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Welcome back to our weekly series of development diaries about Europa Universalis. This time we’ll talk about four new features that will be part of the next expansion.

Free Cities of the Holy Roman Empire
Now the Emperor can designate up to seven free cities in the empire. A free city is a one province minor with a minimum of 10 development.

Free cities provide Imperial Authority to the emperor, as well as manpower and income. A Free City also have some rather nice bonuses to their development.

If a Free City gains another province or leave the HRE. they lose the free city status. And a Free City is always a type of Republic, so countries that aren't a Republic will become one upon accepting Free City status.

A Free City is always protected by the Emperor if attacked, so be careful when expanding in the HRE. A Free City can never be the subject of another nation.

Of course, as the ruler of a OPM, you can always refuse the offer of becoming a free city, and the emperor can spend some Imperial Authority to revoke a cities rights.

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Remove Electorate
The next expansion lets you get even more control over your electors. If your religion is now official in the Empire, you can now spend IA to remove the Electorate status of your disloyal Electors.

Pause Westernisation
Sometimes while you are westernising, you end up where you need to use your power for something else, like boosting stability, but currently you can’t. Now we have added the option to pause westernisation. You’ll still get the unrest from westernising, but there will be no events spawning while westernisation is paused. Most importantly though is the fact that your power is accumulating again instead of contributing to the westernisation process.

Retire Advisor
Have you ever sat there with a lot of money, but cursing the options you for advisors. In the next expansion, you can now spend the amount of money it would cost to hire an advisor, and permanently retire him. Within a month, if there is available space in your pool of advisors, you will get a random new one in the same category. Maybe you get the +discipline one you wanted..


Next week we’ll focus on Luther and Buddha.
 
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I wonder what's the biggest empire you could make while staying a Free Imperial City. And before people start making fun of what I'm saying (Free Cities being forced to stay OPMs), by empire I mean: overlord + vassals.
Keeping a lid on liberty desire seems like quite a challenge.
Heard it here first. Imperial city WC is the new challenge.
 
Free cities provide Imperial Authority to the emperor, as well as manpower and income. A Free City also have some rather nice bonuses to their development.
Is this a yearly boost, or a lump sum when you first create a free city (or both)? Either way, sounds like fun.
Edit: Specifically asking about the Imperial Authority, I expect the manpower and income boosts act like normal.

We're adding 3D models as well, likely the 2D ones will only visible on distant zoom levels.
Neat, I was hoping that'd be the case. I'm looking forward to being able to see my country's little forts dotting the landscape, each one a delicate balance between fiscal constraints and military necessity, each providing a comforting, stolid bulwark to all the little peasants living in their shadow.
 
They have a special Free City republic that is always rank 1, they lose that government if they stop being a Free City.

Free Cities cannot be electors.

How about being emperor then? Would be a nice tweak to be able to challenge it or is a city state automatically ruled out of contention/not considered by electors (even the free City's own vassal elector?)
 
That 7 Free cities limit (and the IA gain from them) can surely be modded, no?
 
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Nice addition...the HRE nations will be much more interesting to play!

I wonder if expansion within said HRE will become harder with guaranteed Free Cities...I trust there will be a way ;).
 
Seems Nuremberg knows who to vote for
 
Heard it here first. Imperial city WC is the new challenge.

Given that It was said that a Free City stops being a Free City when it grows to being more than a One province Minor... thats going to be quite tricky with Liberty desire, as everything else has to be ruled by vassals.
 
Just got off a night shift and seen this!

Savoy looking quite thin in parts. A lot of new HRE nations! You swear they reinvent the game every expansion.
Too thin - Turin is not in Savoy's hands. If it's not something like Piedmont in PU with Savoy, it's wrong to begin with. Really, a Piedmont province without Turin on its own is wrong. I am curious to see Italy, but this tiny sliver does not look good.

(But it is a tiny sliver, for now.)
 
Will this have any implications for the Hanseatic League? Hamburg to this day calls itself "Free AND Hanseatic city"... maybe there can be an event at some point that spells the end of the League and turns the remaining provinces into free cities?
 
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