[Gandalf Parker]

If ALL of the players are AI then the game shuts down.
Sorry about that. Thats my fault. It was a server request to keep a server from running a dead game continually. It was a hassle with Dom3 and would be even more with CoE3 since there are no turn files I could even check the last turn-in date on

However, if you have "Common Cause" turned on, and you have an AI ally, then you can continue in the game watching your ally play. But that is because you actually have a chance of coming back.

If you want to watch your own nation play out as an AI (only possible in server games altho you can host your own server game just for yourself) then you would have to have another human player in the game. I have started games where I played 2 or more nations, then set some of them AI just to see how they would continue. It can actually be fairly instructive early on to watch the AI play.

The game could support tourists. The game makes it much easier to switch out who it is playing a nation. If I drop then the next connector sees my nation as "open" for play. They can step into the game taking over where I left off. So an old game that people arent interested in anymore could stay running to allow people to step in and do a few turns