What Is Paradox Doing With Germany’s Focus Tree in HoI4????

[Pumpgun-Petrus]

I just finished my first playthrough of the new DLC with Germany, and honestly, I’m furious about the direction Paradox seems to be taking here. I usually stick to the modifiers and focus paths without paying too much attention to the "Inner Circle" mechanics, but even with that surface-level playstyle, the sheer amount of tone-deafness on display is staggering. When I started looking closer—at the portraits, the tooltips, and the mechanics—I couldn’t believe how much of it feels like an attempt to glorify figures and events that should not be glorified.

Let’s start with the little things, like Göring’s tooltip describing him as a "great German pilot" during the Great War. Why? Why does he get this glowing description when 95% of the advisors in the game don’t even get a tooltip at all? Why is this extra level of detail—and the subjective praise—necessary? It’s not just amateurish; it feels deliberate, like someone at Paradox thought, “Hey, let’s make him look cool.” And that’s just one example.

Then there’s the "Gold Reserves" mechanic. Are you kidding me? It’s such a bland, sanitized way to replace the actual historical atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht and SS. It gets even worse when you’re given the option, after the Soviet Union’s capitulation, to send "ethnic German settlers" into the East. The game conveniently forgets to mention why there’s suddenly all this space for new inhabitants. No context, no acknowledgment—just a convenient gameplay mechanic. How do you look at history and decide, “Let’s skip over the horrifying reality and turn it into a ‘feel-good’ empire-builder moment instead”?

And then there’s the Easter egg with Eva Braun. Seriously, what were they thinking? She’s portrayed as this edgy, eyepatch-wearing action movie protagonist, like she’s leading some badass revenge quest instead of, you know, being tied to one of the most evil regimes in history. It’s beyond tasteless—it’s offensive. It’s the clearest example yet of how Paradox is turning Germany into some weird power fantasy where you can just ignore everything that makes playing as them historically uncomfortable.

And that’s really the core problem, isn’t it? The game lets you play as some of the most horrifying regimes in history, but with Germany, there’s no attempt to acknowledge or reflect on that. Stalin gets mechanics that force you to deal with purges. Mussolini has incompetence baked into his path. But Germany? You’re encouraged to be an expansive, warmongering empire—but hey, that’s fine, because you’re just paying off your MEFO bills. There’s no downside, no weight to your actions, just a button that swaps "crimes against humanity" for "Gold Reserves" after every conquest. What the hell, Paradox?

I love HoI4. I love its gameplay, and the DLC mechanics are, on a purely technical level, well-executed. But playing as Germany feels wrong now. It’s not just ignorant—it’s actively trying to make you feel good about playing as one of the most destructive regimes in human history. It’s like Paradox is leaning into the power fantasy, hiding behind the excuse of “it’s just a logistics game with edgy memes,” but this isn’t Warhammer or some alternate universe. It’s history. And if you’re going to dive into that, you don’t get to ignore the uncomfortable parts just because it doesn’t fit your gameplay loop.

Am I the only one losing my mind over this? How do you defend this kind of presentation in a game that’s supposed to have some respect for history? Or is Paradox just catering to the worst parts of their fanbase now?

[Pr0fessor]

Look mom, I posted it again.

[sorry07]

author is a weakling, I like playing Germany and the Reich now, this is the best DLC! Where did you get the idea that everyone is like you? If you dont like it, dont play it's that simple

[Pumpgun-Petrus]

Originally posted by Deadwinter:

Sound we find another brainwash woke, try to grow skin... or if not able gtfo is it is too hard for you, this is a WW2 game, wake up.

So, sharing my thoughts about the latest DLC amounts to "woke brainwashing"?
That’s a rather peculiar perspective you have there, my friend.

Originally posted by HB:

There was no emotional display in what you mis read. He did not insult, he observed your level of ability and used language appropriate to it so you could comprehend, sadly he over estimated your abilities and you failed.

Bro was banned for his insult, so I think you might be wrong here as well.
This is the second ban in that thread, which, in my opinion, supports my OP suspicion that some individuals here have rather questionable views on history.
To me, this implies that PDX has targeted this particular DLC at what i labelled as the "worst parts of their fanbase."

Just look at the people who respond with nothing but insults instead of presenting arguments to explain their different perspective.
Posts like these speak volumes about the intellectual maturity of the individuals posting them.

[Pumpgun-Petrus]

Originally posted by Leo Atreides:

While i think the outcry is stronger then it should be, paradox should have given germany the CCCP-treatment. The Nazis did kill people in their own ranks too, why not use a paranoia-mechanic for Hitler like they implemented for Stalin? When you play CCCP, you "feel" that ♥♥♥♥ is going on every time an advisor dies for example. Then there are stuff that should at least have an accurate description ("gold reserves" - this is the wealth stolen from killed jews, when "purge" is allowed to use as a foki name for cccp, why not here?) - and the inner circle should have some downsides because these people were historically incompenent. Nothingg game breaking, maybe some negative events from time to time.

The problem is not what they did, they problem ist that they did it kind of lazy and then they coated that over with nice pictures in the wrong places.

The problem is not as huge as some people try to make it, but yes they made a misstep there that could be avoided with a bit more effort (and could have resulted in more interesting game mechanics).

Yes, that’s exactly what I meant by "power fantasy"—the "Reich" wasn’t nearly as stable as it’s presented here.
There was constant surveillance, interrogations, torture, numerous attacks, and underground movements,which, in my opinion, are not very well portrayed in the context of this DLC.

[Lokieys ★]

Originally posted by Pumpgun-Petrus:

Originally posted by Leo Atreides:

While i think the outcry is stronger then it should be, paradox should have given germany the CCCP-treatment. The Nazis did kill people in their own ranks too, why not use a paranoia-mechanic for Hitler like they implemented for Stalin? When you play CCCP, you "feel" that ♥♥♥♥ is going on every time an advisor dies for example. Then there are stuff that should at least have an accurate description ("gold reserves" - this is the wealth stolen from killed jews, when "purge" is allowed to use as a foki name for cccp, why not here?) - and the inner circle should have some downsides because these people were historically incompenent. Nothingg game breaking, maybe some negative events from time to time.

The problem is not what they did, they problem ist that they did it kind of lazy and then they coated that over with nice pictures in the wrong places.

The problem is not as huge as some people try to make it, but yes they made a misstep there that could be avoided with a bit more effort (and could have resulted in more interesting game mechanics).

Yes, that’s exactly what I meant by "power fantasy"—the "Reich" wasn’t nearly as stable as it’s presented here.
There was constant surveillance, interrogations, torture, numerous attacks, and underground movements,which, in my opinion, are not very well portrayed in the context of this DLC.

you'd be asking the same of italy, the soviets, japanese, china, allies, etc. all were guilty of crimes in ww2. but you aren't, because not only is none of this intended to be portrayed it won't ever come because it would not serve a purpose. the "stability" is shown in mefo bills and economy of conquest. you do not feel "all powerful" you feel weak and backed into a corner which forces you to lash out and expand or die, as it was irl.

lets be real here you just want to make a scene and farm points, you steal talking points from people who are much smarter than you, that you've seen on youtube or other threads. your account is 1 year old and the only reason this thread still exists is because people are too dumb to realize you are a troll.

it's a game. not meant to accurately portray real life events. nobody would want that either, especially paradox. they have walked a fine line with this dlc and have done the exact same portrayal for all axis/allied/asian war spheres to the best of their ability without glorifying anything.

[Mayer]

It's a cultural thing, a German learns in elementary school about the crimes of Nazism whereas an American is largely ignorant on the topic.

OP is an Israeli, so it's understandable that he has very strong feelings about a group of people that tried to exterminate Judaism, especially now that Jews are targeted by a new generation of antisemites.

[Segert]

Originally posted by Mayer:

It's a cultural thing, a German learns in elementary school about the crimes of Nazism whereas an American is largely ignorant on the topic.

OP is an Israeli, so it's understandable that he has very strong feelings about a group of people that tried to exterminate Judaism, especially now that Jews are targeted by a new generation of antisemites.

what are you even talking about?

[Mayer]

If you don't understand antisemitism, you don't understand National Socialism.

[Segert]

Originally posted by Mayer:

If you don't understand antisemitism, you don't understand National Socialism.

no i dont know what you mean by especially now. What new generation? What are you talking about?

Also this place is not a place for politics.

Of course i understand the meaning of the words you use. I just dont understand the context. By saying it is happening now....

[Mayer]

Have you not heard about the Israel conflict in the news? There is a global rise of antisemitism among Palestine supporters.

[Segert]

Originally posted by Mayer:

Have you not heard about the Israel conflict in the news? There is a global rise of antisemitism among Palestine supporters.

That is just a modern day conflict between 2 countries. Which has a long history and both sides views are understandable. But has nothing to do with antisemitism. To equate that to historical antisemitism is disgusting. And you shouldn't do that.


Also why do bring up such politics here? It has nothing to do with HOI4. Its just a game.

[Pumpgun-Petrus]

Yeah, please, let’s try to stay on topic. I don’t want this thread to derail into some weird direction.

[Segert]

Originally posted by Pumpgun-Petrus:

Yeah, please, let’s try to stay on topic. I don’t want this thread to derail into some weird direction.

Even though i don't agree with your original post. I do agree with you on this.

[Diddy Rizzlington]

Operation Barbarossa was a pre emptive strike by the fuhrer against the soviet union who was planning on an offensive in the west, the whole point of the war was to defend europe and its culture from a change but they only delayed it

[Nats]

Doing a game like this with Nazi Germany was always going to difficult and divisive. They are looking for ways to make playing Germany ok without stepping into the horrific realms of reality. Mainly because Germany is the most popular country to play.

I do not like the way they are watering down the terrible reality to a form of entertainment. They shouldnt going there with their focus trees at all. But what can they do, they want to make money and nobody has told them to stop.

I think they are increasing treading on a very dodgy path now with this whole game. But then I do not like Paradox anyway they are the epitome of corporate greed and are showing a distinct lack of morale fibre these days. Which is why I am reducing my expenditure on their products. I should just stop buying their products entirely though. Which may come.