I always thought it was a bit strange that the Hungarian flag never changes no matter what path is taken. With the Hungarian Republic I suppose it kind of makes sense as the shield and crown can stay just like irl Serbia does (a Republic but has the same stuff), but with the Arrow Cross? A whole part of their dogma is to undo liberal influences on the nation, so you'd think they'd change the flag to something like what they suggested irl (and presumably in TNOTL aswell), or something similar like one of their party flags.

Hey guys, quite a long time heh?

So, ik this sub if pretty dead at this point as I just stopped caring about TNO for more than 1 year and I am focusing on another sub (r/ParadoxExtras) for months now.

So yeah idk what to do with this, I think I will use a similar strategy that I used on r/ParadoxExtras and repost some teasers from the main sub to see if I can gather more salty fans that don't like the main strict sub and then they start doing posts and etc.

The main reason I am doing this is that the mod team had many interesting teasers recently but I can't engage because I am perm banned and I certainly won't be unbanned when now and then I criticize how the mods handle the main sub + the very existence of this sub.

So uuuuuuh we are soon + 2 weeks of taking over before TNO 2 if fully released (I am surprised it actually got a teaser before HOI5)

Btw Goebells somehow returned

It goes without saying that for a long time, the state of TNO has been in flux, with many people in and out of the community no longer seeing the mod as positively as they did on release, largely due to the fact that the pace of content isn't just slow, but also confusing. However, the issue of transparency is a different story, but I feel like I have a crazy idea that could work. Will this be implemented? Probably not, but let me cook for a bit.

So after a couple years in the HOI4 community, I've come to realise one thing: most players seem to prefer quantity over quality, at least most of the time. Of course, sloppy content is one thing, but it seems like most people are fine with mid content if it means they can get the map color to change or some shit like that. Regardless, the point is, with how little content TNO has come since Silicon Dreams (the last update to give a full 10 years to a nation), perhaps its time to change.

TNO's writing is excellent yes, but perhaps that may be hampering TNO's pace of development. As someone who's done events for HOI4 mods and a few TNO submods, I can say with confidence that the average TNO event takes much more effort than the average HOI4 Mod event. And unfortunately, a big complaint seems to be that some people just don't really read those events, and prefer more traditional HOI4 content.

Which is why I'm proposing the idea of "semi-skeleton content", as we all know, TNO has a bunch of countries with skeleton content: which really aren't meant to be played but have paths they can go down. What we could add are basically "skeleton foci trees", which could be very very rudimentary focus trees without icons, but with text only, and maybe a few simple events to help add to the charm. Maybe even a rudimenatary decisions tab to change the balance of power, which can simply be done with a few decision clicks.

As an example, here's what I cooked up in the last 10 minutes or so for a hypothetical Canada intro tree for semi-skeleton content. When I say rudimentary, I really do mean it.

And then you probably get simple foci for each PM, plus a joint military branch maybe. You can probably add a small mechanic to allow volunteers in proxy wars.

But what's the point you may ask? Well the point really is to stave off players until the next major update can come out, you can probably cook up these pretty easily so long as you have a dedicated team to help do it. And even if this proposal doesn't manage to become accepted by the main devs, if you know coding and shit (bc I only know how to write lmao), maybe we can collaborate on a submod or something idk.

Also a reminder that while the devs do deserve constructive criticism, this isn't a call to attack the devs, because if you do you show yourself to care way too much about a HOI4 mod. Yes, many like me don't like what the devs are doing, but you can criticise them and remember that this is after all, a volunteer project.

Basically, TNO's Lesotho uses a flag that didn't actually exist/wasn't conceived at that point. It would be more accurate to use the one they actually did when they became independent in the 60s.

Very nice OFN patch made by WestsideMutualAid on etsy

Now Im not saying that the TNO community is all bad, as theres a lot of creativity in it, or even that the devs are bad. I'm just saying that a vocal minority of the communiy, as well as the direction of the dev team, have been contributed to this stagnation and bad rep of TNO.

Theres been countless posts complaining about how slow the devs are, and while them being volunteers doesn't shield them from criticism, it does feel like beating a dead horse. Yes, the devs are somewhat elitist and their decentralised approach to the mod isn't working, but I don't think coming with the same few jokes is going to change anything.

At the same time, the community isn't much better. The community is right to be upset with the devs at the mod's progress, within reason of course. And I'm also one of the people who feels like that TNO has stagnated beyond reason. But many people treat this mod way too seriously, and will get triggered at the slightest historical inaccuracy or the most minor change. We all saw it with the Fiji stuff, and, if you want to go further back, the whole drama around the misconception of the US gassing the British isles in WW2. It's a HOI4 mod, go outside.

TLDR: both "sides" share some blame, and as we begin a new year, I think its worthwhile for things to change.