Don't add the "Teutons"

[PalumbusRex]

@Erasmus11585

You have done a lovely job here, with the presenation of some architectural styles from different medieval German principalities. I would therefore change your maintheme in “Split of the Teutons to principalities” instead of "Don`t add the “Teutons”, that sounds much better and more based to the matter.

Thank you. My title was provocative in order to gather attention
Rather than principalities, I aimed at dividing Teutonic lands on a cultural basis. While some of the obtained civilisations match historical principalities, most don’t - and it is fortunate as there were countless Teutonic principalities within the empire!

@Erasmus11585

Your explanations remind me at the Age of Chivalry Hegemony Mod for a Age of Empires 2. Do you know him? If not, you should definitely look at him. Your proposed division of the German States into Principalities, is discussed there and also handled like this. The mod was created in 2008 and is still being improved, although you can play it for a long time. Your listed states will be introduced there, being the Swiss to be called as Celtic Helvetians, what is wrong, which to Middle age times, they spoke long ago a Alemannic dialect. But otherwise, it is a very good Mod with a well chosen architecture for the individual principalities, individual units and unique technologies.

Yes I know that mod, they did a pretty impressive job despite some weird choice like “Helvetian Celts” (come on guys, we’re no more in Julius Caesar times - it reminds me AoE II Celts’ unique unit Woad Raider, literally a time traveller).
I’ll take a look at the mod again, it may inspire me for further suggestions.

@Erasmus11585

Here in the maingame, i do not think, that the Developers want to subdivide the German States. But for a later Modification of the game, that can come from the Community, that would be thoroughly an option.

That is precisely why I prefer the devs to make a few precise civilisations instead of umbrella ones, and let gaps that could eventually be filled by add-ons or mods.
That said, regarding actual AoE IV scope level, spliting Teutons between Low Germans or Northern Teutons and High Germans or Southern Teutons would be more appropriated.

@Call4thegame

I don’t think the game is supposed to accurately represent all civs. How I prefer to view it is a history inspired game that builds gameplay over historical references. So I think it’s fine if we keep our expectations low in terms of historical realism. After all, the same argument made about the Teutons here works for China or India which are immense cultural regions with lots of diversity of all kinds (ethnic, religious, etc.) and we can’t ask the developers the impossible task to accurately represent all the past and its tremendous complexity.

Given how politicised history is nowadays, I just hope the final product doesn’t end up offending anyone.

I don’t disagree with you but my complain is not only a matter of historical realism, it’s also about the fact that the game is deprivating itself in terms of gameplay and visuals by making umbrella civs.
Regarding China, there was a powerfully centralized Chinese state strongly linked with the Han culture (despite the elite being often foreign), as such it can be included as a civ IMO. This won’t exclude peripheral areas such as Yunnan, Tungusic cultures, etc. Just like adding the French should not exclude principalities which were parts of the French crown but still held much independance, like Burgundians or Normans.