Assassinations! (and such)

[Drewbc]

So I've an idea. I think assassinations should be implemented into the game. Not the leader of a Civ, but annoying settlers of other Civs coming to settle their city as close to your empire as possible (and right on top of the only spot with iron, on your side of the continent). I think if you move one of your military units next to their settler, and place maybe a 100 gold bribe ( you should be able to make that settler "disappear", if you know what I mean.

Another thought, while we're at it, what if you could abduct civilian/non military units (at a cost of course). This would cost gold and you would take a dilpo hit with that civ but you would have the unit or use it as leverage to make demands (something I currently don't use b/c it never works). And this could be done to a civ you just genuinely don't like. (*cough* Siam *cough*) I feel this could add more depth to espionage and diplomacy. This would be a real reason for that negative border modifier. Of course, it should only be allowed if units are outside or on the border of one's territory. What do you think?

 

[bdporter]

If this assassination mechanic were to be implemented, it would need to be a lot more than 100 Gold. That would be way overpowered.

 

[I_qua_I]

This belongs in the Ideas & Suggestions section, not the general forum.

As for the proposed mechanic, I don't think it would be necessarily fun nor balanced. To be fair, I tend to be somewhat hostile to the idea that players can have their stuff destroyed by other players secretly or during peace time. (Judging by the amount of these kinds of proposals on the forums though, there seem to be a lot of people who do want these types of mechanics in the game.)

Why don't I tend to like these proposals?

1) This is what barbarians are for. In-game they represent the constant danger that lurks just outside one's borders. Stealing settlers and workers and such out of nowhere is their job (and flavor), not ours. Allowing other civilizations to peacefully steal/destroy enemy civilizations' units just doesn't sit well from a perspective that likes to take design aesthetics into account.

2) Settlers take up resources to build. If you are hard-building, you've sacrificed growth and production on other beneficial buildings/units. If you buy it, it's 500 gold (on standard maps anyway.) Imagine paying 500 gold for a settler and then moving it out to settle to find someone payed 100 gold to negate what you just accomplished. Not only is there a pretty big difference in terms of what you have to put out vs what your opponent does to stop you, it just doesn't seem fun to have to watch out for around civs you're at peace with.

3) Even more not fun, though, is the worker snatching. Since it's not wartime my workers wouldn't be programed to avoid the units that are trying to steal them. I usually automate my workers once my civ hits a certain size/development point. Am I going to now have to manually move each one? (This can be extraordinarily tedious with very large empires.) Or do I just accept the fact that my stuff can get sniped at any moment out of blue and that if I want to stop it I have to declare war (and be labeled the warmonger.)

This is what war is for. If you don't like a civ and you want her stuff you declare war. War isn't just a flavorful formality in the game. It creates a play-environment that meaningfully impacts decision making （"Do I risk improving that cotton resource near my border with Napoleon now?") Blurring these lines too much muddles the game, often for little benefit.

 

[Polisurgist]

Is there some bug that's preventing you from killing civilian units now?

 

[Browd]

I think the OP wants to be able to take civilians without it being an act of war. Bad idea, in my view, particularly when you consider the AI could do this to you.

 

[Polisurgist]

I think the OP wants to be able to take civilians without it being an act of war. Bad idea, in my view, particularly when you consider the AI could do this to you.

The number of times I see "The AI should sit there while you steamroll the planet, or at least actively help you win" bandied about as a suggested improvement to this game is pretty staggering.

 

[Camikaze]

Moderator Action: Moved to Ideas & Suggestions.