What concessions do you make to popularity?

[Canute]

As you get bigger in this game it seems you necessarily get less popular. It is too expensive to have trade agreements with small nations since you get nothing for it and you loose kingdom power if you have to attake them.

I tend to do anything that helps me and doesn't reduce my kingdom power. I collect inherited land when I can get it. I very often avoid taking vassals because they reduce your kingdom power when they leave, or even if you give them freedom.


What do you guys do?

[maladominus]

As you get bigger in this game it seems you necessarily get less popular. It is too expensive to have trade agreements with small nations since you get nothing for it and you loose kingdom power if you have to attake them.

I tend to do anything that helps me and doesn't reduce my kingdom power. I collect inherited land when I can get it. I very often avoid taking vassals because they reduce your kingdom power when they leave, or even if you give them freedom.


What do you guys do?

Same as you.

I limit trade agreements with only a few nations.

I do not vassalize nations UNLESS they are big and the vassal tribute will be big. Otherwise, it is not worth it to vassalize small insignificant nations.

[Despot Dobrotitza]

Vassalizing is useful sometimes when it ensures peace with a huge country. In my Nicaea game both Fatimids and Germany offered vassalage and I thought it was worth accepting cuz it ensures they won't be easily bribed and will pay me a ton of money. But I think it is more useful to get not only trade agreements but also pacts of non agression with huge kingdoms. This way, if they attack you, not only do you not lose kingdom power, theirs drops and it is easier to fight back when their population's happiness drops along with their income.

My biggest success in popularity, an approach I highly recommend, is having only one marshal, keeping peace with everyone, not conquering much but developing the crap out of your initial provinces. And then use spies. In a game with Sicily I anexed a lot of provinces without a fight and loss of popularity and claimed only from smaller countries that offered most of their territories so that soon there would be nobody left to hate me there. I believe I only fought for 5 provinces in order to acquire advantages and my population was incredibly happy.

[Da Bomb]

In my current game popularity is nothing to me (GoG). I have at least 10 vassals I believe. They are all my allies because whenever I invoke an alliance they have to. I hate when allies go to peace the second after they go to war. I attack the small countries that I am at war with (there are always a lot) and if the country is 4 or more provinces maybe I demand vassalage. Then get them to attack my enemies and voila! Another ally and vassal. I hope to make every country my vassal. So far I am England and have big ones, like Byzantia, Lithuania, Norway, and many others that are small. I hate Fatimids, which is now number 2 ranked powerful country, but I ACCIDENTALLY GRANTED IT INDEPENDENCE!!! It was retarded, but I'm not their ally anymorew so I'll get it back...