Well I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the changes, even though saying it's save game compatible is a real stretch, as many have pointed out. I went from earning almost 150k to -60k per turn after patching. I had to ditch nearly all my fleets, managed to keep about 2 stacks in america and maybe 3 stacks in India and maybe 6 stacks in Europe. The first turn Spain and Marathas declare war on me, I've been trading with them for the entire campaign. Quebec declared too. It was basically impossible to continue without retreating from an entire theater or something on that scale.

Starting a new campaign, however, works very well I think. Lots of wars very early but the alliances seem to hold, I like it so far. I think it's sad that the american factions always seem to join their protectors after at most 10 turns...