The more I think about it, the more this problem seems like it is exclusively caused by how consumer friendly Paradox is.
This.
I also think that the preponderance of "complaining" on this board isn't representative of how the total population of players feel. Like many players, I don't post too often. I am too busy enjoying the game. I think people have a right to complain, but some are not all that constructive...
CS isn't perfect but it is the best dlc, in the best state on release that I have experienced for eu4. It does suit my preferred playstyle. I like to play in 'pulses'. Where I gain territory and then work to consolidate the gains for a while before grabbing more land . It feels more realistic too. I am a huge fan of the increased coring cost. This dlc also forces one to think even more about crippling the enemy through wars (like making them release countries) rather than just using wars for taking huge swaths of territory for one's own self.
Of course, I have my own wishlist of improvements:
1) Development costs scale up a bit too fast. One of the problems is that development of a province in one area (say base tax) increases the future development costs in another area (say military). I think it would be better to separate the increase of costs by each of the 3 types of mp. For example, if you have a province where the development cost is 80/80/80 and you spend 80 adm points to raise base tax, it shouldn't raise the cost to raise military development (that should still stays at 80).
2) Make orthodox less weak (at least do something about the rarity of patriarchy events)
3) Improve the naval system (for example--too many all or nothing battles where an entire fleet is sunk that doesn't represent naval combat of the time). This has been a problem for a while and probably won't be addressed until another dlc. But, I keep hoping....
