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#11

Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...

Last post by Valmy - Today at 01:10:00 PM

My advice is stop thinking about blobbing like you did in the EU I-IV.  You need to think through your expansion carefully and consider all the cultural, religious, economic, political and tactical reasons for expanding or you will end up with a bunch of useless territory. Or worse, territory you cannot hold. 

And man...territory is very useless without control. I think I get zero tax or anything from some of my largest cities. The most they contribute is a few hundred levies for wars.

Yep, and when you consider the cost of suppressing rebels when those Cabinet positions could be used for far better purposes, and just the cost in manpower of putting down rebellions.  It's just not worth it.

I love how the game has created real constraints on expansion beyond just an arbitrary Bad Boy modifier.  Also, if you have a country with a strong economy and can trade for or produce what you want/need.  There is no need to go expansionist.

There are important reasons though that I, much like historical Lithuania, are compelled to hold that territory anyway. For one thing, they are all cores. But I sure don't feel the need to get any more 

#12

Off the Record / Re: The Population Decline Thr...

Last post by Razgovory - Today at 01:09:00 PM

Clergy had children until the 1100s. And even then the rule requiring abstinence was more honoured in the breach.

Also, the rule had nothing to do with population control.

Nuns were often married and had children before entering the nunnery.

Do you have some evidence for the claim of wide spread infanticide?

I mean the Romans were pretty upfront about it.  From the Vindalania letters, we have actually have a soldier telling his wife to kill the child if it's a girl.  I think that a lot of cultures had a major imbalance between men and women mostly favoring men. Infanticide was pretty common among hunter-gatherers and neolithic cultures. 

One letter does not make it common.  And what is your source for hunter gatherers and neolithic cultures practicing it?

Other writers mention it, and note that it strange when other cultures didn't do it.  Roman and Greeks had a problem with child sacrifice, but drowning a child because it was female was okay.  I believe there are plenty of anthropological studies that show that infanticide was pretty common among hunter-gatherers.  Like 75% of children were abandoned to death.
As for a source on Greeks and Romans one needs to look to Aristotle:

As to exposing or rearing the children born, let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared; but on the ground of number of children, if the regular customs hinder any of those born being exposed, there must be a limit fixed to the procreation of offspring, and if any people have a child as a result of intercourse in contravention of these regulations, abortion must be practised on it before it has developed sensation and life; for the line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive.

-Aristotle, Politics

#13

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Valmy - Today at 01:06:57 PM

Ringo was there and maybe the better drummer of him and Pete Best, I do not really have a frame of reference.

Yes he was a better drummer than Pete Best.  Best got the job because his Mom owned a club where the band played.
Ringo got the job because he fit in with the group and was the best rock drummer in Liverpool in 1962.

Another thing that blew my mind from Get Back was how Ringo just sort of sat there at his drum kit ready to go and no matter how much the other guys were fucking around he was always locked in. He was drumming on those songs that came into existance just a day or two ago as if he had been playing them his whole life it was crazy.

Or maybe it isn't crazy and any pro drummer in a major band could easily do that. Maybe John Bonham could have done what Ringo did but much better. I don't know. But it seemed amazing to me. I thought writing these songs was a painful and difficult process of trial and error but the Beatles seemed to make it look...easy. I mean it still took them days to do it but still, just needing a few days to lock down "Let it Be" just blew my mind.

On the other hand Billy Preston wasn't in the band and he showed up and basically did the same thing. So it could just be that is just how musicians who are really good operate.

Still I was impressed by his talent and ability for what it is worth.

#14

Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 01:04:23 PM

My advice is stop thinking about blobbing like you did in the EU I-IV.  You need to think through your expansion carefully and consider all the cultural, religious, economic, political and tactical reasons for expanding or you will end up with a bunch of useless territory. Or worse, territory you cannot hold. 

And man...territory is very useless without control. I think I get zero tax or anything from some of my largest cities. The most they contribute is a few hundred levies for wars.

Yep, and when you consider the cost of suppressing rebels when those Cabinet positions could be used for far better purposes, and just the cost in manpower of putting down rebellions.  It's just not worth it.

I love how the game has created real constraints on expansion beyond just an arbitrary Bad Boy modifier.  Also, if you have a country with a strong economy and can trade for or produce what you want/need.  There is no need to go expansionist.

#15

Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...

Last post by Valmy - Today at 12:57:23 PM

My advice is stop thinking about blobbing like you did in the EU I-IV.  You need to think through your expansion carefully and consider all the cultural, religious, economic, political and tactical reasons for expanding or you will end up with a bunch of useless territory. Or worse, territory you cannot hold. 

And man...territory is very useless without control. I think I get zero tax or anything from some of my largest cities. The most they contribute is a few hundred levies for wars.

#16

Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...

Last post by Valmy - Today at 12:56:45 PM

I haven't had to worry much about the dynastic angle being the only dirty pagans left in Europe. But I can see how  it could be baffling doing it while trying to remember you are playing the country and not the dynasty you are also controlling.

Inching towards 1500. It is so crazy how far Vilnius feels from the coast as I desperately try to get enough control to build fleets and establish strong trade in the Baltic. I am only 300 km from the coast but it might as well be 1,000,000 km as far as 15th century tech is concerned.

But the thing about this game is...everything feels like you are so close to achieving your goal. Just one more month and you will have enough research or ducats or whatever. Very addicting and fun.

The diplomacy thing is very true. Countries blob without blobing. Declaring war on any country will start a coalition war. And your diplo strength is limited so you can only make your club so large. I usually end up annexing vassals not because I want to, but because I have to.

#17

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Syt - Today at 12:56:00 PM

#18

Off the Record / Re: The Population Decline Thr...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 12:53:47 PM

Do you have some evidence for the claim of wide spread infanticide?

I'm not in a position to proclaim whether the argument is correct or not, nor to state what the current scholarly consensus is, but as I understand it's been a fairly mainstream scholarly theory that infanticide was fairly common in pre-Christian Europe at least.

Again, source?  Keep in mind that the Christian writers had a penchant for demonizing non-Christians.

#19

Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 12:52:25 PM

My advice is stop thinking about blobbing like you did in the EU I-IV.  You need to think through your expansion carefully and consider all the cultural, religious, economic, political and tactical reasons for expanding or you will end up with a bunch of useless territory. Or worse, territory you cannot hold. 

#20

Off the Record / Re: The Population Decline Thr...

Last post by Razgovory - Today at 12:51:28 PM

You've heard of changelings?  A European myth that fairies would steal children and replace them with a fairy.  The fairy would be useless, unable to function as human being.  The solution was to take the changeling and leave it in the forest.  That's how they dealt with the clearly disabled.  They convinced themselves the child was a fairy and left it out in woods to die.  The pre-modern world was rough.