To be fair, I got CK2 back at the start before any of the major DLCs were released. I think the only one available at the time was the weird aztec one so I never felt any compunction to purchase that one. And the game was basic, vanilla game was fantastic. Most of the hours I've got logged on it on steam were logged before I bought any of the DLCs. I started to get DLCs after my interest started to flag a little, and each time I got one it opened a new angle in the game and invited a bunch more hours of gameplay.

Now, I only ever got DLCs which actually gave different experiences (the republic one, the old gods, etc), I never bothered with the ones that didn't seem to open up new options like the conclave stuff and the council one. Those just seemed like a way to make the existing game more complex, rather than open up new types of game play.

So I don't have any object to a basic game being released reasonably barebones, especially if its as good or better than CK2 was back at the start.

 

Ck2 was released in 2012 and I agree that it was decently enjoyable then. Their more recent games have been lackluster at launch, that's why I'm not placing any hopes in it.

 

A lot of the problem is that they've gone from "Here's a solid game, now we'll work on expanding it with DLCs" to "Here's a basic framework, we'll flesh it out with DLCs later."

 

I dunno. Like, considering the sheer amount of hours I've out into CK2 I can't complain at all that I didn't get my money's worth out of any of the DLC.

(Except sunset invasion and even then probably the worst thing about that is that they won't do any alt hist in the future.)

 

Agreed when it comes to CK 2. I was more speaking to Paradox's newer releases, like Imperator: Rome and Stellaris. Games that sell a very basic engine, and then slowly collapse under the weight of all the DLCs bolting new mechanics onto them.

 

Stellaris had the issue of the game designer leaving immediately after release and the new designer having a different vision, which is why we've had half a dozen major overhauls of basically everything.

 

Development of this game is a total clusterfuck. It turns into another game after each patch. One overhaul after another... There is also significant performance issues. I like the game very much though.

 

I definitely loved the general concept of a huge sci-fi kitchen sink where you could create basically any science fiction civilization/race you could think of. I had far too much fun putting the United Federation of Planets, Imperium and Man, and Sith Empire into a galaxy and watching the madness unfold. However, I've generally found the mid and late game gameplay rather tedious.

 

This is actually where I've become more hopeful for Stellaris II when it eventually enters production. I feel very much like Stellaris is a game where they tried so much and that for the sequel they'll have a better idea of what they're doing.

 

Yeah. I love the game, don't get me wrong, but I love it despite its flaws and at this point there are some fundamental problems that aren't going to be solved by anything else than a total overhaul or a brand new game. Hopefully on a more modern engine.

 

According to a post on Reddit, launch day is 2nd September; pre-order bonus is clothes for HRE, and the first "expansion pass" is two flavour packs, clothes, and a single large DLC.

 

Not ashamed to admit that I'll buy the clothes.

 

Oof - £42 for base game, £58 for Royal Edition on Steam, slightly more on Paradox Store.

Release date confirmed 2020/09/01

 

Definitely waiting for the steam sale to get it at those prices.

And I've never understood the appeal of the costume DLCs, they always just seemed like a waste of money to me.

 

The deep RP. My incestuous God emporer needs new threads.

I just realised this comes out a few days before my partner's birthday and she is not gonna be pleased.

 

Here are six minutes of IGN playing CK3 in Ireland:


Here is a more detailed look of the map:


I'm loving some of the UI features as it will make the screen less crowded. Still not a huge fan of the 3D character portraits, as they look a little too fake for me.

All-in-all, it's looking like a solid game so far with a ton of events, which is exactly what I want.

 

It seems like it's pretty intuitive to past CK players but I'm not sure I like the separate baronies system. Just seems like, counties within a county that'll make for more grinding during conquest.

 

reddit source

 

Crusader kings 3 is now the first game I have pre ordered in years. Whole 11 hours before release.

I was immediately disappointed in my choice when steam didn't let me preload the game.

 

What does pre ordering a steam game even do?