Embassies? – What, Where and When

[Furiey]

Our Scientists are currently hard at work researching something they are calling Writing. They tell us that it will allow us to do all sorts of things that we couldn’t do before, one of which is to establish a permanent presence in our neighbours’ countries – they are calling this an Embassy. We’ll get a sneak look at each city we build an Embassy in, so we’ll be able to better assess that Civ’s progress and production abilities. So do we want to do this? At some point I’m sure we will, but it’ll cost us gold, so when?

Do we want to build Embassies as soon as we can, or do we wait for a while? If we wait, how long do we wait and why? Perhaps this timing issue is different for Russia and Babylon, perhaps we need one quickly in Babylon, the strongest of our neighbours, but Russia can wait for a bit?

We may also meet new Civs soon – do we want to build an Embassy with them as soon as we can? Or perhaps only if we meet a strong Civ?

So how about it? Please post your views

 

[donsig]

I think a key consideration is the cost. We have 239g. What are we hoarding it for? If we plann to upgrade soem warriors then I'd hold off on any embassy till the upgrade is complete.

Our term two FA leader has wisely stated that we won't want to establish any embassies until we need them. Well, what will constitute this need? In case of war we may want allies. In case of a wonder building race we may want to build an embassy to find out how our competition is doing. Other than that we may want an embassy to improve relations with another country. Any other reasons?

 

[Chieftess]

Early embassies cost 20-40 gold. Russia is fairly small, so that should be rather cheap (plus, we'll reveal part of their lands). Babylon is another good choice IMHO, since we need to watch them VERY closely this game. Babylon usually isn't the warmonger as most civs are, but they can be a threat.

DGs 1 and 3, they really weren't much of a threat (save for the end of DG1 when donsig fought his hated foe. :soldier: ) DG2, they threatened, but we were fortunate to get their SoD (40 longbows strong) on the WRONG side of the pangaea! They were also starting to flip Russia's first ring cities. (you know a civ is in bad shape when that happens...).

Also, the longer we wait for embassies, the more expensive they'll be.

 

[Rik Meleet]

I am in favor of immediate embassies. That does improve relations, gets us a free 1-city territory map, let's us peek at their building (thus their access to recources) and lowers the trade prices. Combined with the low cost early in the game it's a thing I would do if I'd played this game myself.

 

[Chieftess]

Just to add, we can sign alliances to keep (or try to keep) a civ at bay. (i.e., like the Phony Persian War in DG2 -- amazing how Persia fended off 12 civs at a time that game...).

 

[Bill_in_PDX]

I like the idea of building embassies with our nearest neighbors. We get better relations, more options to play one off the other, and expose more of the map.

All of those benefits outweight the early civ cost to buy the embassy.

 

[Will_518]

We've the gold on our hands, what else can we use them for? We need good foreign plicy options, and to watch the barbs closely, i say we establish them.

 

[Bootstoots]

Here is the cost of embassies (stated by Furiey in the chatroom):

Russia - 31
Babylon - 40
India - 58

Please discuss whether we should build these or not. This will be polled in a day or two.

 

[Rik Meleet]

Yes, sign them all.

That does improve relations, gets us a free 1-city territory map, let's us peek at their building (thus their access to recources) and lowers the trade prices. Combined with the low cost early in the game it's a thing I would do if I'd played this game myself.

 

[TerminalMan90]

Just to play the devils advocate for a moment...

Aren't we saving our cash for purchase of Techs? For upgrades of units?

At this point in the game, it takes a long time to build up cash. If we deplete our supply, we won't have any when we really need it.

 

[Rik Meleet]

I see nothing our gold can be used "more wisely" on.
* Purchase of techs ? - No. We are researching with a specific goal; to trade them around. That is better than buying them. Establishing embassies helps us in this; the civ's attitude improves and they are willing to ask less and offer more.
* Upgrade of units ? - No. For that we need barracks, connected Iron and available warriors. We won't connect the iron for many turns, we have no barracks and all our warriors are very busy.
What else can we spend our money on, besides contacts ? Well, we could cave in to demands, we could have it pillaged and ... that's about it.

I'm sorry TM, your devil needs a new advocate.

 

[Cyc]

I agree with Rik Meleet. The embassies will only become more costly in the future, and because we have no real need for the gold at the moment, now would be the time to build them. We will quickly replenish our gold and will soon forget the expenditure, but we will enjoy it's benifits for the rest of the game.

 

[Furiey]

The total cost for all 3 embassies is 129 gold. That would still leave us with 257 gold. The cost of building these embassies will only go up, so lets do it now and get the benefit from the peek at their cities and improvement in attitude.

 

[TerminalMan90]

I learn lots of stuff coming to this forum.

 

[Bootstoots]

A poll has been posted on this issue.

 

[Chieftess]

Originally posted by TerminalMan90
I learn lots of stuff coming to this forum.

I hope you mean the whole forum, since the demogame isn't always the best place to learn from.

 

[TerminalMan90]

I would probably learn a lot more from the rest of the forum, but I have to spend SOME time working, don't I?

 

[zorven]

In the special turn chat session tomorrow, we will gain contact with Germany. Do we want to establish an embassy with them? We won't know the exact cost until tommorrow, but I am sure we can take a cue from the costs for our first 3.

 

[Chieftess]

I think we should. The cost should still be low.

 

[Furiey]

Establishing an Embassy with Germany will immediately tell us where they are and show us their territory without us having to send Warriors wandering all over the place. We're gaining a bit of gold from the peace renegotiation which will partly offset the cost of the Embassy. With their aggression level they will start out annoyed with us, building an Embassy will improve this attitude and give us better trades.

Lets do it, lets build an Embassy with Germany.