Ships back to port

[Bahgtru]

Well assuming that's true - I'll check it out in my next game start - if that's the only case where this is true then we're again in the not an issue case. You have a single ship and it's not doing anything productive. Otherwise, if you have even 1 other ship, then the AI is splitting the stack in 2. And then if both are doing the city thing then your entire fleet isn't doing anything productive, same kind of "not an issue".

As soon as one ship is doing something productive then some AI ships will hunt it down. And no, you can't "go back to port" or it will be intercepted. Something productive is away from your port and close to the enemy. There you can't swap ocean, and lose the trail. As soon as you go back you're hunted, exactly like now.

So... Either not an issue (former) or not a change (latter)?

[Nelphine]

More like 'if such a port doesn't exist, then no need for a change.'

'if such a port exists, it can lead to abuse, and s change will be bad'

'if such a port exists, and you actively avoid abusing it (which in my opinion would actually require some thought by the player, as using it naturally would often lead to the abuse even if the player didn't realize it or plan it) then the AI still can't use it anyway, and will still require a much bigger fleet presence to be as much of a danger as now, so it's a bad idea'

[Nelphine]

You can actually replicate the amount of abuse potential by using a single magic spirit with endurance, and simply crossing islands. That's where I first realized how much I had to actively work to avoid manipulating AI fleets (I ended up banning myself from casting endurance on spirits)

[Bahgtru]

Ah, so the issue that you're complaining about already exists and is doable with a 30 mana spell. Well, I see the strength of the argument against the proposal now, it'd totally wreck a perfectly balanced game. My bad!

[Nelphine]

That's why the problem is that the abuse would happen inherently with ships, simply by travelling through the port.

The magic spirit normally stays on land, so you have to actively work at it to create the abuse, or get particularly lucky/observant with what is happening elsewhere to realize what it is and replicate it.

But yes, there are definitely large problems with ai overland decisions. Adding more, for something the AI can't use even if you don't do the abuse, doesn't seem productive.

[Seravy]

Added this to the rejected suggestions list.