Re: ME 1650 - strange loyalty loss

From: Mark G Jaede <jaede@acsu.buffalo.edu>

Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Rob Randall wrote:

>
> I lost 5-20% of my loyalty at all my PCs. My capital, a City/Castle,
> dropped from 98 to 87 even though I have an army and 3 characters there.
> I lost 2 camps as a result, one of which had 16 loyalty, and a second
> which had 18 loyalty.
>
> My tax rate is currently 51%, causing a slow drift up in loyalty, and
> has been at this level for several turns.

At 51% your loyalties should randomly change +1, 0, or -1. This can make
for upward or downward movement for a time, but overall yields
stability. It should not cause drops like what you saw. Only a tax hike
would produce such big changes across the board. You did check to see
that you didn't get an involuntary tax hike because of a budget
shortfall?

>
> I did lose a camp and a village to enemy military action, but the drop
> in loyalty seems excessive for this to have been the sole cause.

The rules are vague about how pop center losses affect loyalties, but
there seems to be considerable variability. You can lose a town and
suffer no loyalty loss; I can say I've never seen loyalty drop from
losing camps or villages. But the proportions of the losses you suffered
are consistent with what I've seen after losing a major town and a town
in the same turn.

>
> Does anyone think this is reasonable? I am relatively new to the game
> and so may not realise something.
> --
> Cheers, Rob Randall

"Reasonable" is a difficult word. Your experience is at least unusual,
and it couldn't hurt to ask GSI if something might have gone wrong. But
you may just have been very unlucky on the pop center losses.
Alternatively, you could be the victim of concerted emissary actions.
You will not always get notice of the presence or activity of an
emissary. Sometimes all you see is the loyalty drop. And there could
even be an emmy at work in your capital if it is a hostile neutral whom
you have not downgraded. Your armies only protect you from enemy
nations' emissaries. If you are neutral towards a nation, its emmies can
influence your pop centers even with your armies present.

The emissary theory is only a wild guess. Occam's Razor suggests that
the pop center loss is the better explanation. Good luck.
--
Mark G. Jaede: jaede@acsu.buffalo.edu

References

ME 1650 - strange loyalty loss
Rob Randall <rob@rrandall.demon.co.uk>
Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

ME 1650 - strange loyalty loss
Rob Randall <rob@rrandall.demon.co.uk>
Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:00:00 +0000