Quote Originally Posted by Budwise
After playing through a short campaign and before taking on my first full term long campaign without cheating, I had a few questions worth asking.
1. What continent is Timbuktu on, is it in the new world or Africa? I never seen it.
It's in africa, south of the moorish provinces
2. Merchants, are they worth it on like Dyes and sheep and other non producing weath commodity. Also, how does one power up a merchant, I have a merchant sitting from turn one and at the end of my first campaign, he only had like 6 finance.
I don't bother with them, but if you want them to level up you eventually need to attack other merchants and get that line of traits.

Getting the monopoly trait, from trading on several of the same resource in a province, helps too
3. Is good standards worth having. I never break treaties/alliances but in GETTING a treaty, does it matter if I am on good relations or does that help stop a war via ceasefire.
It does help.

Either go all good, or all bad - in the middle doesn't help at all.
4. Blockcading a dock, is it worth the trouble. I realise they loose their trade via that port, Right? But sometimes I see a mission to block a port and "my coffers will fill" is noted, do I get extra money for doing this. Also, does anyone do this as a war tactic and does it work?
I never bother
5. What guilds do people try for? I know which ones I like like Swords or the theology one (The one for priest, I forget the name) but is there any nobody ever uses or don't like?
The crusader knights ones are useful, as are the assassins, if you want to use them
6. I understand that modding is easier. I heard that you can quickly mod the game to play as the aztecs but what about the Papacy. I understand that the mechanics are hardcoded so I could ask for a crusade or what not but what about the simplified mechanics. Is it possible? If so, could I if I attacked lets say Milan, could I be excommunicated from myself.
There's a mod to do it iirc - i couldn't tell you any more
7. Speaking of Papacy, has anyone seen an UberPope go nuts and try to take the world? Also, has anyone seen the Papacy have one of their cardinals elected as pope?
If you give the papacy land it tends to go mad

And they only get teh one starting cardinal usually so they only rarely get elected
8. Is it just me or is Milan a little overpowered. It seems to me they go nuts and try to take over everything around me easier than they should and they always backstab and attack me, every time? How about any other comments on this one?
Yep, many people have noticed the same thing
9. I never played Egypt but if you give the Papacy Jerusalem, will they still try to crusade against you?
Yes
10. Is faction re-emergences even possible? I hope not, I hated that about the first MTW is that they come back and not only do they do that but they amass a huge army out of nothing. If I had spys everywhere which I usually do, why didn't they see that coming.
No - and that's a bad thing imo
11. Personal playing question, does anyone ever actually try and get good on chivary. I usually get stuck with a buttload of dread because I have to use assasins to take out other agents.
High dread does the job almost as well, so no
12 Speaking of agents, is their any other way to get rid of an enemy spy/assasin without assassinations? It would make more sence if you could arrest a known spy/assassin.
You can use an exploit wherein you surround the agent with military units on all sides and then use another unit to step on it, killing it, but otherwise no.
13. Does any faction ever keep anything other than a Very Untrustworthy or just Untrustworthy reputation. Does it really even matter? More in deep question, REALLY, does it matter to be anything good at all?
It does matter, but only if you really want to play that way
14. Night battles, how does a general be able to use that ability and is it even worth it. Is their a bonus or something to make it worth it.
I've never bothered, and don't have many generals who can
15. Can you change a factions religion like you could the Vikings in VI? I train up my priest to be College of Cardinal Material by sending all my priest/bisops to Russia? Is Russia even catholic and if not, can I convert them by doing this?
Nope - you're stuck with teh starting one

And russia is orthodox so you are converting them