Wasting my time?

[stern]

Imagine even taking seriously the information that the game gives you, it say that a certain trade route has negative revenue, you start it and maintain it, then suddenly it is your most profitable trade route.

 

[Bisonmask]

Good advice above that has helped me too.

But I do agree with the OPs issues about lack of feedback. There should definitely be, at the very least, some events arising that give you hints as to why your country is failing, rather than just letting you fail and not know why.

This is a game after all that is meant to be pleasant entertainment, not a form of torture.

Imagine playing a country like Persia or Russia those events would make midgame a hellscape of closing events telling you about things you're doing on purpose


Yo OP, it's good that you asked here instead of quitting, a lot of this game is figuring that stuff out by pausing and sorting through windows or asking people who already figured it out

While you're new I'd strongly suggest pausing any time you see a red alert (shortage, low market access, etc.) and making sure you understand why the alert is there and whether or not you're fine with it before unpausing. Good luck in your future games