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Chipchat2

Wild-eyed fanatic
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Feb 7, 2002
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People don't like using levies and seek out MAA gameplay at every chance. Perhaps levies should become some sort of currency that regulates MAA.
 
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Yes, they bloat the game and are nothing but cannon fodder. It's deeply stupid as a concept, historically inaccurate and the fact that it's taken so long to fix is lame.
 
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Levies should be of various types. As you can recruit more men at arms, the number of levies decreases.
 
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The devs themselves seem to agree that Levies are useless, since the last update greatly reduced the value of Levy Contribution in feudal contracts.
 
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Split levies up into two groups.
Levies and peasants, the amount directly affected by development, more dev = more levies and peasants.

Levies: Your reserve troops, which can be buffed like MaA, just not as much.
Any losses also slightly lower development of the county they're from.

Peasants: Pretty much everyone able to pick up a weapon, but untrained in the use of it, every loss will significantly lower development.

The AI will not raise peasants unless it's about to lose everything.
It will also be hesitant to use levies, unless it needs the numbers.

If you allow equal martial customs, you get more levies and peasants per level of development, but development loses are tripled
 
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The devs themselves seem to agree that Levies are useless, since the last update greatly reduced the value of Levy Contribution in feudal contracts.
this is a balance concession to make taxes up levies down slightly more annoying, since there was basically no reason to ever not do that previously

several devs have previously expressed a desire to rework levies, but ive also seen it said that metadata shows most players rely on levies, so theyre under the mistaken impression that theyre not completely worthless. when you put a huge noob trap in the videogame and build whole swathes of the game around the assumption its not a noob trap its reasonable to expect it would trap all the noobs lmao
 
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Split levies up into two groups.
Levies and peasants, the amount directly affected by development, more dev = more levies and peasants.

Levies: Your reserve troops, which can be buffed like MaA, just not as much.
Any losses also slightly lower development of the county they're from.

Peasants: Pretty much everyone able to pick up a weapon, but untrained in the use of it, every loss will significantly lower development.

The AI will not raise peasants unless it's about to lose everything.
It will also be hesitant to use levies, unless it needs the numbers.

If you allow equal martial customs, you get more levies and peasants per level of development, but development loses are tripled
And why should the Death of an Levy impact Development Level?
Development Level has nothing to do with the Population, it is the Infrastructure of the County and not the Population.

CK3 needs to add an Population Mechanic.
 
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And why should the Death of an Levy impact Development Level?
Development Level has nothing to do with the Population, it is the Infrastructure of the County and not the Population.

CK3 needs to add an Population Mechanic.

Because they're drawn from the population itself.
Levies are the more replaceable population that have some (informal) training.
With peasants being everyone capable of picking up a weapon.

And if you're also under equal martial custom law.
You draw on female workers and losing female soldiers in a bad battle.
Means fewer women to birth the next generation, so it impacts development even more.
 
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this is a balance concession to make taxes up levies down slightly more annoying, since there was basically no reason to ever not do that previously

several devs have previously expressed a desire to rework levies, but ive also seen it said that metadata shows most players rely on levies, so theyre under the mistaken impression that theyre not completely worthless. when you put a huge noob trap in the videogame and build whole swathes of the game around the assumption its not a noob trap its reasonable to expect it would trap all the noobs lmao
"Most players rely on levies." Really? I'd like to see that data for I haven't seen it yet. The game communicates so clearly the moment you start playing how useless they are and that you're incentivised to move away from them... there is very little you can do to make them better. You cannot station them, you cannot train them like knights...

And people using them is not an excuse. Remove them or alter them and people won't use them anymore.
 
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Yes. Either that or have the system heavily reworked:

-Turning levies into a "manpower resource" with more focus on Men-at-arms.

-Introducing different types of Levies (just like Horse Riders) depending on government types, cultural heritage, etc: rural, urban, coastal militias, among others.

-Levies as light infantry/cavalry/archers opposed to Men-at-arms as heavier troop types, which would mean getting rid of the former MAA types and with Levy quality and composition depending on buildings and holdings (similar to CK2).

-A mix of everything.
 
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People don't like using levies and seek out MAA gameplay at every chance. Perhaps levies should become some sort of currency that regulates MAA.
Whatever they do, the devs have to face the fact that Levies not only ruin the warfare system but also completely ruins the internal politics and faction system. The first time AI rebels because they think their levies aren't deadweight is funny. Unfortunately that's always what happens.

Turning levies into what replenishes MaAs is novel. Going back to the way CK2 did things (all troops, including levies, are professionals of varying types) would be fine too. Straight up buffing levies to always be a threat and blunt the effects of stationing MaAs as well as nerfing the extra MaA traditions would be a more comprehensive change. Either way, anything to make levies relevant beyond your first few wars as a county level ruler would send ripples across the game and make most systems work better.
 
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No, but levies can be more useful. Just look at horde riders. Cultural era progression should mildly buff levies.
Eh..

Another levy thread where the discourse avoids any mention of how they affect the faction system?

Le sigh

To be fair, it's hard to remember it even exists.
I must have used it maybe twice in my life, and I didn't use the system itself, just create a faction to use it as CB and instantly hit press demand to beat your liege.

Vassals never really form or are relevant in factions they form, at most it's just a bunch of annoying peasant revolts that manage to be even weaker than everything else in the map.
 
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Another levy thread where the discourse avoids any mention of how they affect the faction system?

Le sigh
I think it's a sign of just how bad the levies are that they ruin other systems, what do you mean Faction power is based on the relative size of the factions levies and yours? Why are Factions calculated by how much levies you and they have when levies are completely useless in warfare, yet another reason of how they bloat the game and are nothing but a burden.
 
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