Crusader Kings II - 'Way of Life' Role-Playing DLC Announced

Paradox Development Studio has announced Way of Life, the next DLC for Crusader Kings II. Crusader Kings II is a medieval grand strategy game where you play different members of a dynasty over time. Although it shares much in common with fellow Paradox developed grand strategy series Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, and Victoria, its period and individual-level focus gives it a bit more of a role-playing feel than its siblings. With this DLC specifically focusing on role-playing elements, I thought it may be of interest for the Watch.

Details:

Today we’re announcing that we’re in the midst of developing something new for Crusader Kings II, a project that will allow you to get even deeper into the role-playing aspects of the game. Way of Life, the next DLC for CK2, will let you become a better (or worse!) ruler and grant you more power over personal relationships than ever before.

Sure, it’s nice to have someone cozy up to you and be your lover while you’re sitting atop the throne, but what if you could choose who to seduce? Or, after getting into that relationship on the side, what if you discover that you just need some space and had a way to break it off? You know, without having your soon-to-be ex-lover assassinated. These things and much more, including hundreds of new events, are coming to Way of Life.

More information.

Well that sounds neat. I was thinking about starting a new CK2 game, but I think I'll hold off until this gets released. CK2 is already incredible, but I'v always wished for more of these role-playing events - especially during those lulls when you aren't in the middle of an active political scheme or military conquest.

Thanks for posting this!

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Paradox Development Studio and Crusader Kings II. Most of their DLC has been about expanding the size of the game, but I'm more excited to see a focus on RP elements. I'm also interested in the Chronicle from the recent DLC.

Yeah, Paradox games are extremely unique and unlike anything else out there, that's for sure. I'm really glad they survived the early years when their games were a lot more rough around the edges. I truly feel that CK2 is a masterpiece, and I don't throw such a term around lightly.

The chronicle feature from Charlemagne sounds like a wonderful idea. I also look forward to being able to create my own kingdom (I think the requirements are something like being independent and holding three duchies).

I hope they make a CK3 at some point, but honestly, maybe continuously updating the wonderful foundation of CK2 will keep making it feel like enough of a new game to satisfy that need anyway.

One thing that helped them survive the early years is that Europa Universalis 2 was unambiguously fantastic, and HoI 1 and 2 had an audience. To my understanding, both sold fairly well. But those middle years had a lot of ho-hum releases: CK1, EU:Rome, EU3 (vanilla was mediocre, though it was pretty great by the time of the final expansions), Victoria 2, and I think HoI3 was pretty wonky at release as well. Really, only Victoria 1, IMO, was high level at release.

Then they released CK2 and revealed that they had leveled up as a studio. Then EU4. Even before these, EU3, Vicky 2, and HoI3 w/ expansions were pretty great. I hope they revisit EU:Rome with their current approach, as I think there are a lot of opportunities for CK2-esque role-playing. EU:Rome was somewhat of a hybrid of CK1 and EU3. Only rushed and never polished.

Actually no, this is not fair to expect people who already paid for one game to pay more and more for content when a game has already been out for practically 3 years. It's because of business strategies like this that it becomes tricky to ever buy games on release, because much like a Bic razor, the base game is inexpensive but its main use is to make you pay for blades over a very long period of time. A fairer way to treat Paradox's loyal consumers would be to make one or two meaty expansions and have them keep all their ideas for a sequel.

I love Paradox. I've been sold on them since HoI, but I despise this nonstop mini addition business model they've adopted. I'm simply not willing to buy their games unless it's a good sale because of of it.

Originally Posted by Humanity has risen!
Actually no, this is not fair to expect people who already paid for one game to pay more and more for content when a game has already been out for practically 3 years… A fairer way to treat Paradox's loyal consumers would be to make one or two meaty expansions and have them keep all their ideas for a sequel.

I disagree. I actually think that the way Paradox continues to add to the game gives players more value, and is a fair trade in my eyes. For example, If I pay $15 for the Charlemagne expansion and all its new features, I will likely play a long campaign upwards of 30-50 hours, if not much more depending on how wrapped up I get in my dynasty's story. Without these expansions offering various changes to the core gameplay, I probably would have stopped playing. Instead, I am offered a good reason to continue playing.

Besides, this isn't like the companies that release feature incomplete/buggy games for full market price. I played CK2 on release, and the base game without any of the expansions was already excellent and incredibly fleshed out from day one.

Right Humanity, how dare Paradox offer more content for additional money to extend the lifespan of their games. That's just not fair!

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
I disagree. I actually think that the way Paradox continues to add to the game gives players more value, and is a fair trade in my eyes. For example, If I pay $15 for the Charlemagne expansion and all its new features, I will likely play a long campaign upwards of 30-50 hours, if not much more depending on how wrapped up I get in my dynasty's story. Without these expansions offering various changes to the core gameplay, I probably would have stopped playing. Instead, I am offered a good reason to continue playing.

Besides, this isn't like the companies that release feature incomplete/buggy games for full market price. I played CK2 on release, and the base game without any of the expansions was already excellent and incredibly fleshed out from day one.

Well not everyone will have the same experience as you and not everyone is as dedicated a Paradox fan as you. I'm really not sure the average gamer who is interested in strategy games is very enchanted to see a 9th, yes a 9th gameplay expansion since release, and that is on top of countless more cosmetic pieces of DLC such as music and units, when only yesterday you could assume to pay $49 for a complete game crammed with value and that was it. We are dangerously getting close to the point where to get the full experience of a single player game you have to dedicate the kind of money you would if you played an MMO like World of Warcraft. It's not very fun to see your investment continuously become obsolete and I'm not convinced these constitute a healthy way of treating your fanbase. One has to wonder where the enhancements end, and where the nickel and diming begin.

For just a little more money than any of these content add-ons, Civilization V offered a full-fledged expansion two times and then the team moved on to another game. Civilization V has been one of the most profitable PC games of all time. At this point I doubt it is doing Paradox much good to begin with, with constant announcement you dilute the impact of any of these announcements and have more chances that the content you've been working on gets lost in the shuffle of countless new releases coming every week.

Originally Posted by Humanity has risen!
We are dangerously getting close to the point where to get the full experience of a single player game you have to dedicate the kind of money you would if you played an MMO like World of Warcraft.

While this is a valid concern in general, again, that doesn't apply to CK2. The "full experience" of vanilla CK2 has so much content and playability that it is more than a good value in the single-player, "release-day" context.

Also, I am not a "dedicated paradox fan" who mindlessly seeks out and purchases any and all CK2 content. It is paradox that is enticing me to jump back in with new features and content that I find compelling enough to look into. Thus, the "fair value" assessment. I was more than happy with the state of CK2 without any of the expansions; the expansions have simply given me new reasons to re-play the game thanks to very meaty add-ons that compliment the base game, not complete it.

Originally Posted by greywolf00
I love Paradox. I've been sold on them since HoI, but I despise this nonstop mini addition business model they've adopted. I'm simply not willing to buy their games unless it's a good sale because of of it.

I also disagree. I actually prefer the way Paradox changes (sometimes radically) the game every few months, it's what keeps me playing and playing and playing. It's not that the original (vanilla) game is lacking anything really, I bought it at release and spent over a hundred hours playing it (and loved it!). Every expansion adds new mechanics, changes old ones, etc. and I play again to try the new mechanics. Next expansion, same thing. I like it that way, I really really do.

Originally Posted by wolfing
I also disagree. I actually prefer the way Paradox changes (sometimes radically) the game every few months, it's what keeps me playing and playing and playing. It's not that the original (vanilla) game is lacking anything really, I bought it at release and spent over a hundred hours playing it. Every expansion adds new mechanics, changes old ones, etc. and I play again to try the new mechanics. Next expansion, same thing. I like it that way, I really really do.

Well, one of the main reasons why people buy new releases is to partake in current culture. If what you thought was current suddenly is outdated and you have to pay more very regularly in order to remain current that's going to frustrate a lot of people.

Originally Posted by wolfing
I also disagree. I actually prefer the way Paradox changes (sometimes radically) the game every few months, it's what keeps me playing and playing and playing. It's not that the original (vanilla) game is lacking anything really, I bought it at release and spent over a hundred hours playing it (and loved it!). Every expansion adds new mechanics, changes old ones, etc. and I play again to try the new mechanics. Next expansion, same thing. I like it that way, I really really do.

That's an interesting approach. From what I understand that's basically what happened with EU 3. I personally don't sink that many hours into a single game often enough for it to work for me though. I tend to beat something once and move on. I'd much rather get the fully polished experience once and move on to something else.

Originally Posted by Humanity has risen!
Well, one of the main reasons why people buy new releases is to partake in current culture. If what you thought was current suddenly is outdated and you have to pay more very regularly in order to remain current that's going to frustrate a lot of people.

Those people deserve frustration until they find another culture or change the one they're in. Buy what you're interested in and only what you're interested in.

HOWEVER, I have to agree that I like the Egosoft way of doing this better than Paradox's. With them you buy the game then they give free updates with small/medium content additions for maybe a year or two. Then they sell either a big expansion or a whole new version of the game with major content updates. Guild Wars 1 and many 4X games have used this model for a long time.

Paradox, however, is having us pay every step of the way and they don't seem to be doing a big expansion. I guess that lets us pick and choose, which is nice, but it sure makes for a bewildering array of DLC to pick from.

I don't mind this way of handling things… These types of games (CK, EU, HOI, …) are better served with incremental updates than with new iterations anyway, in my opinion. It makes sense of them to keep building on the existing game, and not moving on right away. Let's leave CK3 in the freezer for a while still.

Also, you people forget that each major DLC also includes a host of new features free for all, and nobody is forcing you to get the DLC. I am waiting on a sale myself to get Charlemagne (as I do with each DLC), but this one sounds like a dream come true, and exactly what CK needs: more RP options.

This might be a day 1 purchase…

C.K.2 has already reached 175 euros with all its DLCs… I bet Paradox is aiming at overtaking the 200 euros peak and maybe attaining the Guinness book record for a single game ?

Originally Posted by wiretripped
I don't mind this way of handling things… These types of games (CK, EU, HOI, …) are better served with incremental updates than with new iterations anyway, in my opinion…

That's correct for someone buying these series on day one but what about a person trying to catch the train en route now ? Would you be happy considering the fact you have to pay 200 euros in order to get a complete experience of the current gameplay ? I'd never accept to pay that much, even if knowing this would be the best game of the genre ; not to mention the installation and download process needed to have this monstrosity running !

Originally Posted by Gloo
That's correct for someone buying these series on day one but what about a person trying to catch the train en route now ? Would you be happy considering the fact you have to pay 200 euros in order to get a complete experience of the current gameplay ? I'd never accept to pay that much, even if knowing this would be the best game of the genre ; not to mention the installation and download process needed to have this monstrosity running !

I get what you mean, and yes, all those small bits and pieces really add up cost-wise. However, they also go on sale plenty of times, most of it even up to 75% off, which makes it a lot more affordable. Also, there is a LOT of content here. I mean, the amount of replayability is near endless, and each campaign will be different (even if starting with the very same character).

As for installation and download process, my entire CK2 installation directory is 1.4 GB (and I have everything except Charlemagne and Sunset Invasion). Fairly painless I would say, especially since Steam downloads and installs everything neatly for you.

CK2 is a failed game. It is going to be interesting to see if that expansion manages to correct the gameplay core.
The game is supposed to be about expanding your dynasty and players do not play it that way.
They largely prefer to play that game as a territorial expansion game instead of a dynastical expansion game, the increase in dynasty rank matching the territorial expansion.
Paradox, across all their patches, tried to coerce the player to delegate as much as possible with various penalizing tricks, but it has not worked so far. Players ate the penalties and keep building their huge blobs to dominate everything.
This way of playing smashes many other features that consumed much of the developpment resources.
In this game, everyone seeks the same: increasing their dynasty and they approach the issue depending on their personality, which makes the AI predictable.
It is not so much about controlling land by yourself, but about your dynasty controlling land, which includes the part of the dynasty that might be under direct control of the AI.

Wonder if this expansion will push the player to focus on local scale instead of aiming globalization of power.
Will the player be led to keep relatively small, working with the AI to expand the dynasty elsewhere or will the player keep the same ways?

Court play has always been weak in this game when it should matter.
At start, I tried to mimick historical strategies: parallelizing the rise of the chosen dynasty with minor dynasties that would take charge of the martial, economic, religious sides. it is so tedious it is hardly sustainable.
Let's see if that expansion fills the gap and provide court play.

Originally Posted by Gloo
That's correct for someone buying these series on day one but what about a person trying to catch the train en route now ? Would you be happy considering the fact you have to pay 200 euros in order to get a complete experience of the current gameplay ? I'd never accept to pay that much, even if knowing this would be the best game of the genre ; not to mention the installation and download process needed to have this monstrosity running !

Downloading: within these days, as you must put up with over 40Go downloads, you certainly can put up with CK2 download size.

Even if they wished to, they could not act otherwise. The game is opposed by so many knee jerk reactions they could not take the risk of releasing a complete version from day one. They would have to rework too many features because players would not like too many features.
CK2 has been going through intense lobbying. It wont be easy to dismiss that factor.