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Dev Diary #40 - Opium Wars

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Good evening, and welcome to this week’s instalment of the Victoria 3 Dev Diaries! To cap off this month’s theme of trade, I’ll be talking about the Opium Wars and introducing the concepts of Cultural Obsessions and Religious Taboos.

In the 1830’s China was ravaged by opium addiction. The impact was severe and broad in its effects, with myriad social, economic and even military consequences. Despite attempts by the Qing government to restrict imports, British merchants continued to illegally flood the market. The situation came to a head when Qing officials ordered the seizure and destruction of opium in Canton, to which the British responded with force - the First Opium War resulted in crushing defeats for the Qing government and began an era of unfavourable and humiliating treaties with the Western powers.

In Victoria 3 we represent the Opium Wars through Journal Entries and Events. Qing China begins in the midst of this crisis, but it is also possible for other unrecognised countries to experience this content if the in-game conditions are appropriate.


The Opium Crisis event applies harsh negative modifiers to Standard of Living throughout your country, to your Mortality Rate, and to the effectiveness of your military forces.
opiumwarsstart.png

This is a good time to talk a little more about Cultural Obsessions. A culture can become obsessed with a specific Good - Pops of that Culture, regardless of where they are in the world, will spend significantly more on Goods they are obsessed with compared to other goods in the same Pop Needs category. So in the case of Opium in China, Han pops will spend a lot more of their wealth buying Opium than they do on Liquor or Tobacco. This naturally drives up demand for Opium, and therefore makes it more expensive within the Chinese market. The foreign powers selling Opium to China are making a killing exploiting this demand and feeding the addiction. Cultures can develop new Obsessions over time, and you’ll need to react to changes in pop demands as a result.

On a mechanically related note (though unrelated to the Opium Wars), Religions have Taboos against certain goods. For instance Muslim faiths have a Taboo against the consumption of Liquor and Wine. This has the opposite effect from a Cultural Obsession - pops following these religions will spend much less on purchasing that Good compared to other Goods in that category. So Muslims will typically buy Tobacco and Opium instead of Liquor, and they will buy Tea or Coffee instead of Wine. Just as in real life, not everybody completely adheres to the tenets of their faith, and so these act as powerful modifiers on purchasing decisions rather than total “bans” on consumption. Unlike Obsessions, Taboos are static throughout the game.


Beijing is one of the most populated States in the world in 1836. Besides its 19 million people, it is also home to the Forbidden City Monument, a massive Government Administration sector, as well as a large section of the now defunct Great Wall.
opiumwarsnew.png


Back to the Opium Wars!

If China (or whichever country is the target, but we’ll keep things simple and refer to China from here on out) chooses to confront the issue head on, the Opium Crisis Journal Entry will describe the conditions for successfully resolving the issue, as well as the conditions that will cause immediate failure. China must avoid at all costs enacting the Free Trade law as well as resist the attempts of the Great Powers to establish a Treaty Port - both of these are potential war goals which the AI will strongly prioritize when starting Diplomatic Plays against China. While resisting the Western powers, China must maintain a total ban on the Opium trade.


Playing as Great Britain (or any major opium exporter), you'll have the opportunity to thwart the opium ban through all the usual diplomatic and coercive means at your disposal. It could even be an opportunity to make inroads into China.
opiumwarsgbrevent.png

China’s attempts to halt the flow of opium will not go unchallenged. All Great and Major powers exporting Opium to China will receive an event prompting them to decide their stance on the matter - though there is some chance that they will let the issue slide, it is much more likely that they will take an opposing stance. This will add the Opium Wars Journal Entry to that country, in which their success conditions match the failure conditions for China. Opium-trading countries must either force China to adopt the Free Trade law, or else acquire a Treaty Port in that nation that allows them to bypass goods bans. Rather than immediately creating a Diplomatic Play with predefined war goals, the AI (and indeed the player!) is strongly encouraged to start a Play with wargoals that would complete the Journal Entry.


Free from the ravages of opium addiction and the interference of froeign powers, the strengthened Qing dynasty might avoid or avert the crises that would historically bring them to ruin.
opiumwarsgoodend.png

If China succeeds in suppressing the flow of opium while withstanding the onslaught of the Great Powers, the course of history is altered and the addiction crisis will be resolved. All its primary cultures will lose their Opium Obsession, and the negative modifiers representing the effects of widespread addiction will be removed. With foreign powers repulsed, China has not been forced into the unequal treaties that would lead to further conflict and turmoil.


Fragile Unity is the “broadest” Journal Entry in Victoria 3, encompassing content that can emerge at all stages of the game - for instance while the stage is already set for the Opium Wars in 1836, the Boxer Rebellion will not happen until later in the game when a stronger sense of Han nationalism has appeared.
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Failure, however, may have dire consequences. The government will lose Legitimacy, Radicals will rise across the nation, and Turmoil will engulf your states. But that is not the worst of it; failing the Opium Wars Journal Entry increases your fragmentation, tracked by the Fragile Unity Journal Entry. If your fragmentation rises to 100%, it will herald the end of a unified China, with the nation breaking up into a dozen warlord states. Failing the Opium Wars Journal Entry will indirectly lead to an influx of missionaries into China which may spark radical uprisings on a scale never seen before. And if exploitative foreign presence in China continues into the era of Han nationalism, the people’s demands for sovereignty will shake the foundations of the state and threaten the survival of the Qing Dynasty. One great failure can lead to a chain reaction of disaster.

That’s all for today! Next week we’ll be moving on from trade to a month of focus on the theme of strife. Join us next week where Mikael Andersson will introduce Victoria 3’s Revolutions.
 

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I'd imagine one would be given priority over the other. Probably Religious Taboos would matter more than Cultural Obsessions if I had to guess.
Tell this to the Ottomans and their obsession with liquor/raki.
 
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Why are Obsessions used as a proxy for addiction? Addicts generally use multiple drugs if they can afford it, since it's a compulsion, rather than a preference, which Obsessions seem to model, as net Intoxicant usage doesn't increase. I feel like it'd be more elegant to have net Intoxicant usage be the trigger for negative affects of addiction rather than having an Obsession.
We use a Cultural Obsession with Liquor as a trigger.
This doesn't seem right either... America wasn't "obsessed" with liquor when Prohibition was implemented- kind of the opposite, in fact, as Temperance had been ongoing for decades. Peak alcohol consumption was slightly before the game's start date, so that would mean that the United States should start with a Liquor Obsession but lose it once Temperance gains traction. Unless Prohibition targets minority cultures' Cultural Obsession with Liquor the prerequisite doesn't make much sense.
alcohol.jpg
 
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But this only applies to unrecognized nations?
There is no way that France and Germany could force the USA to forgoe their fascination with Prohibition?
 
Why are Obsessions used as a proxy for addiction? Addicts generally use multiple drugs if they can afford it, since it's a compulsion, rather than a preference, which Obsessions seem to model, as net Intoxicant usage doesn't increase. I feel like it'd be more elegant to have net Intoxicant usage be the trigger for negative affects of addiction rather than having an Obsession.

This doesn't seem right either... America wasn't "obsessed" with liquor when Prohibition was implemented- kind of the opposite, in fact, as Temperance had been ongoing for decades. Peak alcohol consumption was slightly before the game's start date, so that would mean that the United States should start with a Liquor Obsession but lose it once Temperance gains traction. Unless Prohibition targets minority cultures' Cultural Obsession with Liquor the prerequisite doesn't make much sense.
alcohol.jpg
What has happened in 1835 and then in 1850?
It's like a country took a sobriety pledge and then abandoned it...
 
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Bonus screenshot: a divided China

View attachment 824520

(as always, WIP)

Love the overall dev diary, but I have a question about Japan: how will it be handled? Will it be split like it should be at game start, or will it be ahistorically united?

Edit: why on earth am I getting downvoted for asking a basic question? Has it been answered before? If so, I did not see it.

Anyways, I'm not necessarily opposed to Japan being ahistorically united if the events are handled well, though I would prefer it if they fleshed out the country and split it into its constituent daimyos in a later patch.
 
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What has happened in 1835 and then in 1850?
It's like a country took a sobriety pledge and then abandoned it...
The Second Great Awakening and the beginning of the Temperance movement led to a steep decline in alcohol consumption. Beer consumption rose again as German immigrants started to enter the country, though total alcohol consumption remained at low levels (look at the red line).
 
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Quite the diary. This wasn't just about the Opium Wars, but the whole of the so-called "Century of Humiliation." One thing I wonder is how China's army will be represented. One thing that was very common in Victoria 2 but impossible in real life was taking big chunks out of China's main territory and colonies. It wasn't for lack of trying, the Chinese army was just always able to win or fight to a stalemate.
 
What I don't understand is that opium addiction is theoretically effective for all human, why is it culturally relevant? Is it possible that if the opium ban succeeds, the Chinese people can spontaneously get rid of opium addiction?
 
What I don't understand is that opium addiction is theoretically effective for all human, why is it culturally relevant? Is it possible that if the opium ban succeeds, the Chinese people can spontaneously get rid of opium addiction?

There's definitely cultural variation in the level of acceptance of certain drugs. Look at the spike in US cigarette usage that took place in the 20th century, that's similar to the opium case because its acceptance was pushed by commercial interests. Even today you see distinct national differences in use that do not map onto other global trends:

share-of-adults-who-smoke_v10_850x600.svg


As for the 'End of Addiction' event, I agree it's rather odd to have the country suddenly cured, but I am not sure how they'd do it otherwise.
 
What I don't understand is that opium addiction is theoretically effective for all human, why is it culturally relevant? Is it possible that if the opium ban succeeds, the Chinese people can spontaneously get rid of opium addiction?

It's a cultural fascination.

Think of it like the modern opioid crisis in the US. It is not that everybody takes the drug, it is not that there are no attempts to limit access or help addicts. It is that none of the efforts are succeeding enough to prevent the substance abuse from causing a lot of dead, destruction and misery from overdoses, people doing nothing in a haze and not paying enough attention because the drugs dulled their minds.

Banning opium is but one part of getting a hold on the issue, but it is one that is easiest to depict in a game like Victoria 3. Realistically you'd also need to invest in things like medical programs and other social security systems to make it work.
 
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Will it be possible for other countries to condemn the sale of opium via decisions or events? Apparently, the US wasn't too keen on it.

This has nothing to do with my obsession with playing as the US, honest.

Even the British weren’t too keen on it. The de facto vote to go to war was 271 to 262. The book “Imperial Twilight” goes into great depth on the lead up to the war and how very unlikely it was.
 
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It's a cultural fascination.

Think of it like the modern opioid crisis in the US. It is not that everybody takes the drug, it is not that there are no attempts to limit access or help addicts. It is that none of the efforts are succeeding enough to prevent the substance abuse from causing a lot of dead, destruction and misery from overdoses, people doing nothing in a haze and not paying enough attention because the drugs dulled their minds.

Banning opium is but one part of getting a hold on the issue, but it is one that is easiest to depict in a game like Victoria 3. Realistically you'd also need to invest in things like medical programs and other social security systems to make it work.
I think these mechanisms should be reflected at the governmental and social level, not at the cultural level. Chinese culture has never encouraged opium, and many people even think that not smoking is a good morality. My ancestors are overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and my family banned smoking and drugs in our family from 100 years ago.
 
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I think these mechanisms should be reflected at the governmental and social level, not at the cultural level. Chinese culture has never encouraged opium, and many people even think that not smoking is a good morality. My ancestors are overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and my family banned smoking and drugs in our family from 100 years ago.

Laws are on the governmental level.

And a fascination should not be read as 'cultural encouragement', it should be read as 'a large chunk of the people who are part of this cultural background are interested in something'. Nothing I've seen for example makes it impossible for a culture that follows a religion which forbids fish to get a cultural fascination for fish. Unlikely, sure, but not impossible.

And it's not as cultures faced with something as obviously detrimental as opium addiction don't warn against things like that, but that doesn't mean that such warnings are always followed.
 
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Cheers for the DD Neondt, and the extra info - it's great to see the Opium Wars represented, and it sounds like a very good way to do it :) One thing that might be worth thinking about is making it super-clear in the text surrounding the journal entries about the value for players in starting a diplomatic play. Not railroading gameplay is good, but leaving things so open and up-in-the-air that players need to play through the same thing 3-4 times to work out what they should be doing is also something worth trying to avoid. Noting you may already have excellent guidance for players here - apologies for probably stating the bleeding obvious.

In terms of Taboos, might be nice if at all possible to make it moddable (if it's not already) that they can be attached to other things (cultures, interest groups, maybe even states) and that they could potentially be removed via scripting (again, this could well be something that's possible) - as always, not for a second suggesting moddability should be a priority, and apologies if I'm repeating things others have said.

For a maritime-themed pic, here's a painting of an engagement between British and Chinese forces during the First Opium War - the Chinese, while possessing a large fleet, were decisively outmatched technologically (in the rear-right of the image, there's a steam-powered paddle warship), allowing the British to achieve a number of large victories despite being numerically well outnumbered in terms of ships in theatre.

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To avoid opium war, will it be a valid strategy for Qing dynastic to plant enough opium to conver their need so that they don't need to import any opium and GB won't have any reason to start opium war?
 
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I really really doubt that. Arianism is much more than just "The Son begotten from The Father". Combining Hong's theology with Arianism is like combining the Catholic and LDS churches because both have one guy at the top and both think the Holy Spirit was begotten from the Father and from the Son.
Hong Xiuquan's main purpose is to find more convincing evidence for formulating his own religious rules.From the perspective of Christian narrative, both the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Mormonism can be regarded as part of the second great awakening.
 
To avoid opium war, will it be a valid strategy for Qing dynastic to plant enough opium to conver their need so that they don't need to import any opium and GB won't have any reason to start opium war?
For the opium problem, the Qing Dynasty adopted a strategy similar to "legalization of marijuana" after being forced to lift the ban, but the tax brought by opium was another addictive substance, which almost destroyed the whole Chinese society in the following 100 years.

I don't know how to embody it in the game, but in reality, locally produced opium does turn imports into exports.