I don't understand how people play CK II and somehow don't come away with the impression that every single noble was a scheming power-obsessed sociopath who would happily murder their infant relatives for political gain and only ever cared about religion as an excuse to murder people and take their land.
Or maybe they do understand that but think it's good for some reason??
and only ever cared about religion as an excuse to murder people and take their land
No, some of them took it seriously and spent all their time growing new varieties of roses, surreptitiously waking up friends who fell asleep during sermons, and launching weird abortive crusades against low-ranking Muslim nobles who were briefly rebelling against the Caliph due to a tax increase.
Sees a civil war in a nation with a different religion
"It's free real estate"
Also can't forget the people who decide to join a secret cult out of sheer boredom.
One of my favorite CK II stories is the time I was playing a random Italian count who heard the voice of Jesus giving him military advice, publically converted to a Christian heresy, then went on a crusade where he met a teacher who convinced him to secretly convert to Islam. That didn't stop him from launching holy wars in North Africa, but I had a plan that once I conquered enough I would publically convert to Islam so that I could turn around and launch holy wars into Italy - unfortunately I didn't realize I needed the DLC for that. But he founded a society for secret Muslims and it wasn't really going anywhere, the meetings were pretty much just him and his son hanging out and shooting the shit, but that's when, out of nowhere, the Holy Roman Emperor himself showed up.
My leader died and my son took over and the game automatically converted him to Christianity because I didn't have the DLC, and I figured that was that, it was fun while it lasted. Then, years later, completely out of the blue, I get a message the the Holy Roman Emperor has decided to publically embrace Islam. In one fell swoop, without a drop of blood, everything from Tunis to Denmark turned green (in the religious mapmode), and the Islamic world, which had been about the weakest I'd ever seen it, suddenly seemed poised to conquer Europe, thanks to the Holy Roman Caliphate.
I quit after that because A) "my work here is done" and B) I'm a cheap bastard and the DLC was expensive.
I don't understand how people play CK II and somehow don't come away with the impression that every single noble was a scheming power-obsessed sociopath who would happily murder their infant relatives for political gain and only ever cared about religion as an excuse to murder people and take their land.
Or maybe they do understand that but think it's good for some reason??
No, some of them took it seriously and spent all their time growing new varieties of roses, surreptitiously waking up friends who fell asleep during sermons, and launching weird abortive crusades against low-ranking Muslim nobles who were briefly rebelling against the Caliph due to a tax increase.
"It's free real estate"
Also can't forget the people who decide to join a secret cult out of sheer boredom.
One of my favorite CK II stories is the time I was playing a random Italian count who heard the voice of Jesus giving him military advice, publically converted to a Christian heresy, then went on a crusade where he met a teacher who convinced him to secretly convert to Islam. That didn't stop him from launching holy wars in North Africa, but I had a plan that once I conquered enough I would publically convert to Islam so that I could turn around and launch holy wars into Italy - unfortunately I didn't realize I needed the DLC for that. But he founded a society for secret Muslims and it wasn't really going anywhere, the meetings were pretty much just him and his son hanging out and shooting the shit, but that's when, out of nowhere, the Holy Roman Emperor himself showed up.
My leader died and my son took over and the game automatically converted him to Christianity because I didn't have the DLC, and I figured that was that, it was fun while it lasted. Then, years later, completely out of the blue, I get a message the the Holy Roman Emperor has decided to publically embrace Islam. In one fell swoop, without a drop of blood, everything from Tunis to Denmark turned green (in the religious mapmode), and the Islamic world, which had been about the weakest I'd ever seen it, suddenly seemed poised to conquer Europe, thanks to the Holy Roman Caliphate.
I quit after that because A) "my work here is done" and B) I'm a cheap bastard and the DLC was expensive.