Can't Buy Spies, How Come?

[steveg700]

Any compelling reason that spies can't be purchased with gold? Mansa Musa wants to know.

 

[The Technomancer]

You want loyalty, not a mercenary!

But for real, spies don’t do it for the pay IRL.

 

[cain3456]

What determines how many spies you can have? Civopedia was totally vague on this.

 

[steveg700]

What determines how many spies you can have? Civopedia was totally vague on this.

It's based on advancement through civics. You'll generally unlock about one per era after Renaissance.

You want loyalty, not a mercenary!

But for real, spies don’t do it for the pay IRL.

Well, buying things with gold doesn't represent that. You're not making lighthouse-keepers and librarians into mega-millionaires when you buy a building.

 

[Karmah]

Civics. You have to hover over the 'stars' in the civics tree because having a spy icon is so much of a cost. Although the civs that carry spies are quite obvious, naively so. (Nationalism, cold War...)