Spend favors for ally neutrality

[AP85]

I'm a big fan of the favors system, it's a huge improvement on the previous call to war mechanic (where you could ally France and let them steamroll all your enemies again and again). However, there are a lot of times it seems where I have an ally who also allies my rival, preventing a DOW.

It made me think, maybe another option for favors would be to spend 20 favors to have an ally stay neutral in a war against a specified target. You could implement it so that it only works above a certain Trust threshold (either say 50 Trust minimum, or more Trust with you than the other ally). Or, it could become a Diplomatic option that is unlocked at a higher Tech level. Historically, there were cases where heads of state would negotiate neutrality in the event of a war.

 

[durbal]

Or just call your ally to war against one target then declare war on the target they're allied with. Without reworking warfare entirely players will still just do that anyway.

 

[Dominion]

I'd say 10 fav and 100 trust. But numbers are always a matter of whatever in that kinda case. Base idea sounds solid and interesting.

Reason I'm in favor of high trust is because I personally play without allies in almost every game 'cept for some opportunistic bond. Making high trust more valuable sounds desirable.

 

[mergele]

I'm more in favor of a "need 10 more trust than your enemy + cost 20 favours" approach.

 

[Armillus Dynat]

This would actually be really nice. My only concern would be that a blanket system like this would stop the ai from looking after its own interests. Still would rather have it than not.

 

[makaramus]

abusable...
and in return those favors must added to his other ally to balance things...
but if you got very high trust compared to your enemy you can demand him to break alliance

 

[Ironside121]

At least 10 trust higher than the other person involved and 20 favors.

For anyone who thinks its abusable- we have Break Alliance, which is rather similar and we abuse the hell out of that

 

[durbal]

At least 10 trust higher than the other person involved and 20 favors.

For anyone who thinks its abusable- we have Break Alliance, which is rather similar and we abuse the hell out of that

We do? I think I've used it once or twice near the end of a WC just to reduce tedium.

 

[Ironside121]

We do? I think I've used it once or twice near the end of a WC just to reduce tedium.

Well I suppose I play MP primarily- so using it to get rid of another players ally is immensely helpful.

 

[Palatinus Germanicus]

I don't get it. Why can't your ally play the game, just like you are? All he's trying to do, is hedge. There's different power blocs / alliances forming out there... things are always in flux, and he's not sure where he stands. So he has one foot, in each power bloc. That way, he'll be protected, no matter who attacks whom.

In my current game, (relatively strong) Milan was doing this. I was Prussia (beta-Germany), and Milan couldn't decide whether it wanted to be in my power bloc, or France's. So it hedged... for a while. We were friends, and fought some wars together. But ultimately the league war set-up led to our divorce.

If you've got an ally that's allying your rivals... that means they're not really your best friend, plain and simple. They're basically just hedging, because they don't yet know (or just haven't decided) where their true allegiance will be, in the future.

 

[AP85]

At least 10 trust higher than the other person involved and 20 favors.

For anyone who thinks its abusable- we have Break Alliance, which is rather similar and we abuse the hell out of that

It would be pretty hard to abuse this if it were implemented with a proper Trust threshold. Army size could also be a consideration.

 

[durbal]

It would be pretty hard to abuse this if it were implemented with a proper Trust threshold. Army size could also be a consideration.

It would be pretty useless too since you'd need to spend favors for trust. Instead, as I said above, you can call your ally to war against a third party and then declare war on the original target anyway. This costs either 0 or 10 favors to do, so unless this proposed interaction costs less than 0 or 10 favors it's pretty much useless.

 

[AP85]

It would be pretty useless too since you'd need to spend favors for trust. Instead, as I said above, you can call your ally to war against a third party and then declare war on the original target anyway. This costs either 0 or 10 favors to do, so unless this proposed interaction costs less than 0 or 10 favors it's pretty much useless.

That isn't always an option if it's a Distant War, they are at war, multiple call to arms, Defender of the Faith, etc. It's especially tricky when the HRE is involved. The point is it would be nice to have additional ways to utilize Favors, expanding the mechanic.

 

[petertju]

At least 10 trust higher than the other person involved and 20 favors.

For anyone who thinks its abusable- we have Break Alliance, which is rather similar and we abuse the hell out of that

I actually rarely use it because it has quite a massive effect on your relation with the other country, I think I lost an alliance through it once or twice.