So, now, the Ottos, Prussia, Ming, Russia, Austria and England all have received specific flavor DLCs or have gotten their playstyle enhanced by new mecanics, sometimes in a pretty subpar way, sometimes quite interestingly.
Meanwhile, France is still the same old France. Despite being the country that gave birth to the idea of absolutism, it ain't that good at it (or, rather, not better than Prussia or Russia). It doesn't get anything special. No special unit, no special governement, no special options. It's just a big country with powerful NI's, like many others. When rights of man was announced, I thought "hey, at least we'll get more stuff for revolutionnary France, though few people play until that date", but no, the DLC was centered on... Prussia (a country that didn't really give two shits about human rights, even though it's poser king pretented to be a nice guy by exchanging letters with Voltaire).
It's pretty sad, because of all the lucky nations, France is, with the Ottomans, the most essential one throughout the whole timeline of EU4. England disappeared from the international scene for a century after losing the HYW. Spain lost its position as a superpower in the late 18th. Muscovy, despite being completely OP in the game, was barely more than a big HRE state in 1444.
France is the defining example of state-building, with a king that slowly got rid of all opposition to his power, both from within (the great nobility) and from outside (the Pope), with an attempt at creating an unified culture, with a single language. Plus it was a military and diplomatic superpower in 1444, in 1515, in 1600, in 1715 and in 1821.
Yet, it doesn't get anything special, except for the French revolutionnary republic that, like pretty much everyone else, I have never seen in game in 400 hours. Playing with France, you should have to deal with the nobility, who opposes the king's attempt at creating a bureaucratic, centralized state. You should have to deal with the religious opposition, be it from the Pope attempting to tell the king what to do, or the various christian groups that opposed absolutism. Yes, I know, all of this is in game already. But France should have something more.
Meanwhile, France is still the same old France. Despite being the country that gave birth to the idea of absolutism, it ain't that good at it (or, rather, not better than Prussia or Russia). It doesn't get anything special. No special unit, no special governement, no special options. It's just a big country with powerful NI's, like many others. When rights of man was announced, I thought "hey, at least we'll get more stuff for revolutionnary France, though few people play until that date", but no, the DLC was centered on... Prussia (a country that didn't really give two shits about human rights, even though it's poser king pretented to be a nice guy by exchanging letters with Voltaire).
It's pretty sad, because of all the lucky nations, France is, with the Ottomans, the most essential one throughout the whole timeline of EU4. England disappeared from the international scene for a century after losing the HYW. Spain lost its position as a superpower in the late 18th. Muscovy, despite being completely OP in the game, was barely more than a big HRE state in 1444.
France is the defining example of state-building, with a king that slowly got rid of all opposition to his power, both from within (the great nobility) and from outside (the Pope), with an attempt at creating an unified culture, with a single language. Plus it was a military and diplomatic superpower in 1444, in 1515, in 1600, in 1715 and in 1821.
Yet, it doesn't get anything special, except for the French revolutionnary republic that, like pretty much everyone else, I have never seen in game in 400 hours. Playing with France, you should have to deal with the nobility, who opposes the king's attempt at creating a bureaucratic, centralized state. You should have to deal with the religious opposition, be it from the Pope attempting to tell the king what to do, or the various christian groups that opposed absolutism. Yes, I know, all of this is in game already. But France should have something more.
