Will Religion have any role in ETW?

[Rhyfelwyr]

The Thirty Years War may be half a century out of the timeframe, but I really hope religion is not left on the sideline in ETW. The talk about government systems has so far sounded very promising, but CA have made it cleare they do not see religion as an important factor in the ETW period.

However, if religion is not included then I do not see how event such as the Jacobite uprisings or the Ulster plantations will be represented in-game. We've already been told that a Jacobite faction can emerge, and religion has surely got to be a major factor in the likeliness of this happening and the levels of support it receives.

Religion would also surely have an impact on the way governments act. For example, as the absolutist monarch Louis XIV I should have options regarding how I treat the Hugeunots. The Hugeunots played an important role in the French economy, so perhaps for each 1% of the French population that is Protestant there should be economic growth? The drawback however is obviously the unrest caused by having different religions.

If you leave out religion you miss out on a whole dimension to politics within the ETW timeframe.

Any other opinions on this issue?

[Herkus]

Religion certainly should be in - it still played important role in 18th century regarding possible dynastic marriages, alliances, and as Caledonian Rhyfelwyr mentioned - religion motivated uprisings and population movements.

[rajpoot]

Religion will be there I'm sure, and I think something has been said about this somewhere.......maybe the summary thread;
But what I think that while it plays an important part, we won't have the Pope as an important figure, or a controlling power in ETW.........as far as conversion of the natives is concerned, I can't figure out how'll they work it out......

[pevergreen]

CA said instead of religion its culture, doesnt mean religion isnt there.

I expect something along the lines of the OP's idea.

[Ozzman1O1]

Can you change your religion?

[Rhyfelwyr]

It would be nice to have civil wars, where a faction can have its ruling dynasty replaced, even by one with a different religion. So it the Jacobites win the civil war, the Stuarts would start a new Catholic dynasty with the British faction.

The problem is it will be hard to represent dynastic wars unless different factions family trees are linked together. If they are, you could also make claims on their land, even to their throne. That would be an amazing feature, should have been there in M2TW...

[pike master]

I dont think the religion should play as big a part as it ruins the gameplay for me. Having to worry about recruiting priest or shamans to convert my population or build various temples and whatnot.

The major spread of religion halted at around the time period that the Spanish Conquistas failed and the Turks lost momentum in the Balkans.

[Artorius Maximus]

I think religion should still be important. Anytime before the 19th century, religion was widely considered important in most governments. Having an ethnicty or language thing would be awesome too.

[ThePianist]

A lot of European history (and events) was shaped by the Catholic/Protestant interactions. The Thirty Years' War for instance. Religion is very important in the time era that ETW would portray. Also in the Near East (which in textbook is an academic way of saying "Ottoman Empire"), religion had a huge role. Also, Russia saw itself as the continuation of the Byzantine Empire, and expanded towards re-capturing Constantinople for several hundred years, ensuing many wars with Turkey, like the Crimean War. Even the Russian name Dmitriy is the Greek name Demetrios.
Culturally in that time, each country was having its own nationalism so each country had its own culture. It'd be better to do religion (Protestant/Catholic, Islam), rather than culture.

For more reading of all the events of the 19th century, an excellent book is:
Great Power Diplomacy 1814-1914, by Norman Rich ISBN 0-07-052254-5

(note: this was required textbook in one of my college classes, so I didn't pick the author's name)


-and, I have one question after reading pikemaster's comment. Currently I use generals to convert a province. I thought that only generals (and, if diplomats have the religion trait) standing in a province can convert the population. Does training priest units accelerate the conversion rate? If so that'd be great.

[rajpoot]

Does training priest units accelerate the conversion rate? If so that'd be great.

:O Ofcourse it does, the more piety your priest has, the better he'll be at converting the area.......I think they tell this in the in game help.....

[ThePianist]

I have a priest unit (24) currently garrisoned in Rome (this is Barbarian Invasion patched to 1.6). When I bring up the city details, under Christianity it only shows some squares representing building (i.e. the church building) and some squares representing the Christianity of neighboring regions. There is no icon representing "character in the region". In other words when a priest unit is garrisoned in a city it doesn't increase the conversion rate. However, from what I read a few post earlier, apparently this is possible. So I was wondering how.

[pevergreen]

Not in RTW, in M2TW priests are a on campaign map unit, like spies.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well since ETW is set after the Treaty of Westphalia, religion would be more dependent on that of the states' rulers than the work individual priests could do. And CA have said there will be no agents in ETW, at least as we know them from previous titles.

Religion doesn't have to add any micromanagement at all. But it should play a fundamental role in the game.

The only religious conversion issues players should be faced with should be in the colonies. To keep things simple, perhaps religious missions should offer their support in a province, in the same way Guilds do in M2TW?

[Freedom Onanist]

As the game is set in the "Enlightenment" religion should be a negative modifier on factions? A bit like heretics and witches in M2TW? It would put a damper on scientific and social development if not controlled closely. Whoever develops Darwin and manages to keep him alive and away from the obscurantist elements in society (religion) gains a major bonus.

[harifaz]

not only should religion be a factor. it should be a vital factor . I am aware that this maybe a personal preference . so I think it should be within the customization options of the new game.

[Freedom Onanist]

No doubt it will be in there as 200-300 years later we still haven't managed to shake it off... But anyway, I think it plays a much less important role in this game if at all, politics replace it