Hostages

[Johnny 5]

I keep getting popups saying i can offer a hostage...Why would I want to actively offer a hostage to a ruler? I don't see a benefit here.

[Damedius]

Well if you want to game the system. Let's say you have a heir that you don't like but the next in line is amazing. Give someone a hostage, then declare war and hope that they kill them.

Outside of that I really don't see the benefit myself.

[EvolvedBear]

Yeah outside niche situations its not so useful. Not a fan of the mechanic.

[Johnny 5]

Originally posted by PeasOnEarth:

Yeah outside niche situations its not so useful. Not a fan of the mechanic.

Yeah, I haven't found the actual hostages you get very intereting either, you get some renown but its not worth the alert/event spam

[Royal Raven]

Yeah I am trying to understand it myself, but like you said it probably is very niche. I feel like it needs some work and some depth.

[kong.jingying]

I'm ish on it. I can see potential value in offering if you're trying to adopt a new faith/culture and have no great way to get there other than offer your heir to a neighboring ruler with that faith/culture and hope they convert them.

But tbh, mostly I find it annoying. Three options- offer/exchange/demand- that just clutter up my alerts button and keep reappearing over and over and over even when I right-click them out. Not a huge fan. I think it would be less annoying if they were all nested under a single collapsible 'hostage options' heading if they have to keep reappearing.

[Jackochainsaw]

Originally posted by kong.jingying:

I'm ish on it. I can see potential value in offering if you're trying to adopt a new faith/culture and have no great way to get there other than offer your heir to a neighboring ruler with that faith/culture and hope they convert them.

But tbh, mostly I find it annoying. Three options- offer/exchange/demand- that just clutter up my alerts button and keep reappearing over and over and over even when I right-click them out. Not a huge fan. I think it would be less annoying if they were all nested under a single collapsible 'hostage options' heading if they have to keep reappearing.

Would agree. In the Outliner, it would be better if it just got stuck under a hostage tab that you could expand or collapse. They've done that with potential wars, not sure why it wasn't better filtered. Clutter is the game's biggest Achilles heel at times especially during war time crunch.

[Gerd]

avoiding wars

[Johnny 5]

Originally posted by Gerd:

avoiding wars

Not if you are offering your children, there isn't a benefit in terms of avoiding wars. Only gamey ones where you abuse mechanics

[Royal Raven]

Originally posted by Jackochainsaw:

Originally posted by kong.jingying:

I'm ish on it. I can see potential value in offering if you're trying to adopt a new faith/culture and have no great way to get there other than offer your heir to a neighboring ruler with that faith/culture and hope they convert them.

But tbh, mostly I find it annoying. Three options- offer/exchange/demand- that just clutter up my alerts button and keep reappearing over and over and over even when I right-click them out. Not a huge fan. I think it would be less annoying if they were all nested under a single collapsible 'hostage options' heading if they have to keep reappearing.

Would agree. In the Outliner, it would be better if it just got stuck under a hostage tab that you could expand or collapse. They've done that with potential wars, not sure why it wasn't better filtered. Clutter is the game's biggest Achilles heel at times especially during war time crunch.

The other thing, when I get a hostage, there is no special UI area where I can find them fast. I thought maybe somewhere in the relationship screen area. I usually have to find them in my court area.

[Jet]

Originally posted by Damedius:

Well if you want to game the system. Let's say you have a heir that you don't like but the next in line is amazing. Give someone a hostage, then declare war and hope that they kill them.

Outside of that I really don't see the benefit myself.

does this happen if you go to war with them because your liege or ally declares war on them?

[Dagg]

Trading hostages is a good way and cheap way to keep others from declaring war on you. When you become more powerful you can demand hostages without having to trade one yourself and this keeps everyone in line and is another way to control other factions. It can also help open the door to forming better relationships with other factions as well. I have found the hostage system to be extremely useful and easy to understand but everyone's mileage may vary I guess.

[Johnny 5]

Originally posted by Dagg:

Trading hostages is a good way and cheap way to keep others from declaring war on you. When you become more powerful you can demand hostages without having to trade one yourself and this keeps everyone in line and is another way to control other factions. It can also help open the door to forming better relationships with other factions as well. I have found the hostage system to be extremely useful and easy to understand but everyone's mileage may vary I guess.

Again read the post. I'm referring to the offer histake interaction not trading hostages.