Balancing Issues:

[Slaists]

With the new changes Spain needs an overhaul!

Well, not really. Spain did grow weaker in this time period and it does not make much sense to hold on to those isolated provinces in Europe (Netherlands, Northern Italy, etc.). So, a player should be ready to do some sacrifices and consolidate early on as Spain.

On a different token, Spain is missing the whole South American theater (and revenue from it) in the game...

[Fisherking]

Well, not really. Spain did grow weaker in this time period and it does not make much sense to hold on to those isolated provinces in Europe (Netherlands, Northern Italy, etc.). So, a player should be ready to do some sacrifices and consolidate early on as Spain.

On a different token, Spain is missing the whole South American theater (and revenue from it) in the game...

Those regions have to do with victory conditions.

If you divest your self of required regions you still loose.

If you get rid of them you also cut income of which you have too little to start with.

So the idea is to fulfill the victory conditions, other wise what is the point.

Spain has been impacted too seriously by the changes and it was on a very slim margin before.

The loss of her second fleet in the Caribbean is a serious blow. The values of starting regions is reduced. Trade income is reduced. The value of improvements is reduced. Tax income is reduced.

The cost of recruiting troops and ships is increased. The upkeep is increased.

Every neighboring faction will declare war by turn two.

Obviously all the beta testers were off playing Prussia and no one was paying any attention to what they did to this already weak faction.

Because the changes have caused more unbalancing than they seem to have fixed, here are a couple of things to look at.

Recruitment and upkeep should become faction based.

Some factions need some sort of economic bonuses, it would appear. Building costs and returns need not all be equal.

[anweRU]

Some nations should be more difficult than others. Spain started its long decline in this period, as did the Ottoman empire. The question is how much more difficult.

Recommendation for balancing:
The AI's priorities are messed up. The AI is recruiting too many units early on, and neglecting economic development, as in METW2. In my current GB game (still turn 31, haven't had a chance to play today), France has a much larger navy than mine, and decent garrisons in all of its North American territories. But it is losing, because it can't maintain its empire. It hasn't even been able to repair a cotton weaver's cottage in Flanders for the last 10 turns...

The current situation is at least better than pre-1.2, when the AI only recruited in its home theater. Now there are some French troops for me to fight in North America...

[Mr Frost]

In Prestige Campaigns , the "must have or you lose no matter what" provinces need to be changed to "get bonus prestige if you own these" .
It would probably fix some of the more lunatic {and immerstion destroying} A.I. behaviour {like constantly trying to buy a certain province , especially for insultingly and stupidly low offers and the cheesy tatics that can happen end game} but also would very likely help the A.I. to not overstetch at bad moments {desparate to get provinces that in real life they had no hope of keeping anyway} .






The prestige system also need some serious tweaking I believe .