Religion's spread

[johnmcd]

A blank missionary would be a very useful unit. A unit you can send to a city to learn their ways and then come back to your capital, or whatever, and share what he has learned.

The times when someone has hated me as I don’t share their religion but doesn’t send me missionaries is infuriating. I’m sometimes happy to change my religion if it will bring better relations with a key AI. It seems there should be a mechanism to bring religions to you, pull as well as push. Particularly as religion only seems to spread without missionaries to cities without any religion.

The idea could be extended though to all sorts of foreign scholarship. A residency at the AI’s Heroic Epic to learn how to train cavalry, perhaps without needing to understand the principles of a military tradition. Or a spell at Oxford University to soak up research points every turn spent there and then disgorge them on their return to your own friendly little civ (a little like the research by osmosis in Europa Universalis).

It would certainly create an additional cost to granting open borders beyond the free passage of settlers.

[Cort Haus]

I like the idea of pulling religions. I'm often thinking "come on, Isabella, convert me". Perhaps this guy could be a 'Theologist', available with Philosophy & Theology.

Dunno about the learning techs though - sounds imbalanced, like the old Civ 1 diplomat stealing techs for a song.

(Actually this discussion should probably be on the general forum.)