Europa Universalis IV

While I can't speak to whether or not EUIV will be any easier to get into, I will encourage you to try to put in the extra effort required to learn some Paradox grand strategy games. Yes the learning curve is high and the in-game tutorials are seriously lacking, but they are some of the most addictive and rewarding games around. There are plenty of fan made tutorials on youtube that can really help.

I highly recommend Crusader Kings II to start off with. It's one of the easier to learn (but still very complex) Paradox titles and it's insanely enjoyable even when you're failing miserably. Plus it's on sale today for 75% off. Also, EUIV is going to use a modified version of the CKII engine/interface so learning the basics of CKII now will probably help you quite a bit if you want to move over to EUIV when it comes out.

I know you might not have that much time to spare what with kids and life but I highly recommend finding a video of a session to watch on youtube or something. Watching someone else play it is a very easy way to learn how to play a game. If I may give a recommendation, I love quill18 on youtube because not only does he play these types of games, he does a marvelous job commentating and explaining things. He makes learning games so much smoother. Here is his playlist of Europa Universalis IV Preview.

It seems like newbie friendliness is something the PDS wants to improve with every release, but that somehow always ends up with a low priority.

Anyway, I don't know what the situation is with EUIV, but I can recommend starting your journey with Europa Universalis Rome, playing as something other than a republic. I found it a good introduction to PDS style Grand Strategy. Alternatively, you could go with Crusader Kings. In any case, once you get used to one of the games, you'll have a vastly easier time with all the others.

Also, for an easier to learn, if not as deep Grand Strategy title, I can recommend Knights of Honor.

Unfortunately, these days "approachable for a new player" means console-dumbed-down. It's hard to design a game that is both easy to learn, and complex in its mechanics, and most devs won't even try.

EU is worth learning, though. It's not really that hard as it appears. CK series is probably way harder to understand and master than EU, for it is way simpler to manage provinces (fewer building and managing options) and diplomacy (it's just about relations with your "peers", i.e. other kings) in EU. You should give CK2 a try (it's on offer on Steam currently), you will be more than prepared for EU when it's out. Also, CK1 is in IG bundle for some 5$, if $20 seems too much.

In the couple of their latest releases they made an extra effort to provide new users with a quality tutorial, and the interface in their games also improved vastly in the later releases (more informative, easier to navigate) and from the dev diaries it seems they wanna make EU IV even more approachable to the new player.

From what I could tell, the EU series, or at least the last installment, is less complicated than say Crusader Knights of Hearts of Iron. Idk about Victoria 2.

And, one thing that I find to be very important when dealing with games that have a steep is your perspective. Don't approach the game with that attitude mr. :P Instead try to experiment or even cheat. I have only finished EU3 about 3 times, due to lack of time.

If the first was more or less touch and go, the my second playthrough, with cheats, was very revealing; and it also gives you some wiggle room, so as not to quit>reload at every turn.In my last playthrough I got a small state, Wallachia, formed Romania and conquered Europe :D.

Also Paradox's forum is full of nice people, mostly history buffs. They should be able to help.

I only own EU3-V2-AHD-CK2, but even then I can clearly see how the games became easier over time, not from any changes to the gameplay itself, but by giving the games an useable UI and making information more easily available and understandable by the player.

I'm not a beta tester, but EUIV looks way easier to get into than the previous EUIII. Gone are the monthly/yearly income split; the slider technology system full of "empty" techs, which was also tied to your treasury income; they're abandoning the complex-looking policy slider system, replacing it with a larger national ideas system; and making trade something you can actually care about, instead of just sending merchants to the highest-value CoT around.

(I know A House Divided is an expansion, but it's a huge improvement over vanilla V2, and HoD probably is over AHD too, I still need to get it).

One thing about games from Paradox I noticed...it might not be easy to get into, but if you learn to play just one game, every other that comes after it is much easier.

EDIT: Still cant get into Victoria II, I can play HOI, EU, CK2 or March of Eagles, but damn... Victoria is like a nut made of stone to me.

Man, I'm trying hard to want to buy this, but Paradox is killing me.

I've bought probably 3-4 games of theirs in the past, and have a forum ID somewhere. But for ease of use (and lack of PW memory), I created a new user ID tonight to ask a few questions about tutorials with the game (Thanks Sinovera for the video link - watched all of them and looks promising - like that guy's style, too).

I guess there is now a 5-day waiting period before I can post anything. In what other universe does a business tell potential clients they have to wait five days in order to learn more about their product?

And I've seen several threads (I can search!) about tutorials forthcoming, and that's good. However, there isn't much there from the devs about what that's going to entail.

Still feeling like I'm trying to sneak my way into an exclusive, invite-only party. :)

From playing EU2 and EU3, the only thing I can recommend to help cut the learning curve is to point you towards the wikis. They're fantastic games that you can spend hundreds of hours on, but the point of grand strategy isn't to baby you and point you in a direction, it's to come up with your own goals and roll with the punches that follow.

Bought CKII. Seems interesting thus far. Tutorial exists, so that's good. But is rife with bugs, errors, and omissions. Seriously, Paradox, get your ish together. Hire a freelance content editor (or whatever the software equivalent is).

Still, I am learning slowly. We'll see how this goes. I'm all ears for suggested starting rulers after I get through the tutorial.

Well, if you want more simplified Paradox game to start with, you may try with Knights of Honor. The game is old and more combat-oriented(with real-time battles like in Total War), but the basics of paradoxian diplomacy, economy and mechanics are there. However, it's limited to only medieval Europe and there are no historical events IIRC.

And I agree that EU3 tutorial was quite bad. I learned to play from this tutorial series.

You can find some really good guides that are a lot more understandable and comprehensive than the tutorials on the Paradox forums.