the longest thread, thread - Occasionally NSFW

[AndyDufresne]

I recognize M&M's name. **Leaves behind a bowl of bananas**


--Andy

[apey]

I remember u m&m's

[2dimes]

Great, I lost my cherry to 2dimes.

I feel like these are oft spoken words. **Leaves behind a bowl of bananas**


--Andy

~squeals out in windowless van~

[Minister Masket]

I am stunned, stunned, that this is still going after the ungodly amount of years it's been. I'm torn between being shocked and genuinely impressed.

Also, hey, I'm back! Anyone remember me? Oh...no? Alright then...

Aren't you some kind of basket mask wearing religious figure who was part of that big scandal a few years ago?

Possibly. There have been a lot of scandals.

[2dimes]

I think I remember you but probably don't my memory is broken.

[AndyDufresne]

Great, I lost my cherry to 2dimes.

I feel like these are oft spoken words. **Leaves behind a bowl of bananas**


--Andy

~squeals out in windowless van~

This is how I imagine 2dimes leaving every place. **Munches on a banana**


--Andy

[AndyDufresne]

So, I had a rough weekend and needed a diversion, so I opted to pick up Europa Universalis 4 now instead of waiting til later. Lots to learn about the game, and it is mostly learn on your own since the tutorial is pretty minimal. But I'm working my way through a first playthrough...and its been pretty fun.

I decided to opt for an unusual and more difficult first playthrough---Manchu, in the Far East.

More Info

It's rough going, since the game has various nations grouped into 'Technology Groups,' to help make things play a little more historically. I.e. there is a 'Western Europe' technology group, and then an 'Eastern Europe' technology group which has their technology costs up about 20%, and so on rising higher for Ottoman, Muslim, Indian (Sub-Continent), Chinese, Nomad, Sub-Saharan Africa, and New World Native Americans. If you are not in the Western technology group, if you ever provinces next to someone who is, you can choose to 'Westernize' and switch your group---at a steep administrative cost and civil stability upheaval.

Since I am playing as Manchu, I am in the Chinese technology group, so my technology costs are about 60% higher than Western Europe. Which has a bit crippled my Administrative grow for now, but luckily I've had some intrepid emperors of Manchu and skilled advisors, who have been very proficient in military technology -- I'm a few levels above those around me, which allows my smaller nation to be a little more aggressive.

For quite a few early decades, starting in about 1444 or so, I was mostly stuck between a rock and a hard place---the Ming Dynasty in China to my southwest was the big player of the area, some strong Mongol hordes to my direct West, and Korea to my south. Japan was currently in disarray and was mostly smaller nations warring with one another, and not yet unified.

The Ming Dynasty kept flexing their muscles---they wanted a peaceful neighborhood, so kept sending threats to Korea and I that if we attacked one another, they would join the war and end it. The tactic worked tremendously well, it made me unable to expand for decades. However, there is more to diplomacy than threats to weaklings---those weaklings can decide to either align (more formal) or simply form a 'coalition' against a nation.

I formed a coalition against the Ming, and managed to get Tibet, the Mongols, Dat Viet, and Zhou (internal civil politics inside the Ming, from a breakaway province), to join a war against Ming. We essentially managed, over the next 100 years, to effectively carve up a giant Ming empire between us--most going to Zhou, but Mongo, Tibet, and I managed to pick up a few provinces as well. Right now, the Ming have only a few provinces, and I have Beijing surrounded, which I hope to claim as a prize soon.

During all of this, I also kept flexing my puny muscles on Korea. I kept working to make claims on their provinces, and eventually managed to get the drop on them when Ming was sufficiently weak enough not to help too much as an ally of Korea's. Grabbed a few provinces, but during peace negotiations, I made them fork over a bunch of money and told them to terminate their allied treaty with China. The 'sueing for peace' in this game is great---you can do so many more things than simply get a conquered region.

All the while of slowly marching down the Korean Peninsula, I kept sending Warnings to Japan to stay out of Korea, since they were getting more unified and were looking toward the weak Korea to expand. I had to fight two wars protecting a weak Korea...since I wanted Korea for myself. But since they needed to cross the sea, defending the coast was pretty easy and I was able to repel them without too much effort.

Current state of the game:

• It is about the mid 1500's. I own all of Manchuria, all of Korea, and a little past Beijing and west a little into Mongol territory in northern Russia/Mongolia.
• Japan is threatening and roughly my military strength in manpower, but I have more technologically equipped soldiers since I've managed to progress faster militarily.
• Zhou, which was the upstart replacing the Ming in southern China, is now tremendously strong and flexing their muscles, but for now I am allied with them.
• The Mongol Hordes to my west have been strong for 100 years, but they finally dropped their alliance with Zhou, which let me go in for an attack while they were busy focusing on a few peasant uprising and a war on their far western front in central asia/eastern europe.
• My expansion for now is mostly settled. I essentially need to work on developing my internal regions a little more I think, and simply defend against any incursions into my nation for the next while I think...
• I also didn't talk much about religion, but Confucian is the One True Religion, and I've been having to stamp out the incursion of Buddhist thought in some of my provinces. I also had to forcibly change the culture of Korea from Korean to Manchu, to keep things more relaxed there. Luckily the 'Han' Chinese are accepted by Manchu people, so I don't need to convert them.

**Munches on a banana**


--Andy

[strike wolf]

Chinese dragons don't look as fearsome as European dragons.

[AndyDufresne]

Hm, I like Manchu's flag. It's cooler than every other nation currently around me. **Munches on a banana**


--Andy

[strike wolf]

So I keep hearing good things about The Last of Us but apparently it's on PS3 only.

[DoomYoshi]

So I keep hearing good things about The Last of Us but apparently it's on PS3 only.

I'm with you. Unless they make a Windows 9x version of it, I ain't playing it.

[strike wolf]

So I keep hearing good things about The Last of Us but apparently it's on PS3 only.

I'm with you. Unless they make a Windows 9x version of it, I ain't playing it.

I still want to try it but I don't have a PS3.

[Quirk]

BPotW

[muy_thaiguy]

So I keep hearing good things about The Last of Us but apparently it's on PS3 only.

I'm with you. Unless they make a Windows 9x version of it, I ain't playing it.

I still want to try it but I don't have a PS3.

Watched a lets play of it and it does have a really good character driven plot. But it is only for PS3, as far as I know. Maybe it will work for the PS4 if they come out with that version (PS4 is not backwards compatible), but I wouldn't count on it being available for anything else anytime soon.

[AndyDufresne]

Poop Senders .com

Ever wanted to send anonymous cow, elephant, or gorilla poop to someone? This website is for you.

**Leaves behind a bowl of...bananas**


--Andy

[Gillipig]

Your browsing habits disturb me.

[2dimes]

The recent episode ofAnchient Aliens is about the nazis. Someone needs to alert me of such things.

[muy_thaiguy]

May have to do with Hitler's bodyguard kicking the bucket overnight.

[jonesthecurl]

People actually watch that?

[muy_thaiguy]

People actually watch that?

Apparently.

[2dimes]

I was hoping to see that guy.

[DoomYoshi]

I wasn't watching Tim Allen Ancients. I was watching Symphony of the Goddesses. They had playable demos of Wind Waker HD and more importantly - A Link Between Worlds.

Zelda games make the controls feel so effortless, I have never understood video games with clunky controls.

[strike wolf]

I wasn't watching Tim Allen Ancients. I was watching Symphony of the Goddesses. They had playable demos of Wind Waker HD and more importantly - A Link Between Worlds.

Zelda games make the controls feel so effortless, I have never understood video games with clunky controls.

You mean like full twist+B+B+half reverse twist+A+Push foward+X?

[jonesthecurl]

Isn't that the Time Warp?

[TA1LGUNN3R]

It's good if you like watching a movie where you occasionally have to push a button.