World Congress Pros and Cons

After finishing my first full game of BnW, my impression of the World Congress is mostly positive. A lot of interesting decisions are added to middle- and late-game play. I've also encountered a few frustrating or head-scratching moments, but overall I think the system works as intended and greatly improves the game.

Pros:

1. Added Diplomatic Depth
   There are now more ways to gain positive and negative modifiers... and they actually make sense most of the time. Civs are generally happy when you propose resolutions that support their interests and unhappy when you attack their interests. Neither the positive or negative modifiers seem to last long beyond the next vote; I didn't have civs hating me because I voted to ban Cotton centuries ago. Politicking in the Congress generally acts as a temporary boost (or detriment) to your relationsships with other civs.
   
   
2. Resolutions are Meaningful, but Not Game-Breaking
   The resolutions that passed the Congress had a noticeable impact on the game without making it unplayable if an undesirable resolution slips through. Getting Buddhism declared the world religion didn't do much for Morocco in the long run (it got repealed, then was later re-instated), but working with Venice to declare Freedom the world ideology gave me the delegates I needed to win a diplomatic victory. It's not enough to just propose a resolution, pass it, and call it a day... you need to be able to take advantage of it and able to defend it in case of a repeal vote.
   
   
3. Espionage Has More Choices
   An indirect consequence of the World Congress is to make espionage feel a little more important. Previously there were only three real choices for espionage: put the spy in a city state or one's own capital for influence/defense; use the spy to steal a few techs before constabularies are built everywhere, then use it for influence/defense; or use the spy as a military spotter. Now that spies can be used as diplomats for gaining World Congress info and vote trading, the choice is a bit more complex. Should I use this spy to gain CS influence and potential delegates, or should I use it to keep track of what my rivals are likely to vote for and potentially bribe them to support me?

Cons:

1. Irrational AI
   AI bloopers with the new systems in BnW were probably inevitable. So far I've only run into minor nuisances with the World Congress, but they were still annoying (and somewhat funny). In one instance, Morocco proposed a resolution that I didn't like, so I voted against it. Morocco then inexplicably voted against their own resolution... and then became angry at me for helping to defeat the resolution. I can understand if changing game circumstances made them change their mind, but the AI should not gain a negative modifier with you if it voted the same way as you. At another point, every other AI in the game neglected to vote against a resolution that helped only Morocco because they had wasted all their delegates voting for something that was universally beneficial. The vote was inevitably unanimous... they could have sent 1 delegate each and passed it, but instead they sent every delegate they had.
   
   
2. They Stole my New Toy!
   This one is more down to my lack of planning and understanding of game mechanics than an actual con, but it should be taken into consideration when founding the World Congress. I was happy to be the first host of the Congress, and excited to propose new resolutions... and then half the world's civs hit the Industrial Era and the rules changed. Other civs gained a ton of influence, and I was left out in the cold with two measly votes and no chance to propose any more resolutions. The resolution I had proposed passed, but it was kind of lame to not even get to host the Congress when I founded it.

I like the new diplomacy system, but I've so far found it a bit too easy to get resolutions passed. In particular, with 30 moves advance notice, I'm able to move my spy/diplomats to between 4 to 8 civs (they needs to stay about 5 or 6 moves in each, to get past introductions to "schmoozing") and then bribe the target civ to vote for whatever I want passed. So far, pretty much everyone has been amenable to bribes and they don't even necessarily hold out for much in exchange. (It helps that in my current game, I'm playing Morocco and rolling in cash.)

I'm playing a game now where Liz is the host. And apparently she doesn't like me, although we have several trading routes. And she has 14 delegate votes, against my four. I am on good terms with the rest of the AIs.

Anyway--she proposed banning wine (of which I have a ton of it), and that passed. So my happiness went down a little bit.

Then 30 turns later, she proposes an embargo on me. And that passes as well. Gold per turn dropped quite a bit, but I'm not bankrupt or anything. One would think she would use the World Congress to punish the AI's who have been at war with her, but nope. She has me in her sights, instead.

I'm playing as Venice, on prince level.

Lucky you I'm warmongering Poland who just hit industrial. My science funding got shot down twice in my world. People just loathed the idea, regardless of offers. Very pleased with the challenge

The problem with city states votes counting is that near the end of the game I can use the 50 some votes I attained from the CS to strongarm my way into a diplomatic victory whether anyone else in the world actually likes me or not.

Too few things to propose. I run out of things I want to do quickly.

MantaRevan said:

The problem with city states votes counting is that near the end of the game I can use the 50 some votes I attained from the CS to strongarm my way into a diplomatic victory whether anyone else in the world actually likes me or not.

Click to expand...

City state delegates are powerful, but there is always the possibility of a coup or bribe or Merchant of Venice ruining your plans, which makes things more challenging.