I don't mean the formal Wargoal should be allowed to change, but sometimes the AI seems to drop its original purpose in a war and adopt a new one. You know, just like us. Step A - "I want one province, DoW"; Step B - Enemy army completely collapses or major ally declines to defend; Step C - "I want five provinces" Or Step B - cascade of alliances; Step C - "I want to get out of this for a one-time cash payment".
The AI can come off as just fickle or unfocused in its wargoals (getting rid of the little bit of X-Com shuffle in army/navy movement would help, too). I suspect, from how the rest of the game behaves, that the AI is in fact making pretty reasonable changes in what it wants, e.g. it DoWed a minor hoping to snap up a province or two, then it beat some much bigger countries and what it's willing to take has changed. Yes, sometimes it's pretty obvious why the AI has changed its mind, but certainly not always.
I suggest that pronouncements be possible for AI nations something like those made by the Allies in WW2. We don't want spam, so restrict it to major wars for messages and no more than once per year, war leaders only. But on the peace negotiation dialog, especially when the AI is now turning down the original wargoal as unwanted, some kind of explanation would be very helpful. The +s and -s are great, but if there is a deeper purpose to what the AI is doing, getting the message through would make playing more enjoyable and the AIs thought process seem more impressive.
The same kind of message system for AI goals could be helpful for abrupt opinion changes. Why does my long time ally suddenly declare me rival? Yeah, I can just start a war together and hope it's a passing phase. But a look into why the AI makes such changes would help them appear less random and more cunning. I recommend having the message delivered by a diplomat wearing an orange and yellow hat with a red ball on top to complete the effect.
The AI can come off as just fickle or unfocused in its wargoals (getting rid of the little bit of X-Com shuffle in army/navy movement would help, too). I suspect, from how the rest of the game behaves, that the AI is in fact making pretty reasonable changes in what it wants, e.g. it DoWed a minor hoping to snap up a province or two, then it beat some much bigger countries and what it's willing to take has changed. Yes, sometimes it's pretty obvious why the AI has changed its mind, but certainly not always.
I suggest that pronouncements be possible for AI nations something like those made by the Allies in WW2. We don't want spam, so restrict it to major wars for messages and no more than once per year, war leaders only. But on the peace negotiation dialog, especially when the AI is now turning down the original wargoal as unwanted, some kind of explanation would be very helpful. The +s and -s are great, but if there is a deeper purpose to what the AI is doing, getting the message through would make playing more enjoyable and the AIs thought process seem more impressive.
The same kind of message system for AI goals could be helpful for abrupt opinion changes. Why does my long time ally suddenly declare me rival? Yeah, I can just start a war together and hope it's a passing phase. But a look into why the AI makes such changes would help them appear less random and more cunning. I recommend having the message delivered by a diplomat wearing an orange and yellow hat with a red ball on top to complete the effect.
