Will the Senate of Rome (and other faction-equivalent governments) be present?

I wasn't always a fan of the Senate in RTW vanilla because their missions were often quite asinine, but I liked the fact that the Romans had an incentive not to simply be governed in the manner that a medieval kingdom was. Will you guys be using the "Council" from MTW to simulate Senatorial politics in any manner? I think that having a non player-controlled element that provides incentives to behave in a certain manner towards certain factions will more properly simulate the fact that in early Republican Rome, there was not one faction leader who called the shots like a king.

I recall mentioning of some sort of script to simulate the republic's unique style of governance and politic being mentioned in the Romani preview.
Whether it will be integrated completely and function properly on first launch is another question-- one to which I doubt the devs even know a certain answer at this point!

As you've pointed out the 'council' system in M2TW is present and is used in every mod of the game(at least that I've tried)-- it seems obtuse to remove it from the Roman compaign of EBII, unless it was replaced by a more authentic, fun method.

Regardless, it seems to be within reason that there will be some degree of representation of the senate when playing as Rome. The question really is, will this eventually go beyond the simple 'council says do this' script?

Only time will tell...

Senate might be able to be represtented by the Council of Nobles.

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Originally Posted by Oddnerd

Will you guys be using the "Council" from MTW to simulate Senatorial politics in any manner?

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This is something we'd like to do, but the implementation is not a high priority right now. There are also concerns about how realistic the missions can be.

Also, aren't you, the player, meant to be the senate; giving your missions and directives out to the generals and governors of your 'family tree'?

Well, you can RP it (I do), but you tend not to argue with yourself and give proclamations designed to stifle your own ambitions. If you do, try not to do so in public.

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Originally Posted by Maeran

Well, you can RP it (I do), but you tend not to argue with yourself and give proclamations designed to stifle your own ambitions. If you do, try not to do so in public.

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I always thought that we played the ruling body of any nation. All the internal strife goes on in the background. What we issue as orders would be the final directives.
But hey, to each their own.

That's exactly how I think of it, too; our orders are the end result of a whole governmental procedure. That's how I explain poor starting economies to myself: it's not that Koinon Hellenon is actually out of mnai or that building a single road fixes it, it's slow improvements to the agility and efficiency of government. I look at building a market not as constructing an agora where there was none before, but as more efficient utilization and taxation of what must surely already exist in any settlement worth including on the map. Council orders still work for me because I consider them a sort of minority opposition in the government; where their goals more-or-less align with mine, there is no reason to refuse them, but in the end their requests are just that, and can be safely ignored.

I think it is rather hard to be stabbed in the back politically by oneself. I try to convince myself that everything would be senate-approved because it is for the greater good of the country (Something that is always the number one priority in a politician's mind......:wiseguy:)

Personally I find It somewhat sensible in the Vanilla versions of RTW and M2TW as In RTW you actually are some strange semi independant daughter state that gets commands from the senate which cannot do much more than sitting around with it's huge army anyway.
In M2TW you are the Government(thus king and his counsellors) and have a bunch of pesky nobles who from time to time have some wishes you may or maynot follow.
In EB however you ARE the senate, goverment ... and thus getting senate missions would be ... strange missions from others that are not directly affecting decision-making would however be plausible.

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Originally Posted by Grygus

I consider them a sort of minority opposition in the government; where their goals more-or-less align with mine, there is no reason to refuse them, but in the end their requests are just that, and can be safely ignored.

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i think this is a VERY good view on how the council missions could be implemented! it even explains any gain of completing missions, as the part of the nobility that would usually opose the current government would support it for once

I always fill Rome up with diplomats. Mainly Diplomats from Rome, but any other diplomats with diplomatic genius or similar trait. I then look at which way the portrait faces lean. If the portrait faces right, then I make them an Optimas (conservative), if it tilts left, I count them as a Popularis (liberal). Portraits facing forward are hard line Cato like Senators. I add the Diplomats only after they are the proper age, influence, and factor that in.

Obviously, this is a very rudimentary system, but it does add to RP element. I additionally have made left facing portraits dovish, and right facing portraits hawkish (though I am aware the Optimas/popularis split was not along those lines) when deciding how to deal with foreign nations. So if the majority are right facing, then I act belligerent, and so on. I routinely ignore the Senate, but so did historical generals. When deciding which general will get which post, I will allow members of that gens (and relatives) to vote in favor of relatives, etc. It does make it seem more like an oligarchy than the regular play. When

As far as the council of nobles, it would seem like it has potential, but I did find their mettling incredibly annoying, and missions to blockade ports always infuriated me, but I am sure the modders here can do something, they never seem to impress

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Originally Posted by VARVS

, they never seem to impress

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Perhaps you meant they never FAIL to impress? That's certainly the feeling I get from your post =)