I decided to take a break from PON and give Victoria 2, A house Divided, a try. I tried several different starts, but kept loosing interest. I finally realized the problem was PON.
As a colonial power, I just could not fathom that all you did to colonize an area was to place a national focus there, and send some troops. That was it. I missed the rich colonial system of PON, where you have so many decisions to make, they make sense, and there are so many ways to use them, in combination with military power. I missed the deadly and elusive native forces, which gave me so much trouble in PON. I missed the impressive maps, which invoked the feeling of the hot Sahara, the dense Burmese jungle, the forbidding mountains of Afghanistan. The Victoria map evoked nothing.
The military system of Victoria 2 is so dull and abstract, compared to PON. The troops are blah, devoid of color, and the battles make no sense. I had 50,000 Prussians spent well over a month battling 15, 000 Danes, and needing reinforcements because the Danes kept getting good dice rolls. I missed the huge number of troop types, and the far more detailed combat and movement of PON, not to mention the PON leaders, who have so many more characteristics and depth to them. Supply did not even seem to matter in Victoria 2, any more than the weather did, and both these factors are huge in PON. I missed the detailed and overwhelming effects of the terrain. I missed the menace and danger of the ocean, which seems so tame in Victoria 2.
I could not get past the abstract nature of the economic system.
On the other hand, I really liked the diplomatic system of Victoria 2, which had no many different ways to do things, and the way the sphere of influence worked, along with the diplomatic fighting. This is more detailed and understandable than PON.
Now, do not get me wrong. Victoria 2 is a great game, enjoyed by many, and well worth having. But for me, I cannot stay interested in it after PON, even though PON still needs a lot of polishing.
So I say to Phillipe and Phillipe, please do what you can to improve and polish PON. I know you are very busy, and I appreciate every second you spend on it. but the game deserves to be improved.. It has ruined me for all other games on this period. If you add some event chains, so it is possible for the player to create Italy or Germany, and know what needs to be done to do it, and clear up a few more things, this great game will be that much closer to what it should be, the equal of your magnificent game on the Civil War.