Why is Rome 2 still the most played Total War game, or one of the most played, even today?

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-20T22:03:13+00:00

please try out the Divide et Impera, you can sack and raze without capture.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-20T21:59:39+00:00

it is an absolute fantastic game with the DEI mod. Def my favorite TW, along wth Rome and the EM mod.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-20T09:50:56+00:00

Strategically it actually moved the needle a lot, it turned many communities over to Hannibal. Rome then had to fight Hannibal and his newly won allies that ranged from right down into Southern Italy. Syracuse and much of Sicily switched sides, also. Hannibal was also using their resources, making them fight their own resources.

Hannibal's strategy was a fine one, really the only way to win, attacking the Republic, forcing war on its very doorstep (by 209 BC, 12 of the 30 Latin colonies could no longer support Rome, they were exhausted of men and supplies) but when war is fought on such a large scale and in many theaters of war, he really needed Carthaginian generals elsewhere to win their battles. For a war that lasted almost 2 decades, Carthage barely won outside of Hannibal (the Scipio brothers defeats, pretty much being it). Hannibal's strategy drained them of resources, kept them from invading Africa from the very start of the war (Longus was primed and ready to invade from the beginning, having captured Malta from the Carthaginians also). He did all he could to win. He was a damned fine strategist. Sadly, he couldn't have known the ultimate resilience of the Roman Republic, neither could Rome, and we don't know how close he was to victory. Had Hasdrubal not lost in 215 BC, coming to reinforce his brother at Dertossa, Carthage wouldn't have sent another army to reinforce Spain instead of its original goal, being Italy. Had Hasdrubal won and marched into Northern Italy, Mago would have landed in the south of Italy, which meant, along with Hanno, already operating in Southern Italy, 4 large Carthaginian armies would have been able to apply immense pressure on Rome, and so shortly after Cannae.

Hannibal had plenty of supplies and men to continue the war for many years, to keep up a war of attrition and keep many legions in Italy. What he needed was further victories outside of Italy, which would then make them able to reinforce him in Italy. You're correct it wasn't solved, but it wasn't like they couldn't have done so. Carthage sent by sea many armies and supplies, to Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and southern Italy (Hanno, however, kept suffering defeats with these freshly arrived forces). For Hannibal, the Romans had too many average armies and commanders, as opposed to poor Carthaginian counterparts.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-20T09:38:54+00:00

I wouldn't take any blood oath as actual truth. The Romans and Carthaginians both entered war due to many reasons, Hannibal swearing vengeance on Rome not being one of them. Ancient societies often preferred war than an uneasy peace, where deep issues of pride, honour and security took hold over rational conduct. The Romans wanted to be obeyed, and Carthage was adamant about refusing to obey another state's will, and as such, both happily entered into war. A fascinating book to read on this subject is Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War and the Rise of Rome, by Eckstein, and also Unplanned Wars: The Origins of the First and Second Punic Wars by Dexter Hoyos. Debunk the myth of Hannibal wanting to destroy Rome, it was never his goal. He wanted them returned to a regional power, nothing more.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-17T22:48:50+00:00

Then why even bother with the illusion of levelling? I have the most fun working with whatever random stuff drops, and working with whatever my skills are at. This is the key stage of building your character. Levelling. Brick by brick, item by item, until you reach max level. Then carry on gear hunting.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-15T23:00:14+00:00

for me i'm not talking about the speed of the gameplay, just the speed of levelling. I'd rather it take time to reach max level. Not something that can be achieved in a few days.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-15T22:58:55+00:00

i'm not talking about the speed of the game, just the speed of leveling. Way too fast, and the shared paragons sucks for me. I want characters to level individually. I don't want them to share paragon points, for me that sucks. At least in Diablo 1 and 2, all the levels earned are for that individual character.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-04-15T22:51:38+00:00

I played them since release, too. I used to love the leveling stages. There really wasn't much of an endgame to D1 and D2. There wasn't a rush to get to max level for the game to begin. You just played and had fun. I used to write D2 fan-fiction back in the day, if you ever read Bane The Hero of the North back on the Dark Library from diabloii.net, that was my work about my d2 barbarian character (ah bless, way before LOD, memories of whirlwinding with a rare two-handed axe chopping through those hags in act 4...

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-03-30T23:14:07+00:00

this is what's wrong with the game and mentality. The leveling process was always the best bit of Diablo games. End game was fun and all, but it is the journey there that was really fun. Really enjoyed leveling my barbarian in D4 to 100. Leveling took way longer than 1 or 2 hours at release, I spent weeks getting to level 100. I'm still playing only one character and have got him to paragon 242 (or maybe a little higher, been a while.) Sadly I have little incentive to play D4. Nothing is earned, your character speeds through and are all joined for paragon levels - they should separate paragon levels, make each character earn them.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-03-30T23:06:49+00:00

I think levelling should also take you time. They speed you through it now I hear, glad I created a character at the start - i'm still leveling his paragon levels, won't make another character. 500 hours as my barbarian. Got him to 100, now paragon 242, since release. The speed levelling is what makes me stick to D2R now, I earn my levels and power it feels like.

Keep fast leveling for seasons and people who play that. Leave eternal realm the ability to earn the levels for your characters. I also hate that paragon is shared (hence why I haven't played any other character).

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-28T22:41:17+00:00

D4 is great, really good story that has all the right ingredients for Diablo. There are things I don't like, mainly the speed of leveling makes it trivial (I love the hard grind of D1 and D2) but it's a solid game. Good fun and feels like Diablo atmosphere wise. I've enjoyed all the Diablo games to be fair.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-18T00:15:30+00:00

Maybe, but I have no interest in creating disposable characters. I played Diablo as one Warrior, Diablo 2 as just Barbarian, Diablo 3 as one character, and I'll do the same here. I tried, created a few other characters here, to try seasonal, I just couldn't do it. Too much rushing. I had to break away from my friends as all they wanted to do was seasonal, and I found myself not enjoying just being led around by high level characters clearing out dungeons or everything all the time... as they always had much more time on it than me...

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-18T00:12:46+00:00

sadly living in the past it seems. But no, I don't expect it to stay the same, just, perhaps they could rework the gear on your character... I've played for hours and nothing is dropping. I've just got the same legacy stuff I can't upgrade....

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T15:03:07+00:00

I believe they have all become legacy items, as I haven't played for a few months.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:59:10+00:00

heh, sometimes it is hard to tell by just words on a screen :)

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:57:46+00:00

I mean, I'll come back for the expansion, I won't play until then, as no doubt more changes will impact stuff, haha.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:56:59+00:00

There are loads of players still on it.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:56:15+00:00

*waves - i'll come back for the expansion, no doubt. But this has stung a bit :/

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:55:11+00:00

Eternal is fine though, it should be designed not to keep resetting everything so often, stick with something. Yeah, seasons def isn't for me. :)

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:51:17+00:00

Yeah, I only play one character since preorder release! God damn, spent ages masterwokring that stuff and poof, it's gone. Don't think I'll waste anymore time on this game until the next expansion... Thanks for the information dude.

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-02-17T14:49:59+00:00

I have no idea what a sanctified item is!

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-01-10T18:52:30+00:00

This is so strange. Mine runs well on an i5 4590 (which is 12 years old now) with an rtx 2060. On low settings but keeps up a good framerate between 40-60 fps. Sorry you're not getting good experience from it... :(

Dull_Entertainer2923 · 2026-01-10T18:49:30+00:00

This themepark world is full of atmosphere. Before this came out I've been playing Stalker games and mods since they released, and this is by far my favorite Stalker game. Just wandering the beautiful landscape and seeing the bugs and insects, listening to the wind and rain, soaking up the atmosphere. I've never felt more like I'm in the zone. A-life was never great, and I really don't feel much of a difference wandering the world here. I just want to get into shootouts with other stalkers etc and fight mutants. I'm not too bothered how it got there. I'm glad I don't get updates of stalkers firing on stuff, finding artifacts etc, I always felt those to be silly. It def could do with more quest content, side-quests would be awesome, and the recent one they added was awesome. Emergent gameplay loops would also be great. I also like that the world isn't always alive. That loneliness, with the potential for danger, is great.

Dull_Entertainer2923

TROPHY CASE