I have played a lot of this game, from some of its first months to now. Through it all there have been rough patches, but they've recovered. This last expansion and update shows that the development team has abandoned core values of good game production. There is no balance to these mechanics, there was clearly no testing at all (for quality of design but also for bugs... LOTS of bugs...) and the apology was lack-luster. Paradox has grown, which is amazing for them. But they've chosen to sacrifice quality as they've grown...

I cannot, in good faith, recommend this game for new players without having friends to teach you the broken mechanics and let you mooch the $400+ of DLC in multiplayer games.

I have played a lot of this game, from some of its first months to now. Through it all there have been rough patches, but they've recovered. This last expansion and update shows that the development team has abandoned core values of good game production. There is no balance to these mechanics, there was clearly no testing at all (for quality of design but also for bugs... LOTS of bugs...) and the apology was lack-luster. Paradox has grown, which is amazing for them. But they've chosen to sacrifice quality as they've grown... I cannot, in good faith, recommend this game for new players without having friends to teach you the broken mechanics and let you mooch the $400+ of DLC in multiplayer games.