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CK2 Dev Diary #17: Crusader Cats

Hello everyone! I’m Virvatuli, one of the Content Designers on The Reaper’s Due, which also happens to be my very first project here at Paradox. It’s been so much fun working on this DLC and I hope you’ll have even more fun playing it! In this week’s DD (another first for me), I will reveal one of Reaper’s most important features. Oh, okay, it might not be that important, but at least it’s my personal favourite and pet project. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you cats.

For the longest time, there’s been a issue regarding the representation of pets in Crusader Kings 2. In the realm of companion animals, there has been a worrisome lack of diversity. Most of you who play Way of Life have probably had a loyal hunting dog, there have been some events regarding birds of prey, and a lucky few Conclave players might have encountered a tiny rodent friend. Sadly, that has been pretty much it on the pet front. To rectify this serious problem we’ve added some additional furry and feathered friends in The Reaper’s Due. As we did, of course we couldn’t leave out the best animal of them all: our Feline Overlords, Befurred Ninjas, Gods of the Internet.

In the new DLC you can befriend a cat in a number of ways. However, as any Dwarf Fortress player or real-life cat lover knows, you do not adopt a cat. A cat adopts you. Once your feline friend has decided that you’re the one and only slave for it, you will receive a fancy “Pet Cat” character modifier (unless you scare it away, you horrible person). It will give your character +1 health, as the cat brings you so much happiness, and +1 intrigue, because we all know that cat owners are a bit more clever than everyone else (hey, it’s science!).

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However, most things can become troublesome in excess, even your love for felines. In every cat owner’s life there comes a time when you ask yourself if you shouldn’t get just one more. At some point, the answer is probably no, at least if you don’t want to scare off all of your friends and repulse the courtiers.

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Unless you want to become even sneakier, that is. Then go ahead and become a Crazy Cat Lady, or a Crazy Cat Lord, if that’s how you identify.

At first thought, one might think that cats would be a very insignificant aspect of a medieval ruler’s life, however, when the Plague comes around to visit this changes drastically. Most of you probably know that the Black Death was likely spread by fleas on rats. Sadly this fact is unknown to ye olde peasant, and when people start to die, some of them might point fingers to our furry protectors. Believe it or not, there are some people who do not like cats. It’s crazy, I know, but trust me on this. How will you deal with their growing fears? Do remember, if you don’t have cats, you’ll have plenty of rats…

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This sneak peak of cats is all you’ll get for now. Don’t worry though, The Reaper’s Due is out on the 25th of August and then you can experience cats for yourself in all their whiskered glory. Next week Darkrenown will talk about more assorted features. Now I need to get back to scripting, there’re still some cat-related subjects which need further exploration… Adieu!
 
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I think crazy cat person should give an opinion bonus with other crazy cat people (and maybe with cat owners too, but less)

Also, I'm hoping for lunatic-crazy cat person interactions
 
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I think your way of communicating is a bit offensive!
I know you try to be funny, but I actually feel you are giving me "the finger" here - I as a customer ask a question - I have the idea that cats were pet animals in Egypt, but was first really introduced to Europe as a pet in the 15-1600 perhaps - so it is a legit question, and you as a person from Paradox act like this?
I don't get it... It feels like you think you are superior when writing like that.

And sorry, it is not because I sit curled in the corner right now crying - and I can get through it, don't worry - I just want to tell you that the way you communicate is not very "customer-friendly" in my eyes.
It is just a joke,calm down. God damn these mimosas
 
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It's kinda sad that we can't expand our execution methods by using dogs,cats,etc :(
Death by thousand claws!
Who says we can't? There are supposed to be 31 execution methods, including by a bear. Maybe there is one by cats.
 
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They were hated, Killed during the black death. Used as rat-catchers by wikings, and associated with witches.

There's more to the story. Viking has like cats. Christian hate cats. Not all the time. It start at the beginning of the late middle age. Do you like cats? Ok the next stake is yours. Cat = devil! The cat has aThe german word for heretic is Ketzer. It comes from Katze (Cat).

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There's something missing from this dev diary.

Horses.

It is rumored that on the distant steppes, the khans can get personal horses, but in feudal Europe? Nary a horse to be found.

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
Lunatics can have horses. For that matter, with a little bit of help from WoL, it's possible for a horse to end up as Holy Roman Emperor, so I don't see what your problem is...

More seriously, random flavor events are always welcome.
 
I'm afraid I agree. The new paradox team have completely broken down in customer (or friend-like) communication. These type of sarcastical answers to real questions have become more frequent recently, and I'm not sure if it's all of paradox or just some people, but it's not funny or respectful.
Yeah, how dare they be human. Making a harmless joke? what were they thinking. We should get them replaced with robots or something, because they are clearly out of control.
 
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Right, I'm calling it: The CK2 team has the best Dev Diary writers. What's funny is that I don't even play this game anymore, myself (because I suck at it), but I always keep up with it because the stories that come out of this game are the best.
 
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I trust this means I will be able to acquire lion companions for my wondrous Imperial throne room?
 
It is just a joke,calm down. God damn these mimosas

Not because I need to make this a big discussion, but since people keep commenting, I feel I need to respond - I clearly stated in my post that I knew he/she tried to be funny and was making a joke, but that I didn't feel that it was the time or the place to make such a joke. So it seems rather needless for your comment that it is just a joke. I clearly know that!

I think the tone is quite aggressive in many threads - I don't mean to make it worse myself, but it is sad when people just argue with "calm down" or "chill out", as I/or others have got into a rage of some sort. It should be aloud to express opinions, questions and worries, without being punked about it.
I guess the issue is that some use this forum as a big joke community, while others like myself use it as a serious information channel. Of course there should be place for us all?

I had a question, which was only answered by a sarcastic joke by a Paradox member. I explained that I felt the joke was provocative to me, I felt looked down upon, and not what I would expect from a member of Paradox, but perhaps from a 13-year old child. The respond to this was the member saying I could just look on the internet - no comments about the obvious bad and out-of-place joke.

It doesn't matter if I am an idiot, or get upset about something that wasn't mean to upset me - but if you do the same thing in real life, the normal thing to do would to appologuise and state that it wasn't meant to upset them. My conclusion is that I continue to feel looked down upon by Paradox members, and that there often is a witch hunt from other users on those who are a bit annoyed about stuff regarding Paradox. I think Paradox should take this more serious - it is a simple customer experience, and though they might survive without my support, they should think about how they communicate on the forum, and how what they say is received.
I have always expected Paradox members here to be support-members, and have received great help from them. I have always respected them. But now it feels like they are just a band of sympathizers or thugs, that only bring joking to the forum. I KNOW THIS IS NOT THE CASE - but it feels like that...

Lets leave this discussion at this, I don't want to make a big deal out of it (thought writing all of this, might suggest otherwise) Sorry!
I look forward to the DLC, and really like the game and the work that is put into it from Paradox.
 
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