Thoughts on possible flavor/expansion pack for the Indian/East Asian part of the map?

[Saladin87]

Hi guys, I understand that many of us, including myself, are eagerly waiting for content/additions to the various tribal tags in the game, but I also feel there could be interesting additions to the opposite side of the map as well.

There's a lot of history in that part of the world during the game period. I'm Australian but I was born and brought up in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As an example, I still have fond memories of my dad telling me stories about Ashoka the great of the Mauryan Empire. How he conquered the kingdom of Kalinga and felt devastated at the number of humans that were killed in battle. Searching for redemption he found buddhism, accepted it and decided to establish a rule of peace and tolerance in his empire. He rejected conquest by violence and focused all his efforts to the inward development and perfection of his empire. For example, he built many roads throughout the empire to connect important trade routes and ordered the building of wells, planting trees for shade alongside the roads for welfare of travellers. Some of those infrastructure still exist to this day. Checkout the link below if you wish to know more.

Who was Ashoka?

Upset with his violent conquests that killed hundreds of thousands, the Indian king Ashoka embraced Buddhism and treated his subjects humanely.

www.nationalgeographic.com

I think this type of stories / legends can make for some interesting settings for tall play. I guess I'm just curious to know if the community would find some interest in such additions. What are your thoughts.

 

[olivenkranz]

Ashoka was born in the year the game starts afaik. So he should be in the game imo. He should also get a bloodlien (maybe not from birth though).
It'd be interesting I think.

 

[Saladin87]

Ashoka was born in the year the game starts afaik. So he should be in the game imo. He should also get a bloodlien (maybe not from birth though).
It'd be interesting I think.

Exactly my thoughts, that would be awesome. If a trade rework is coming up at some point, adding a bit of spice to the elephant, silk and incense hub of the world would be very welcome.

 

[ArchaeoFish18]

Central/South Asian history and archaeology in this period is really incredible. Even without extending the map (performance issues are probably significant, given how many pops there would be in China), there could be some amazing dynamics with the Silk road trade, and perhaps Qin China as an off-map power.

I really hope these areas get attention in a future DLC, ideally with trade. If I were the game director, I would match diplomacy expansion with a tribal rework and a DLC for tribal Europe, and a trade rework with Central Asia (missions for Bactria, Parthia, Maurya, Yuezhi--building towards an early Kushan Empire etc.) Somewhere in there I would breathe some life into the Steppes, making it the highway of connectivity that it was at the time.

 

[Shogun96]

Tbh I don't care that much about India in this period, but as long as they keep up the good patches and they provide good content for most nations I would probably buy an Indian Content Pack anyways.

 

[Tidster]

I support this! I do think it would be tricky to balance. I have long thought it unfortunate that most Buddhist nations get wiped out regularly and followers of the religion get assimilated away.

Bactria has interesting events based on historical events that allow for user choices that are quite interesting. Similar choices for Indian nations would definitely fit the bill. Some sort of pacifist mechanic sounds like it might be an interesting addition and fun for players that like to play tall.

The reason I mentioned balance is, from the perspective of a player of a Macedonian successor state, having Maurya as gigantic blob makes a more viable challenge after asserting dominance over the other successor states. A fragmented subcontinent makes for easy pickings, which is a bit of a letdown... which leads to the tangent that the Scythian nomads are quite gimped and unable to provide a real threat to the Hellenic frontier.