Tributing Sphere of Influence CS

I just wanted to know if this is working as intended.

So normally, when Friends = cannot Tribute a CS, the exception bring the Autocracy tenet that allows you to Tribute Allies and gives you additional influence as well.

For the first time, I noticed that if you have Sphere of Influence on a CS and your influence with them is crappy, you can demand Tribute from them anyways. It is technically possible because you are below the "Friends" influence level of 30, but it seems inappropriate as you have a "technical" status of Ally normally associated with 60 influence points. The ability to do this tributing vanishes as usual if your influence with the CS increases to 30 by some other means.

Should players be able to demand Tribute on a CS with whom they have a Sphere of Influence?

 

I wasn't aware that this was something you could do. That sounds like a wonderful feature worth leaving in to me. If you invested the time and WC votes necessary to secure a sphere of influence then being able to do whatever I want with them sounds like a great prize.

Consider what American sphere of influence meant for a place like Panama. Bullying is totally on the table if you've declared a smaller state in your sphere of influence.

 

I agree with p-danny.

G

 

That's cool - but then doesn't it seem counter-intuitive that you are no longer capable of bullying them if they suddenly like you (like after completing some random Quest)? It would seem to me that it should be fully one way or the other.

 

Why? SoI gives ally status, but it does not intrinsically mean 'friendly alliance.'
G

 

That's my point though and you can cut it another way. Inasmuch as it is a forced alliance, why could the CS ever "like" you enough after that? To put it another way, any actual positive influence to offer a real Friend or Ally status would seem artificial or superfluous with a SoI active - hence it shouldn't be counted at all when determining whether you can bully. (SoI is a kind of bullying, so your influence can no longer ever be "too high" to bully: bullying is expected.)