Revamp: My idea for an ACTUAL Expansion

[Emp. Theodosius]

I sometimes post suggestions for DLC on these forums every once and awhile. Unlike most here, I am looking forward to Death or Dishonor because Hungary is one of my favorite nations. But as of right now, I do have some qualms that I want to address/vent about.

Problems with this DLC:
-Does NOT seem like it is worth the $9.99 price tag, even as a Field Marshall Edition owner I feel a little cheated over this.
-Hungary can restore Austria-Hungary, yet AUSTRIA itself cannot!? The Czechs get a focus tree despite being a relatively new power in the area and don't put up a fight against the Germans?! Well, Austria used to be a major power in the area, and would make for an even MORE challenging yet fun scenario.
-I remembered something being mentioned about new mechanics for Axis nations, and that being the focus of this expansion. I hardly find the mechanics announced worthy of being the 'focus'. This seems more like another sandbox DLC like TFV.
-Lack of content outside of the new nations

I do respect the time and effort that goes into each of these new nations, but it feels like the vanilla game is still... remaining vanilla after $25 of expansions that hardly change the game...

NOW, here are my ideas for ACTUAL things that should be focused on for FUTURE expansions!

-NEW DIPLOMATIC OPTIONS! Make it actually unique being in your faction outside of just wars! Make factions actually worth something to each other! Make politics something worthwhile! Make war not always an all or nothing thing!
-New Ideologies! Make new ideologies for governments, even if they might be somewhat dead! Monarchies come to my mind first, but there are others!
-Make inner politics a bit more then just using political power to put someone in office! Add elections and a more flavor to managing your government! (Somewhat like KaiserReich for an example)
-Yes, continue the focus trees, but add more then just them!
-Add different war mechanics and specialized units for different nations, like the BLACKICE Mod!
-Make the A.I. actually try to do things Historically in Historical Mode!
-Extend the timeline! I know ya'll might not be as on board with this one, but a WWI (Outside of mods), Interwar period, and Cold War period would be a ton of fun to play!
-Espionage mechanics! Subvert the people! Stop this nonsense of just using political power and equipment to influence ideologies and rebellions! Make this an actual system!

There's what I got to say. This is what I believe should be focused on in future expansions, unlike the two that we have so far.

 

[virre]

Mate, its 1 year in.

They can't even make subs work. They can't literally after 1 year fix the fact that a naval battle between the entire british navy and 10,000 Naval bomber vs one lone destroyer can last for months.

All they want to do now is throw out national focus trees and sell us.
Nobody knows how many devs they are, but considering it is going so slow I would say not many. 10 would be pushing it.

 

[George Parr]

I think it's a bit early to judge whether the DLC is worth the price-tag, seeing how it isn't quite clear what exactly will be added by it. More detailed information would be needed for that.

I'd also disagree about the bit about Austria. Czechoslovakia had the most powerful military in the region, while Austria and Hungary had the worst due to the treaties following WW1. Czechoslovakia might have been young, but it had a relatively big army and modern equipment for the late 30s, Austria had little and Hungary next to nothing. If there was one nation in the region who could have put up a fight, it's Czechoslovakia. It deciding not to fight has little to do with anything, they were abandoned by all sides. The other nations wouldn't have fared any better.

And quite frankly, if a re-united Austria-Hungary - which never would have happened in the first place - would have tried to regain that territory, it would have ended in desaster for them. Germany wouldn't have offered any help as it wanted everything itself, the Allies would have been against it due to violating the treaties of WW1 (and don't point out that they ignored when Germany did that, Germany was a much more powerful country, a nation you can't force your will on that easily, unlike Austria or Hungary), Romania certainly wouldn't have sided with Hungary in any way and there was no reason for anyone else to help them either. Trying to beat a much stronger army while not having any support is not a good way to win.

 

[Emp. Theodosius]

Mate, its 1 year in.

They can't even make subs work. They can't literally after 1 year fix the fact that a naval battle between the entire british navy and 10,000 Naval bomber vs one lone destroyer can last for months.

All they want to do now is throw out national focus trees and sell us.
Nobody knows how many devs they are, but considering it is going so slow I would say not many. 10 would be pushing it.

This is true. However, I'm not complaining and saying that there should be more DLC, I'm saying that for such a price tag (Look at CKII and EU4, even Stellaris for example) I feel there should just be... more content in the DLC to fill that gap. Every update for EU4 adds SOMETHING new to the game. This game has been updated a ton already due to the a.i. and the bugs, and yet there is hardly and 'new' content outside of focus trees! It seems more like these DLC's are geared towards fixing and adding things that don't change the gameplay outside of the nation that receives them!

I think it's a bit early to judge whether the DLC is worth the price-tag, seeing how it isn't quite clear what exactly will be added by it. More detailed information would be needed for that.

I'd also disagree about the bit about Austria. Czechoslovakia had the most powerful military in the region, while Austria and Hungary had the worst due to the treaties following WW1. Czechoslovakia might have been young, but it had a relatively big army and modern equipment for the late 30s, Austria had little and Hungary next to nothing. If there was one nation in the region who could have put up a fight, it's Czechoslovakia. It deciding not to fight has little to do with anything, they were abandoned by all sides. The other nations wouldn't have fared any better.

And quite frankly, if a re-united Austria-Hungary - which never would have happened in the first place - would have tried to regain that territory, it would have ended in desaster for them. Germany wouldn't have offered any help as it wanted everything itself, the Allies would have been against it due to violating the treaties of WW1 (and don't point out that they ignored when Germany did that, Germany was a much more powerful country, a nation you can't force your will on that easily, unlike Austria or Hungary), Romania certainly wouldn't have sided with Hungary in any way and there was no reason for anyone else to help them either. Trying to beat a much stronger army while not having any support is not a good way to win.

You and I both are arguing from an ahistorical perspective. Look at history. Both Austria and the Czechs, despite the Czechs having a decent military, capitulated WITHOUT A FIGHT. But this is not a historical game. This is a game where, if you are skilled enough, you can attempt a world conquest as freaking Albania or Portugal for instance! And Hungary is able to restore Austria-Hungary! I think the Czech focus tree is a good idea; my opinion is that going the ahistorical route, an Austrian one could be justified further if we 'remove' the limits of history, and would make just as much sense as a Czech one from that perspective. At the very least, I hope we can agree to disagree with my opinion here though.

 

[Askerton]

I have to say that both expansion packs are / will be a disappointment to me. I only tend to play the big five countries Germany / Great Britain / Russia / America / Japan. I may be missing out, but I simply don’t enjoy other countries as much.

What I would like to see is a major overhaul of Naval and Air Combat. I want to feel like I am Karl Dönitz fighting the Battle of the Atlantic, I want to feel like I am Dowding fighting the Battle of Britain. At the moment I simply don’t, it’s far too abstract

 

[rcbricker33]

I understand that everyone has their opinion on this and I try not to weigh in, but I decided to throw my hat in the ring for a second to point out (and hopefully not start an argument) that comparing HOI to any of PDx's other titles is a waste of time. The other games have a couple things going for them that HOI just doesn't.

First, each of the other games is built around a world with underdeveloped knowledge of the rest of the world. the CK franchise and EU franchise each are European specific and rest of the world in general. This allows for a lot of room for new content in each DLC. Even Stellaris exists in a world (galaxy) where they can add as they please because not everything is known.

Second, Each of the other games spans a massive amount of time compared to HOI. This gives more room for scenarios and events to be added via DLC.

HOI is WWII based time frame only. The world is pretty well known and worse the world is much smaller compared to earlier time frames due to technologies. As such, there is little room for "New" knowledge of the world. It was a design decision to get away from events in HOI as it railroaded the game (and everyone complained).

I would like more flavor events around activities in the war (fall of cities, major events) and I would love a WWI start.

Like I said not here to ruffle feathers just want to show a reason why setting expectations or value on HOI DLCs by comparing them to other PDx franchises will usually result in disappointment.

just my 2cp