Sea Zone Neutrality

[ShaiHulud]

I've noticed that, if you start a war by refusing passage to a Crusade, the sea zones around the Crusade country are still considered neutral, not blockaded.

Beyond that, I had a general jump from 5 stars to eight in just one battle..... Does anyone know why that would be possible?

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O stranger, Go tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their will.....

[Hosakawa Tito]

1)Shai did the faction you refused passage to attack you? I only remember one time I refused passage and was not attacked, probably because they were such a small force compared to mine. Are you listed as at war with this faction and are they blockading you elsewhere?
2)I don't know if they mod generals increasing their rank by number of victories, like in STW, but jumping from 5 stars to 8 in one battle is something I haven't been blessed with yet. Makes one wish to know why, so you can repeat it. You must have done some real fighting against heavy odds with your general. Maybe your king also got a positive vice the same turn that increased your generals rank.

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Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so that they look forward to making the trip.

[ShaiHulud]

Tito...

If you refuse them passage they automatically attack, or retreat, and Papa excomms you.

In the Diplomacy area it shows you are now at war with them. No one is blockading me as they have no ships at all.... stupid Frogs. I've been at war with both France and Spain this way and the same thing occured.

Conversely, I attacked Byz and in their waters it states that it is blockaded.

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O stranger, Go tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their will.....

[Hosakawa Tito]

No ships = no blockade, and being weaker than you His Holiness takes their side, kinda like Daddy punishing you for punching your little brother after he kicks you in the crotch. Send a couple of assassins to visit the Pope and make him an offer he shouldn't refuse. That'll take care of the ex-comm.
In most of my campaigns, except this last one, I find the Byzantines to be one of the first with a navy, I always try to get allied with them at first, so they don't snuff out my trade. This time it's the Egyptians dominating the east, so I've held off on the Crusades in the eastern Med and am trading with them for now to build up a big enough war chest to survive the eventual loss of trade. The Mongols should be hitting the Egyptians around 1260, 20 years from now, I'll make my move then hehe. I prefer to play the glorious achievement game, the total world conquest I don't really like.
The diplomacy part of the game needs some work. Once your empire gets too big all the other factions gang up on you, and there's no alliances to be had with any of them. It seems the AI would rather fight to the last man last province instead of survive, which in the glorious achievement game should not be, because it turns into conquer the world instead. Better diplomatic AI would improve this game immensely.

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Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so that they look forward to making the trip.

[ShaiHulud]

Tito, I didn't explain clearly... I have ships, alone, in their waters, yet, I am not blockading their ports, according to the AI. Presumably, they are getting trade benefits, even tho they should not.

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O stranger, Go tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their will.....

[Hosakawa Tito]

Without ships of their own the only trade they should get is local trade,ie within their own faction, like one of your interior provinces that has no sea access can only trade within the province, not globally. It would only be a minimal amount. There must be an unbroken/unblockaded string of ships from port to port for trade between factions.
At least that is how it's supposed to work.
How can you tell your opponent is receiving trade with other factions? As far as I know there is no way to see your opponents trade parchment. One of the AI problems is that they sometimes don't set up viable trade routes with other factions, they leave breaks in the chain of ships required, ie unoccupied sea areas, to complete a trade route.
You do know you can check your trade to every port by first clicking on the "stack of coins" button, this brings up a parchment on the right listing all your provinces with their income + support costs for your navy.
Then clicking on the name of the province on that list, Flanders for example,brings up another parchment on the left showing every port you export trade goods to, if the AI has a viable trade route to Flanders it will also show on this parchment as an import, took me awhile to discover that one myself, by accident in fact lol.
As far as I know there are no overland trade routes between factions, and the only trade within your own faction only takes place in the province that produces the trade good. Something I hope they fix in the patch. You should be able to trade a commodity to every province you control and can reach overland without entering another factions territory.

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Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so that they look forward to making the trip.

[This message has been edited by Hosakawa Tito (edited 10-29-2002).]