Recent posts

#51

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

Last post by Syt - January 02, 2026, 01:29:10 PM

I hear you. I was excited for a game's release, enjoyed the launch and then just felt continuously pushed away by pretty much every step they took post launch.

Meanwhile, Stellaris seems to be struggling since its 4.0 release and HoI4's DLC doesn't seem to be doing too hot, either - maybe time to move on and sunset them?

CK3's DLCs last year were medium to bad (coronations), though the Asia expansion doesn't seem to be the dumpsterfire I expected (in fact it seems quite all right). For next year they said the focus will be mechanical depth, with a housekeeping/balancing patch before the new DLC cycle (they seem to make this a habit, which I approve). But time will tell.

Vic3 is maybe their only title where the DLC they delivered all year has been pretty much a success across the board, adding new mechanics and tying them all into each other. And even the flavor packs have come with cool mechanical additions in their free patches. Currently, I trust the Vic team the most.

#52

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Josquius - January 02, 2026, 01:26:47 PM

I get the feeling that a great deal of production in east and south asia is a function of large populations.  They had a very productive food system that led to a larger population, the larger population produced more of an item because it was simply larger, but also consumed the items.

This is basically how civilisation works.

#53

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by The Minsky Moment - January 02, 2026, 01:22:35 PM

There is something obviously unbalanced here.  If these people were the economic powerhouses of their day, why weren't they sailing to Europe for trade rather than the other way around?

They didn't need anything Europe have to offer, which is why when trade occurred, China mostly took in silver by default. Europe definitely "felt" that as the chronic specie drain fueled the regular rounds of currency devaluations that plagued early modern Europe as well as encouraging the American colonial ventures. The dynamic continued well into the 19th century, being a key motivator underlying the Opium Wars.

#54

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Syt - January 02, 2026, 01:19:59 PM

Reacher S2. Still fun, but less of the pulpy charm of the first season.

#55

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by HVC - January 02, 2026, 01:15:44 PM

For heathen read Italian Venice funded a Mamluk navy (and built armaments for it transported over Egypt) to take on the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean - which very nearly worked.

Also we really really should t discount the religious motivation and imaginary world of those European states. Prester John and outflanking the world of Islam to take Jerusalem were significant motivations in the early days. I think our secular age and mind looks for material reasons and views anyone talking about Prester John as either cynical or a credulous fool. Which I think is wrong and misses important parts of the picture.

Italians have always been treacherous bastards... second only perhaps to the French

#56

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Sheilbh - January 02, 2026, 01:13:44 PM

For heathen read Italian Venice funded a Mamluk navy (and built armaments for it transported over Egypt) to take on the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean - which very nearly worked.

Also we really really should t discount the religious motivation and imaginary world of those European states. Prester John and outflanking the world of Islam to take Jerusalem were significant motivations in the early days. I think our secular age and mind looks for material reasons and views anyone talking about Prester John as either cynical or a credulous fool. Which I think is wrong and misses important parts of the picture.

#57

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by HVC - January 02, 2026, 01:02:00 PM

They didn't care about a heathen middleman squeezing the middle, europe did. There had been east west trade for millennia, but it wasn't until some 40 years after the fall of Byzantium did Portugal pass the cape of good hope (and another decade or so to actually make it to India)

#58

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Razgovory - January 02, 2026, 12:49:54 PM

I get the feeling that a great deal of production in east and south asia is a function of large populations.  They had a very productive food system that led to a larger population, the larger population produced more of an item because it was simply larger, but also consumed the items.

There is something obviously unbalanced here.  If these people were the economic powerhouses of their day, why weren't they sailing to Europe for trade rather than the other way around?

#59

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Sheilbh - January 02, 2026, 12:49:30 PM

Yeah and I understand that basically up to a third of the Roman Empire's annual revenue was used in the trade to India.

Which is sort of my point. I wasn't framing it around "world leader" but orientation, which was south and east.

#60

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Josquius - January 02, 2026, 12:44:03 PM

Temporary is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. It's been 5 centuries.

Global manufacturing was concentrated in China and India until the late 18th century.  So the ascendancy of the world between California and the Elbe runs from about 1750-2010.  Not an insignificant period, but in the context of millennia, a couple hundred years or so can still fairly be called temporary and anomalous.

This seems meaningless. When China was the leader in manufacturing, how much did the rest of the world feel that? Not much (please don't come with luxury cloth prices falling or something or other ). When Europe got the lead, however, we sure made that felt everywhere.

Obviously it is different now with China colonising Africa and vassalising Russia and the like.

Which region of the world was the most successful meant less to people the further back you.
Go back to BC and its pure naval gazing theoretical talk that the middle east was so much more developed than Britain or Japan- nobody in those places would have a clue what you were talking about.
First millennium AD and a very educated Chinese person would be aware Rome was this power in the west but it wouldn't impact them much.
Early second millennium AD and most people with a little bit of learning would be aware of China/the Indies/whatever as this foreign super rich land.
Industrial revolution and Europe's dominance was really impacting the lives of normal people in Asia though many would still be able to keep living their lives as they always had.
Flash forward to today where who is in top will impact every aspect of our lives on a daily basis.