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Civilization VII Update 1.3.0 - Patch 1 - November 12, 2025

Yeah, I put Colossus & Rila further down the list cause I can frequently get them if I path that way (i.e. unlock Rila as my 3rd or 4th research), they just don't allow for many detours. My ideal start for exploration is Astrology/Cartography into Guilds, but if I do that, Rila's gone by the time I get to Heraldry. My games are 75% 8-player, 25% 6-player, and mostly Immortal, with some Deity mixed in.
 
second game since 1.3.0.... second time in a row I have Trung Trac as direct close neighbor. Second game in a row that she spams me with sanctions... extremely annoying, especially the -10% science one :gripe:
 
Has anyone else noticed a heavy increase in city-state raids? In my latest sovereign game as Ben Franklin, I've had a commander and about a dozen units sent after me. I suspect after fixing the AI's stupid abuse of sanctions (and I'm still getting sanctioned the turn after meeting some cultures. Keep trying, Firaxis!), they tuned to the AI to spend its influence to endlessly raid the player.
 
I don't want them to remove it, but to be sanctioned immediately by someone I have no connection with is absurd. Furthermore, as stated elsewhere, sanctions don't really benefit the player at all. Inflicting -10% science, gold, culture, etc. on the AI has no visible impact, other than harming relationships and even then, you are better off with a denouncement.
 
I haven't gotten that much in since either patch, but don't think I was sanctioned at all, so not sure if I play different or just got lucky.

Although I kind of feel, if you're annoyed by it (other than just being annoyed that you get distracted popups), it probably means that it's not actually a bad thing to run. I've found that when I have influence to spend, it doesn't really hurt for me to run a couple sanctions on opponents I'm not friendly with. Especially if I want to try to goad them into war, being able to sanction along with the denouncements does help push things down.
 
FXS_Sar said:
The AI has been tuned to use Sanctions less often and in a more balanced way relative to other Diplomatic actions.
Click to expand...
I can detect no difference to the situation before patch 1. AI is still drowning me in sanctions.
And one more observation: The game has generally become much harder with patch 1.3.0. The AI plays better, and much more aggressive. I will have to go back one step from immortal to sovereign. Deity is impossible for me.
 
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OmegaDestroyer said:
I don't want them to remove it, but to be sanctioned immediately by someone I have no connection with is absurd. Furthermore, as stated elsewhere, sanctions don't really benefit the player at all. Inflicting -10% science, gold, culture, etc. on the AI has no visible impact, other than harming relationships and even then, you are better off with a denouncement.
Click to expand...
I would not say sanctions do not benefit the player. If 10% has no visible effect, then it shouldn't bother you to be sanctioned by them. Imagine if they were stronger. They do have an effect and sanctioning early game can stall an opponent. Which means it is a smart time to do it. (Probably why it is frustrating) Plus, I think the AI sanctions each other as well.

I think this is a smart decision to make the player have to leverage using influence to manipulate relations by dodging sanctions or suzerain IPs. Make sure to save influence to deny the sanction. Sanctions can be better than denouncing as it both hurts the relationship and stalls out an aspect of their yields. I would like to see the AI only be upset with you sanctioning them or a civ they are friendly with. Currently, AIs get upset if you sanction other civs, period. Which is dumb. It should be negative leader relations for sanctioning civs that are friendly/allies to them. But also positive leader relations for sanctioning civs that are at dislike/hostile.

The diplomacy does need some tweaking on some things but overall I like that sanctions feel like a new layer to diplomacy has been introduced.
 
Please Firaxis, do something about those sanctions. Or let me choose in the game setup options. It is just too much.
 
marius_kaparius said:
Odd, I find the Sanctions are still present but greatly reduced since Patch 1. Did you start a new game after Patch 1 or continue an existing game?
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I played several games after patch 1 and for my taste the amount of sanctions against me is still way too high. The AI seems to have almost endless influence points since they can still have +5 or more war support against me despite sanctioning me all the time.
 
King Flevance said:
I would not say sanctions do not benefit the player. If 10% has no visible effect, then it shouldn't bother you to be sanctioned by them. Imagine if they were stronger. They do have an effect and sanctioning early game can stall an opponent. Which means it is a smart time to do it. (Probably why it is frustrating) Plus, I think the AI sanctions each other as well.

I think this is a smart decision to make the player have to leverage using influence to manipulate relations by dodging sanctions or suzerain IPs. Make sure to save influence to deny the sanction. Sanctions can be better than denouncing as it both hurts the relationship and stalls out an aspect of their yields. I would like to see the AI only be upset with you sanctioning them or a civ they are friendly with. Currently, AIs get upset if you sanction other civs, period. Which is dumb. It should be negative leader relations for sanctioning civs that are friendly/allies to them. But also positive leader relations for sanctioning civs that are at dislike/hostile.

The diplomacy does need some tweaking on some things but overall I like that sanctions feel like a new layer to diplomacy has been introduced.
Click to expand...

In my latest game, I encountered Napolean in antiquity. In 3 turns, I was sanctioned 3 times. I get that is Napolean's entire thing, but it is incredibly annoying. I didn't do anything other than stumble on one of his scouts. I could see being sanctioned once, so he gets his boost. To get sanctioned two additional times is just stupid. "Civ 6 AI voting to ban ONLY the player luxuries" levels of stupid.

But do you really want to frustrate the player? More importantly, do you want to frustrate NEW players? Vets can deal with it (by grumbling about it online), but what are newbies going to think? They might feel it's unfun, unfair, and might even leave a bad review. Right now, Firaxis needs to do everything it can not to drive away new players. Anything that needlessly frustrates should be fixed ASAP.
 
OmegaDestroyer said:
In my latest game, I encountered Napolean in antiquity. In 3 turns, I was sanctioned 3 times. I get that is Napolean's entire thing, but it is incredibly annoying. I didn't do anything other than stumble on one of his scouts. I could see being sanctioned once, so he gets his boost. To get sanctioned two additional times is just stupid. "Civ 6 AI voting to ban ONLY the player luxuries" levels of stupid.
Click to expand...
It totally makes sense if he's planning war against you.

OmegaDestroyer said:
But do you really want to frustrate the player? More importantly, do you want to frustrate NEW players? Vets can deal with it (by grumbling about it online), but what are newbies going to think? They might feel it's unfun, unfair, and might even leave a bad review. Right now, Firaxis needs to do everything it can not to drive away new players. Anything that needlessly frustrates should be fixed ASAP.
Click to expand...
Which difficulty level you play on? I don't think new players play on Deity and in my experience even on Immortal sanctions are pretty rare (I don't think I get any in my last game at all).
 
stealth_nsk said:
It totally makes sense if he's planning war against you.


Which difficulty level you play on? I don't think new players play on Deity and in my experience even on Immortal sanctions are pretty rare (I don't think I get any in my last game at all).
Click to expand...

I'm playing on sovereign, which makes the situation even more absurd.

You do make a fair point about preparing for war, but from what I could gleam, he wasn't. So what was the point of the multiple sanctions, other than to annoy me?
 
m_mus said:
Weaken you? So you don't get too strong?
Sounds like a strategically sound plan once you have been recognized as a potential threat.
Click to expand...
Exactly... any resource a civ has can be used to make itself stronger (Endeavors, suzerein IPs)
OR
Weaken someone else... (Sanctions, Espionage, War Support)

Napoleon has a discount for Sanctions...that's the best use of his influence... especially if he doesn't know of anyone else.
 
Napoleon's best use of sanctions is spreading them out to maximize the +5 gold and +5 culture. Repeat sanctions on a lone opponent does not serve that agenda.

It doesn't weaken me so much as annoys me to lose -1 GP, -1 science, and -1 culture because the AI can't seem to figure out a better use of influence. I'd be OK if it sanctioned other AI opponents, but I haven't seen any evidence that it does. Kind of like how badly war support was implemented at release; the AI only ever targeted the player.

I think my points stand: sanctions are poorly implemented as is, are not a useful tool to the player, and only really serve to annoy us.
 
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