Bugs & AI abusing

[Old Peter]

There are some ABUSIVE things that still needs to be fixed asap. The game still is won by people that abuse it the most, and that is not fun for any serious player. Please list them in this post.

1. GPT for Gold if friends. You get for example 300 gold now if you give them 10 GPT. I think the developers got it the wrong way around . Every turn now I just click on my friends and give them GPT for gold and get immensely rich .

2. Couping city states with your level 3 spy. Just use your spy and coup every single city state. If it is not working that turn, just reload and coup it the next turn. Outcome is different the next turn and that is what needs to be fixed.

After a little while you easily have all the city states for no cost. To powerful for sure.

3. To easy to bribe other civs to war.

Example: I want to DoW my neighbour (we are not friends). I bribe him lots of GPT for going to war with every other civ out there. The next turn I DoW him. In this way he is in war with every single civ out there for no cost.

 

[Cymsdale]

If you save and reload until you get the result you want, it gives you an edge over the AI? Who knew!

 

[VainoValkea]

2. Couping city states with your level 3 spy. Just use your spy and coup every single city state. If it is not working that turn, just reload and coup it the next turn. Outcome is different the next turn and that is what needs to be fixed.

I don't see how this is a bug. If someone really wants to save-scum there's little point in stopping them. I've also seen how this goes - a game uses saved random state and the next thing you know there'll be people complaining that "the RNG is biased against me, I loaded three times and failed every time despite the odds being 3:1 in my favor!"

 

[Cymsdale]

I do think making the AI only accept lump sums for war declarations makes sense. Alternatively, declaring war when you have a GPT with another civ in such a situation could make you obligated to pay out the remainder (although forcing it to be lump sum only is less complicated).

 

[Dissonance]

I do think making the AI only accept lump sums for war declarations makes sense. Alternatively, declaring war when you have a GPT with another civ in such a situation could make you obligated to pay out the remainder (although forcing it to be lump sum only is less complicated).

At the same time, I like trading GPT to nations I want to support. GPT as a war bribe makes sense to me, it allows for a bigger military. It would almost make more sense if there was an enforced peace treaty with some trade agreements.

 

[Aristos]

If you save and reload until you get the result you want, it gives you an edge over the AI? Who knew!

I didn't... because I never do it.

Come on, guys... I miss the Iron Man option that they had for Alpha Centauri, remember? Checked as an option, you could not save and reload. Some people may need that.

 

[VainoValkea]

I'm sure glad there is no such option after accidentally commiting all my delegates exactly the opposite to what I wanted to vote.

 

[BroOfTheSun]

I agree with your first point. The trading of 30 GPT for 10 turns for 300 gold now is not actually an equal trade because: Gold now is worth more than gold later. I think this should be switched back to before where GPT is not an equal trade in lump sum gold.

Also, if you think about it in real-life terms, you should have to account for inflation. Like 290 gold = 300 gold 10 turns later. So it makes sense to not have 30 GPT for 10 turns = 300 lump sum gold. Just like a loan, you expect some return from interest.

 

[Dysus]

I agree with point 3 the most. Sometimes the AI will agree to DoW on another civ for just one lux and open boarders, and this is not early game when a single lux may have a large impact. It happens late game where a single lux can cost you next to nothing.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

I see an outright cheat and two things that happen in the real world...

There are some ABUSIVE things that still needs to be fixed asap. The game still is won by people that abuse it the most, and that is not fun for any serious player. Please list them in this post.

1. GPT for Gold if friends. You get for example 300 gold now if you give them 10 GPT. I think the developers got it the wrong way around . Every turn now I just click on my friends and give them GPT for gold and get immensely rich .

That's called a loan. America does it with China all the time.

2. Couping city states with your level 3 spy. Just use your spy and coup every single city state. If it is not working that turn, just reload and coup it the next turn. Outcome is different the next turn and that is what needs to be fixed.

After a little while you easily have all the city states for no cost. To powerful for sure.

If you're going to save and reload to get favorable results then you are quite blatantly cheating. This is a player issue not a Firaxis issue.

3. To easy to bribe other civs to war.

Example: I want to DoW my neighbour (we are not friends). I bribe him lots of GPT for going to war with every other civ out there. The next turn I DoW him. In this way he is in war with every single civ out there for no cost.

Maybe it is too easy to bribe them to go to war, but some civs are bloodthirsty and see conquest as a viable expansion option. I DO think proxy wars should come with an automatic ten turn peace treaty (via Civ IV), but at the same time look at Germany and the Soviets in 1939. Germany made a lot of agreements to secure immediate gains and then went back on them "the next turn".

Anyway, that last one could be fixed with a 10 turn peace enforcement or adding a diplo hit for going to war with someone with whom you have current trade deals, but generally, it's not that bad imo.

 

[CaptainUnknown]

I get that you're trying to make a point with some of these examples but in a single play game (against AI, not MP) a player is going to enjoy the game the way they want. If a player wants to challenge themselves they won't reload every save for a "perfect game" nor will they exploit the AI with silly trades and then DoW. If a player gets enjoyment by playing with the AI in that fashion that doesn't both me at all and why should it? These examples allow a player to do what they want, it's not being forced upon any player. If you don't want a cheesy victory, don't do it.

For the gold to GPT ratio I feel that the developers thought it was needed with the change to lump sum gold only with DoF. Considering you have to trade luxuries for GPT until friendships come around I'm glad the value on GPT has increased but this point is more of my personal opinion.