CKII can be addictive. Just ask undercovergeek! 
Oh yes! I'm just addicted to addictive software is all, i guess...
So, where were we?
Yes, Parma! Aaaah, good times! Reading, studying and more reading… It wasn’t boring, mind you. Not at all! Very interesting but I never got to ‘play’ a game of CK2. Not A Single Game! I mean, there’s this Pause Key – the Space key on my keyboard, right? You gonna press it and wham – nope, I didn’t press it. Maybe a little… for a few weeks or so, really!!! What IS WRONG with me?!!!! Argh! Sure, there’s the CK2 wiki, the forum, YT-vids galore! Everyone seems to enjoy ‘playing’ this sucker but me. I was researching and reading up on stuff I never heard before or even imagined… everything history is so damn exciting for me.
Years passed, IRL. I came back to CK2 once in a while mostly to check out the latest DLC with it’s tail of reviews and the Paradox forums, of course… what an unhappy bunch over there, but yeah, who cares… it’s just a game and Paradox has to pay for it’s artist, programmers and a nice coffee-machine, too – fine by me!
Yep, years passed and here we are / hmmm, here I am: there was this little shine on the horizon and someone at Paradox let loose the works and suddenly ‘An Heir is born!’.
I checked out the forums again and I really dig the visuals, too. But this version (CK3) is for another time, another me and definitely another PC – this will run worse then HOI4 on my already old rig! So, why bother and off my radar it went… ‘enough to play for a lifetime’ as they say on grogheads, matrix’ and here on armchairdragoons, as well.
There’s only one thing that keeps on shining and since the hype-machine is building up speed for a splendid CK3 release it becomes more brighter and more shiny – yes!
Crusader Kings 2 is finally finished! It’s done and over with. From Paradox side at least – the modders will keep on modding, i’m sure of this but for future ‘official’ DLC’s the time is up!
Hell yeah! So maybe, I think, maybe it’s time to finally grok this sucker!
One ugly little wrinkle was still holding me back – guess what… oh, poor me, I had to buy the last missing DLC – of course, one could cheat it into ones pocket with 3 or 4 fake accounts to recommend the upcoming release of CK3 but hell no, that’s not me. So ‘Pagan Fury – Warrior Queen’ went into the cart and got linked to my account. Great! (another note to myself: I need professional help, I must be sick in my head, not?!)
Steam Library booted, CK2 downloaded and ready to play. One last DLC check to make sure the game isn’t bothering me on startup that something’s missing what I should really ought to have…
(I don’t remember when Paradox started to remind you of missing/not yet bought DLC’s)
Anyhow, one last check of workshop items I was interested in when I last looked at the game – ah, yes! ‘A Bigger Interface Mod’ and maybe this ‘Revolutionary Borders Mod’ are must haves for every CK2 player, also these GUI enhancements for a bigger and easier to read font should be installed, too… playing this game on 15.6 inch / 1920x1080 doesn’t make it easier… not really!
But hey! Let’s start it up and wow – here we are again! And even ‘Monarch’s Journey’ is working with it’s latest patch native on Linux. Oops, I said the P-word, the Paradox word: The Patch!!!
The love-hate relationship of many Paradox forum members – the many patches a game needs and what’s free and what needs to be paid to access… hell no, not my problem because I… ahh, you knew it already.
But what’s really great about this and the hype-train for CK3… the CK2 wiki makes it so damn easy to re-discover the making of CK2. All the ‘Developer Diaries’ are at your fingertips to read up and study CK2’s long history of DLC’s and patches and everything!
After reading all (over a hundred) dev diary entries for CK2 (over a few days – not in one sitting!) i’m really in the mood to pray some evangelism - our luck and the blessing we have with a team of programmers, artists and all the other fine folks over at Paradox. We should appreciate their love and toil, sweat and tears that went into every patch and DLC! To be honest, after reading everything I feel like the usual complains about the price of the whole shebang – the whole CK2 collection y’all know, the price even without the discounts that happen every 3 months on Paradox site and of course Steam is not justified! Just saying this game has 8 or more years on it’s shoulders or it got unfixed bugs. Guys/Gals, I know folks who spend their bucks on Grigsby games that are older and pay full price to dig it’s gnarled (but still splendid) supply system… Let me say, IMHO, the price tag for CK2, after all this years, is justified and correct. Just wait for a sale – is all I wish i’d done, but more often than otherwise I bought DLC’s (Music, Art or other content) on release. Not my fault – just my destiny, because here I am, again! Trying to learn this sucker!
Usually when I find something interesting I’ll try to read up more and more – here’s the same. A game so full of written content, it’s database filled to the rim with historical figures, characters and places to research – on a topic as vast as this – I didn’t even know that the title ‘Crusader Kings’ was picked wrongly and couldn’t be changed because it happened to be pretty popular. Crusader Kings isn’t about the crusades…
Hold it! Right there!!! WTF!
What else may I ask – and here it comes… the statement about the misnamed title came right after the announcement of part two of this glorious franchise. OK… let me guess, bringing the option to do the crusades - the first, the second and the third (and don’t forget the in betweens) came a while later – at least the dev diaries hint in that direction. But getting your head wrapped around the concept of a dynasty simulator where the characters you play are as historical as possible but only at the start date and after that it’s not even that person anymore – it’s his family, his dynasty as a whole – the rest is for flavor.
Yes! The historical background that wants to click with me is ‘just’ flavor… OK!
Anyway, nobody will stop me from reading ‘The Crusades – The War for the Holy Land’ from Thomas Asbridge – as i’m doing now and will tonight and the next days to come… not because of flavor (maybe a little bit) but because of interest in the subjects matter, my dear Paradox-Flavor-Kings and Queens! Pah!
Oh yes! And this book by Mister Asbridge right here is another proof of my way to self-enlightenment – it’s full of the same vocabulary that’s being used for the game Crusader Kings 2, my friends. Vocabulary is flavor, is everything I wish for! Long live the King.
To be continued...
Thanks for reading and good night, where ever you are.
cheers!
chem!
some links:
Paradox' CK2 wiki link to their dev diaries:
https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Developer_diaries#Base_gameA short review of Asbridge's book 'The Crusades – The War for the Holy Land':
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/03/review-of-the-crusades-by-thomas-asbridge-and-holy-warriors-by-jonathan-phillips
