Why politics and power is terrible

[eXistenZ]

Well you didnt mention you were using mods, which offcours changes a few things. I used a mod that also improved the AI, untill this update made it obsolete....


But then we are back to the original point of needing mods to fix a very poor update. An update that added little in itself and didnt fix any issues the game had/has

[Basil II the B.S]

Tbh, Attila doesn't have a great power and politics system either.

Once you learn that you should get ''balanced power'' and know how to get there, you'll basically ignore that window for the rest of the game, save for provincial appointments.

But it's still better than the current power and politics of Rome 2, which unfortunately doesn't add much to the game.

[Alwyn]

Well you didnt mention you were using mods, which offcours changes a few things. I used a mod that also improved the AI, untill this update made it obsolete....


But then we are back to the original point of needing mods to fix a very poor update. An update that added little in itself and didnt fix any issues the game had/has

Yes, I played Rome II with a few mods before the update and I'm still doing so. I'm sorry to hear that your AI mod no longer works. In case you want to try it - A More Aggressive AI by Turquoise Falcon (the one I use) still seems to work (either it is working or the AI is more aggressive than it was before.) I don't see the mods as 'fixing a very poor update' - I use them to fix issues with the base game, not the update.

You wrote that the update "didn't fix any issues the game had/has". It did for me:-

1. The user interface was uncomfortably small on my screen and could not be scaled. The Power and Politics patch fixed this.

2. Planning character development was a bit harder when we couldn't see the skill tree. The patch fixed this.

3. The poisoning skill for agents was overpowered. The first time a high-level agent poisoned one of my armies, I felt as if it had suffered an air strike. The patch improved this.

4. Grain settlements were overpowered; after capturing a few of them, I no longer needed to consider food when upgrading buildings. This was fixed.

5. Previously, I didn't see a civil war; people who did see them tended to say that the rival side owned a rather random set of regions scattered across the empire. With the new system, I saw a rival family break away with a province. For me, the new system looked more like historical civil wars (such as the ones in Imperator Augustus and Empire Divided as well as the Succession Wars of Alexander's empire). In my campaigns, the new politics system does add to the game: events on the campaign map have an effect on politics and politics can have an effect on my decision-making.

Obviously, I know that others have different preferences - some players might have preferred the poisoning effects and the effects of grain settlements as they were before, for example.

[eXistenZ]

Yes, I played Rome II with a few mods before the update and I'm still doing so. I'm sorry to hear that your AI mod no longer works. In case you want to try it - A More Aggressive AI by Turquoise Falcon (the one I use) still seems to work (either it is working or the AI is more aggressive than it was before.) I don't see the mods as 'fixing a very poor update' - I use them to fix issues with the base game, not the update.

You wrote that the update "didn't fix any issues the game had/has". It did for me:-

1. The user interface was uncomfortably small on my screen and could not be scaled. The Power and Politics patch fixed this.

2. Planning character development was a bit harder when we couldn't see the skill tree. The patch fixed this.

3. The poisoning skill for agents was overpowered. The first time a high-level agent poisoned one of my armies, I felt as if it had suffered an air strike. The patch improved this.

4. Grain settlements were overpowered; after capturing a few of them, I no longer needed to consider food when upgrading buildings. This was fixed.

5. Previously, I didn't see a civil war; people who did see them tended to say that the rival side owned a rather random set of regions scattered across the empire. With the new system, I saw a rival family break away with a province. For me, the new system looked more like historical civil wars (such as the ones in Imperator Augustus and Empire Divided as well as the Succession Wars of Alexander's empire). In my campaigns, the new politics system does add to the game: events on the campaign map have an effect on politics and politics can have an effect on my decision-making.

Obviously, I know that others have different preferences - some players might have preferred the poisoning effects and the effects of grain settlements as they were before, for example.

1) not a gameplay issue, so can't comment on that

2) The TTT mod was and is still superior

3) They still deplete movement, which is honestly their worse trait. Also here a mod does a better job

4) It's still very hard not to end up with positive food, even more now you can buy food with feasts. Which makes it even more painfull that the AI is still starving most of the time

5) its still fairly easy to control the civil war risk (even more now you can throw money and statesman missions against it). It is an improvement yes, but it concerns a gameplay part that you tend to avoid anyway. Rather than having a accurate civil war, you want no civil war in the first place. I find the political events shallow and repetitive with limited impact. A family tree would have made it much more relevant or at least immersive. I really hope for a mod that adds political events, but I think the sun will explode before that.


So yes, there are some minor improvements in this update, and maybe "terrible" wasn't the best choice of words. it ust best described my feeling of utter dissapointment at this. It could have been so much better. There are so many things they didn't do, and things they should have done. And the worst part is we know CA can do better

[Athis]

I have read some of this thread - not all; and just want to add my view

It is not reasonable to expect or demand that a developer tailor their ongoing development of their game to any particular mod
or to any particular player's personal mod loadout
Most players who use mods understand the uncertainties and liabilities involved in using mods
They understand modders come and go and we cannot hold them responsible beyond what they are willing to do
And they understand the developer cannot be held responsible for a modded game

Like it or not that is just the way it is

I for one am delighted CA are still committed to developing Rome 2