Europa Universalis (a video game) Questions

I got the “Europa Universalis” game and it seems like a hell of a strategy game, but the manual is about as useful for learning it as last week’s “People.” Anyone here play it? If you do, I have some questions. :slight_smile:

  1. Just what the hell does “placing a merchant” do, anyway?

  2. Can you create explorers or do they just appear at random?

  3. How do I improve my economy efficiently? There seems to be very little you can actually DO in this game.