A request from Brennus

**Agema Ippeon** · January 24, 2015, 08:35 PM

Do you feel that increased historical accuracy detracts from or increases the excitement/enjoyment of such games?
Strongly Increases (5).

As a result of playing Europa Barbarorum have you developed a greater interest in history, archaeology or the past in general?
Indeed. My dream to became a History Professor was initiated form my great enjoyment learning form EB.

Would you prefer to see more historical accuracy in other games, or other forms of visual media such as films or television programmes?
Yes (1) Absolutely!

playing Europa Barbarorum improved or altered your understanding of the period 272BC – AD14.
Defensively improved, or rather sparked my interest in the period.

As a game, what is the greatest strength of Europa Barbarorum and what is perhaps its greatest weakness?
Greatest strength - The research, professionalism and creativity that were put into the mod by the team.
Greatest weakness - the limitations of the engine and the high degree of time and effort that required to create an excellent work such as EB.

Does the fact that Europa Barbarorum is open to volunteers and fan contributions make its work more appealing or not.
It makes it strongly appealing (5).

**tat00r** · January 25, 2015, 03:10 PM

Do you feel that increased historical accuracy detracts from or increases the excitement/enjoyment of such games?
Strongly Increases (5) - Helps to immerse yourself in the game and give your actions weight.
As a result of playing Europa Barbarorum have you developed a greater interest in history, archaeology or the past in general?
Yes; already had a great interest in the aforementioned fields and have intent to study them further, but EB has helped to augment that and provided an additional medium of study. (a lens through which to view the period, if you will)
Would you prefer to see more historical accuracy in other games, or other forms of visual media such as films or television programmes?
Yes (1) - The mainstream portrayal of certain cultures is frustrating to say the least, not to mention Eurocentric; a prime example being the depiction of the Achaemenid Empire alongside the classical Greek poleis. It would certainly help in bringing together disparate cultures and celebrating our joint successes, whilst condemning our past failures.
Has playing Europa Barbarorum improved or altered your understanding of the period 272BC – AD14?
Yes; typically any research I have conducted, be it personal or for examination purposes, has covered periods either far preceding or proceeding the aforementioned time. It has been particularly good in shedding light on the 'barbarian' cultures of Europe; be they Germanic, Celtic, indigenous, or otherwise. Also grew to love Armenian history as a result of this, as well as looking further into pre-Islamic Arabia.
As a game, what is the greatest strength of Europa Barbarorum and what is perhaps its greatest weakness?
Not sure if you mean as a medium of conveying history, or as a video game itself; as a game is interactive and this provides an excellent stimulus to explore and discover things in a creative manner. A drawback is obviously adapting the history to fit around game mechanics. | If you mean by the standards of a game; the strength would undoubtedly be its commitment to following history, whilst a drawback would be again having to adapt this around sometimes inflexible game mechanics. Also, the inevitable focus on warfare - as a game based around such - can detract from other elements.
Does the fact that Europa Barbarorum is open to volunteers and fan contributions make its work more appealing or not?
It makes it strongly appealing (5) - Of course, yes; I think the idea of involving the community is a great idea and that inevitably you will be drawing on a great body of preceding academic work. Ultimately, it is a project built with the work of others, the community, and foremost the team of course; but all are components.

Happy to be named, Thomas.

Best of luck with the paper, I hope your presentation goes well and that the conference is productive - enjoy!

**tat00r** · January 25, 2015, 03:17 PM

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Originally Posted by tat00r

Do you feel that increased historical accuracy detracts from or increases the excitement/enjoyment of such games?
Strongly Increases (5) - Helps to immerse yourself in the game and give your actions weight.
As a result of playing Europa Barbarorum have you developed a greater interest in history, archaeology or the past in general?
Yes; already had a great interest in the aforementioned fields and have intent to study them further, but EB has helped to augment that and provided an additional medium of study. (a lens through which to view the period, if you will)
Would you prefer to see more historical accuracy in other games, or other forms of visual media such as films or television programmes?
Yes (1) - The mainstream portrayal of certain cultures is frustrating to say the least, not to mention Eurocentric; a prime example being the depiction of the Achaemenid Empire alongside the classical Greek poleis. It would certainly help in bringing together disparate cultures and celebrating our joint successes, whilst condemning our past failures.
Has playing Europa Barbarorum improved or altered your understanding of the period 272BC – AD14?
Yes; typically any research I have conducted, be it personal or for examination purposes, has covered periods either far preceding or proceeding the aforementioned time. It has been particularly good in shedding light on the 'barbarian' cultures of Europe; be they Germanic, Celtic, indigenous, or otherwise. Also grew to love Armenian history as a result of this, as well as looking further into pre-Islamic Arabia.
As a game, what is the greatest strength of Europa Barbarorum and what is perhaps its greatest weakness?
Not sure if you mean as a medium of conveying history, or as a video game itself; as a game is interactive and this provides an excellent stimulus to explore and discover things in a creative manner. A drawback is obviously adapting the history to fit around game mechanics. | If you mean by the standards of a game; the strength would undoubtedly be its commitment to following history, whilst a drawback would be again having to adapt this around sometimes inflexible game mechanics. Also, the inevitable focus on warfare - as a game based around such - can detract from other elements.
Does the fact that Europa Barbarorum is open to volunteers and fan contributions make its work more appealing or not?
It makes it strongly appealing (5) - Of course, yes; I think the idea of involving the community is a great idea and that inevitably you will be drawing on a great body of preceding academic work. Ultimately, it is a project built with the work of others, the community, and foremost the team of course; but all are components.

Happy to be named, Thomas.

Best of luck with the paper, I hope your presentation goes well and that the conference is productive - enjoy!

Sorry, not allowed to edit yet; just wanted to add that if there is any way to help with this presentation, be it through donations or research or the like, would be happy to help.

**demagogos nicator** · January 26, 2015, 12:22 PM

I just found out that my elaboratly worked post which I posted here about two weeks ago does not apeared for some reasons (probably problems with connection on my side) I quickly answer the question again.

Do you feel that increased historical accuracy detracts from or increases the excitement/enjoyment of such games?
Strongly Increases (5).

As a result of playing Europa Barbarorum have you developed a greater interest in history, archaeology or the past in general?
Yes, although I have great intest in the past even before I knew about the existence of EB

Would you prefer to see more historical accuracy in other games, or other forms of visual media such as films or television programmes?
Yes (1) Absolutely!

playing Europa Barbarorum improved or altered your understanding of the period 272BC – AD14.
Yes, It altered my understanding a lot, for example I have barely any idea about the existence of some Eb factions like Saka Rauka or helenistic kingdom of Baktria before.

As a game, what is the greatest strength of Europa Barbarorum and what is perhaps its greatest weakness?

Greatest strength - The research, professionalism and creativity that were put into the mod by the team.
Greatest weakness - the limitations of the engine and the high degree of time and effort that required to create an excellent work such as EB

I feel shameful to copy from Agema Ippeons post but I currently could not think of anything more maybe except theat I precieve as the great strenght the determination of the team to represent the period as trustworthy and accurate to the current level of the understanding of the given period as possible.

Does the fact that Europa Barbarorum is open to volunteers and fan contributions make its work more appealing or not?
No real effect (3) for me as a consumer except the repsect and prestige which the creators gain in my eyes for duing it voluntarily

**moai17** · January 28, 2015, 04:42 AM

Do you feel that increased historical accuracy detracts from or increases the excitement/enjoyment of such games?
Strongly Increases (5).
As a result of playing Europa Barbarorum have you developed a greater interest in history, archaeology or the past in general?
Would you prefer to see more historical accuracy in other games, or other forms of visual media such as films or television programmes?
Yes (1).
Has playing Europa Barbarorum improved or altered your understanding of the period 272BC – AD14.
It's improved it quite a lot, to be honest. Most of all, the "geopolitical" and cultural situation at the start of the game.
As a game, what is the greatest strength of Europa Barbarorum and what is perhaps its greatest weakness?
It's truthfulness versus the same weaknesses that RTW and M2TW came with. Just imagine if R2TW was just as moddable...
Does the fact that Europa Barbarorum is open to volunteers and fan contributions make its work more appealing or not.
It makes it strongly appealing (5).

**beefidus_tw** · January 29, 2015, 05:00 PM

Hi,
thank you for your work with EB. Im glad if i can help by answering your questions. I find the question of how history can or needs to be presented to a wider audience intriguing, so it's very interesting that games have their part in the conference.
1. In general, strongly increases (5)
2. Yes. Interestingly enough, EB has sparked much more inspiration in that regard than the many ever the same mainstream documentaries which always reduce their history to dramatical or simplified stories. I had lost interest in Archaeology, ancient history etc because of the channeled way of how those periods are still being portrayed (as a Brit, consider yourself lucky to have BBC documentaries). EB showed me a glimpse of much more-
3. Yes. (1), to a certain point. Not every game has to be accurate historically. But the ones who give the claim, should be even more precise. As for tv and film, absolutely!!
4 Yes. EB has especially created a less roman centered experience and portrayal of the time. This depth is extremely rewarding in game, but also outside - it is a learning experience.
5. Greatest strength: I think of EB as a "grown up" game which is not afraid to display complexities or diversity instead of simplicity when it comes to the portrayal of the period. Its a great achievement also in a game design perspective (for example through the different cultural settlement/gov. options or the AOR system).
Weakness: Because of the limitations, battle mechanics are still heavily oriented towards roman or more modern periods (Such as with anachronistic formations for "Barbarian" factions), which does convey a roman-centered portrayal of the era.
6. (5) yes. EB is like a game and a living history discussion at the same time

Best of luck with the contribution and your professional projects!

**walrus2517** · February 03, 2015, 07:52 PM

Sorry for the late reply but I just came across this...

Do you feel that increased historical accuracy detracts from or increases the excitement/enjoyment of such games?

5 - strongly increases

As a result of playing Europa Barbarorum have you developed a greater interest in history, archaeology or the past in general?

1 - Yes

Has playing Europa Barbarorum improved or altered your understanding of the period 272BC – AD14.

1 - Yes

As a game, what is the greatest strength of Europa Barbarorum and what is perhaps its greatest weakness?

The greatest strength is the historical accuracy, particularly the unit and region descriptions. Half the time I start to play EB I only get through a few turns because I spend so much time reading descriptions then getting so interested I start looking for more information on the web. As such, I might consider this EB's greatest weakness. There is so much information to stop and read there isn't as much time to play the game.

Does the fact that Europa Barbarorum is open to volunteers and fan contributions make its work more appealing or not.

Yes, very much so.

Thank you and the whole team for all the work you do. I don't know how to put into words how much myself and so many others appreciate what you have made here.

**Mouzafphaerre** · February 26, 2015, 07:29 PM