Curiouser and Curiouser It Seems!

[gm_al]

Thats just the way I like people to speak up - good call here BR.

The original reasons for making spies so expensive were:
* make POP even more valuable
* ypu said it yourself, "since players can always create more spies from a spell", alternate ways, promote spells and mining
* spies "live longer" when they are caught

I can see reasoning to make that a 4:1 conversion, just like armies. As usual I will always listen to you, the Players.

[Goat Herder]

Interesting that you didn't include on the poll and option to leave it like it is. I just voted for 4:1 as it is the closest to the current 5:1, which I think works pretty well.

It seems pretty balanced, and they cost enough so that people won't just buy them willy-nilly, but rather think about their needs before buying a heap. In a rational (real life) sense, I admit it does seem wierd that they cost a lot, but for the sake of game-play I think it's fair. I fact, the only change that is needed for spies is to improve their chance of catching enemy spies when they are spying on you, or at least improve the chance of discovering where they come from, even if you don't stop them sending out a spy report.

Well they're my thoughts anyway.

[Lowebb]

5 is perhaps to many for early game but when the main players are sorted out it is just about right. One thing I have noticed now is, after my few games in WOK5 that they are not an effective way of keeping EFF up any more.

[Bjorn]

I agree with both GH and BR that spies are not the EFF crushers they are in WOK4. In fact, I find that they are best used to detect where opposing spies are coming from. Put 5 of them into a province and you have a good chance of detecting the source of enemy spy efforts. For my part, when negotiating NAPs, I prefer that spying not be covered.

I see no real reason to change the conversion ratio of 5:1. Heck, I usually capture enough spies to meet my needs.

I don't believe the 5:1 ratio deters me from creating spies as much as the 5 Gold/turn maintenance. I would like to see the number of spies in a province have some effect on the probability of an enemy spy being successful, rather than just detected. That would make them far more valuable.

Another reason for keeping the 5:1 ratio is the overall number of POP in the game as compared to WOK4. As long as you can keep the corn coming, POP grows at 30%-40% each turn. This is a much greater growth rate than WOK4.