The AI lies. Big time.

I feel your pain about religious wars, dude. I find that I get so annoyed with missionary spammers that I wind up with a bunch of puppets and a bad rep early game just to get a civ to stop. Wish there was a peaceful way to eliminate missionaries. Inquisitors are okay, but won't solve the core issue.
 
I find that I get so annoyed with missionary spammers
I wish they had done more to streamline AIs towards pursuing victory; missionary spam isn't very productive.
 
Just to emphasize how strongly the AI feels about religion: I prophet-bombed Venice today. Immediately I get a complaint and a negative modifier with Venice. I use a mod called Diplomacy values, which lets me know the exact value of each positive or negative.

For comparision:
- "We denounced them" = -35 points
- "They have denounced us!" = -35 points
- "We are competing for the favor of the same City-States!" = -10 to -30
- "We were caught trying to steal technology!" = -20
- "We captured their original capital!" = -80
- "They feel our warmongering will plunge the world into a new dark age!" = -200, approximately. Happens when you've conquered over 50% of the other Civs.
- "We have made a public declaration of Friendship!" = +35
- "We have denounced the same Civs!" = +15
- "We have made friends with the same Civs!" = +15
- "We restored their Civilization after they were annihilated!" = +200

So, how did my "They are spreading religion, but we converted some of their cities" stack up? A whopping negative 250. That's right: he felt more strongly about it than if I'd killed half the other civs on the map at that point. If nearby Bismark had killed him, and I brought him back from the dead, he'd still be mad with me.

The AI is bonkers for religion. Straight-up bonkers.
 
I use a mod called Diplomacy values, which lets me know the exact value of each positive or negative.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Are these numbers the same for every civ? Why do some have a range? It does seem crazy that prophet bombing is the same as warmongering, but that explains the AI (over) reaction.
 
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Are these numbers the same for every civ? Why do some have a range? It does seem crazy that prophet bombing is the same as warmongering, but that explains the AI (over) reaction.

Some of the numbers are always the same, generally anything that occurs as a distinct event: denouncing, declaring friendship, etc. Liberating civilians depends on what unit you return. Lowest is about +20 for a worker, highest is +40 for a settler.

The ones that are variable are the ones that are harder to point out why: for example competing for city states. That depends on flavour for city states and how many you buy or coup out. Coveting your lands and building wonders are the same. These range in increments of -10, starting at -10 down to about -30.

Warmongering is just a continuous penalty, getting worse as you capture more or declare wars. Individual civs tolerance for warmongers determines how much of a penalty you'll suffer. I assume that there's a hidden "warmonger score" that each AI evaluates you on.

The "we traded recently" is surprisingly large but short lived, capping out at +30 for a totally one-sided deal. "They asked for help and we provided it" is quite large too although I can't remember the value exactly. It's at least another +35 and it lasts a long time.

I was still in awe of -250 for converting Enrico. It later dropped to -100. It was probably only so strong because of his one-city empire. Still, I've never seen the conversion penalty be small. You are absolutely 100% making an enemy. -40 or worse is pretty easy to reach and it fades very very slowly even after they convert back.

I think religion is the single greatest discrepancy between how casually they'll do something to you and how angry they'll be when you do it to them. At least most AI will hesitate before forward settling you if you have an army.
 
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