u/Oneok-Field

I just lost a 46 minute battle in a pretty pivotal fight. The AI preemptively declared a decisive defeat as the enemy has both reinforcements and 3x the numbers at 4800 strong. Little did they know: I had 300 elephants in my trunk.

After 46 minutes of herding cats (Rather, Tigers. Which hardly listen to my instructions as it seems). It came down to Mulu at 10% health and 40 cat herders. Up against us was 112 bowmen and another 56 elite spearmen. This whole time the little morale meter was only 10% in my favor.

I valiantly micro'd the enemy until my tigers ate their faces only to be left with....no victory screen.

I searched across the whole map for a good five minutes, I couldn't find a single breathing sole except an enemy controlled tower.

Finally, out of desperation and boredom, I figured I'd cap the tower. Tragically, the little deployable tower slaughtered Mulu as he approached, but the herders made it up and capped it. I was sure it was bugged at this point as it still didn't give the victory screen.

And then ... 114 fresh elite spearmen appear right in front of my troops and wipe out my remaining petty 30 men. They literally appeared out of thin air right in front of me. There was no tree cover or anything. They sadly put an end to the battle, so naturally I save scummed back 20 turns and executed their whole family.

Is this a bug or did I just get my ankles broken by the AI?

TL;DR: Can diplomacy / being a beloved leader hold up in endgame or is the deck stacked against you once you become Emperor?

I'll give an example, Liu Jin was forced by someone else to only have Hulao Pass as his remaining territory. Nothing else, no actual settlements and no form of income. Later, I owned both Luoyang and Xuchang. This essentially means he's sandwiched between my two locations.

I, being a benevolent lord, let him keep his Gate. (It helped that the trade agreement between us was worth 1k gold so it made more sense to keep him around.)

Thus it went for 20 years, my one ally and I holding down the north. I'd defend him from all threats foreign and internal, he gave me 1000/turn gold from a trade agreement. Our relations were maxed out.

Until I claimed one of the seats of the Three Kingdoms and became emperor. His attitude went sour and within one year he declared war on me.

Me.

With 300k gold, pretty much all land north of the Yangtze river. He declared war on ME with his one pitiful Gate.

Okay, maybe I can buy him out or give him some property, but no, even just a peace deal was raging over -100.

Now I'm being intentionally dramatic here, but my question is serious. Can diplomacy hold up in endgame or is the deck stacked against you once you become Emperor?

I'm a young manager in a white collar tech role. My team has been on a bit of a hiring spree as we continue to grow and I've held numerous virtual interviews the past couple of months.

Just about all of these interviews I've been less than impressed with that applicant's professionalism and I'm starting to wonder if it's me that's the issue.

1. Maybe 90%+ of applicants don't dress up for the interview. My expectation isnt that high, maybe just a button down shirt or polo. But typically it's just a tshirt or a hoodie they have on. It's very odd for me to be on any professional video call with someone wearing such casual attire, let alone when it's for a first impression.

2. Maybe 30% of the time the applicants have technical issues (microphone or camera). I know tech issues happen but I feel like they should be figuring that out before the call. "Oh my camera isn't working". Or having to spend the first 5 minutes figuring out how to get their mic to work.

3. A lack of gratitude. I don't need nor want them to kiss ass. But for the last role I hired, only ONE person said just a simple "thank you for your time". And guess who got the job? Note, i'm offering them my gratitude myself. I always close out the call acknowledging their busy schedules and thanking them for joining us today, and instead of hearing that gratitude returned it's just "yeah, of course"

Am I just in an old school mindset? Should I lower my expectations on professionalism?

Most of these individuals are young millennials or Gen Z. I'd love to blame cultural / age differences but thats the age group I myself am in. And I've never joined an interview without ensuring I'm appropriately dressed, that I've double checked my technology is working, and making sure I thank them for their time. Hell I do those things for any professional call, not just an interview.

Here is a challenge for you: can you name the theme of the last 3 Reliquaries?

We need some actually themed content. The Reliquaries as they exist today are just a hotchpotch of unrelated and leftover items

I'm struggling to decide between DW Empires, ROTK, and TW3K and could use some guidance from the community.

I'm looking for a game where politics, diplomacy, and intrigue matter as much as warfare. I just beat the tutorial of RoTK 11 and the game seems amazing, love the art style and mechanics, but from what I've gathered it seems a little light on the politics.

What I'm looking for:

1. Diplomacy, politics, grand schemes
2. Historical accuracy
3. Conquest

What I don't necessarily care for:

1. Role playing / free officer
2. Grand battles / micro strategy

Honestly TW3K sounds ideal but I'm worried I'd be doing the game a disservice if I just "auto resolved" every battle, as I'm not interested in the Grand battles.

Every area is unique and just beautifully crafted. The edition of pathfinder and fishing is such a great compliment to enjoy it all.

That's all, bravo.