless supply of goods in a market. The Merchant Capacity impacts how much goods the merchants can ship.

As you can see in the market screenshot, every good has a local price, and a supply vs demand value as well, let's take a look at the beer price in the next tooltip.

Prices change every month towards the Target Price, which depends on the supply and demand of the goods in the market, and the current price stability. Price stability can change through the ages as well.

Supply & Demand
The supply of each good in a market depends on several factors.
The output from RGO's
The output from buildings
Base Production
Burgher Trades

So what is 'Base Production'? Some goods like clay, lumber, sand and stone are produced in every market, without the need for specific RGO's, even if an RGO with that raw material can produce much more, and there are buildings that can be built to provide these as well.

Also, your burghers will trade on their own, if they have the capacity for it. They will attempt to address needs within the market, and can trade in a slightly shorter range, thus enriching their estate. There are laws and privileges that impact them, like the "Trade Monopolies" estate privilege that the Hanseatic League has granted in the earlier screenshot, which reduces their own merchant capacity by 25% to increase the capacity of the burghers by 100%

So what about demand? This is primarily from the maintenance, input, and construction of buildings, recruiting and maintaining armies and navies, and the demands of the population, but there are more sources as well.

Of course, trades themselves impact supply and demand as well.

You can use your merchant capacity in a market to either export a good from that market, or import a good from another market. Of course that market needs to be within your trade range, which is not world-spanning in 1337.

A trade is a variable amount of goods shipped from one market to another market, purchasing it for the local price in the exporting market. The longer the distance between the markets, the more capacity each good will require to ship, and higher the maintenance costs will be.

Trades have an impact on the last land location they are in before leaving the market, and the first one they enter in the importing market, giving boosts in development to them over time. A trade always has to trace a path on the map.

There are also the Sound Tolls, if you pass through Öresund or the Bosphorus to consider.

Diplomacy and Trade
There are many diplomatic factors that impact the trade and market mechanics of Project Caesar.

First of all, you can "Deny Market Access" to a nation owning a market, which will reduce the attraction of their markets on your locations, but also make anyone with merchants in those markets upset with you.

You can also request and/or offer market access preference making it likelier for a country's locations to belong in a certain market.

If you dislike paying Sound Tolls, you can always try to ask for exemption for it through diplomacy with the country controlling the strait.

Some countries have isolated themselves completely, so you need to negotiate a specific exception to allow you to export or import from their markets.

There is also the possibility to embargo a country, which would block the merchants from that country to trade in your markets, and also to not be allowed to move through your country. Of course, this a legit casus belli, so use with care.

Other aspects to Trade
Each market can have specific goods banned for export or import, with one common example being that muslim markets will ban import and export of wine, beer and liquor.

We mentioned in an earlier Tinto Talks that Markets will have stockpiles, so that surplus can be stored for a rainy day. There are buildings that will increase the amount that can be stored.

There is also food in the markets, with prices adapting to the supply and demand of food as well.

There are also automation options where you can assign trading completely to the AI. You can also lock some trades so that the AI will not interfere with them.

Stay tuned, next week we'll be talking about mercenaries, levies and regulars!

Seeing the Hansa and the Riga market here this mostly makes me wish there was a modern version of Hanse or Patrician.

#20

Off the Record / Re: The EU thread

Last post by Grey Fox - May 01, 2024, 08:43:31 PM

Their Prime Minister. Their President is actually pro-West.