Ok, before you read the part in the title where it says EU3 and you start your comment with "the population system in EU3 was not as good as some people say", hear me out. I was just using it as a comparison.
If you're not committed to a full Victoria-style pop system, consider the potential benefits of a simple numerical population system. It's not the best mechanic, but it has certain advantages over other alternatives in current generation Paradox games:
If you're not committed to a full Victoria-style pop system, consider the potential benefits of a simple numerical population system. It's not the best mechanic, but it has certain advantages over other alternatives in current generation Paradox games:
- It's not as abstract as development in EU4 or how built up your holding is in CK2. With population you can quite easily see how people are actually living in a province, which should have a direct effect on things like manpower/levy and tax income. Do note that population=/=development, a province with high population can still be less productive. A giant sprawling slum is certainly not as rich as a developed, working city. Besides, it would really put an end to the "30k rebels rise up from a colony" issue of EU4.
- It would solve the issue of minorities. One usual complaint about the culture and religion system in EU4 and CK2 is how every province has exactly one culture and one religion, and no mechanic to depict minority religions and cultures. With a numerical population system you could just have a percentages-based culture/religion system.
- It could nicely depict development and population growth. The High Middle Ages, the heart of CK2's timeline, was the golden age of progress and growth between the gloomy Dark Ages and the later Black Death. Agricultural technology advanced and with temperate climates brought with it major population growth. Similarly in EU4 the centre of European population slowly began to shift towards the rapidly urbanizing cities of the west.
- It would act as a clear indicator of devastation. Diseases in CK2 sap the levy and tax income of your holdings, but when the disease passes, everything returns to normal. Depopulation might occur but after it's gone there's no lasting impact on the province. With a numerical population system a plague could absolutely devastate an area's population, having a huge impact on the province. Same goes with sieges and EU4-style devastation.
- Migration could be depicted less abstractly. This I came up with while thinking about modeling the German eastwards settlement (Ostsiedlung) in CK2, but I came to the conclusion that with current game mechanics there simply isn't any way to do it. I mean, what, should a building magically appear in your holding because people moved to the province? A numerical population system would solve this issue as well, and it would also make cultural change through migration a thing when coupled with the percentual cultures idea.
