Are map info<-->map info swaps ever bad?

[I Am Herenow]

From what I can tell, the AI never actually uses map information for anything, so are exchanges of map info ever potentially bad/dangerous for the player in the SP campaign?

TBH, I personally usually only want map info to know what's going on in the campaign map - I rarely actually use it to plan where to conquer next (just whoever next comes my way! ), so assume the AI won't be any better.

[Phoenix]

I don't make map info swaps with neighboring factions since they seem to attack sooner than they would without the swap in my experience.

[Whacker]

I don't make map info swaps with neighboring factions since they seem to attack sooner than they would without the swap in my experience.

Exactly. By giving an AI faction you map, it seems to trigger a much faster invasion response than if you hadn't, because they now have a much clearer picture of how big/powerful you are. Since we can't see too deeply into the diplomacy compared to M2TW, we can pretty much only roughly approximate how it would work.

As a rough example, my guess is that it would work something like:

1. Faction A, your neighbor, is relative power level "supreme". Yours is whatever the step below that is, "Capable".

2. Faction A's view on you is already pretty miserable. Say 500 of 600, with 600 being "Let's go exterminate them, lol." and 0 of 600 being best buddies.

3. Say without having any map details, and given your current relative power levels to eachother, Faction A would trigger to invade you at 550 without any knowledge, and 450 with detailed knowledge of your empire/map.

4. You swap maps with Faction A. Next turn you are invaded, because you've now passed their threshold based on your current situation and variables.

I could be dead wrong, but that seems to make sense to me. /shrug Take it with a grain of salt.

[I Am Herenow]

Hmm, fair enough. But on the other hand, giving them money for their map means they can train more troops that can kill me!

[Phoenix]

I don't think that's much of a drawback though since the AI often won't attack you for a long time if they don't have your map info, and might even attack someone else. I played 2 Seleucid campaigns (on Hard), in the first one I exchanged map info with Parthia and Armenia while in the second one I didn't...in the first one they attacked me in the first 10 turns while in the second one they didn't attack me for almost 50. And in my last Julii campaign (also on Hard) after fighting the Germans over Lugdunum, I got a cease-fire and they then spent the rest of the game trying to beat Scythia until I wiped them out. Your neighbors will always attack you eventually if they're not occupied with another front, but without giving them map info it seems to take awhile (about 20-40 turns in my experience) for their spies and diplomats to scout out your lands to the degree that the AI wants before attacking.

[Fwapper]

I always try to get their map info for trade rights and possibly a small amount of cash, as you can usually sell the map info separately for more (up to 5000/6000 denarii)