Paradox Interactive wants to know what Hearts of Iron IV players think about achievements. The developer just dropped a community survey asking some pretty big questions. Should Iron Man mode still be required? What about using mods?

The survey is part of the latest community recap from Paradox. They’re asking four simple questions that could change how achievements work in the popular strategy game.

“Should Iron Man be required for achievements? Should you be able to enable MODs for achievements?” – Hearts of Iron IV on Steam

The first question is straightforward. It asks how many hours you’ve put into the game. Then things get interesting.

Question two tackles Iron Man mode. This is the hardcore setting that disables save scumming. Right now you need it for most achievements. The survey asks if that should change.

Question three is about mods. Currently you can’t earn achievements with mods enabled. Paradox wants to know if players think that’s fair.

The final question asks how many achievements you already have. The options range from under 10 to over 100.

This survey comes at an interesting time for Hearts of Iron IV. The game just got its ‘Peace for our Time’ DLC. Paradox has been doing live streams to show off the new content.

The developer also announced winners of their Makeship giveaway. Four lucky players scored HOI4 plushies and Naval Feet socks. The community seems pretty engaged with all the recent content.

But the achievement question touches on something deeper. Iron Man mode can be brutal for casual players. You can’t reload saves if things go wrong. One bad decision can ruin hours of progress.

Mods are another big issue. The Hearts of Iron IV community creates amazing content. Historical accuracy mods, total conversion mods, quality of life improvements – they’re all out there. But using them means giving up achievements.

Some players love the challenge of vanilla Iron Man runs. They see achievements as a test of skill and dedication. Others think requirements are too strict. Why shouldn’t you get credit for conquering the world with better unit models?

The debate splits the community pretty evenly. Hardcore players often prefer stricter rules. Casual players want more flexibility. Paradox is smart to ask directly instead of guessing.

Other strategy games handle this differently. Some allow achievements with cosmetic mods. Others have separate achievement tracks for modded play. Hearts of Iron IV could go either direction.

The timing also matters because of Expansion Pass 2. Paradox is gearing up for ‘Thunder at our Gates’ – the next big content drop. New achievements will probably come with it.

Changing the system now would affect how players approach future content. It could make achievements more accessible to newcomers. Or it could dilute their meaning for veterans.

Paradox has always listened to its community. They’ve made major changes to Hearts of Iron IV based on player feedback before. The focus tree rework, supply system changes, and peace conference improvements all came from community input.

This survey shows they’re still paying attention. Whether they’ll actually change achievement requirements remains to be seen. But asking the question shows they’re thinking about it.

The developer wants responses through their official form. But they’re also taking comments on the Steam announcement. Community discussion is already heating up in the replies.

Some players are pushing for achievement categories. Keep the hardcore ones for Iron Man purists. Add casual ones for everyone else. That could satisfy both camps.

Others want mod compatibility based on what the mods actually do. Graphical improvements? Sure, allow achievements. Game-breaking cheats? Probably not.

Whatever Paradox decides will shape how millions of players experience Hearts of Iron IV going forward. The survey responses should give them a good read on what the community actually wants.

The ‘Peace for our Time’ DLC is available now on Steam. Expansion Pass 2 is also live for players who want early access to upcoming content. The ‘Thunder at our Gates’ expansion should arrive later this year.

For now, achievement hunters are watching closely to see if their grinding will get easier or stay the same.