Understanding what Pops are is a very important part of getting to grips with Victoria 3. Pops is short for Population, and they are a stratified representation of the people who live in your country.
A Pop is categorized by their Profession, Culture, Religion, and Workplace, and each unique combination of these four variables is its own Pop. A Pop’s size is simply the number of people who fit all four specific variables.
Note: For example, Catholic Welsh Peasants who work on a Rye Farm would form one Pop, but Protestant Welsh Peasants who work on a Rye Farm would be a separate one.
Pops are your country’s lifeblood – they staff your buildings, form your armies, and pay your taxes. They also vote or at least have the potential to be politically active. Depending on your laws, the goods you have access to, and your economic stability, individuals may end up joining Interest Groups, with certain groups being more attractive to certain Pops. These are politically motivated movements that have varying levels of clout – they can be used to your advantage to pass laws that you’re in favor of, or they can prove to be a hindrance, stopping you from doing what you like or even revolting at points.
Understanding Goods
While Pops are the lifeblood of a nation, Goods keep the blood pumping. Goods have three general uses:
Goods can be used inbuildings to create or supply the production of different goods. For example, Iron is used to make Tools.
Goods are used by Pops to satisfy their wants and needs. For example, Grain is used to feed people, and Liquor is used to satisfy a desire for substances.
Goods can also be traded on the market for profit.
Keeping a healthy balance of Goods is important. If you don’t have enough of a certain type of Goods, you may:
Not be able to fully supply a building, meaning its output won’t be sufficient enough to keep it in balance. This leads to lower wages, fewer employees, and knock-on effects in the supply chain.
Not be able to supply Goods to Pops, lowering their standard of living. Pops with an insufficient standard of living may lead to turmoil.
Not be able to secure profitable export trade routes.Of course, oversupply can also be an issue – though less of an issue than undersupply. Having too much of a Good means its market price will plummet, which may lead to certain buildings not being able to turn a profit. This leads to a lower balance and lower wages.
Always Exploit Natural Resources
Your nation’s natural resources are incredibly important – they will be crucial to your economy for much of the game if you go heavy on trade, and the more resources you have, the better you’ll be able to supply your own luxury goods construction lines.
Even before you have a stable, self-maintaining economy, setting your resource buildings to upgrade automatically is a good way to ensure a steady income of raw goods. This is especially true of widely used goods, such as Wood, Coal, Iron, and Grain.
Warning: Be careful that you don’t oversupply, though, as prices will plummet!
Tip: Pumping lots of money into raw goods production is a great way to earn prestige by becoming one of the world leaders in the good’s production!
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