Friesland... I tab out, forgetting that clock is still running. Come back after 6 years have scrolled by, so basically I've done nothing & fortunately was content enough to just eat through the popup windows and keep going.
I notice on pausing that Denmark will now accept an alliance offer. I send, they agree. While waiting for a month to get a marriage, they propose me. I accept. Days later, they break their alliance & go hostile on me. No other actions were taken, they were not at war (hence no peace terms impacted our relations) and like I said this followed a 6+yr period of dormancy where I did absolutely nothing & received no calls to arms, etc.
While I can accept the fact that the AI might have a gamey reason for serving me like that, it does show to what extent the current system of alliances & relations is too "black box". A few pop-up windows / event triggers would be nice, describing why the f such oddities are occurring with such regularity as to make them indeed no longer odd, but almost expected.
When it comes to diplomacy, alliances, and relations, there is simply too many existing options/avenues to ignore the fact it is an extremely fun part of the game dynamics. But in the current status quo since patch, the only "reliable" (cause/effect) way to exercise diplomacy is in vassal annexing. So many of the juicy diplomatic avenues are broken or leaking fun as to be worth addressing. Why make alliances with big countries when they don't commit troops to defensive wars? Why take an idea path giving 50% claim fab time if it doesn't even work? Why commit diplomats and strategy to allying with a non-rival country if it, once achieved, somehow flips and causes them to go hostile on you?
Especially when it comes to diplomacy, players in the current patch are getting too few reliable or expected outcomes from planning ahead and trying to stay prepared.
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