Release of Prisoners

[pzgndr]

I've been fixing the Show Prisoners screen to get the requests to exchange/release prisoners to work. So, this has never worked and has not been documented. I've drafted a new rule for the Game Manual:

6.17 Release of Prisoners
A player can voluntarily release prisoners for a “+2” political point gain or request the exchange or release
of prisoners held by an AI opponent for a “-1” political point penalty if the request is denied. From the
Show Prisoners screen, click the applicable button at any time during the Diplomacy Phase. For prisoners
held by human opponents, send a PBEM message to the selected nation to request an exchange or
release of prisoners.

Firstly, there's really no way to make this work between two human players so if you're not making a request to an AI computer opponent then you'll get a popup to send a PBEM message. For the AI, I'm adding some simple response logic. Basically 50/50 chance on a 1-10 die roll, with a couple +/- mods depending on political status and being traditional ally/enemy. Prisoners are automatically exchanged when peace is executed anyway, so players are essentially asking an AI opponent at war to do a favor. Player risks losing -1 PP if the request is denied or giving the AI +2 PP if it agrees and releases prisoners. Not a great deal IMHO, but an interesting game option.

FWIW, there is no comparable rule in EIA or EIH. This is something Marshall Ellis added to the game. I think +2 PP for each prisoner release is too much. Prisoners (I/M) and individual leaders are all treated seperately. +1 PP for releases and maybe -1 PP for denied requests seems more appropriate. I'm curious if others have an opinion or suggestions for AI response logic. This will all be in the upcoming v1.25.03 Beta in the next week or so.

[pzgndr]

I'm still interested in any comments folks have about this. I'm leaning toward changing release from "+2" PP to "+1" PP. And if denied, maybe drop the automatic "-1" PP penalty but offer to do so for "-1" PP. And for the AI logic, I'll factor in enemy presence in home nation.

[Orm]

Voluntary releasing prisoners for a +2, or a +1 gain, seems way to good to me. Is there a restriction on the number of prisoners to get this bonus? Release a few militia for a +2 PP bonus?!

Asking prisoners to be released by the AI should only be allowed if the players is releasing its prisoners as well. So it is a real prisoner exchange. The party releasing the most prisoner may get +1 PP depending on how many more prisoners that are released seems reasonable (but it should not be guaranteed). And, perhaps, declining it could render a negative modifier (one again, I think it should be rolled for).

Maybe there can be a monetary cost in holding huge number of prisoners? That way releasing them makes for a monetary benefit.

[pzgndr]

I'm going to add a negative logic modifier if the exchange is not for like prisoners: troops for troops, or leader for leader.

In my mutiple playtests to verify all this stuff, I'd argue that this release business is pretty much a wash. Yeah, you can gain an easy PP with a voluntary release but that's not like gaining a VP. It might keep you from dipping into Instability if that's a motivator. And a PP loss for a denied request isn't so bad, unless you try repeated attempts and keep losing PPs. Since both sides can do this (except the AI which won't be making requests), it's not like you're getting an unfair advantage here? Again, an interesting game option but I don't want to fret over it too much.

I've been down this rabbit hole for the past couple of days now and I intend to wrap it up today and move onto my other issues.

[Orm]

Splendid.