Alziel
Warlord
Hi all,
I know that the Diplomatic Victory is viewed unfavourably on these forums and I am very inclined to agree. My feelings about this 'victory' condition have only been reinforced further by the stupid AI in my two most recent games.
I play on Emporer level and in a recent game, Siam was the runaway civ. They had conquered every other civ on their own continent, they had way more land, population, techs, culture, gnp and cash than anybody else and they had built the Apollo Program when the rest of the world (including myself) were still in the Industrial Age. They were also the number one military power by far with a capital tucked right in the middle of their land (meaning that it would be a massive struggle to reach it to deny him a Spaceship Victory or to try and snatch a Domination Victory).
Myself, I was playing as Suleiman and was second in just about everything but was still way behind Siam in all areas.
I was aiming for a Culture Victory as I only had one SP tree to complete when Siam built the Apollo Program. I was hoping that I would manage to snatch up the remaining six policies and build Utopia before the Siamese could launch their spaceship but the odds were heavily against this as he was already busily building parts.
I noticed that I had a lot of gold and I was making plenty per turn, so to speed myself along on the Culture Victory I started to buy up all the Culture CS's (owned by Siam of course). Surprisingly, Siam didn't make any effort to buy any back even though he had stacks of gold. So I thought- 'Well, I'll try and boost my growth to cut the tech lead that he has then' and so I started buying up all his Maritime CS's as well. Again, he made no effort to claim any of them back despite having way more gold than me (both in the bank and per turn).
Next thing I knew, I got the message that Siam had built the United Nations!! 10 turns later, I won the game when the stupid Siamese had only one spaceship part left to build and I still had three policies to get in the last SP tree. During those ten turns, I think he only claimed one CS back and I was able to get it straight back off him next turn.
On my next game exactly the same thing happened, this time with Elizabeth way ahead of everybody (even further ahead than Siam had been - she hit the Modern era in the 1700s when everybody else was still in the Renaissance era). Lo and behold, just short of her launching her spaceship she builds the United Nations when I own most of the CS's and she only owns half a dozen - and again she makes no real effort to buy any off me even though she has a shed-load of gold. Ironically, I was playing as Siam this time and I was going for another Culture Victory.
Surely the devs must be aware of this flaw? Although I certainly don't mind winning games where the odds are heavily stacked against me, victories such as this feel really hollow. The AI should never build the UN if the human player has the most city states and will obviously win the vote unless it is going to make an effort to snap up all the city states.
So in summary, this victory condition is in desperate need of an overhaul and I add my voice to those who have been crying out for it to be changed since the release.
Don't get me wrong though - I do love Civ 5 and IMO this is the biggest downside of the game for me right now. I think I might just switch off the Diplomatic Victory for the future - which is a shame because I like having all options open.
Cheers
I know that the Diplomatic Victory is viewed unfavourably on these forums and I am very inclined to agree. My feelings about this 'victory' condition have only been reinforced further by the stupid AI in my two most recent games.
I play on Emporer level and in a recent game, Siam was the runaway civ. They had conquered every other civ on their own continent, they had way more land, population, techs, culture, gnp and cash than anybody else and they had built the Apollo Program when the rest of the world (including myself) were still in the Industrial Age. They were also the number one military power by far with a capital tucked right in the middle of their land (meaning that it would be a massive struggle to reach it to deny him a Spaceship Victory or to try and snatch a Domination Victory).
Myself, I was playing as Suleiman and was second in just about everything but was still way behind Siam in all areas.
I was aiming for a Culture Victory as I only had one SP tree to complete when Siam built the Apollo Program. I was hoping that I would manage to snatch up the remaining six policies and build Utopia before the Siamese could launch their spaceship but the odds were heavily against this as he was already busily building parts.
I noticed that I had a lot of gold and I was making plenty per turn, so to speed myself along on the Culture Victory I started to buy up all the Culture CS's (owned by Siam of course). Surprisingly, Siam didn't make any effort to buy any back even though he had stacks of gold. So I thought- 'Well, I'll try and boost my growth to cut the tech lead that he has then' and so I started buying up all his Maritime CS's as well. Again, he made no effort to claim any of them back despite having way more gold than me (both in the bank and per turn).
Next thing I knew, I got the message that Siam had built the United Nations!! 10 turns later, I won the game when the stupid Siamese had only one spaceship part left to build and I still had three policies to get in the last SP tree. During those ten turns, I think he only claimed one CS back and I was able to get it straight back off him next turn.
On my next game exactly the same thing happened, this time with Elizabeth way ahead of everybody (even further ahead than Siam had been - she hit the Modern era in the 1700s when everybody else was still in the Renaissance era). Lo and behold, just short of her launching her spaceship she builds the United Nations when I own most of the CS's and she only owns half a dozen - and again she makes no real effort to buy any off me even though she has a shed-load of gold. Ironically, I was playing as Siam this time and I was going for another Culture Victory.
Surely the devs must be aware of this flaw? Although I certainly don't mind winning games where the odds are heavily stacked against me, victories such as this feel really hollow. The AI should never build the UN if the human player has the most city states and will obviously win the vote unless it is going to make an effort to snap up all the city states.
So in summary, this victory condition is in desperate need of an overhaul and I add my voice to those who have been crying out for it to be changed since the release.
Don't get me wrong though - I do love Civ 5 and IMO this is the biggest downside of the game for me right now. I think I might just switch off the Diplomatic Victory for the future - which is a shame because I like having all options open.
Cheers
