KOTRfix version 1.24 has just been released. Get it from here:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/KOTRfix124.rar
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KOTRfix version 1.24 has just been released. Get it from here:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/KOTRfix124.rar
I think I need to get gerhard steffen off Corsica, in the 4 turns he's been there the witch has really done a number on him. Auto Clac the battle is really easy to win (cause of the siege auto calc bug), but much harder if I fight it, there's still 4 turns to starve it out and I don't even want to think about what kind of traits he'll pick up in those 4 turns. Any suggestions?
Either way I'm thinking of a witch stomp asap.
econ, I'd suggest moving those merchants to the spice resources around Aleppo, you'd get ~400 florins a turn.
@Stuperman: That's nasty, and an unforseen development of the move on Corsica, I apologize.
Stuperman, you can move some of your units away from the siege to hunt the witch and recombine with your main force afterwards if its possible.
Alternatively, after consultation with econ, the new fix version will allow you to alleviate the effects of curses eventually by staying in cities with high end religious buildings for a while.
after a little thought, I have decided to embrace the changes, maybe get a story out of it, but after corsica, I think Conrad Sailer should use the BHA to take Sardinia. so Gerhard can hang in Rome (or where ever has good religious buildings) and recover a bit.
I'm still trying to decide if I should attack or starve.
Attack. Starving is boring :p
Hi guy's,
I'd always suggest embracing negative issues. Being "Power" Roleplayers is no fun and something I came across in my earlier years when roleplaying involved your imagination rather than life like graphics.
I'm sure there are a few great stories to get out of it Stuperman, and sending him to Rome IC would help him and create further stories.
I certainly am not a fan of everyone being some type of super hero and we all try to avoid negative events and issues occuring.
Econ,
Yeah I've got sources in the region :) You can't keep the Reich MI6 out of the area for long. Any imperial merchant on the map has my hand up his trousers :) That's the way I like to think of it anyway.
Still there are other resources available for cross checking intelligence.
You've gone nuts big fella and its a great read.
Oh believe me, it will take a looong time for a witch curse to wear off even if you govern a church town. And even then a minor effect or two might stick around.
Its a roleplay decision too, as the curse trait types tend to reduce piety in a way of "oh I have been cursed, god has forsaken me, I'm beyond hope" etc. To then go and visit church, pray for healing etc is quite a decision to make as in "should I bother? He hasn't protected me then, why should he save me now?".
The reason why there is a healing option is because (to my knowledge) witches do not have actual magic powers but are more about smartly using herbal mixtures to cause pain or harm and play with people's psyche to make them believe they are cursed. As such, some peaceful place and meditation away from any sources of harm can remedy those effects (and it wouldn't be a "divine intervention", although people back then certainly thought so)
Yeah, but Gerhard had 0 piety to begin with (Oh dear lord, I don't believe in you and think your followers are wasting thier time, but please save me....:inquisitive: ), he wouild have been more anti-crusade, but his really high loyalty makes that hard to play. I've an idea or 2, but I'm just going to let them stew for a few hours, see what i come up with.Quote:
Originally Posted by FactionHeir
Well, the new triggers are not only aimed at your case alone but your case was more an inspiration so to say ;)
What I found kind of funny when reading chivalry level descriptions was, when at chiv 4 or 5, the description would be something along the lines of "defender of the faith". If you have piety 0, what faith is that supposed to be. Almost applies to Steffen.
As I said, its up to you if you want to take advantage of the healing process or not. No-one forces you to do so.
@FH
I will take advantage of the healing process, for 2 reasons.
1. Most future Bavarians (AFAIK) will be steffen's, and I don;t want to give 'my kids' thses bad traits.
2. I can live with few command stars disappearing, but it's the moral and hitpoint reduction that really bug me.
Trigger discussion
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Factionheir - does 1.24 have the code to cure Steffen? If so, what should I do? Leave him in a city with an abbey for a while?
Stuperman, you should be getting three DFKs this turn or next, so I will ask you to storm the fortress at some point soon unless I hear otherwise from you.
Then you might want to take care of that witch.
And then we'll see about that cure...
My placeholder in the Stories Thread has been replaced.
Nice twist in the story econ and OK! I certianly didn't expect...
:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: That's the understatement of the century.Quote:
Originally Posted by econ21
Until recently, I thought GH's reign as emperor was the most eventful and fun time of this PBM, but with the stories that have been published in these few days, I think Henry's reign very much rivals that of GH. Excellent stories :)
I concur great storyline. I had a feeling that Henry was not truly yet immersed himself with the dark side.
I was thinking he has 10 chivalry so there had to be some kind of twist. Didn't expect that kind though :p
Maybe econ's avatar ought to be named "Henry the Cunning" (you get that for DeceiverVirtue 3 I think)
Well done Econ and OK.
GH also a good read.
Posted a short story just now. Hope its a good enough read. It might not be as half-way through my touchpad decided to become randomly active and overwrote a few praragraphs I had written (bloody notepad, no proper revert function). That kind of brought me out of the feel for the story and it might read a bit awkward. Let me know how I can improve it.
Good work, Factionheir. Henry has replied to Hans's letter in a PM. (It may be worth quoting the correspondence in the story thread? Your call.)
On Karl Zin, I am assuming that he goes to Northnovas and that AussieGiant is waiting for Leopold's son to come of age?
If so, Northnovas: do you want to go on the crusade to Damascus? Or do you want to stay in Europe? If the latter, we might have to send a von Mahren son as an honorary Austrian. Or does Ituralde want to go?
AussieGiant: do you have a preference to be in Europe or Outremer when your avatar spawns (not sure if it will be on my watch or not, but it is good to be prepared)?
My impression is that generals are stretched thin in Europe: it would be good to have two per House; one for the conquests that all Houses seem to want to carry out; the other to watch the shop while the main army is off conquering (and avoid the problem we currently have with Budapest being under threat). Right now it is more like one per House. So basically, eight player generals minimum in Europe plus perhaps the Prince to lead his Army of the Interior.
In Outremer, we need one player general per House for role-playing reasons. We have enough generals to fight the battles right now, but Henry and Otto are old so soonish only Ulrich will be left. Three player generals is probably a minimum for defence purposes - covering north, south and east. (And maybe some spares if we go head to head with the Mongols...)
With so many spare avatars, I am wondering if we should go on a new recruitment drive for more players.
Ulrich doesn't mind if he's the only general in the Levant :laugh4: .
Things are picking up for Austria Econ.
Thanks for all the information.
I'd prefer Arnold to be spawning in Europe but as a preference with his father. If Ituralde wants to go on Crusade then I will follow his lead.
Behind the scene's young Arnold is currently squiring with Gerhard Steffen
The Merchant of Venice (has anyone been realising my character backround:idea2:) is mentoring the young man before he is sent to his father before be hopefully Knighted by the old man.
Great news econ21!!
The Crusade is called and we finally have a new avatar. Like you presumed he will go to Northnovas. As suggested by you Karl Zirn will definetly be joining the Crusade. At least Leopold will urge him to do so. What I'll do with Leopold though I'm not certain. Maybe it would be time to give the younger generals a chance to prove themselves. But then, there needs to be someone to guide them, no?
I think I'll settle for an in-between solution right now. Leopold will be calling out for all Austrian generals and nobles to join him in Thessalonica and will join the Crusade from there. I hope this is possible. He may want to travel to the Holy Land but will take no part in the actual battle for Damascus. Maybe a little spiritual travel to Jerusalem or some such IC. I really don't know yet.
I'm torn between what I would do, what Leopold would do and what others would want to do that join the Crusade. I mean it would not be fun if Leopold would be fighting all the battles, now would it?
Still pondering here...
Well hell, Dad, who's stayin home to mind the women?
Are the von Mahren's in or out?
I'd prefer to be with you when I spawn.
You're going to have to start making some decisions there big fella :laugh4:
All right, it is 1216 and finally we have a lot of battles that other players can fight. I will follow Overknight's lead and set this up as a free for all relay race.
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/1216-3.zip
The battles are:
(1) xdeathfire should storm Rheims. This should be an easy fight.
(2) Ituralde should storm Thessalonica. This should be a nightmare - it's defended by a full stack of spearmen. If Ituralde does not want to attack, that's fine - he can PM me with what he wants to do (e.g. build more towers, pull out, whatever).
(3) Dutch_guy should have a pop at some of the three or is it four Polish armies around Krakow. This is a very tactical situation, so you are free to set it up as you wish. The biggest Polish army looks extremely powerful to me (you have a spy, so can assess their strengths), so don't try to take them all on at the same time. You have full movement points, so move and fight as much as you like, then upload the save when you are done. Notice that Thorn is under siege by the nefarious Russians, so what you want to do about that is up to you (ie pull back the FHA or press on to Krakow).
(4) Ignoramus can sally and take a pop at the Turks near Adana. This will be a very minor fight. I would take the minimum force you need and keep some men at Adana as their is a Turkish spy there and he may cause a revolt if it is too lightly garrisoned.
I don't want this turn to bog down with people disappearing with the savegame, failing to upload saves etc. So these are the rules:
(1) First come, first served. If you can play your battle within a few hours of posting, download the revelant save and then - when you have successfully loaded it up (ie confirmed that you really have 1.2 and your cat has not ate your mouse etc), then post here to tell the other players it is your go.
(2) I need screenshots for information. Please take a screenshot of the pre-battle screen and take a note of the pre-battle odds ratio (put your mouse over the red/blue bar on the pre-battle screen). Also take a screenshot of the post-battle report. Or just note down the numbers of the two armies and their losses for my Chancellor's report table. If you don't provide that simple information, your battle won't count.
(3) When you have finished your battle and taken the screenshots, please upload a new zip or winrar save so that another player can fight their battle. If you do not upload a savegame within 6 hours of posting here that it is your go, then it is not your go anymore - whether you have fought the battle or not, it does not count and someone else can pick up the savegame. (You can go again later.)
I hope those arrangements are clear and not too bossy.
The 48 hour clock starts now for everyone. After that I will pick up the savegame and move to 1218 regardless of whether everyone has fought their battles. :whip:
None of the battles are strictly necessary, so we can return to them in 1218 if people can't find the time to do them now.
Econ,
There is only one response to this.
Ja Wohl Herr Kommandant!! :whip:
:clown:
I think I have made up my mind concerning Leopolds future. That's all I'm gonna say about it for now. :beam:
I won't take the save this turn. Could you please build two more Siege Towers and two more Ladders, econ21? I'll come back to the battle once it's 1218. Looks really nasty, I have to agree.
Ituralde - I've just PMd you in character, but basically, I think Leopold should race back to Ragusa to start the crusade; let Kagemusha carry on the siege with the FHA.
I know, I'm sorry. But in my defence, this will be a blitzkrieg Chancellorship - I may even be able to finish my reign within seven days of starting!Quote:
Originally Posted by AussieGiant
Good idea, but I think I'll leave that till after I take Constantinople as I won't be getting any letters while in hostile waters now and Hungarian territory. Also takes some time for people to travel and bring those letters :grin:Quote:
Originally Posted by econ21
I might post them up before that if I don't get to take the city in your term though...
Well, bear in mind it was GH who had the idea for the Heinrich seance and keeping Jerusalem from the Pope; the rest just improvised from there. GH has his idea long ago, hence my out of character allusion to his "cylon resurrection", a reference to something sinister that no one picked up on given the benign nature of Conrad Salier. I tried in character to stall the transfer of Jerusalem at the end of Overknight's reign so the story could take-off, but Otto and the crusaders did not buy it.Quote:
Originally Posted by FactionHeir
Really these Heinrich and Henry's reigns are rather like WW1 and WW2 - they could be regarded as just one long running event with a pause in middle.
PS: I've stolen your sig, GH: it's good advertising for this PBM. :bow:
Battle Report is up for Jerusalem 1210.
Enjoy.
Gotta go, online documentation course until noon.
...and I respect you for it sir, you're a machine and that is a good thing. The faster you go the quicker Arnold comes of age and I'm back from my travels this Friday and I have a long weekend coming up!!Quote:
Originally Posted by econ21
Maintain the pressure good sir!! Whip em all!!:laugh4:
Ituralde!! Come on man, you gotta spill the beans dude! ;-)
Looks like it has been a busy few years, Glad to be rid of the milanese, I hope they maintain the peace.
I'm glad that we are starting to solve the avatar issue.
econ: IC I've offered GH forces from the BHA to escort him on his journey to the east, someone will contact you with his chioce when he has made them, assuming he's still in rome/this plan is possible, and he wants some men to bring with him.
Actually in retrospect, did you check how demanding it would be to make the Milanese our vassals? In my SP campaigns, usually an AI faction offering you ceasefire after being reduced to a few regions will have that condition listed as "balanced" or "demanding" at best when you put it on the table. When that happens, giving them map info and a small amount of gold ensures a happy protectorate. I should note this does not work for shadow factions, i.e. factions which you normally would have to destroy in short campaigns or whose starting town you'd have to own to win.
Ituralde it seems our plan is going into smithereens.How can we twist Von Mahren to join just Austria just like that? Ofcourse one way would be that he would have to since Leopold just wants to go to crusade,but it would be still illogigal for him to name Mahren as Steward if he goes away.We have to come up with something.:sweatdrop:
Well considering Mahren is adopted, he could find out more about his roots and that they actually lie in Austria and him feeling compelled to join his actual house with permission of his duke or so. Or supporting Austria instead of Franconia on several decisions and being outcast from Franconia.
There are many options, but few will make complete sense.
Just send me the opener Kagemusha, I'll handle the rest. Jonas von Mahren will not be forced to do anything. We'll see how it evolves and I think the result should be statisfying to all sides. :2thumbsup:
Edit: Just read the latest Chancellor Report. Hm.. our talk should happen before all of those events. We can even come up with a solution for those problems then.
Looking at the time our three generals with battles last visited the Org, I am guessing the best play order is:
1. Dutch_guy - Euro time
2. Xdeathfire - US time?
3. Ignoramus - Oz time
But basically, whoever logs on and has a spare hour, take the save and then upload a new one, posting the link here. Thanks. :2thumbsup:
Wait, I sacked the city in 1210, are you thinking of those Egyptians I ransomed? Or is the date wrong? Or did I just sack Jerusalem for a 2nd time? If that's the case, I wonder if I can get a second grail, to complete the set. :beam:Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry's Report
The difference is holy_chalice vs holy_grail :p
Tbh, this PBM is the first time I actually seen the grail. Usually only tend to get the chalice.
Oh, and only one unique artifact per game, so as long as the ancillary exists, no same one will spawn (or at least is not supposed to) until it gets lost, say the general carrying it dies.
Um, scratch that - I was confused. On reflection, I don't actually know why our income went up from 24596 in 1214 (about what it has been throughout my reign) to 42353 in 1216. Very curious. (And probably very temporary). :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by OverKnight
BTW: Overknight, have you checked the latest savegame? Otto is carrying round a bucketful of priceless relics. :dizzy:
Do you have screenshots of the financial summary scroll of 1212, 1214 and 1216? That would help finding where its comning from.
I'm guessing sacking and ransom may have played their own little roles there, but 18k? Hmmm I guess it could be possible as it takes your current treasury and subtracts from that and gives you that next turn. Weird financial mechanics anyway.
As for relics, most of them are kind of useless, giving you just 1 piety. Prevents you from picking up better ancillaries possibly (if that 8 anc limit from RTW is still in)
I just checked and the explanation for the high starting balance is very banal: half was left over from the previous turn. My last save for 1214 has 22,000 florins left. I am not sure why I did not spend it. I did make the "no brainer" builds in that year, but held off on the more marginal ones (the abbey, cathedral, economic buildings that only give a 100 florin return or whatever).
I must say the HRE economy is very robust - we've had mines popping up everywhere (are minerals discovered during the game or was extraction always possible?).
I have not quite worked out in which circumstances economic buildings are worthwhile - for example, for Rome most further investments are very expensive and have a very modest return, but the dockyards promise to be extremely lucrative. I have a vague memory that some towns are "twinned" with others for trade, so trade may be lucrative for towns twinned with non-hostiles and worthless for towns twinned with our enemies. Paved roads usually don't have an economic return (in my English games, for example) but the one I am building for Antioch promises to turn the province around economically. I have a lot to learn here.
One reason I spared Milan is because a nice small trading partner may be lucrative.
I've been giving the AI factions 10k per year, rather than 100k at the last Diet. That may help them maintain decent armies. Where factions have over 50k already, I don't give them anymore. The Papal states were bankrupt last time we talked so I gave them 50k to spend on Jerusalem. They have pretty large armies to maintain from one settlement.
EDIT: Just to confirm, under the Charter, I am obliged to take at least three volunteer generals on the crusade. I will be taking Duke Leopold, Conrad Salier, Karl Zirn and Count von Hamburg. I am not sure how many of the young Hamburgs and Mahrens to take. May be one a piece? As resurrection hulks...
One change in 1.02 from 1.01 is that mines can now be built on any geological resource, so this is why you see the availability of mines recently.
Usually trade building return is small, but it depends on the connections a city has and its distance from its capital.
For example my current Russian campaign has Novgorod and Stockholm at over 6k a turn with high taxes (not vh) where my capital is currently at Halych. What matters most is trade agreements or owning a settlement, which is even better. Rome for example can trade with Naples, Florence, Bologna, Cagliari, Ajaccio, Palermo and Genoa, maybe even Marseille through various direct routes. I think the level of the trade building affects the number of lucrative routes or so.
Just checking: is it good to be close to the capital? (or bad?)Quote:
Originally Posted by FactionHeir
Oh dear: so my reasoning about leaving Milan free so it could trade with us was completely false? At least in early TW games, I thought trade was more lucrative if external (with settlements you don't own) rather than internal.Quote:
What matters most is trade agreements or owning a settlement, which is even better.
Trade is always higher if you own the place in M2TW. Example: I had London, Caen, Rennes, and Bruges and most settlements around there except Antwerp. So while I had a trade agreement with the Danes, relations deteriorated and they attacked me. Once I took that city off them, my overall income from the cities around increased somewhat. Could of course be due to something else, but I think its because of ownership.
The closer to the capital, the better the income, due to lower corruption and ability to charge higher taxes. One of the reasons why European factions taking crusade settlements have low income there.
For merchants on the other hand its the other way around. That is, if the resource is also not found close to the capital. For example sugar/cotton won't give us too high incomes in Antioch as Palermo is fairly close to Rome. However those resource have a relatively high base income regardless, so its not all that bad. If our capital was say in Frankfurt, we'd get higher incomes on those.
Meh, Having another Castle that could make DFK's would have been nice but... leaving the Milanese alone now mean higher Global rep, and Gerhard won't suffer as much for being stuck there (ajaccio) while the castle is subdued.
And with some luck the Milanese will catch us off gaurd later, and make for some interesting gameplay.
Gah, why didn't you just leave me to govern my town :furious3:
Ah well, should be an easy win in siege as long as the Ruski don't reinforce themselves.
DG will have a harder time tho, I tried battling the Poles and only just won (which means anyone should be able to win, but still, was a hard one)
Dutch_guy has informed me that he can't fight his battle until 1600 Thursday (Dutch time), so if xdeathfire and/or Ignoramus want to pick up the save first, please do.
Because I wanted to get you knighted so you could command an army. Franconia is rather large and with FLYdude heading to the Middle East, could use a second commander.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stig
I could not anticipate that the Russians would declare war on us out of the blue like that.
Is there a nation in the game we haven't declared war on/war declared on us? We have fought basiclly every nation!
Hmmm Scotland, Mongols, Danes, Spain, Portugal?
Heheh, I was wondering what that army was doing there (and I simply clicked end turn to see what would happen and they did siege it), but then I would mostlikely have done the same as you.Quote:
I could not anticipate that the Russians would declare war on us out of the blue like that.
Uh, well there a few... I thought the Danes were at war with us for a short amount of tiem earlier in the game?
It's strange that we wouldn't have been with war with Denmark, afterall they are our neighbours and this is the TW AI. ~D
Denmark tends to be quite passive actually if you start as one of their neighbor nations as you take all the territories they possibly could expand to. A tiny nation that is chronically bankrupt and has no way of producing any decent units tends to not seek war as often (unless you are already at war with them) :D
Warluster, I think that was England with their invasion off Hamburg.
hmm.. so now with the 10K per term you guys are injecting into their economy, they should be churning out units soon?
We used to give them 100k per diet. Now they get 10k a turn. That basically is the same except it prevents the AI from going bankrupt halfway through. Does mean that it is bankrupt at the end of every turn though :tongue2:Quote:
Originally Posted by StoneCold
Either has its advantages and disadvantages, with the former method promoting an economic build strategy and a few large armies and the latter promoting less building but constant troop production, albeit smaller armies.
I think we are testing way too much before hand.Can we please leave some details not foreseen?
Yeah I got those when I took Jerusalem. I'm not sure why. I thought they gave them to every tourist.Quote:
Originally Posted by econ21
FH was right, Hans has the Grail (a cup which caught the blood of Jesus at the crucifixion), which we've been calling a chalice in the stories. Otto merely has a Chalice (used by Jesus at the last supper).
Sorry for the confusion.
Hmm.. never realise there was a difference... hahah, I only heard about the story of they knights of the round table searching for the grail, what is that suppose to do, I am not sure. So what is difference in effect between the chalice and the grail? I think these artifacts can be passed on between avatars. With Otto being of advance age, he should passed it on too... to Conrad? That is if the effect of the grail is worth a spot in the retinue.
The chalice isn't uber, it's only +1 piety.
Well, I'm gonna fight the siege right now and excommunication baby:2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup:
Edit:
Just finished battle. City was taken easily and then sacked. Posted in the battle reports. Sorry about lack of images, but was tight on time and couldn't spend too much time fighting it.
New save file is also uploaded
I think you just breached Econ rules of battle fighting :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Xdeathfire
He might hunt you down now :oops:
No, that's fine, xdeathfire - one battle down, three to go.
I am assuming the savegame you uploaded is:
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/1216-4.rar
Over to you, Dutch_guy and Ignoramus.
I don't know how the last turn will go in terms of battles, but it looks like we will be having a Diet session over the weekend or early next week. Candidates for Chancellor, start plotting.
Who is gonna go for chancellor for next term?
It seems to be a wide open race unless one of our experienced gentlemen steps forward!!
The Diet is always more interesting when there's a contested election. . .Rancor, backbiting, back room deals and wild promises, the joys of a constitutional Monarchy.
Exactly OK!!Quote:
Originally Posted by OverKnight
Maybe we could even have a three horse race, now that would be great...maybe even a run off if no one gets a clear majority.
In fact, lets make it really complicated and use proportional representation as the preferred voting method!! :yes:
I'm joking...of course. Still a three plus race would be great.
I agree - it would be good if a lot of people stood. That way, they can define what their characters stand for and add to the politicaldivisiondebates in the Diet. Even if the lose this time, they will have gained name recognition and I suspect almost everyone who stands will be elected at some time in the future.
Well I know two definites who are going for it, though I won't name them.
Ignoramus is passing on his battle, which was optional anyway. So that only leaves Dutch_guy, whose battles against the Poles are the ones we really can't skip this turn.
Anyone has any last requests about their avatars, PM me. (This is especially relevant to Ituralde and Kagemusha). If all goes well, I will take possession of the savegame tonight from Dutch_guy and start my last turn in office.
The next Chancellor may be the one to begin the crusade on Damascus.
Just a quick note to say I have the save, and will be fighting my battle(s) as soon as I can.
:balloon2:
Good luck - you have some tough fighting ahead. :2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
I just wanted to say wicked story econ, OK and GH, very suspensful, and with the building of an 'imperial' army back home, I almost thought we were going to "go to war with Iberia" :laugh4: :laugh4:
Phew, that was one intense battle. Those Polish nobles shouldn't be underestimated, they absolutely thrash infantry and can take a lot before routing. They almost turned the tide in Polish favour, sadly for them, they didn't bring enough of their kind into the battle.
Anyway, three enemy stacks down, and the 600 + prisoners executed. I did that just so I wouldn't have to face the remaining Nobles in battle again...
Here's the save.
http://www.totalwar.org/patrons/pbm/1216-4-fin.rar
:balloon2:
I haven't been as active as usual over the past month, but I've still been observing keenly and it seems to me as if this PBM, while still excellent, is suffering from a major problem that might threaten its existence later on if we don't do something about it.
I'm talking about lack of activity in the Diet. Deliberations have recently dropped to an all-time low, and while the stories have been great, I'm sure the people not involved in them have been left out. As I'm sure the WotS veterans remember, Senate activity during the final weeks of Lucjan's term was almost nonexistant, and this was only solved by a civil war (although activity didn't really go up in the Senate, but in other places). I want to continue to make KotR fun for all, so I propose two possible solutions that may remedy this problem.
1) We need to link Outremer with the remainder of the HRE. I say this because it has essentially divided the PBM into two groups of players, each with two different objectives and only loosely held together by the Chancellor. If we once again had unified goals or even scenarios, activity would go up in the Diet. However, as more and more attention gets diverted to the Middle East, especially with the new Crusade and dealing with the Mongols, interest in Europe will dwindle as a result. While it's fine and dandy that the motherland can run itself, I'm not really sure if that's the best thing RP-wise. We need another crisis that affects the entire Empire, not just one of the two parts of it. I see the only way of doing this as making the two Kingdoms one.
2) The pace of the game needs to be slowed down. The past two Chancellorships, those of OverKnight and econ21, have been lightning-quick. That is to their credit. However, the speed of these campaigns is probably not the best thing RP-wise. In order to have a more active Diet we need more time to digest and react to these actions. It seems as if a lot of us are caught in a whirlwind of events; whenever we grab for one, it's gone and replaced by another one. It's best when he have nice, elongated arguments about how to do things; that causes the best drama. However, it's difficult to do this when things go so quickly.
That's my two cents. How much you listen is completely up to you. These are just my observations and suggestions to see how KotR can regain some of its spice that seems to be missing.
I agree with #2 (and #1, but that is of less importance to me). I finished a post some evenings ago for the story thread and when I wanted to post it the next day I found the game moved on 6-8 years. So far for my story.