Crusader Kings II Spirit-all

That, and it's probably extremely complicated with all the interactions of new parts and old. I'd say that's the safe move, and given Paradox's lingering rep, a very good one. (They've done so well since CK2 and EUIV came out, but still one glaring slip-up in quality could crash their rep again.)

Looking forward to it.

tanstaafl wrote:

Paradox is working on a "role-playing" DLC for CK2

Paradox wrote:

Today we’re announcing that we’re in the midst of developing something new for Crusader Kings II, a project that will allow you to get even deeper into the role-playing aspects of the game. Way of Life, the next DLC for CK2, will let you become a better (or worse!) ruler and grant you more power over personal relationships than ever before.

Sure, it’s nice to have someone cozy up to you and be your lover while you’re sitting atop the throne, but what if you could choose who to seduce? Or, after getting into that relationship on the side, what if you discover that you just need some space and had a way to break it off? You know, without having your soon-to-be ex-lover assassinated. These things and much more, including hundreds of new events, are coming to Way of Life.

This makes me so manhappy I will now do a mandance of joy.

Budo wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

Paradox is working on a "role-playing" DLC for CK2

Paradox wrote:

Today we’re announcing that we’re in the midst of developing something new for Crusader Kings II, a project that will allow you to get even deeper into the role-playing aspects of the game. Way of Life, the next DLC for CK2, will let you become a better (or worse!) ruler and grant you more power over personal relationships than ever before.

Sure, it’s nice to have someone cozy up to you and be your lover while you’re sitting atop the throne, but what if you could choose who to seduce? Or, after getting into that relationship on the side, what if you discover that you just need some space and had a way to break it off? You know, without having your soon-to-be ex-lover assassinated. These things and much more, including hundreds of new events, are coming to Way of Life.

This makes me so manhappy I will now do a mandance of joy.

Between this and DAI, I may never need another PC game again

eee, I remember when Paradox beta was full release version 1.2

That looks like quite an addition. I do kind of wonder what they could ever do in CK2 though. It's starting to look like the future of Crusader Kings is in unending dlc.

Which I'm fine with incidentally.

Between the DLC and the mods, I'm running out of excuses to avoid this. Hurry up and get here already, Steam sale!

Rat Boy wrote:

Between the DLC and the mods, I'm running out of excuses to avoid this. Hurry up and get here already, Steam sale!

I've no excuses at all, already owning it and a whack of DLC and still not having started it. (Still busy expanding my European empire in Euro Truck. I thought I was going to have to assassinate Krisztina, but then it turned out I could just move her to a different garage.)

It's going to be a hell of a game when I finally get to it though.

Budo wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

Paradox is working on a "role-playing" DLC for CK2

Paradox wrote:

Today we’re announcing that we’re in the midst of developing something new for Crusader Kings II, a project that will allow you to get even deeper into the role-playing aspects of the game. Way of Life, the next DLC for CK2, will let you become a better (or worse!) ruler and grant you more power over personal relationships than ever before.

Sure, it’s nice to have someone cozy up to you and be your lover while you’re sitting atop the throne, but what if you could choose who to seduce? Or, after getting into that relationship on the side, what if you discover that you just need some space and had a way to break it off? You know, without having your soon-to-be ex-lover assassinated. These things and much more, including hundreds of new events, are coming to Way of Life.

This makes me so manhappy I will now do a mandance of joy.

Manjoy?

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Budo wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

Paradox is working on a "role-playing" DLC for CK2

Paradox wrote:

Today we’re announcing that we’re in the midst of developing something new for Crusader Kings II, a project that will allow you to get even deeper into the role-playing aspects of the game. Way of Life, the next DLC for CK2, will let you become a better (or worse!) ruler and grant you more power over personal relationships than ever before.

Sure, it’s nice to have someone cozy up to you and be your lover while you’re sitting atop the throne, but what if you could choose who to seduce? Or, after getting into that relationship on the side, what if you discover that you just need some space and had a way to break it off? You know, without having your soon-to-be ex-lover assassinated. These things and much more, including hundreds of new events, are coming to Way of Life.

This makes me so manhappy I will now do a mandance of joy.

Manjoy?

Nice! Just in time for winter vacation! I might have to pick this up and the previous expansion and set aside some time to play. Thanks for sharing this.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...

That's the one and only dev diary for Way of Life.

garion333 wrote:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...

That's the one and only dev diary for Way of Life.

Oh, Way of Life sounds a bit more modest in terms of scope than I anticipated, but I like the idea of having a five-year focus for personal ambition. I do think it will add some positive flavor to an already great game.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
garion333 wrote:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...

That's the one and only dev diary for Way of Life.

Oh, Way of Life sounds a bit more modest in terms of scope than I anticipated, but I like the idea of having a five-year focus for personal ambition. I do think it will add some positive flavor to an already great game.

I think we both want CK3 to be more RPG and a little less EU.

garion333 wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
garion333 wrote:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...

That's the one and only dev diary for Way of Life.

Oh, Way of Life sounds a bit more modest in terms of scope than I anticipated, but I like the idea of having a five-year focus for personal ambition. I do think it will add some positive flavor to an already great game.

I think we both want CK3 to be more RPG and a little less EU.

That's interesting. I'm not sure I'd have characterized my thinking as wanting it to be more of an RPG. The thing that I've always felt that was unique about CK2 was the personal stories it generates in the midst of a grand strategic game, and the connection between human character and history. It's that story-generating element that's captivating to me, and the interplay between a perfect strategic plan and the vagaries of human folly. That feels different to me than an RPG focus, although it's very close, for sure.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
garion333 wrote:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...

That's the one and only dev diary for Way of Life.

Oh, Way of Life sounds a bit more modest in terms of scope than I anticipated, but I like the idea of having a five-year focus for personal ambition. I do think it will add some positive flavor to an already great game.

I think we both want CK3 to be more RPG and a little less EU.

That's interesting. I'm not sure I'd have characterized my thinking as wanting it to be more of an RPG. The thing that I've always felt that was unique about CK2 was the personal stories it generates in the midst of a grand strategic game, and the connection between human character and history. It's that story-generating element that's captivating to me, and the interplay between a perfect strategic plan and the vagaries of human folly. That feels different to me than an RPG focus, although it's very close, for sure.

I really think we're in agreement, you just didn't like how I worded it.

NEEDS MOAR RPG!1!!!11

garion333 wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
garion333 wrote:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...

That's the one and only dev diary for Way of Life.

Oh, Way of Life sounds a bit more modest in terms of scope than I anticipated, but I like the idea of having a five-year focus for personal ambition. I do think it will add some positive flavor to an already great game.

I think we both want CK3 to be more RPG and a little less EU.

That's interesting. I'm not sure I'd have characterized my thinking as wanting it to be more of an RPG. The thing that I've always felt that was unique about CK2 was the personal stories it generates in the midst of a grand strategic game, and the connection between human character and history. It's that story-generating element that's captivating to me, and the interplay between a perfect strategic plan and the vagaries of human folly. That feels different to me than an RPG focus, although it's very close, for sure.

I really think we're in agreement, you just didn't like how I worded it. ;)

Most excellent!

I'm just waiting for the Steam sale to discount more Ck2 expansions so I can catch up on the ones I'm missing. Are there any I shouldn't bother with besides Sunset Invasion? (Sorry if this was answered already and I missed it.)

Thanks Tboon. I look forward to the sale.

With the Steam Sale going on, CK2 being on sale and probably going to go on deeper sale sometime over the next couple of weeks, I dusted off my DLC buying guide and updated it to add the new DLC. Enjoy!

tboon's DLC guide Updated! Updated Again (3/10/2107)!Updated Again (9/21/2107)!
DLC for CK2 comes in a variety of flavors: what I call "main" DLC which add mechanics and factions to the base game, portrait packs which adds culture-specific portraits to the game, unit packs which add culture-specific units to the map, songs which add culture-specific music to the game, shields which add more and better heraldry to the game, and eBooks which are eBooks about someone else's adventures in the game.

Main DLC:
Sword of Islam: Makes Muslim characters playable. Also adds some Muslim-specific mechanics while playing, which are fascinating and really change how you play the game quite a bit. I would get this if you have any interest in playing a Muslim ruler. However, you can wait to pick it up later if you want to. Recommendation: Buy.

Legacy of Rome: Adds some mechanics relevant to the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox religion. If you want to play as the Byzantines, this is highly recommended. However, in my opinion, the changes to the Byzantines in this pack are much less interesting than the changes added in Sword of Islam or some of the other packs. Recommendation: Qualified Buy.

Sunset Invasion: Adds an ahistorical Aztec invasion to the game. Why? Well, the game designers thought there was a historical problem in the game that needed a little redressing, namely the Mongol hordes that show up on the eastern side of the map. The Horde is massive, destructive, and game-changing when it occurs (approx. 75% of the time, I believe). Historically, nothing comparable happens in the west, so this adds a horde-like faction that sometimes shows up (I read it happens about 20-25% of the time). Philosophically, I don't like this DLC due to its ahistorical nature. When it happens while playing, it is not fun to have an Aztec buzzsaw run over everything. Recommendation: Pass.

The Republic: Adds playable merchant republics (Venice, Genoa, etc.). These are interesting to play and the mechanics are again quite different from the vanilla game. Playing as a republic, you deal with trade and the goals are money-oriented as opposed to being land-oriented in the rest of the game. Setting up exclusive trade areas and backstabbing everybody in the process to gain power in your republic is quite fun. Recommendation: Buy.

The Old Gods: By far the best DLC released so far (in my opinion), this is marketed as a Viking expansion but it is more than that. Opens up all the "pagan" characters which include the Zoroastrians, Norse, West African animists, Slavic, Tengri, etc. Each religious group has its own set of mechanics (Norse must fight every so often or lose relationship with everyone, for example). Recommendation: Buy.

Sons of Abraham: Focuses on Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Most of the focus is on Christianity, though. Adds mechanics for cardinals, influencing and asking for favors from the Pope, Holy Orders, pilgrimages, retiring people to monasteries, and tons of events. Adds a lot of flavor around religion to the games. Recommendation: Buy.

Rajas of India: Adds Indian rulers. As it turns out, there's a lot of interesting stuff happening over in India during the covered time period. Adds a ton of map (not sure if this got put into the free patches). Adds Buddhist, Jain and Hindu religions, castes, jungle provinces, elephants and more. I think adding more alternate rulers to play is a Good Thing™. Recommendation: Buy.

Charlemagne: Takes the starting date back to 769AD. Adds Charlemagne stuff, dynamic kingdoms, a better regency system and more cultures. More is better right? Well in CK2 it is. Now the game goes for almost 700 years (769-1453)! This is probably my second favorite DLC, after The Old Gods. Recommendation: Buy.

Way of Life: Replaces and re-vamps the ambition mechanic and expands the event system around it. Before, you could take an ambition to improve a stat or get gold/piety or have a child or what have you and you would get an event tree pertaining to it but only if it was a stat ambition. The focus system kicks that up a notch. All foci provided their own event trees, grant bonuses, and can give traits and on-going options. This is not quite the RPG DLC that it was marketed to be but it is still a nice addition. This will probably not go on sale due to it being so recently released. Recommendation: Buy.

Horse Lords: Adds nomads. And nomad raiders. Makes playing a horde more interesting. Adds some other stuff in Central Asia, notably The Silk Road. Anybody can build trading posts along the Silk Road (you don't have to be a Republic) and you can get a significant boost to money for doing so. Well, unless someone east of you is in a war, then all that wonderful trade trickles to a halt. Also, people don't like you taking over their provinces, planting trade posts on their land and will try to destroy them. On the balance, I find this one pretty weak, unless you want to play as a nomad. Recommendation: Qualified Buy

Conclave: Another really strong expansion. Gives your council more to do and gives you more ways to interact with your council. Get a favor owed to you and call it in for a big vote or when you almost have enough plot power to knock of your pesky liege/brother-in-law. Or owe a favor and have it called in at the least opportune time. Also adds more ways to interact/control your offspring. You can groom them to be the perfect ruler or a master spy. Of course, things don't always turn out the way you want because this is till CK2. Recommendation: Buy

The Reaper's Due: Some good ideas in this one but I am a little leery of recommending it without reservation. Diseases were a huge part of the medieval era, of course, and CK2 has finally gotten it pretty close to right. However, maybe there's too much of it in this expansion? It seems like everyone in the turns into a hyper-hypochondriac, always worried about health and going into seclusion at the drop of a smallpox epidemic. The new injuries stuff is interesting - characters can be maimed in various new ways and have their "honorific" reflect their injury. Jarrick "One Eye", for example. More ways to interact with prisoners, like torture, which I don't do but hey, I won't judge. I feel like this is worth getting for the improved epidemic system but the all-encompassing nature of the health stuff keeps it from being whole-hearted. Recommendation: Buy
Edit: Upon further review, I changed my recommendation to Buy. I think this expansion adds a lot of content, changes the gameplay experience enough, and is important enough to justify buying. I do think that it can get annoying at times and is probably my least favorite Buy recommended expansion but I also think it should be included in most people's stable of DLC for this game.

Monks and Mystics: The big things offered in this are a little bit too on the margins, like monastic orders, secret societies, stuff like that - basically some more events and stuff, which is good except a lot of it seems a little, well, silly. There are a couple of interesting bits here, though. For instance, every councilor gets a fourth job. You can finally tell those normally useless allies how to fight the war you are in together (which has been needed, like, forever in this game). You also can commission a family heirloom, like a great big honking sword. Or find a holy artifact that you can keep in your family forever. The allies things is a big improvement, the rest is flavor with a few minor quality of life changes. If you need more flavor and/or fight all the time (and always have allies), go for it. Otherwise, it is does not add a lot. Recommendation Qualified Buy
Edit: Got more time with this and changed my recommendation. To be honest, this is the first DLC that made me think that maybe they were running out of ideas to add to this game.

Ruler Designer: Want to make a ruler and put them in the game? Sounds cool, huh? However, you don't add a new ruler so much as replace an existing one, which kind of sucks. Also, I play for the historical flavor and adding a new ruler goes against that for me. Recommendation: Pass.

Europa Universalis IV Converter: So you have played for almost 700 years and built up your kingdom to make the Roman Empire look like a postage stamp. You also have EU4 kicking around in Steam. Why let the fun end? This allows you to export your end state (get it?) into EU4 and continue the good times on a slightly bigger but more impersonal stage. Actually this works pretty well, all things considered. If you are interested in keeping the story going and also like EU4, then you need this. Otherwise, buy some portrait packs. Recommendation: Qualified Buy

Customization Pack: Change the names of your children's children unto the umpteenth generation. Rename your kingdom. Give your family a new shield. Give your king a beard or a new haircut. Basically, take away all the fun parts of the simulation. Bah. Recommendation: Pass.

Portrait packs: The vanilla portraits are fine but get a little boring after a while. Plus there is little differentiation between cultures in vanilla. They are cheap so I would suggest buy. After all, you will be spending a lot of time looking at faces, why not have them be pretty? Recommendation: Buy.

Clothing Packs: Ditto for the clothing packs. Plus, it is kind of jarring to see inappropriate garb for the characters you interact with. Recommendation: Buy.

Unit packs: On the plus side, having culture-appropriate unit sprites on the map is kind of cool. But, really, it makes no difference in how the game plays and I seldom play so zoomed in that it makes no real difference what the sprites look like. Recommendation: Pass

Songs: The music in the game is very well done. The song packs add a lot of flavor to factions which is nice. Hearing Viking-themed music while playing as a Viking is pretty nice. That said, the game is long and the music gets repetitive no matter how pretty it is. I usually play with music off these days. Recommendation: Qualified Buy.

Shields: In CK2, your family is everything (literally: if your family dies, the game ends). Having nice looking heraldry adds to the flavor, and like with the portraits, you will be looking at this stuff a lot, so why not make it nice-looking? Plus these are usually quite cheap. Recommendation: Buy.

eBooks: There are a couple of eBooks out using CK2 as a back-drop. Basically officially sanctioned fan-fiction. do you want to play the game or read about someone else playing the game? Recommendation: Pass

Crusader Kings II Collection: This contains a lot (but not all) of the currently available DLC and usually costs twice what the base game goes for. It also tends to go on sale at the same time as vanilla. Is it worth it? Of course when answering questions about buying decisions, it depends on the buyer but I think it is in general. There is a lot of added value for this game in the collection. If CK2 is a game you know you will like, this is the way to go. However, most of those people have probably already bought the game and if you are on the fence about getting CK2, it is hard to recommend paying double for something that you might not like.

Crusader Kings II DLC Collection: So most of the DLC in one package but not the newer major DLC (Charlemagne or Way of Life) and associated portrait, shield, clothing, etc. packs. I think this makes more sense for people to get after buying the base game, playing for a while, and then want more.

tl;dr Version: Buy major DLC except Sunset Invasion and possibly Legacy of Rome and Horse Lords. Buy portrait packs, clothing packs, and shields. Don't buy Sunset Invasions, unit packs, songs (unless you listen to the in-game music or are planning to), or eBooks.

I think CK2 was already on sale, the first day or even the day before, 75% off, because I gifted it then.... It's been 50% since then, unless it dropped again.

For me, after a certain point, I just decided I like the game enough to fund it, so I bought everything except the fanfic (mostly on sale though). I mean, a game this good, I want them to have enough cash to make the next iteration.

Adds a ton of map (not sure if this got put into the free patches)

It did. The vanilla map now includes India.

Robear wrote:

I think CK2 was already on sale, the first day or even the day before, 75% off, because I gifted it then.... It's been 50% since then, unless it dropped again.

For me, after a certain point, I just decided I like the game enough to fund it, so I bought everything except the fanfic (mostly on sale though). I mean, a game this good, I want them to have enough cash to make the next iteration. :-)

I agree but there are some stinkers in the DLC (Sunset Invasions). Also, I want Paradox to have enough money to make Victoria 3.

Yeah, well, I got Sunset Invasions back when it was cool!

...sigh...

tboon wrote:
Robear wrote:

I think CK2 was already on sale, the first day or even the day before, 75% off, because I gifted it then.... It's been 50% since then, unless it dropped again.

For me, after a certain point, I just decided I like the game enough to fund it, so I bought everything except the fanfic (mostly on sale though). I mean, a game this good, I want them to have enough cash to make the next iteration. :-)

I agree but there are some stinkers in the DLC (Sunset Invasions). Also, I want Paradox to have enough money to make Victoria 3. :)

Yeah, it was indeed, Robear. Just before the sale started and I missed it. A buddy of mine picked up the whole lot and now I need to get caught up on the DLC. So thank you, tboon! Your buying guides are as helpful as always! I'd say I'm into helping fund Victoria 3 as well, but Vic2 is still languishing in my playlist. I may have to rectify that before the new year.

Well, however you get it, enjoy!

tboon, you got me confused by this:

Customization Pack: Change the names of your children's children unto the umpteenth generation. Rename your kingdom. Give your family a new shield. Give your king a beard or a new haircut. Basically, take away all the fun parts of the simulation. Bah. Recommendation: Pass.

Followed by this:

Shields: In CK2, your family is everything (literally: if your family dies, the game ends). Having nice looking heraldry adds to the flavor, and like with the portraits, you will be looking at this stuff a lot, so why not make it nice-looking? Plus these are usually quite cheap. Recommendation: Buy.

So, for the shields, it adds flavour, "so why not make it nice looking?" But for the customization pack giving your family a new shield takes away all the fun parts. Care to explain?

He's all about the historical accuracy so renaming the kingdoms and Grandchildren are a detractor for him. Personally I see nothing wrong with being King of Bonerland.

The shield packs help you pick out your friends and enemies the historical way, through iconography that reflects the original. That's useful on a map and mostly accurate.

The customization pack lets you design ahistorical shields for your family.

That's the difference I can see...