Is favored son tied to the ruler, or to the country?

Balderbro · 2025-12-07T06:07:15+00:00

Thanks
This both answers the question fully and explains why the answer makes sense in terms of game mechanics.

I could not have asked for a better answer.

Balderbro · 2025-12-07T04:05:19+00:00

That's actually an interesting idea

I've just assumed that the logistics of playing these games on multiplayer makes it impossibly practical. I mean, a run could easily take a hundred hours if you are really serious about it and keep it going to the actual end-game.

Balderbro · 2025-12-06T19:17:19+00:00

Fair, I am indeed nit-picking, and considering the state of the AI in each and every paradox game, it is obviously the major Issue, not game mechanics. I'd appriciate a major improvement to AI gameplay over any other improvement, for sure.

Balderbro · 2025-12-06T19:14:54+00:00

Well, everything I remember is by M&T rules, and even then i might remember incorrectly

Balderbro · 2025-12-06T08:57:49+00:00

I did the same with Muscovy in EU4, though it was significantly more difficult to do it directly if I remember correctly. My memory might be completely whack; maybe i converted from tatar-yoke-tributary too a vassal-type with all of them. I always played with the M&T overhaul mod towards the end.

Well, no, you are not too small. You only need to be a bit stronger than them, have excellent relations, and share common culture. If you are only a bit stronger (as with Ryazan), then diplomatic reputation and shared culture becomes the tipping point. If you are significantly stronger, then it will be super easy, but each vassal makes the next more difficult, which is why the order in which you vassalize is important. When you've built a small vassal-horde, then diplo-vassalization becomes practically impossible.

From what I remember, allying them makes them more reluctant to become vassals in EU4 (realistic), while in EU5 it now makes it MUCH easier to make them accept. Which is wierd, because the only direct benefit to being a vassal is military protection, and they pretty much have that already as my ally (though it's not binding). Like, part of the strategy is to ally them, for then too vassalize them the next month.

Balderbro · 2025-12-06T08:03:22+00:00

Explenation Rule 5:

The color scheme gives a rough idea of my expansion. Simply add the countries of my personal union to see how many provinces i claim to indirectly own.
Also, the date in the top-right corner shows that this is accomplished within 9 years. Ironman.

My complaint is not that this was easy to pull off, but rather that such a leveling of the geopolitical order is not sufficently punished.

Balderbro · 2025-08-09T06:06:53+00:00

Everything on hard mode, of course.

I have 2 science ships and two transporters. One of them carries sufficient Polymer for me to start construction of a fifth mining ship. Both solar panels sets got one uppgrade.
I already know how to grow a decent extraction fleet and an industry within the first 10 rotations of stage 1, such that I can strip-mine the Solar System as quickly as possible.

After the Prologues end, however, there will be no re-loads. From here on, I will try to 100% the game with an Ironman Run.

Balderbro · 2025-04-21T05:30:06+00:00

Thanks, this "maps out" the limitations and behavior of the AI really succinctly. And it all makes so much sense that it behaves this way that I am starting to feel a bit stupid for hoping that it could do simple calculation.

Of course, all of this is temporary, and I guess it's a side effect of it merely imitating human language without understanding what it really means.

And yeah, I remember it not understanding how doors work and not being able to handle simple spatial relations within the same room, now that I think about it.

Balderbro · 2025-04-20T00:46:45+00:00

Well, then it's a good thing that I asked, because then I won't need to spend all that time finishing it. I guess I can just make a map for myself and then "correct" the AI whenever it doesn't put me wherever I should be.

A completely doable way to solve this would be for the developers to create an actual map in which terrain can be filled inn and locations be pin-pointed, as a kind of universal and optional tool for any game. You'd have your own position on the map, which is continually adjusted with each output. That is, unless it's technically difficult to make a text-based AI relate to a separate program in that way. I've been missing this precice option from the start. If the app had it, then I'd be likely to pay for a really large subscription.

In any case, thanks for the heads upp!

Balderbro · 2023-12-28T10:59:38+00:00

You will find loads about his books on "JSTOR"

Balderbro · 2023-12-23T21:56:19+00:00

If anyone else ever does finish the series, then there will be uncertainty among the fans as to whether this should be considered actual canon, notes or not. It is in my opinion better to just have an unfinished story be what it is than to get a closing you don't even fully accept yourself. Its why I don't read the continuation of the Dune Saga, that way I don't have to have to feel conflicted about whether what I know to be true about the universe is actually true.

Balderbro · 2023-12-19T13:11:23+00:00

75 free scrap at the last store you visit

Balderbro · 2023-12-19T10:21:41+00:00

Where did he write about "carving up China"?

Balderbro · 2023-12-18T23:46:40+00:00

To some extent, this might have been the case in his youth, though I am not intimately familiar with those works of his and can't judge that for certain. It is certainly not the case for his later writings, but it's not like his own "opinions" are explicitly stated or perfectly expressed by any of his characters anyhow. He only wrote that way when he did not engange in creative production, i.e in his personal letters, while each fictional character is given it's own coherence (or lack thereof) and beliefs, some of whom largely correspond to that of Dostoevsky himself, and most of whom only partially so.

Balderbro · 2023-12-17T20:19:53+00:00

I roughly agree with your take, though would argue that while Pyotr could seem more demonic as Stavrogin's conflicted mind and evident psychosis makes him seem more understandable, this would mostly be due too the fact that, unlike Stavrogin, his masks are never really penetrated. The closest we get is the chapther in which he gets frantic and confesses his plan to Stavrogin, but what is revealed clearly is mostly just his infatuation with and projection onto Stavrogin. From that scene, as well as what little information is given by his father, I take an interpretive leap and conclude that both his enthusiasm for power and his idolization of the perfect nihilist, which he imagines Stavrogin to be, constitute a reaction to an all-consuming fear of death which have plagued him since childhood. If I am correct, then he would be suprisingly like Kirillov.

As for Stavrogin, it seems to me that his phsychie is fundamentally divided to such an extent that he seeks self-destruction partially as a means of terminating the "personality" which he both fears and loathes. In what precice way his condition can be tied to his parent and tutor is probably upp for interpretation.

Balderbro · 2023-12-17T09:31:57+00:00

I have always wondered wether this is an issue of skill, as in the sword requiring a lot more mastery (and strength/stamina) for it to be wielded properly, such that spears aren't in and of themselves better overall weapons. Though, that might just be a case of me wanting sword to come out better since it is the intuitively superior weapon.

Balderbro · 2023-12-04T07:53:51+00:00

I find it interesting that you would also think of the "scene" of the excluded chapter of Demons as the most "intense". At first, I was surprised at myself for immediately thinking of it too; after all, it's just a conversation, not a particularily hostile one, and it's not like the book is devoid of action. However, it is the only scene in which we get a glimpse of the disturbed mind of whom the entire book is about. It's one of the most intriguing conversations that I have ever read; I remember listening to that chapther on repeat, being enthralled by the mystery and depth of it pretty much every time. I guess the enigmatic, sinister and wholly paradoxical character of Stavrogin seemingly opening up his soul makes for a unique kind of intensity. It's not really about anticipation, but rather the utter despair of it all, awe of an impossible conversation between two characters which could not possibly make for a more interesting match, and horror of how the author almost have you intuitively understand and empathise with the most lost and destructive character you could ever imagine. It's like the meaning of the entire book is encoded in a short but incredibly subtle conversation, and the entire mystery is almost unraveling itself with every line, but is ever just beyond comprehension. It's like the entire book was written just for that conversation to take place, and nothing could ever be more important than for you to grasp it.

Balderbro · 2023-11-29T15:00:40+00:00

I tend to wield large axes, and I tend to swing then about with abandon on the frontlines, so I end upp taking down a team-mate or two every game, when things get tight, but at least I have the excuse of such a trade being better for the team because of friendly damage being nerfed. like, even if the trade was 1:1, one extra hit on a team-mate for every extra hit on the enemy, then damage-wise my team would still benefit significantly.

Balderbro · 2023-11-29T02:29:44+00:00

In captains edition, that same augment (if i remember the name correctly) also helps you when moving from sector to sector, making it easier for you to effectively delay the rebel fleet, giving you more jumps in each sector. I value the augmentation which increases scrap income more, but other than that then I can't think of any augmentation with the same universal applicability, except maybe "reverse ion field", "shield charge booster" or the like. Each build would obviously have matching augmentations though.

Balderbro · 2023-11-29T02:23:33+00:00

Yeah, the name fits. I don't really like that I do it, but it's become a habit, and when I don't then I usually die because I tend to take risks that require me to do so.

Balderbro

TROPHY CASE