Diplomacy questions+first post

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TheScoutBomb

Chieftain
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Nov 4, 2008
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I'm new here and I was wondering what the best way to raise diplomacy with the AI is. I do realize that it is extremely important but I can never get everyone one my side. Especially those who get instantly annoyed with you for having a different religion. I do try to sign OB with as many people as possible but most people never go past cautious. Help?

EDIT: I play on Noble exclusively atm.
 
You'll never be able to get ALL the AI "on your side" unless playing a very small map and grabbing ALL the religions.

What you need to do is pick a set of friends for the game (usually your religious buddies) and do whatever you can to appease and please them. The rest of the civs you can snub for the most part. I usually check the F4 relations menu to see what my friends think of the other civs that aren't the same religion. Sometimes they can be buddy buddy anyway and I'll try to stay on (at least) neutral terms.

When you're chosen buddies ask for free techs, give it to them. Unless they are WAY GREEN and are tech leaders, then you may be able to deny them the help. But don't do it more than once.

Trade with your chosen friends a lot. Resources for resources or resources for gold/turn. And if you have a good tech lead on them, go to them and ask for a lower amount of gold than your tech is worth and sell it to them. Don't bother if they already have a +4 "trade relations have been fair and forthright" because that is the maximum you can go.

When you're friends ask you to go to war with a common enemy, unless they are near to you and have a large military, ALWAYS accept. It's a good way to guarantee friends.

If a friend asks you to go to war with another friend, then weigh your decision. Are you going for a diplo win? If so, then decide who has more votes to offer and side with them. Of course, if one of the two civs at war will be your rival in the race for diplomacy (IE largest population), then side with the smaller civ. If ur not going for a diplo win, side with the more powerful of the 2. Usually the more aggressive leaders with be the only ones to go to war with religious allies.

Open borders is a good way to add a small modifier to your friendly relations. But beware of keeping open borders with enemies of your friends. It will give negative modifiers for "trading with worst enemies".

Also, if a friend asks you to stop trading with a neutral or enemy civ, do it. Even if you're getting GPT or a resource. Unless you are planning on backstabbing that friend any way :)

hope I helped!

BTW, welcome to the forum!
 
There are certain leaders that really dislike you for being in the wrong religion. Others don't care. In whatever game you play you should always hit up your foreign advisor. There is a tab called info, which lists the civics that your opponents are in. That tab also lists those leaders favourite civics. Pay attention here, and when you notice other leader (that you want better than current diplomatic situation) change to their favourite civic, you do so too. Over time the favourite civic bonus can go as high as +5 or so. The favourite civic is the easiest way to get a leader to pleased without sharing a religion. Other than that you need to trade favourably towards that ai, but that can have major inus points among your friends, or make sworn enemies.
 
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the civics relations boosters.

Sometimes, some people will ask you to change to their favorite civic. If they are your friends, you may be more inclined to say 'yes' unless you're going to back stab them soon. But if you're a spiritual civ or are in a Golden age, why not? You'll suffer 0 turns to anarchy and will get a boost in relations toward that civ.

This is where Spiritual trait can add a big boost to diplomacy. Since you only have to wait a certain number of turns after switching civics to switch back, you can ALWAYS say yes to your friends without damaging your strategy too much or losing turns to anarchy. After all, every civic has it's good points.
 
Welcome to the Forums TheScoutBomb. :beer:
 
Get to know the AI personalities. Many of the aggressors, like Shaka and Monty, cannot be reasoned with in certain situations. Many of the religious fanatics, like Issy, cannot be reasoned with if you choose to adopt a different religion. Some of the AIs, like Mansa, will love you even if you do them wrong a number of times.

In general, I like my allies close enough to be helpful, but not so close that they are impeding the growth of my empire. The closest AIs to me will usually be temporary friends at best and bitter enemies until eliminated at worst.

Try to see what the diplo looks like continent-wide. Is it a love-fest? If so, then you might choose to join in and work with a small empire (maybe cultural victory or something) lest you end up getting dogpiled. If it is a hate-fest, then work with a powerful ally (preferably, again, not your immediate neighbour) to go 2:1 on someone else. Do everything your ally requests, gift them techs, etc. while going to war together (you may have to bribe them with techs--usually works better after you declare war).

Overseas diplo I usually don't worry too much about because the AI is not great at intercontinental invasions. But, again, the same rules apply: See what the global diplo is like and make sure you are not on the wrong end of the dogpile.
 
Overseas diplo is usually more difficult (with exception of a few leaders) since they will usually be a different religion. Unless, of course, you've chosen to use the Free Religion civic.

Sometimes I've found that they already hate me. I never understood it. We have no history and I've got negative modifiers for declaring war on their friends. How'd they know about that!? :D
 
What if the AI I have sided with asks me for a strong military tech like Civil Service and it has Machinery? Would it still be a wise idea to give it to them when they come with their hat in hand?
 
TheScoutBomb said:
What if the AI I have sided with asks me for a strong military tech like Civil Service and it has Machinery? Would it still be a wise idea to give it to them when they come with their hat in hand?
Click to expand...

Catherine, Montezuma, Shaka, and even Genghis are all likely back stabbers, so if it's one of them, then definitely no.

However, if you are Friendly or Pleased with no negative relations or only a minus 1, then you should be okay (unless they are much more powerful). Also, if they are involved in a war with another AI, then you can bet they are planning on using that new tech against the enemy.

Another thing to figure in is their current tech level. Are they more advanced and have simply neglected this military tech? If so, you may want to weigh how many good relations (green ones) you have with them. It might be worth it to deny them this one time and let them take the time to research it themselves.
 
TheScoutBomb said:
What if the AI I have sided with asks me for a strong military tech like Civil Service and it has Machinery? Would it still be a wise idea to give it to them when they come with their hat in hand?
Click to expand...
Sure, they won't be using it on you.
 
I've given Catherine a military tech and had her DoW on me not 15 turns later. It's not always that cut and dry.
 
right right... or... or that's who adopted my religion and I was already at war with another civ. She doesn't always back stab so I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Since TheScoutBomb didn't specify a situation, I was more descriptive.

And that's not the only situation where giving away macemen (pretty much synonymous with what he's asking) is a bad idea.
 
TheScoutBomb said:
What if the AI I have sided with asks me for a strong military tech like Civil Service and it has Machinery? Would it still be a wise idea to give it to them when they come with their hat in hand?
Click to expand...

If they're on your side, but they are much more powerful than you and you want to KEEP them on your good side, it's usually best to give it to them. You get extra diplomatic points and an enforced 10 turn peace treaty. This is still game-dependent, though. There are some times where it's optimal to give in to an AI when he demands Education while you have just started researching Liberalism for the free technology.
 
Quite often when the ai ask for an expensive tech they are a few turns from researching it themselves. I have often refused the tech to try to trade it for something else, but they say that the deal is not possible. Usually that is because they have put too many :science: into the tech already. I rarely refuse a request for help off a friendly ai now as a result of those experiences, as the positive diplo and 10 enforced peace is quite welcome, often costing no more than a few :science:. Well worth it usually.
 
That's definitely far from being a generally true statement. As a result of playing below my level for far too long (Warlord) I have been able to see all of the AIs research goals nearly from the start of the game. Quite often the AI has not even started researching the tech they are asking for. It isn't impossible, but more often than not, they aren't close to getting it. Mind you, I play on Marathon, so the tech that is 20 turns from being reached for me is like 5 turns from being reached on Normal.
 
The one thing I won't do to keep friends on my side is give out a tech for free. If they're making that kind of a demand, they're starting to show they're not really a friend after all.

I tend to side with the warmongers for that reason, because all it really takes to stay in the alliance is to join in their many wars (in name at least), or to stop trading with some other AI that didn't offer any decent trade deals with me to begin with. And I tend to be in their favourite civics, longer (or can at least adjust to make them fit my strategy).

A peacemonger, I've found, is far more difficult to have as an ally. They end up way unreasonable sooner or later, and if you DO foolishly give them a free tech lead for the asking, they'll use that lead to backstab you.
 
If they're a peacemonger and you're giving in to their demands, it's unlikely they'll ever declare war on you unless they decided to do so before the demand.
Click to expand...

All I've gotta say is: Monty, Shaka, Catherine. But as someone already posted, it's not smart to make friends of these arses.
 
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