Total War: THREE KINGDOMS In-Engine Trailer - Reveals plans for non-historical c

[Gusington]

From 'explosive something' to flaming pigs...in two posts.

[SirAndrewD]

From 'explosive something' to flaming pigs...in two posts.

It's a team effort.

[Sir Slash]

You HAVE to move fast at the Grogs. Year of the Pig Flaming Pigs I could see in a trebuchet. Call it a, 'Bacon Bombardment'.  :dreamer:

[Toonces]

Sorry to derail the discussion, but has anyone ever actually read the books?

I downloaded them on my Kindle and they are...challenging.  I'm wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze, if you know what I mean.

[SirAndrewD]

Sorry to derail the discussion, but has anyone ever actually read the books?

You actually did accomplish that by going on topic!

But yes.  Surprisingly I'm not a total drunken heathen and have the benefits of classical education. 

When I was doing my history undergrad I chose China as  my eastern focus.  We read them as part of my first round of classes on Imperial China. 

I don't remember a ton about them because as you say, they were dense.  Not quite as dense as a few Russian texts I had to dig through, but I didn't quite end up enjoying the experience. 

We had options to write a 50 page take home based on them and their cultural impact in China.  I chose the second topic about the treasure fleets of Zheng He and the flirtation with non-isolationism. 

[Toonces]

So are you saying they're worth reading after I finish The Hobbit, or that I should give them a pass?

[SirAndrewD]

So are you saying they're worth reading after I finish The Hobbit, or that I should give them a pass?

As a non-historical document about a historical event, and if you're interested in understanding it in the greater cultural narrative of Chinese history, yes, they're worth reading. 

As a follow up to the Hobbit, no, I couldn't at ALL recommend it.   I powered through it because it was assigned to me to do so.  Kind of like The Domostroy.   I get why it's an important piece of Chinese culture, I just personally didn't find it to be my cup of tea. 

This is why I harbor a touch of a bias against the game.

[W8taminute]

Sorry to derail the discussion, but has anyone ever actually read the books?

I downloaded them on my Kindle and they are...challenging.  I'm wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze, if you know what I mean.

I started reading RTK a long time ago.  It's a huge book on the same level as War and Peace.  But I loved it a lot.  Never did finish reading it though and I should pick it up someday. 

[jomni]

Off topic (again). I recommend Tale of Heike too for classical Japanese stuff (before Sengoku era). I haven't finished it as well like RTK.

[SirAndrewD]

Off topic (again). I recommend Tale of Heike too for classical Japanese stuff (before Sengoku era). I haven't finished it as well like RTK.

I'll second that. 

Honestly, I just found most Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese material to be a lot more interesting than Chinese. 

This was from taking a lot of classes and doing a lot of scholarly work in the era. 

I think it's that China is just so big.  It's not easily compressed into a study the way that is attempted even in college.   I mean, I took three quarters of Chinese history with a fourth and fifth in China/Vietnam and China/Korea relations.   

I still don't think I got the entire gist of it.  And that's with a very good professor, who was Chinese, and a good friend and mentor.   

There's just so much of it, it almost has to be your entire area of concentration and study.  It's too rich.

[Toonces]

^ I get it.  It's a big country? kingdom? with an awful lot of history behind it.  I can see what it would be hard to wrap your arms around it.

I read War and Peace, so the length doesn't necessarily scare me.  But I don't know much (read: anything) about Chinese history.  I thought reading the story that is the game's namesake would be a fun project.  But, if it's not a good story, I don't want to waste my time.

Put another way: I read War and Peace because I'd heard so much about it as this huge insurmountable story, but a good one.  I wanted to know for myself what the hype was all about, so I tackled it.  I was totally underwhelmed.  I can say with pride, "yeah, I read it" but from a pain/value perspective I'm not...well, I don't regret it.  I guess I'm glad I did it, but I have no desire to do it again. 

I guess I'm trying to gauge where Three Kingdoms falls on this scale.  I read a bit, maybe 50 pages.  It's not super difficult reading but I didn't find it necessarily entertaining.  I hate to get 500 pages in and then do the sunk costs thing I did with Don Quixote.  I could have bailed halfway through that book and had someone just tell me how it ended and I don't think I would have been any worse off.

[SirAndrewD]

I found the Romance of the Three Kingdoms drier than War and Peace. 

And yeah, War and Peace is pretty dry.

As a novel and piece of entertainment it's very very weak.  As a historical piece as a large and important piece of Chinese culture it's important. 

If you're deeply into Eastern history and culture, and doing a study of their traditions and especially the works that contribute to the Chinese identity, it's a must read. 

If you want to be entertained and are approaching it as a work of historical fiction and a novel, which it is, yeah, it's not got a lot of value.  Mileage may vary, but I found nothing about it particularly entertaining, engaging or enjoyable.

[SirAndrewD]

Sorry.  I got way too serious for a bit.   Gus sniffs farts.

[Gusington]

Someone ask for a hobbit?

There has to be some kind of ROTK reader that is designed to help Westerners get through it.

Ironically this part of the thread has made me interested in the game!

[Toonces]

Thanks SirAndrewD.  That's exactly the kind of info I am looking for.