ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater
For naval units spotting land units, I can't seem to be able to find the original thread on this where it was discussed in more detail, but essentially it stems from the idea that players were using cheap units to transport them to use as spotters of hidden enemy land unit positions, e.g. along coasts as well as on islands for the world map, and that it was also debatable if naval units in general should be able to spot hidden land units along coasts and on coastal positions on islands etc.
From memory it was argued it gave too much of an advantage to naval units in this sense, where realistically those units would only truly be spotted with air or by land units via overland movement or from being amphibiously transported and dropped off etc.
In the end it doesn't stop you from attacking these coastal units, they just need to be spotted first, and it helps to eliminate the "gamey" tactics that otherwise prevailed in these situations.
The issue that drove this change was micro-landings. The ability to drive up and down an enemy's coastline looking for empty cities, and then making single-unit nuisance landings had ruined the game for many people.
I find it ironic that some of the very people who created this gamey tactic are now complaining about the change that their own actions forced to be implemented. Honestly, it is the people who are constantly pushing the rules to the breaking point looking for exploits that force this kind of reactionary change from the developers. This never needed to come up, but due to some peoples behavior, it had to be done. Italy was being forced to surrender within a couple turns of entering the game consistently, at least by certain players, by doing this very thing. If people hadn't started doing it, the fix would not have been necessary.
And it never made any sense for ships to spot land units. So I drive my battleship within a few miles of the coast. Cliffs, buildings, hills, and vegetation will limit the view inland to a few hundred meters. How can you tell what land units are stationed there, and their strengths and dispositions? You can't. Especially since the hexes on the coastline actually extend many miles inland. Ships can be spotted out to sea for many miles from land, but ships cannot see inland in any meaningful way. And submarines? Give me a break.
Nothing stops you from bombarding a resource. As far as the supposed loss of game balance from ships not being able to bombard units without spotting them first, I have never noticed these bombardments to have much of an effect. If you were counting on that to save you, you're doomed anyway.
Since this hasn't even started working yet, lets see how it goes. Maybe once a hex is bombarded by one unit, any units in it could be revealed. This would allow a ship to illuminate one hex per turn, not an entire coastline. Maybe that would work.
Let's try to find a way to make it work instead of returning to micro-landing hell. That is NOT the answer.
