Diplomacy - I must be doing it wrong. Help!

[ianfuture]

A common theme in my games is that very rarely do I get allies who stick with me. A lot of the time I can't persuade other AI's to go to war with people, become my vassal, or stop trading with people, despite them being Pleased with me. However the biggest problem I seem to have is that quite often I have neighbours who are pleased with me, yet still go to war with me. In my current game it started with Japan, they were pleased then declared war. Then much later on France with De Gaulle did the same. Interestingly with De Gaulle I defeated his attacking force, made them retreat and made him sue for peace. Straight after he was pleased with me again! I don't get it!

In both cases they had my religion. I'm playing on noble, BTS, 3.17, with the unofficial dresden/solver patch.

Help me please!!

Thanks in advance..
Ian

 

[Gorey]

biggest thing that helped me in diplomacy was to stop trying to please everyone.

pick two people (who like each other.. and are cool with you), and the hell with the rest. then dont ever do anything to piss your buddies off. if they ask for help.. give it to them. if someone not in your triangle wants you to do something against your buddies... reject it no matter what it is. if you have a civ at "friendly", you shouldn't have any fears of them backstabbing you. At pleased and lower... you're not safe (depending on who it is).

if you're browsing around for tech trades and resource swaps... look at the foreign adviser glance screen FIRST. ask yourself this: "if i trade with him... who am i going to piss off". if the person(s) who hates this guy is someone not in your circle and not of any immediate threat to you.. all is good. on the other hand, if your best buddy despises him... dont do it.

anyway, figuring out who those two people will be can be a real headscratcher some games. and sometimes (most likely religious reasons) you'll lose a buddy, but gain a new one over the course of the game. in some rare cases you can have a 4-way, or just be despised by everyone despite your best wishes. its part of what makes this game so great.


p.s. dont forget to ask your buddies for gold gifts once they become friendly. every 30-40 turns look to see if they have any spare goold. ask for between 50-100 gold, or some low cost tech you skipped. dont ask for too much thoug, or they'll turn you down.. then you have to wait another 30-40 turns for them to be willing again.

 

[FrozenTitan]

biggest thing that helped me in diplomacy was to stop trying to please everyone.

pick two people (who like each other.. and are cool with you), and the hell with the rest. then dont ever do anything to piss your buddies off.

I find that this is a very affective method. It's also helpful if you pick a person to be friendly with who is not close to you (to avoid the close borders -1 penalty). If you make sure not to piss any of your friends off you should be fine. Try going into wars together (to protect them, or just to gain more land). A few games ago I played as Pacal II, took over Hatty, with the help of Boudica. I in turn helped her to take over Lincoln, and then we took on the other continent which had Monty and Ragnar. It was a very affective strategy.

 

[Scoottr]

Do you go for a buddy that is high in the ranking or go for two lower scorers? My religious friends seem to frequently be my neighbors.

 

[FrozenTitan]

Typically I would go for a middle of the road type. That way they're not much of a threat to you winning, which is always a plus. And since they're not at the bottom, they can still help you out and are worth being your friend.

 

[marconos]

I found this usually works for me .... beat them all sensless, demand techs from them and bully your way to the top.

Walk loudly and carry a huge stack of swordsman/maceman/rifleman (depending on the era)

Seriosly though. I have never found it really to be all that great to get the computer on your side. The best way to keep them from DOW on you is to have a strong military. If you are weak, they are going to attack.

The best way I have found to vassalize someone is to hem them in on land so they can't expand, then cancel open border with them. After awhile they give up and become your minion.

Hope this helps some.