Yeah but the thing is, no matter which difficulty level you pick, or what aggressiveness level you set, in 99% (from my personal experience) games Castille will conquer MOST of Portugal; France will go to war with Spain (or Castille or Aragon even worse), Scandinavians will get dragged into Russia, etc. None of these issues are game breakers by themselves, BUT remember, there are some things that are pre set in EU3, for example the way AI countries pick certain ideas etc, so if every game goes too a-historic, dis-balance in one area of Europe in first 200 years can seriously mess up the entire game: Ill give you example: If Portugal disappears (and they always seem to) this means 1/3 of colonizing Potential until 1600s is gone; if France conquers Aragon/Castille, then Spain is not very likely to ever form, which leaves Castille, again, barely colonizing, and this can have huge impact on colonial part of the game. Similar, if Scandinavians gain too much of Russian land, then GH is left barely opposed/unopposed and Scandis gain enough base power to mess HRE completely etc etc etc. And again im not saying EU3 should be a history simulation, just remember that you cant have a truly open ended game unless AI is capable of adjusting itself according to context, which AI in EU3 is not.