Why is the Portuguese Crown event so rare?

[CIS]

The Portuguese Crown event is supposed to reflect the inheritance of Portugal under Spain following a succession crisis, which resulted in the unification of Iberia under Spanish rule. This is similar to the Iberian Wedding event, however is it disproportionately much rarer; the Iberian Wedding has a MTTH of 120 months, whereas the Portuguese Crown has a MTTH of 2000 months and requires Portugal to be heirless or in a regency. As 2000 months translates to about 166 years, which is impossible for a regency, this event is incredibly rare. Especially if you compare it to all of the other historical Spanish / Castilian events.

In terms of game play, the only feasible way of gaining control of Portugal is through war. Which considering how Portugal is allied to England (a huge threat) and they are a natural choice of ally, feels really counter-intuitive. The Golden Century does give you the Restoration of the Union CB, however I still don't think it accurately represents the Portuguese Succession Crisis.

Might I suggest making the event MTTH of 200 months instead of 2000? That seems a lot more natural and feasible, and would more accurately represent the Iberian Union rather than a sudden declaration of war against an ally.

 

[PyroMegaManZ]

I think it is meant to be incredibly rare. If it wasn't really rare then it would be the equivalent of Spain receiving a PU for free over a massive colonial empire and it is really hard for even the AI to lose PUs (especially with how much more powerful than Portugal they usually are).

 

[CIS]

That's completely historical though. When the Iberian Union was formed Spain just didn't get Portugal, it got all of Portugal's colonies as well.
Such a PU in game would be completely historical and consistent with the other events that affected Spain. It's just odd to see Spain get a high chance of the Iberian Wedding, Torquemada, the Catalan revolts, the Italian Wars and comuneros but not inheriting Portugal.

Not to mention that there's a series of events that fire if you do have control of Portuguese land (again, historical reference) which you probably won't see unless you declare war on Portugal and annex them directly. Which again, doesn't feel like a natural progression.

If you're worried about Spain becoming too powerful the Portuguese revolts would be a way of limiting it's power. The Iberian Union was eventually brought to an end following the Portuguese Restoration war and the treaty of Lisbon of 1668 (but not to the Spanish Empire, which lasted until 1976). In game this would be represented by high unrest in provinces with Portuguese culture after 1640.