Joint war diplomacy bug (I think it's a bug)

[zxcvbob]

I've seen this a couple of times, most recently yesterday. I ask an AI to join me in declaring war, and they say the need 10 turns to prepare. So I declare war without them. The war goes well, and I capture all the cities I want and thoroughly pillage whatever is left. Then I offer a peace treaty.

The next turn after I've made peace, that AI that I asked about the joint war pops up and says it's time, and I decline (I don't know if I even can accept because of the peace treaty) I never agreed to wait 10 turns. For the rest of the game, I have a bright red diplo modifier that I broke a joint war promise.

If they had asked me to goto war and I said yes and then backed out, I have no problem with that. But I initiated this and I made no promise.

 

[Browd]

Well, I trust you've learned not to do that again.

When they said they needed 10 turns to prepare, that meant they were accepting your offer to join you in a war -- in 10 turns. So you did make a promise that you later chose to breach. You didn't satisfy that promise by unilaterally declaring an earlier war; you just deferred that obligation until you were no longer at war. And then when the commitment matured, you breached -- hence, the dishonored promise malus.

 

[zxcvbob]

Thanks. I can kinda see that -- I'm not sure I agree with it entirely, but it makes sense. Next time I will just declare war w/o asking anybody first (10 turns is a long time at standard pace.) To bad there's not a "Nevermind" button on the proposal...

Actually, next time I might wait 8 or 9 turns and then declare war unilaterally (so I get the first punch), to see if they wait for the war to be over before popping up to say "let's do this", or if they join the war in the next couple of turns

 

[Browd]

My recollection is that they will not join the war while it is in progress.

 

[Bakspatel]

Usually when I want to drag others in a war I make sure that I'm close to being ready before inviting them - to avoid them accepting the war instantly while I'm not ready yet. If I'm not willing to wait for 10 turns I start the war giving punches to the enemy, but I delay the big stuff like capturing cities until they're in it too.
Another thing you could try out is buying others civs into a war. It might cost you a penny and there's no guarantee they'll seriously participate, but they will support you diplomatically. That also works pretty well in testing in how much they value their alliances, in buying them into wars against their allies. Some refuse, some ask for a lot and some are willing to do it for a very little amount. If you're in a diplomatically difficult situation, it's better to have all the civs hating each other than to have them ganging up against you.

 

[beetle]

Next time I will just declare war w/o asking anybody first (10 turns is a long time at standard pace).

I would encourage you to reload to turn you made peace -- and not make peace. Wait for your AI partner to DOW, and then make peace as you like. These are the sort of peculiar (and somewhat arbitrary) that you will want to be sure you understand, and having war partners can be quite important -- and there is no need to give that up.

One other point of trivia, for these pacts: If you wait for the AI dialog to remind you of your obligation, you are stuck in the war for 15 turns. If you DOW before that dialog screen, you can quit the war after 10 turns.

 

[sixty4half]

Alternatively, you can just pay them to join a war, and forego the whole Joint War issue. It has the same net effect, just without the diplomacy.

 

[Cicerosaurus]

I really doubt you can depend on the AI in such situations or even in Defensive Pacts- it is almost always a token effort. It is better to make sure you have the muscle to take them on alone- and if you can have near by City States allied.