The diplomacy DON'Ts list

[Rombizio]

1 - Don't Open Borders unless REALLY necessary
2 - Don't make Defensive Pacts with the AI. Ever.
3 - Don't go for a Diplomacy win without a bag of cash
4 - Don't be nice after you are called a warmonger. They now hate you forever, so you might as well kill them all
5 - Don't trust the AI on spying: they will always spy on you even if they promise not to!
6 - Don't ignore CS quests. They give you and ALLY with BENEFITS
7 - Don't forget to have an army ready to roll. Diplomacy doesn't always work!

Add to the list of you can think of something else!

 

[Talcove]

8 - Don't nuke other civs just for the heck of it.

As for #4, though, I've found that it actually IS possible to win back people who think that you're a warmongerer. It just takes a bit of work. Quite a bit.

 

[Loucypher]

9 - Don't bother with diplomacy, the AI will just backstab you anyway.

 

[Rombizio]

9 - Don't bother with diplomacy, the AI will just backstab you anyway.

 

[NASAROG]

8 - Don't nuke other civs just for the heck of it.

As for #4, though, I've found that it actually IS possible to win back people who think that you're a warmongerer. It just takes a bit of work. Quite a bit.

I disagree. Nuke, nuke and nuke some more. Some people just like the to watch the world burn. The A.I. is complete and utter scum. In all the games I've ever played, I've had maybe 2 or 3 interactions with the A.I. that didn't force to me to want to commit genocide.

 

[rodrigoq]

Kill early, kill often.

 

[Aristos]

1 - Don't Open Borders unless REALLY necessary
2 - Don't make Defensive Pacts with the AI. Ever.
3 - Don't go for a Diplomacy win without a bag of cash
4 - Don't be nice after you are called a warmonger. They now hate you forever, so you might as well kill them all
5 - Don't trust the AI on spying: they will always spy on you even if they promise not to!
6 - Don't ignore CS quests. They give you and ALLY with BENEFITS
7 - Don't forget to have an army ready to roll. Diplomacy doesn't always work!

Add to the list of you can think of something else!

2: Incorrect. I use them all the time; they are delicate and can backfire, but most od the time, with correct and careful use, they are a powerful tool.

4: Incorrect. I have obliterated Alex and Theo in my last 2 games (Emp and Imm), and never was hated. Again, careful management is the key (liberations!).

5: Incorrect. If you bluff with your threat and they catch you, then it's like that. If you have teeth to show when you warn them, they comply. Key is timing.

 

[orasis]

I had a defensive pact with Japan that worked out until the end of the game, I did the same with Germany. It wasn't a weakness thing either because Japan was far, far ahead of me scientifically and militarily.

I think sharing close borders makes them less likely to back-stab you when it comes to DP's.

 

[Navelgazer]

0 - City-States are your potential friends. Other Civilizations are your competitors.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Half of those don'ts look like people are playing unpatched games. Might as well add 'Don't bother with DoFs and Pacts of Secrecy'.
It's better to have different approaches for different situations and civs.

Don't go to war with city states. If you want to steal a worker use bullying or go go to war with a proper civ.
Don't try diplomacy with England. They'll always dislike you. Make them your nr 1 target if they're your neighbour.
Don't completely obliterate a civ if you don't have to.
Don't be neutral with Ausria. Try to be friends and sell them resources to kep them from using the UA or try to reduce them to irrelevance.
If you play Sweden declare war on anyone who sends a Great Prophet into your lands, unless you're dependent on trade routes with them or have a DoF. Don't renew the DoF after they sent their first GP. They'll send others and you'll want to steal them.
If you see notorious city spammer near you (Greece, Russia...) it'S better to surround their capital with your military and steal their Settlers before they can start spamming. Settlers are easier to capture than cities you won't be branded a warmonger.
Don't make a DoF with poor civs unless they are already friends with someone you want to befriend.
Don't go to war against someone who attacks your CS ally if you can support the CS by gifting units, unless the attacker is Mongolia. If it's Mongolia you should either intervene directly or let the CS be conquered and liberate it.
Above all else, choose your friends and enemies wisely and be flexible.

 

[Vitruvius]

Make friends with civs far away. Make defensive pacts too. When there are no border contests, it often stays true and peaceful, even if they hate your warmongering. They have their neighbours to worry about.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[sendos]

10: Do not do nothing when you encounter Shaka and Attila. Build an army.
11: Do not denounce a popular AI. Always denounce a pariah AI.
12: Do not accept AI trades. Most of the time, they are horrible.
13: Do not DoW after promising not to attack that particular AI who suspicious of your armies near their borders, even when your army is nowhere near them. You get a diplo hit from every civ for breaking your promise.
14: Do not ignore a large army of an AI moving together in sync. Keep an eye on it.
15: Unless you are going for domination, try not to get denounced too much.
16: Most obviously, do not ignore AI world congress proposals. In renaissance-industrial, most of the proposals are luxury bans. If you are Indonesia, it is crucial to pay attention to WC and to garner as support as possible to vote down luxury bans targeting your own luxuries that no one else can get unless they trade with you.

 

[Reus]

4: Incorrect. I have obliterated Alex and Theo in my last 2 games (Emp and Imm), and never was hated. Again, careful management is the key (liberations!).

I believe every of us have different experience because of the game's dynamism

I have two experiences in which I righteously declare war and yet other Civs suddenly hate me.

The first example was when I was playing Carthage; The Celts, Chinese, and the Byzantines are my allies, we all hate warmongering England that gnaws all the City-States and crushed the Celts and the Byzantines in series of war.

It was then the Atomic Era,
In that game I NEVER went to War previously with ANYONE, not even City-States.
When I believe England have stepped its boundaries by leaving only a City left to the Byzantines, my allies and I decide to step in to the war; The Celts, The Byzantines, the Chinese, and out of nowhere the Portuguese stepped in few turns later.

In the end of the war when England is fully conquered, I keep NO cities, I gave them all to the surrounding neighbors of England, namely Carthage and Byzantines.
Guess what ? Next turn they denounced me.

A Second example would be me playing the Shoshones, allied with the Maya, Babylon, and the Songhai we were fighting against annoying Montezuma that keeps sending missionaries and prophets to us. The situation is almost the same, I NEVER went to war before and I gave all the cities I captured to the surrounding neighbors because I have no intention to keep them, but of course I shouldn't be surprised....
Next turn they denounced me.

So as a conclusion perhaps the diplomatic AI is just simply dumb...

 

[Reus]

10: Do not do nothing when you encounter Shaka and Attila. Build an army.

Yes, Shaka is VERY dangerous.
But I never find a situation in which the Huns are a threat.

 

[Jampine]

17. Don't plan becoming best buddies with a group of AI's. They will ALWAYS find a way to single you out by the end of the game, if you don't bend over backwards for them all game. The AI can form super secret clubhouses all the time, but you will never be allowed into them. :c

 

[limluigi]

I believe every of us have different experience because of the game's dynamism

I have two experiences in which I righteously declare war and yet other Civs suddenly hate me.

The first example was when I was playing Carthage; The Celts, Chinese, and the Byzantines are my allies, we all hate warmongering England that gnaws all the City-States and crushed the Celts and the Byzantines in series of war.

It was then the Atomic Era,
In that game I NEVER went to War previously with ANYONE, not even City-States.
When I believe England have stepped its boundaries by leaving only a City left to the Byzantines, my allies and I decide to step in to the war; The Celts, The Byzantines, the Chinese, and out of nowhere the Portuguese stepped in few turns later.

In the end of the war when England is fully conquered, I keep NO cities, I gave them all to the surrounding neighbors of England, namely Carthage and Byzantines.
Guess what ? Next turn they denounced me.

A Second example would be me playing the Shoshones, allied with the Maya, Babylon, and the Songhai we were fighting against annoying Montezuma that keeps sending missionaries and prophets to us. The situation is almost the same, I NEVER went to war before and I gave all the cities I captured to the surrounding neighbors because I have no intention to keep them, but of course I shouldn't be surprised....
Next turn they denounced me.

So as a conclusion perhaps the diplomatic AI is just simply dumb...

As he said, you must make sure that you have something to liberate from the civ you are trying to declare war with. You need to offset the warmonger diplomatic penalty

 

[Walter R]

18. Ignore rule 8. Especially if the target is Alex...

 

[Talcove]

18. Ignore rule 8. Especially if the target is Alex...

Is Alex REALLY that much of a problem in other people's games? He NEVER makes it too far in mine.

 

[Walter R]

Is Alex REALLY that much of a problem in other people's games? He NEVER makes it too far in mine.

I play on small continents a lot - if he's nearby fine (well not fine but OK), but if not he often gets pretty big/powerful before I can get to him. And, well he's Alex...

 

[TheMeInTeam]

9 - Don't bother with diplomacy, the AI will just backstab you anyway.

But using "diplomacy" to get civs to declare war on each other and spill each other's blood is an important part of improving one's relative position!