Drugs?!

[SHaW1986]

there ought to be drug resources. which can produce happiness at the cost of less productivity. you can tax these resources or fight them in a "drug war". ok maybe not the taxing and warring but i think the first part is a good idea.

 

[Franks]

Drugs generating happiness? As a criminologist, I can confirm you this is not true. Of course there is the "recreational" user who takes light drugs and enjoys it but in general, drugs brings nothing good to society, they can (especially hard drugs) lead to abuse, followed by financial problems, health (physical/psychological) problems, social problems .. and I'm not even talking about the increased risk of victimization of those who consume it. Some people might take advantage of this, but overall it's nothing but trouble.

An internal drugs war/passive/legalization mechanic would be interesting tho, and perhaps decisions made by your neighbours on that matter could affect relations a bit (I'm thinking about USA/Mexico on metaphetamine & cocaine smuggling, or even Canada/USA on the matter of marijuana). That would be realistic and interesting. I always felt the crime aspect in Civ was missing (I didn't like the corruption mechanic in Civ3 tho). Organized Crime should definitely play a role in this game but I'm not sure how it could be implemented so it can be fun.

 

[SHaW1986]

ok ill give you that it doesnt hard drugs dont lead to happiness. im thinking more like marijuana and such. i just think it'd be an interesting concept.

 

[SHaW1986]

any other feedback, it has potential.

 

[bal_rob]

It really doesn't. Terrible idea. Sorry.

And while, marijuana may cause you happiness - it has certainly caused many people a lot of unhappiness.

 

[PTM]

Adding additional luxury resources, regardless of what they're identified as, is not likely to occur outside of a mod. The closest you could hope for in terms of official releases is likely tobacco, although you do currently have wheat available to you (alcohol). Marijuana won't happen, nor will coca, poppy, etc.

 

[SHaW1986]

Im sorry, youre right. drugs arent real. they dont cause tension between nations, nor do they cause internal tension. Wait,... they DO exist and they DO cause tension. i just thought it was an interesting concept worthy of inclusion in the game. i just wasent sure about the details, hence my asking for feedback sorry for doing that bal_rob. not to mention in civ 3 there was a scenario in which coca was a resource. oh and by the way i dont smoke pot. i do however know many people that do, and the only time they were ever made unhappy by it was when the law put them behind bars, an indirect result. the drug marijuana has never made anyone unhappy directly, at least to my knowledge (though i do realize my knowledge is very limited and its not beyond reason to assume that some people have been made unhappy by it). but regardless, you all are missing the point. i just thought it was worth brainstorming over, happiness or not. sorry for my thoughts, opinions, and ideas.

 

[PTM]

You really needn't be so defensive.

This is just one of those things. Like a Hitler leaderhead, the fallout risked by inclusion outweighs whatever marginal "historical accuracy" that might be gained via inclusion. Additionally, as I said, it is unlikely that anything other than slight UI tweaks and number changing will occur via patches.

 

[Yinglong]

Perhaps we are overlooking the potential for the "luxury item" of drugs being potentially used in diplomacy to force another civ to take them in exchange for a per turn payment.

- The historical parallel would be the Opium Wars that affected China. At the time the UK would load up opium from India on their inbound journeys in exchange for Chinese goods. Having to pay toward the luxury item would not only cost the other civ a per turn rate but also negatively influence their happiness as has been rightly pointed out. This agreement could be an option implemented during a peace treaty negotiation.

In fact this opens up an entire new avenue of treaty impositions akin to war reparations.

 

[PTM]

Trade embargoes and other methods of economic warfare are all wonderful things to include in future mods. If they ever happen officially, however, it will a) be part of an expansion and b) not include controlled substances or their historical equivalents.

 

[Nick Doom]

Where or not it would get in I think I could/world work something like this

After a tec is researched you unlock the "drug" luxury on the map but you have an option you can turn on or off to uses it

When you turn it on you get +20 happiness but you losses 1% per turn (stackable so after 5 turns it 5%) on production gold sciences and cultcher up to a max of 50%

When you turn it off after it has been on you on "drugs" you get 1% back of you production ECT per turn and get -10 happiness until you are back to 100% production

 

[PyroMancer]

Trade embargoes and other methods of economic warfare are all wonderful things to include in future mods.

The problem is they don't have good econ mechanics in the game for this to work. A trade Embargo is pointless when you already have 100% control over your economy. You don't want to trade with a player then you don't. There is your trade embargo.

In order to have economic options they would need to have a civilian economy going on in the background. At least in Civ4 when you did open borders your cities would setup trade routes and get extra gold. That option doesn't exist anymore along with a lot of other features. But even back in Civ4 if you want to stop trade just cancel the open border treaty.

In the case of Drugs it would have to be an underground economy. Cause if they has some negative effect people aren't going to put them up in their empire. Though if you use them against other empires they could almost be on par with like covert ops options.

 

[Nick Doom]

If unhappiness had more of an effect it could be seen to use them as a stop gap till you get a different luxury OR even as the lesser of 2 evils

 

[SHaW1986]

This is just one of those things. Like a Hitler leaderhead, the fallout risked by inclusion outweighs whatever marginal "historical accuracy" that might be gained via inclusion.

I dont know man... i for one would like to have the option of a hitler leaderhead... what would be more entertaining than kicking hitler's ass and seeing him go into some tweaker tantrum?

 

[Camikaze]

I think the idea of having a coffee or tobacco or opium resource is a quite interesting one. Gives happiness, takes health. A drug war may be a bit too far to go with the idea, but I think the conundrum of whether or not to work a drug resource tile, or whether or not to trade for a drug resource, would be quite an interesting one to be faced with.

 

[.Wolff.]

I agree with Camikaze.

While a drug war might take it slightly to far, the idea of using other things isn't all that bad of an idea.

 

[Kiwi Tyrant]

When I click on a unit, I'm sure it say's "Rikers Island".

I can't get it out of my head now.....

 

[skallben]

The problem is they don't have good econ mechanics in the game for this to work. A trade Embargo is pointless when you already have 100% control over your economy. You don't want to trade with a player then you don't. There is your trade embargo.

Head on the nail, there is not even anything such as international trade other than bilateral agreements between civs. I liked trade routes in cIV, also corporations was fun in endgame. I used to "open markets" by enforcing vassals out of trade-hostile policies , and victims of my espionage had to face revolutions so my corporations could establish. Sure they did get some advantages but I drained their money. Very realistic in fact.

 

[Sodavich]

This is the dumbest, oldest suggestion in the history of the forum & i wish people would stop talking about it so we could get some real balances & improvements.

 

[skallben]

This is the dumbest, oldest suggestion in the history of the forum & i wish people would stop talking about it so we could get some real balances & improvements.

This post is not helping your cause.