AI When Offline

So, say your in war, rather then the normal offline AI, the one you appoint would be more war-minded?

Or it would just follow your design and resource use patterns. So say you always plot out so many granaries for so many farms, and you use a certain percentage of your wood for shops, etc... It would follow your same patterns, expanding your cities even when you were offline, but the same way you would've done more or less.

I think that would be good, that would be a big value-add for when we're talking about a simulation that runs 24/7.. If I have to be on 24/7 to run my empire at utmost efficiency, I will get burnt out fast.

Actually I like both...
Allow up the "training" of your AI's and let you save them, so when you go off line you can choose which AI is used and possiblely even where...Such as you have an AI that you trained while you focused on domestic improvement and economic expansion, and an second AI that you trained while working in war threatened border providences. When you log off you place your central providences (one's you know can't be threatened any time soon) under the control of the first AI, and your border providences under the control of the second AI.

Though the ability to delegate tasked to trained AI would be useful as well. Such as when I go to war I would like the focus of my domestic building to shift slightly but not have to watch it so I can focus on controlling the battle while reinforcement are sent forward as the trained AI determines based on how the battle is going...

Instead of training different AI why not just set beaviors of one or more AI or just have one Ai that you customise to react in a dertain way to differnt type of situations.

Well...I wouldn't want a crazy AI who would start invading everyone and get me destroyed. But you should be able to program it to an extent to match your defensive strategy. Or even better, the AI program records your defensive gameplay and attempts to respond to situations in the same way you do (which probably wont happen sadly )

I think the AI shouldnt do anything else but keep your country stable and in the same, progressive way one has left it. It should only really "act" when you are under attack or some other crisis occurs. At that time, it should act to protect your nation, but not change anything as how one has left it.

Also, the AI should be really really really smart and strong. Because players tend to be also. And it's a bit cowardice to attack when someone is offline

This is a really good idea which I like but to let it continue building whilst offline naah dont like that, it takes away the fun of sitting by your computer playing society you could just play the first week use that AI and then relax for a month or two and when you comeback you have surreal income which allows you to build superior troops.

The idea is very good indeed but it would need some kind of balance + I think it would be a huge job just to code that part of the game

I just posted this idea in another thread but mabye some nations could declare themselves as mercenary and you could hire one of them to command your troops while you sleep or whatever or hire extra troops from them to help out. It would help a bunch though if there was some sort of win/loss rating for the merc so you know you are getting your golds worth out of them.