Early AI / CS Relationships

[WickedWombat]

Greetings all!

I have a proverbial bug up my butt about something. I'm currently playing at Emp, and it seems like when I'm about 10-15 turns into my scouting phase, I encounter a CS and it's already being protected by another Civ!

How is this possible? Do the other Civs recieve gold bonuses too depending on difficulty level?

Thoughts and comments are appreciated.

 

[Dai]

Anybody can announce that they're protecting any city-state they've encountered for no cost at all, including you. (It's an option in the city-state window.) This has nothing to do with being friends or allies with the city-state, it just announces to the world that you're prepared to intervene if someone else attacks it.

 

[oledavy]

I thought you needed to be friends with the city-state before you could announce to protect it? I've never had that option before getting the city-state up to 'friends' status. Of course, I could be blind as a bat

 

[fmlizard2]

As a related aside, is there any tangible benefit to pledging protection of a CS? I play as hardcore of a pure patronage game as anyone but I still can't see why I would want to do that.

 

[WickedWombat]

I thought you needed to be friends with the city-state before you could announce to protect it? I've never had that option before getting the city-state up to 'friends' status. Of course, I could be blind as a bat

That's what I thought too. The option doesn't even seem available until I'm able to fork over 250 gold and hope I can get friend status, or returning a CS worker after a barb has kidnapped it

 

[Dai]

Yeah, I was wrong. You can't offer to protect cities you just met. Either the AI doesn't have the requirement or they're doing it in the quick window after they return a worker or clear a camp or something. (Most likely the former.)

 

[WickedWombat]

Yeah, I was wrong. You can't offer to protect cities you just met. Either the AI doesn't have the requirement or they're doing it in the quick window after they return a worker or clear a camp or something. (Most likely the former.)

No biggie. It must be one of the scenarios that you mentioned, that enables other Civs to do that. It just seems too quick for me.

The first 10-15 turns?! Really? It's gotta be additonal AI bonuses based on difficulty.

I think.

 

[Glassmage]

yup AI's get to cheat like that. They can 'protect' CS when they meet them. I was playing on a TSL map and I was Siam. I met Hanoi FIRST in the 2nd turn, and China met them a few turns later and "protect" Hanoi right away. China did not free any citizens or kill barbs or pay them $ because I could check $ with InfoAddict and I monitored Hanoi since the beginning.