Grand Strategy Imperator: Rome - the new grand strategy from Paradox

[AgentFransis]

Meh. As jaded a fuck as I am I'm not gonna hate on a dude that's going through some shit, even if his taste is popamole and he writes sappy forum posts.

 

[Average Manatee]

I don't think the game is broken there. By promoting all pops to citizens you may have a murderously high tech rate.. but also no money or manpower.

I am pretty sure you would lose catastrophically against players using a more balanced play-style due to your lack of troops. It doesn't matter if your troops are 30% stronger because of tech if your are outnumbered 10:1.

He had like 20k troops before fighting, and as soon as he takes any land he can employ all that super tech with all those non-nerd pops.

It's probably not the optimal play if there's 10 players in an English deathmatch, but for scattered starts or SP it looks pretty broken. No matter what its stupid that any shithole tribe can out tech the actual civilizations of the time frame by a ludicrous amount. By such a simplistic usage of mechanics too, it's not like this is some pro 300 IQ strat, this is literally just pushing the button that gives you more nerds.

 

[fantadomat]

I am yet to see some interesting thing in this game. Most of the mechanics are from other game,which is fair,but they are implemented poorly. All the new ones are just plain stupid. The whole pop interaction is stupid and shouldn't be in your game. Oh i have magical ruler power that i accumulated for a year,here i will evolve every single pleb to the status of full citizen. Now we live in utopia where nobody have to work and all are patricians and could eat grapes. Another stupid mechanic is tech,why the fuck is everyone on the same level is beyond me,it is plain stupid,it is even worst than how they raped the tech system in EU4. Non of the nations have anything unique in them,they are all just plain boring,even fucking Rome. I do hope this shit flops and give them a swift kick in the ars,but i doubt it.

 

[Agame]

Oh i have magical ruler power that i accumulated for a year,here i will evolve every single pleb to the status of full citizen. Now we live in utopia where nobody have to work and all are patricians and could eat grapes.

The EU4 'magical mana' system is fucking garbage, but I assume it appeals to popamoles and casuals.

Another stupid mechanic is tech,why the fuck is everyone on the same level is beyond me,it is plain stupid,it is even worst than how they raped the tech system in EU4. Non of the nations have anything unique in them,they are all just plain boring,even fucking Rome.

Yep EU4 tech change is utter shite, but all part of revisionist 'white man guilt' agenda, we need to make it so every country in the game, even bum-fuck nowhere in the middle of africa can turn themselves into glorious Wakanda and crush those filthy Euros.

I do hope this shit flops and give them a swift kick in the ars,but i doubt it.

So do I, it would force Paradox to start trying to innovate the genre again. Unfortunately I am sure it will do fine and they can milk it for years to come with DLC, adding more buttons to get 'mana' and +5% to your snail farm production.

 

[coldcrow]

Tbh, the white man should feel guilty for what transpired during the colonization (and the whole matter of lacking reparation), but ignoring historic reality in your historic game is pretty retarded.

 

[fantadomat]

Tbh, the white man should feel guilty for what transpired during the colonization (and the whole matter of lacking reparation), but ignoring historic reality in your historic game is pretty retarded.

True,i agree,the white man should feel guilty for not wiping all the inferior subraces that he encountered!

 

[M. AQVILA]

Tbh, the white man should feel guilty for what transpired during the colonization (and the whole matter of lacking reparation),

By that logic the asians and blacks should feel guilty for their history and should offer "reparations".

The only thing the white man should feel about the colonization period is pride.

 

[ZeniBot]

this game looks like all the worst parts of CK2, Vicky2 and EU4 combined with very few of the actual good parts. They also have that bullshit dice system still from Vicky 2- I was kinda wishing they were going the CK2 route to battles because at least that shit was more transparent to why you lost, not "YOU ROLLED A 0 FUCK YOU AND YOUR UNIT SUPERIORITY". It just looks painful as shit to play as well. The only thing going for this was the time period and frankly the mods for CK2 did it far far better. Playing when the world stopped making sense and reuniting Rome was fun, this is what I hoped Imperator would be like, instead we get a game that is almost a wholesale reskin of EU4.

 

[Goliath]

Florryworry (the most hardcore EU4 player ever) loves Imperator and has been playing it non-stop since he got pre-release access a couple of days ago.

He is not only the best EU4 player but also the most entertaining one. He will probably start streaming the game tomorrow here: https://www.twitch.tv/florryworry
Stream will probably start some time between 9:00 - 12:00 CET.
(Streaming is not his primary job, that's the reason for the uncertainty)

I recommend watching this because: A.) He is a really entertaining streamer B.) He has probably already figured out all the best tactics.

I used to suck at EU4, then I watched like 40 hours of Florryworry streams and now I am pretty good at the game.

 

[ZeniBot]

yeah florry proved he wasn't the best when he was in the greatest lan. He and Arumba though were super entertaining in that one. But just remember that especially with pre-release games they tend to shill their asses off for Paradox and then post release end up regretting it and then proceeding to shit on the game anyway. Arumba did that with Stellaris if you recall. That's why I say put your guard up with Paradox, they have most of the youtubers and twitch streamers on the take so don't believe any of the shit they say. I'd only trust Arumba for example only once his autism starts causing him to rage quit the game- at that point his real opinions are revealed. I have without a doubt Florry will be the same.

The worst streamer to watch for it is Quill by far. Guys a grade A prick who sucks Swede dick on a regular basis.

 

[Goliath]

yeah florry proved he wasn't the best when he was in the greatest lan.

I didn't watch this but being the best is not about winning every single game. Florry just won the Master of Universalis tournament and utterly dominated. The guy he faced in the final had won every challenge up to that point but Florry still made him look like an amateur beating him 3:0.

He and Arumba though were super entertaining in that one. But just remember that especially with pre-release games they tend to shill their asses off for Paradox and then post release end up regretting it and then proceeding to shit on the game anyway. Arumba did that with Stellaris if you recall.

Don't mix Arumba and Florry together. I have watched Florry for ages and I don't remember him ever "shilling" for anyone. Streaming is not his day job and he streams pretty much nothing but EU4 because he loves that game.

In contrast full-time variety streamers are all kinda forced to be "shills" in the sense that they won't get early access anymore if they piss off the companies and those early access streams are cash cows so..

 

[fantadomat]

yeah florry proved he wasn't the best when he was in the greatest lan. He and Arumba though were super entertaining in that one. But just remember that especially with pre-release games they tend to shill their asses off for Paradox and then post release end up regretting it and then proceeding to shit on the game anyway. Arumba did that with Stellaris if you recall. That's why I say put your guard up with Paradox, they have most of the youtubers and twitch streamers on the take so don't believe any of the shit they say. I'd only trust Arumba for example only once his autism starts causing him to rage quit the game- at that point his real opinions are revealed. I have without a doubt Florry will be the same.

The worst streamer to watch for it is Quill by far. Guys a grade A prick who sucks Swede dick on a regular basis.

All of them get old once you are well versed in paradox games. Arumba is really shit player,while florry is number stacking fag,still leagues away from other streamers. Quill is pretty fun when it comes down to games like dwarf fortress and rimworld,i totally had forgo that he played paradox games half a decade ago. Still i don't really care about their opinions,and only florry could deliver actual information because he plays the game well and you could see the actual gameplay. Arumba is too retarded to deliver actual info,he will spend an hour bitching about some irrelevant 1% nonsense that nobody cares. For quill i have no idea if he will even play it. To be honest here,it is not like there is any other paradox players that have decent viewership.Florry is the most likeable also,he is just some dude playing the game because he is passionate about it,fuck he even played it on cardboard tower . Shame he can't roleplay a nation without going full retards in to stacking numbers.

 

[Average Manatee]

I didn't watch this but being the best is not about winning every single game. Florry just won the Master of Universalis tournament and utterly dominated. The guy he faced in the final had won every challenge up to that point but Florry still made him look like an amateur beating him 3:0.

Just looked this up and among the youtube videos almost everyone sucked. The one thing he did tryhard on he failed at.

 

[Goliath]

Just looked this up and among the youtube videos almost everyone sucked.

What makes you an authority on that? Have you ever done Three Mountains on Very Hard with no exploits? Florry has. Streamed the whole thing.

The one thing he did tryhard on he failed at.

You mean the "Conquer Rome in 30 minutes starting as far east as possible" challenge?

In his first attempt he chose Korea, and the Paradox commentators were like "LOL Florry is insane", they didn't even believe it could be done. Yet Florry almost succeeded. He made it all the way to Rome but had bad luck with the alliances there and with dice rolls. And when the challenge came up again in the final he did not chose an easier, safer option but went even further east and picked Ashikaga.. and succeeded.

 

[Goliath]

Imperator live stream starts in a few minutes: https://www.twitch.tv/florryworry

 

[Fedora Master]

This guy is doing an interesting thing. He move his Germanic tribe towards the east into the Carpathian mountains to gain access to gold and other trade resources.

 

[Average Manatee]

What makes you an authority on that? Have you ever done Three Mountains on Very Hard with no exploits? Florry has. Streamed the whole thing.

I said "almost everyone". i.e. everyone else. There were people who died as Kilwa and failed as Ottomans lol.

World conquest isn't exactly hard these days, it's just tedious. Also there's no such thing as not exploiting EU4.

The one thing he did tryhard on he failed at.

You mean the "Conquer Rome in 30 minutes starting as far east as possible" challenge?

In his first attempt he chose Korea, and the Paradox commentators were like "LOL Florry is insane", they didn't even believe it could be done. Yet Florry almost succeeded. He made it all the way to Rome but had bad luck with the alliances there and with dice rolls. And when the challenge came up again in the final he did not chose an easier, safer option but went even further east and picked Ashikaga.. and succeeded.

Well he screwed up hard by not waiting (IIRC) 36 months so that Aragon and co. couldn't join the war. 30 mins is a long time in EU4 on speed 5, you can do a lot of shit.

I'm not saying he's not good, just that this competition thing was a joke. Also playing thousands of hours of EU4 at this point probably shows off brain damage and blind fanboyism more than anything else, Paradox has done their absolute best to kill the game off.

 

[fantadomat]

Fuck,i am watching Florryworry,hour in already and the game looks like garbage made by a retards. Half of the game looks like stupid and annoying busy work and the sieges are broken. The whole game is bare bones at best. Apperanly all the religions are the same more or less,the stupid everyone is the same tech shit. Also only four possible buildings,no more building menu and shit,dumbing down for Victory. At this level i don't know if i will even pirate it...
Who the fuck made those garbage sgx?!?!?!?!

 

[Average Manatee]

Evolution of Paradox pop mechanics:

Original pop game - Victoria 1. Player manages all pops individually.
"Victoria 1 sucks, manually managing each individual pop is tiresome busywork" -> EU:Rome pops automatically promote themselves.
"EU:Rome sucks, players need actual control over things" -> Victoria 2 now has NFs that give strong pressure towards certain promotions in each area.
"Victoria 2 sucks, everything needs to be instant so the ADHD generation can play it. Also we like mana" -> Imperator now has players manage all pops individually. With mana.

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[fantadomat]

LoL the AI is garbage.

 

[Agame]

Evolution of Paradox pop mechanics:

Original pop game - Victoria 1. Player manages all pops individually.
"Victoria 1 sucks, manually managing each individual pop is tiresome busywork" -> EU:Rome pops automatically promote themselves.
"EU:Rome sucks, players need actual control over things" -> Victoria 2 now has NFs that give strong pressure towards certain promotions in each area.
"Victoria 2 sucks, everything needs to be instant so the ADHD generation can play it. Also we like mana" -> Imperator now has players manage all pops individually. With mana.

This is why we DONT want them to make Victoria 3...

 

[Fedora Master]

It's telling that Rome is the only nation that seems to achieve a semblance of stability when handled by the AI. I suspect it will be very easy to blob the fuck out against the barbarian AI.

 

[Goliath]

Imperator live stream starts in a few minutes: https://www.twitch.tv/florryworry

Difficulty: Great stream, but Florry made the game look way too easy. This is probably going to turn into a world conquest and it's his first campaign.

AI: The AI is bad, Stellaris at its worst bad. It fails at everything: economy, tech, and war.

Unit balance: Florry's troops were Space Marines right from the start and he simply did the obvious: Get Iron surplus in capital, build nothing but heavy infantry , turtle stance, and stack all those +X% heavy infantry modifiers. His troops cut through others like a knife through butter, even the other Greeks had no chance, and the tribals were a complete joke. Heavy infantry is OP in general, but they get ridiculous in the hands of a player who deliberately min-maxes.

Research: Florry did not promote a single pop to citizen yet he massively out-teched everyone. I don't even know how the AI manages to fail this hard. I mean, the tribals are supposed to be backwards but even the other Greeks seemingly had research departments run by Boko Haram. When Florry (Sparta) attacked Macedonia, he was at tech 6, they were at tech 1! And again, he didn't even focus on research!

Characters (Is this like CK?): No, not at all. Florry is all about war and not interested in micromanaging his empire. He picked the "Fuck you" options (the ones which lower the loyalty of characters) every single time, didn't give a shit about legitimacy (just like in EU4), and barely cared about popularity.. without any negative consequences. He has played for 7 hours, owns most of Greece by now, and there was 1 (one!) meaningful NPC action. His second wife tried to kill the son of his first wife. That was CKish, but that was the ONLY meaningful event in 7 hours of playing the game. Again, he didn't give a shit about loyalty and he only quickly looked at the relevant primary stat of a character when assigning jobs. Traits? Family? Popularity? Is he a pretender? All ignored, zero problems.

Economy: Is boring and massively dumbed down compared to EU4. Florry likes it because he never cared for micromanaging the economy but if you like doing that.. wrong game. All that matters is moving all your slave pops to that Iron province so that you get enough surplus for max heavy infantry bonus.

Conclusion: Florry usually says "Welcome back to EU4" at the beginning of his streams. This time he jokingly said "Welcome back to EU5" and I think this sums it up. If you like painting maps, with minimal empire micromanagement, but obscene troop movement micromanagement this is your game. They really "streamlined" all the non-war aspects of EU4 into oblivion (pun intended). There is practically nothing to do if you aren't at war!
If you ever thought "I like the wars in EU4 but the other stuff is kinda annoying." this is for you.

Link to the stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/412780661

 

[Alienman]

Thanks for the write up. Gonna skip this game for sure now. Real shame too, could have been something good. Crusader King political intrigue but with a Roman setting, with also a bigger/better focus on war...