I do think there are old physical discs floating around, but who knows how you’d update them or get dlc without Steam.
At this point it seems unlikely that ck2 would ever be released on another platform. The Stellaris console edition was pretty well received, though, so decent odds of ck3 getting one. Eventually.
But really, you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face. CK2 is, in its current state, a remarkable game.
So the good news – I founded the Empire of Britannia, used my once in a lifetime kingdom invasion CB to take all of Denmark at once. Then took Sjaelland from Novgorod who had conquered it, giving me a holy site.
There was a nearby holy site in Zeeland, owned by a small Catholic kingdom that splintered off from the Franks; and a third on the north coast of Norway. Currently Norway is owned by a bunch of small kingdoms, with Sweden and Finland as massive kingdoms in the East.
My plan was to take Zeeland real quick, gobble up Norway, reform my religion, and build a Nordinc empire.
However I made the mistake of going for Zeeland first. I got it – but the pope has called a crusade on the Danelaw.
I have allied Finland and Sweden. I am hopeful that I will be able to hold back the tide of Christianity. We will soon find out…
I know that this topic is about CKIII, but I just want to say that I am now hopelessly addicted to CKII. After a few false starts I finally got things going on “Newb Island” (Ireland). I got in a fight with my son after taking his wife as my mistress. Unfortunately he died of mysterious circumstances before I did. Now my second son has just manage to form the Kingdom of Ireland. He only has daughters but I managed to secure a matrilineal marriage to the second prince of Denmark. I heard the first Prince likes to take walks on balconies with loose railings…
I’ve tried to get into CKII before, and I’ve been trying out a bit of CKIII on the game pass, but I really can’t get into it at all. It’s all so impenetrable!
Have you played through the tutorial? It’s pretty good this time around. Play with he game paused and read tooltips (and if you see a term you don’t know hover over it to read its own tooltip)
I was unable to play CK2 until I watched a fairly in-depth video walking through the first hour or so of the game.
The base mechanics are more or less impossible to figure out through play. Once you grok the most important bits you’ll realize the game is actually relatively shallow, though very very very very very very broad.
I really struggled with CK2 and feel like I still need to get my money’s worth out of it before I get 3. But right now I’m on a Diablo 2 and Overwatch kick, so I don’t know when that will happen.
Interesting observation and I think that’s an apt description 
. You are either going to get bored quickly with its objective-less sandbox nature or you’re going to be endlessly fascinated by it, like some of us.
Absolutely agree. Your job is to set up franchises and grow. That’s it. The joy is being part of the story and history that is unfolding in a unique world all your own.
I understand that I am missing out on some pretty good games by staying off Steam. But it’s not like there’s a lack of them otherwise. I have plenty that I’ve bought I’ve not done more than just a few minutes of play in, and plenty more I would buy if I got through those. Plus, I really soured on the execution of Stellaris; the big economy update they had was really really good, but they couldn’t get the AI to play it well and it slowed the game down massively. I’d rather play retro platformers at this point than forsake my vow to stay off Steam and try out new Paradox games.
So my Danelaw campaign was going very well. I had taken Denmark and most of Norway and had managed to reform the faith, giving us a religious head. I even used the Kingdom Invasion CB to conquer Sweden in one fell swoop. Then I set my eye on Finland.
This was my undoing. Our religious head declared a Great Holy War against the Franks. Thinking I could use this as an opportunity for a war I actually wanted, I redirected us to attack Finland instead. But Finland was too strong. Time after time, we were beaten back. The war lasted 8 years; my king died and was replaced by his nephew; and right after losing another army to Finland, another king declared himself King of Britannia. With my army shattered, there was little I could do. My Empire was taken, living me with just the kingdom of the Danelaw.
I fear for what will become of my glorious empire in the hands of that fool. I must regain my birthright – and soon. Then, I must have my vengeance against the Finns.
I wonder…
Is it time for another SDMB succession game?
Oh, I would be SO down!
How challenging are people looking for? On a scale of Duke of Tutorial Island in 1066 to Restoring Persia in 867?
I would be interested in the future, but I really need to get to grips with the game first.
That’s my first thought too. My second thought is it might be more fun when none of us really know how to play yet.
Exactly. It isnt fun when one player is really good at a game and the rest are beginners. Unless they give him a really bad county to start.
That’s where I’m coming from. We’re all bumbling and stumbling AND we all have expansion parity because there’s no DLC yet.
I did play the tutorial, and it does a good job of telling how to mechanically play the game, without really telling you how to play the game if you know what I mean.
For that I would recommend a let’s play. Especially one of the text based AARs. They’re a good way of getting an idea of how a game should go.
If you or others think it would help I could do an AAR on the next game I play, focused at explaining what my logic and plans are.