I definitely agree with you about mission trees and colonization, but I like the estate changes from Emperor. Do you think they hurt the balance because they give unbalanced modifiers and some countries don't access to them?
Indeed, caricaturing, I would say I would like to interact with my country as it evolves, not play a visual novel.
Alright. But next missions from that chain provide:
I wouldn't call any of those bonuses "very powerful". And they're nothing close to OP.
And then, for those who think missions are somehow “flavour” and “historically accurate”, you could have a general text explaining that the road you took with Brandenburg was historically something France did because it made X and Y choices and had A and B initial conditions, that you managed to replicate because of the way you played the game.
OK, maybe not in home node in this case, but you still can have trade companies in Eastern Europe, Africa, and everywhere else besides Western Europe and colonial regions. Trade companies have an investment that add 10% to all trade value produced in node, massively boosting trade income (and production income for owned provinces), and -20% saves you 200 ducats per such investment. Another investment is the one which adds trade power, allowing you to obtain merchant with smaller number of provinces. So this modifier is quite powerful.
You're overlooking that, by the point where you're getting these rewards, and can start dropping trade company investments everywhere, ducats really shouldn't be a limiting factor anymore.
just look at Prussia, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland - you can easilly move your capital between western and eastern Europe. After moving capital to the east with German culture you can make HRE provinces into states but French or English into TCs and make home node in the Channel.
Sure, but as France you do start with access to the channel. And, sure, if you're not setting up trade companies everywhere and colonising everything, then you're not going to get as much money, but you're also not doing the things that are why you'd want those silly amounts of money either. And if you aren't expanding so much, then it's not possible to build as many trade company investments, so the discount on them isn't as good either.
And you have the Claim throne mechanic for that. All you need is a dynastic link, a ruler dying at an inopportune time and higher prestige. If you are willing to disinherit aggressively/strategically, with a bit of luck you could force any Christian monarchy into a PU. If we don't take into account AE gain and the coalition that would inevitably form (which could be there even with mission generated PU claims, see for example the England PUing France noobtrap which results in one in an instant if you don't put your diplomats to work from the start of the war since they've jacked up AE gain for enforcing unions), I'd say it'd possible to PU nearly all of the Christian monarchies just by aggressive use of this mechanic.
I'd say ability to "click" mission and enable its outcome exactly at the moment when it's advantageous for you is always a magic (e.g. it's a common tactic in MP to complete missions that provide military bonuses, and then stack them all at the beginning of important war). But ability to claim the throne whenever you like sounds egregious.
Indeed, and I think the “subjugation” casus belli only applies to “lost” PUs in the rest of the game.
It can also be granted by estate agendas, e.g. by Tribes
