My spies dying of old age ... thoughts?

[heretk]

OK, bear in mind I just got this game.

I spent the resources to build a nice stable of spies before I even met any other races, just to have them ready for when diplomatic channels DID open.

By the time I met my first alien empire, all but one of my spies had died. SitRep merely stated that they died, not exactly how. I imagine that it was due to the passage of time, but it WOULD BE NICE if the SitRep explicity stated the cause of death.

A nice entry in the manual under "Personnel" should indicate the average life span of leaders and spies etc. so the player can properly time things.

[smellymummy]

the situation report does tell you. IIRC I've seen:

-retired on his own (not through the retire box)
-died of old age (something that sounds like that)
-dissapeared (mysteriously gone)

its not the exact wording, but close enough.

but yeah, I also remember some that didn't give a reason.

You just have to stay on top of of things, there lifespan is pretty long anyway so it's not like we have to build more spies every other turn, and they are kind of cheap

[Adam Wallock]

I believe that there are tech discoveries later that increase lifespan through-out your empire. Perhaps this affects spies as well...?

[Lotharun]

I suspect that your longest term spies are at the top of your spy pool roster window. I try to insert those first --- leaving some behind for countering enemy spies.

[Grumbold]

A spy has a pool of luck which slowly declines. When that luck drains away it appears he retires even if he has just been sitting in your pool as a counterterrorist measure.