AI Player Envoys?

[KoolSIM]

I was curious what happens if I accept an AI Player's envoy? I understand if I send an Envoy (for 25 Gold), it unlocks some level of access that I can see in the AI Player's screen. But what about those that an AI sends? Is there any diplomatic penalty if I reject? Is it a good idea to reject / accept it? Or is it just a harmless game mechanic?

Couldn't find a thread that was specific to this topic. Found loads of City State envoy related threads. Apologies if this has been asked before.

 

[isau]

I always accept because if you don't they will never stop harrassing you about it.

 

[joncnunn]

I'm not seeing any harm in accepting envoys from the AI. If you are planning a war, they'll end up wasting that 25 gold. And given what envoys reveal when humans send them to the AI, it can't possibly give the AI anything useful when it sends this to the human.

There is a slight diplomatic effect though if AI France is in the game with regard to accepting envoys from the AIs. Accepting an envoy from AI France gives her a bit more access making it slightly more likely that some AI will have less than her. And in the same game, accepting an envoy from a different AI gives them a bit more access making it slightly less likely AI France will be ahead in this.

 

[Kougar7]

It's the same as an embassy. If you accept they will see your city and add it to the list for future use with spies.

Also giving an AI that is extremely close to you vision of your city may cause the AI to decide to attack you due to proximity. The chance is based on multiple factors but it is something to keep in mind, without the AI knowing where your cities are it won't go to war.

 

[KoolSIM]

Okay.

I played a couple of games on Warlord difficulty where I accepted delegations from neighbouring AIs. After turns of sweet talk and what not, I got DoWed in both games. My recent game was on Prince difficulty, but I consciously didn't accept any delegations, no matter how many times they asked. In my recent game, as well as the one before that, my neighbours were France and England. I wonder if its just a coincidence or does rejecting delegations delay a DoW? My standing army is nothing formidable in my Prince game.

 

[Takfloyd]

I really doubt the AI actually takes envoys/embassies into account when deciding whether to go to war. They probably know where all your units are regardless of vision.

Accepting their delegate gets you gold, there's no reason to refuse.

 

[Kougar7]

I only refuse until they have actually found one of my cities, then I accept for the gold. I don't think there are penalties for refusing a delegation or embassy because I've spent entire games refusing embassies and the AI is still marked friendly towards me.

If the specific AI has never seen your capital you should never accept an embassy unless you have two spies ready to cover everything. Or if you want to farm spies for gold perhaps. Wasting spies on defense to gain vision of a pointless agenda just doesn't seem worth it, just send one spy to find out the agenda and send the other spy out to steal something.

 

[dturtle1]

Catherine gets upset if you dont. Embassies are the 1st level of spy access. If you meet Catherine and dont send Embassies after that she makes a poo-poo face

 

[KoolSIM]

Thanks guys!!

Also I hadn't noticed that I get gold for accepting delegates!