What is the most fun way to play the game?

[Hollow]

I'm new to this and not active in the community, so I know nothing about the meta or memes. Do people usually choose the preset starts, choose specific kingdoms, or make their own character?

[起风了]

It is recommended to play a small country for the first time. If it is a big country, many aspects will affect the game experience

[Darderus]

Originally posted by Hollow:

I'm new to this and not active in the community, so I know nothing about the meta or memes. Do people usually choose the preset starts, choose specific kingdoms, or make their own character?

Murchad in Ireland is very cozy and fun. Conquer it all, become king and chill

[Can'tTouchThis]

With mods.

[Vuyek]

Fire up CK2 is the most fun you can have in this game

[snuggleform]

Murchad or Emir (1066 rags to riches) are fun because they start small but powerful in relatively isolated areas that you can expand quickly and independently.

If you want to play as a vassal, either Matilda or the Bohemian Prince are pretty easy to play as you hide under the Holy Roman Emperor while scheming and building up your strength. Those are also under the rags to riches.

A lot of people like to play as viking raiders, if you have the northern lords dlc then try Haesteinn one of the great explorers in 867. You have to murder your rival immediately but if you can get past that then the world is his oyster.

If you want EZ mode play as the byzantine empire since they start with primogeniture (lol).

[Count D'Cinamon]

people have their own version of fun with the game. There are people like me who enjoy a bit of roleplaying by not abusing the game logic too much and not min max everything (killing or getting rid of all the heir except for the primary one to ensure a stable transition, etc). and instead, only act based of how the character should be based on their trait.

There are people thats opposite of that and will do anything in their power to regain full control of everything and min max every stats possible.

Starting from the bottom as a county can provide a stable progression for you to aim for and allow you to shape the way your dynasty and territory would be more carefully,

while playing as a big emperor or king at the start can provide for a pretty interesting challenge sometimes, with you having to gain control of both in and out of your realm with whatever starter stuff you got going on.

Playing as notable preset character could be fun and it does offer some limited early game scripted event, but playing as literally anyone or even your custom ruler can also be interesting since your dynasty would change drastically from each play thru anyway.

and of course, you can also embrace the chaos, try your best to push the game to be as ridiculous or as meme worthy as it would allow. made your own harem religion, turn family tree into a family circle and see how inbred you can make things, assassinate every single dynasty member if your rival and wipe their legacy of the earth, and a lot more.

[Hollow]

Originally posted by D'Cinamon:

people have their own version of fun with the game. There are people like me who enjoy a bit of roleplaying by not abusing the game logic too much and not min max everything (killing or getting rid of all the heir except for the primary one to ensure a stable transition, etc). and instead, only act based of how the character should be based on their trait.

There are people thats opposite of that and will do anything in their power to regain full control of everything and min max every stats possible.

Starting from the bottom as a county can provide a stable progression for you to aim for and allow you to shape the way your dynasty and territory would be more carefully,

while playing as a big emperor or king at the start can provide for a pretty interesting challenge sometimes, with you having to gain control of both in and out of your realm with whatever starter stuff you got going on.

Playing as notable preset character could be fun and it does offer some limited early game scripted event, but playing as literally anyone or even your custom ruler can also be interesting since your dynasty would change drastically from each play thru anyway.

and of course, you can also embrace the chaos, try your best to push the game to be as ridiculous or as meme worthy as it would allow. made your own harem religion, turn family tree into a family circle and see how inbred you can make things, assassinate every single dynasty member if your rival and wipe their legacy of the earth, and a lot more.

I really do want to start small and work my way, but I don't entirely understand the claiming system against ally and enemy nobles. Like in one Russian game, I just went about conquering everybody, but ended up with a ton of rebellions from everyone due to culture mismatching. Do I have to fabricate claims and prove myself as rightful ruler every time I want to get bigger?

[The Former]

Everyone has their own taste, so it'd be up to you to figure out what yours is. Personally, I like to start as a count, custom character, and try to build out a great dynasty by being the hand behind as many thrones as I can. I don't necessarily aim for empire, although if the opportunity presents itself I don't shy away. I just want my family to thrive.

[snuggleform]

If you have problems with rebellions, you are probably expanding too quickly. The most important thing is to make sure your vassals are all of your culture and faith - this you can accomplish by taking one county at a time since you get to appoint a new vassal there and you always have the option of installing one of your culture and faith. If you try to use duchy level claims you many times wind up vassalizing foreign rulers which will cause rebellions down the line, which is why you should stick to county level claims since you will kick them out and install someone who will be a good vassal to you.

[Count D'Cinamon]

Originally posted by Hollow:

I really do want to start small and work my way, but I don't entirely understand the claiming system against ally and enemy nobles. Like in one Russian game, I just went about conquering everybody, but ended up with a ton of rebellions from everyone due to culture mismatching. Do I have to fabricate claims and prove myself as rightful ruler every time I want to get bigger?

well conquering territory is one thing, ruling over them is another. if you want to stabilize your hard earned territory to last for generations, you need to make sure to integrate them properly to your domain.

- with the new system the update brings for culture and language, now you need to make sure each territory have a high enough cultural acceptance to minimize friction more than ever before. can do that by hybriding your own culture with theirs if you got the DLC, assign your steward to convert each county culture or just increase their acceptance if you got the DLC, and dont forget to convert faith as well if the option available. Learning the language of your new subjects can also help increase their opinion of you. And also, if you got the opportunity, demand your new vassals to convert to your religion as it would help you with opinion in the long run.

- Claims doesnt affect much of the opinion of your new subjects, but rather your title. create or usurp your new subjects liege dejure title so they wont be as upset at the fact that you are their new liege now

- Always expect uprising if you just annexed a big territory with powerful ruler. Sometimes its best not to increase county control immediately on your new subject territory as that only mean that they would be re-armed faster and could potentially start a faction against you. but if they did raise their arm on you, make sure that you under no circumstances let them go out of the jail after you won the war. Do not ransom them, do not execute them, do not throw them in dungeon. You want them to be in your house arrest for as long as possible. This way, they would never be able to start or join a faction, and in most cases their opinion of you will increase overtime if you did the first few points above. And this also ensure that their family wont hate you as much and hopefully gonna start loving you in the future.

[Bermag]

Originally posted by 40-1Can'tTouchThis:

With mods.

Which mods do you recommend? I have looked at workshop and none has really caught my attention. Moste seems to be "remove some limit".

[Townsendvol]

I create my own character and start small usually. Gives you room to grow and typically not as crazy. Problem can be it can take a long time to get to certain things you might want to do or if you pick certain places it is hard to survive.

I also picked a place that my ancestors were from so it gave me some attachment to that place. That seemed to help my immersion.

My advice would be how and wherever you start give yourself the ability to mess up, make mistakes and learn. Reload if you want, load a save. Whatever you need to have fun and learn it. Also I would certainly do the tutorial and watch some YouTube videos to help get your footing.

Biggest thing is play is the way you want, big, small, tall, short whatever just have fun with it. Good luck.

Originally posted by Hollow:

I'm new to this and not active in the community, so I know nothing about the meta or memes. Do people usually choose the preset starts, choose specific kingdoms, or make their own character?

[AlBoulcan]

for me the best way to play the game is, create a character and add your real life characteristics on him. If you are real life married add a wife or even children. Then play the game as it was in real life. For example if you consider your self greedy, do anything in your power to amass gold. Another example if you are in real life content or even humble , act in game as if it was you in personal given the options the game present you ect. Then when your initial character dies and lets say you have your heir been warlike dude, do what you must to prove your warrior spirit and crush your enemies ect.

["Possibly" Shalfoon]

I started at the early date as Wessex. UK is pretty safe except for Vikings.

[Can'tTouchThis]

Originally posted by Bermag:

Originally posted by 40-1Can'tTouchThis:

With mods.

Which mods do you recommend? I have looked at workshop and none has really caught my attention. Moste seems to be "remove some limit".

Most of the overhaul ones aren't fully completed yet and aren't released, you can probably find a way to play them on their discord. They likely won't actually be updated for Royal Court yet. Depends on what you're into, GoA was my top mod for ck2 and will be the same for ck3 (warcraft mod).