My savegame stopped working properly. Somehow a CK2 file got deleted and it registered it as having modified the game. I verified and reacquired the file, but achievements are disabled now. Very sad. No SPQR for me.
So while playing around briefly in a couple starts, I discovered that starting as William the Conqueror is far easier than the AI seems to imply. I mean seriously, Godwin barely did anything, tried to siege down Normandy instead, got his army chased around the map, and was annihilated. He surrendered after I captured his wife, and left me to deal with Hardrada. I was expecting an epic conflict here, and yet the dude just rolls over and dies. I don't even think I'll continue the save, it was so boring. Maybe I will if I decide I want to unite France and England or something, but at the moment I was just sitting on speed five waiting for English to show up.
On a completely different note, I experienced my first game over today, as Venice. Out of five sons, the eldest died within a month or two in "suspicious circumstances", the next two died of disease, all of my spare sons and nephews got killed off by smallpox, my second-to-last one had no sons because his wife was too old and the Pope was too much of a bitch to let us divorce, and finally my last character (the only remaining grandchild of my first) lived to the ripe old age of 19 before passing from... something. I don't even know. Tell me: what is an interesting time and place to play a Mercant Republic? I'm beginning to think that 867 is too early for them, let alone Charlemagne. On a totally different topic: How might I set up a Merchant Republic somewhere else, like in Britain or Germany or something?