An EU2 Newbie, at last!

[Nikolai]

Non-state religion increases the stability costs largely. As you said, the RR is also lowered. But remember that it's easier to play, less costly in terms of military and gives you less headaches if you choose to build tax collectors(which gives you 75% more of maximum tax, on top of 0% base if non shield province and 25% if shield province, ie 75% or 100% depending on that. Also remember that every province you have gives you higher stab costs, and you'll need those ducats).

[Dinner]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
How do you sequence developments in conquered new world pagan provinces - improvements first, or conversion first? and why?.

Always, always, always convert first. The conversion chance is decreased by improvements (tax collectors, governors, fine arts academies, etc) so you will be making your life harder unless you convert them first. Also if you get the provience converts event then it converts but its culture doesn't change. You want to use missionaries to convert it ASAP so you get the cultural conversion as well.

[chequita guevara]

Non-state religious provinces have a -30% on taxes and production. Converstion is the most important thing you can do after adding a tax collector.

Didn't know that adding a tax collector decreases the conversion chance though. Still, I ain't waiting. That -75% tax income is serious for the Ottomans, which is just about the only group I play, mainly to test my mods.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by General Ludd
I can rarely hold a monopoly for more than a couple months, unless it's in some real far away exotic location that has almost no competition at all.

Use those extra diplomats to sign trade treaties with EVERYONE on the map. You can still compete away merchants from other people but the AI stops trying to bump your guys out.

[chequita guevara]

You lose trade efficiency with those treaties.

[Spiffor]

Are you sure? I haven't noticed it

[Jonny]

Yes, they do. Though it's not a rediculously large amount, it does have an impact on the bottom line.

[Dinner]

If I lose a little trade efficiency but can then maintain a perminent monoply which I don't have to redo every two months then I'm ahead.

[CerberusIV]

Trade agreements do decrease your trade efficiency, but not as badly as embargoing someone. I don't sign them because I usually play colonial powers and find it easy to maintain 5 merchants each in most of the european CoT's with high trade efficiency.

Even in the overseas CoT's where I have monopolies I don't bother competing others out as they keep coming back and it is possible to make plenty of money from the CoT's others don't know of or don't place in.

In my last game as France most of the N American trade was going to the Bahamas with a total value of over 2000 ducats. A 100% monopoly when it opened brought me all that in income. even when others started placing they never took more than 50% of the trade. A 100% monopoly in somewhere like Mauritius or one of the australian provinces can happily bring in 2-300 ducats a year until the CoT closes (and usually reopens nearby). No competition because no-one knows where it is to place merchants anyway.

As France I had a trade income of nearly 7500 ducats in 1818, mostly from colonial CoT's as I find most of the european Cot's are worth 5-600 each at most by around 1700, most worth less than that.

[lord of the mark]

ok conversion first, thanks.

[Sparrowhawk]

My game keeps shutting down at the same date each time (May 1 1757). I have replayed saving closer and closer to the date until now I have a save of April 30 and if I load it the games closes as soon as it switches from April 30 to May 1. I have a lot going on (at war, exploration both on land and sea, conversations, traders en route, moving and building units, promoting officials and building fortresses) but I'm not sure if that is the problem or not. I thought it might be a ram issue so on one of my attempts to restart I closed down a number of programs but with the same result (the program closed).

Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
/me

[Qilue]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk
My game keeps shutting down at the same date each time (May 1 1757). I have replayed saving closer and closer to the date until now I have a save of April 30 and if I load it the games closes as soon as it switches from April 30 to May 1. I have a lot going on (at war, exploration both on land and sea, conversations, traders en route, moving and building units, promoting officials and building fortresses) but I'm not sure if that is the problem or not. I thought it might be a ram issue so on one of my attempts to restart I closed down a number of programs but with the same result (the program closed).

Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
* Sparrowhawk

I get this a lot.

Try loading the save, then imediately reloading that save again.

Try the old auto-save (1756, not 1757)(you do have annual auto-save enabled right?) and replay from that point and as above, load and then imediately reload the save.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk
My game keeps shutting down at the same date each time (May 1 1757). I have replayed saving closer and closer to the date until now I have a save of April 30 and if I load it the games closes as soon as it switches from April 30 to May 1. I have a lot going on (at war, exploration both on land and sea, conversations, traders en route, moving and building units, promoting officials and building fortresses) but I'm not sure if that is the problem or not. I thought it might be a ram issue so on one of my attempts to restart I closed down a number of programs but with the same result (the program closed).

Any suggestions ?

Load up your last save as another country (If you right-click on the shield you should get a list of all available nations). Play past date of crash. Save and reload as your original.
Warning: AI will stuff up your land-ship deployment severely if you leave it unattended for too long and has a tendency to declare wars/make peace at inconvenient moments with inconvenient nations - use with caution ... Make note of where your units are and what they're doing beforehand so you can undo it all afterwards.

[Qilue]

I had to do something sort of similiar in my last game where I was playing sPain.

Sometime around 1450, Novgorod(only had capital left) was at war with Pskov(capital and Kexholm) who was also at war with Teutonic Knights. Novgorod and Teutonic knights weren't allied nor were they in the war against Pskov together.

Novgorod had occupied Kexholm and TK had occupied Pskov. This state of affairs remained unchanged for around 200 years when I had finally had enough. So I loaded a game where I changed to TK and offered a white peace to Pskov who then made peace with Novgorod. I wished I had done this earlier.

Now, the point of all this is that when the AI got hold of my mighty Spanish empire, it started 3 wars, spent a significant amount of my carefully saved money and totally screwed up my naval and land unit placements.

[ravagon]

Yes, well, t'isn't recommended unless you're in really desperate straits.

Why on earth were you concerned about the Teutons and Novgorod if you were on the Iberian peninsula? WC attempt?