Everybody hates me!!!!

[sonofman]

I am still on my first game; just discovered flight... I have been trying to go the peaceful path, helping out societies where needed, donating to those less fortunate, helping out allies in times of war... you all, all that.

Well, within about 5 turns, every other society in the game became hostile toward me. I have tried offering gifts, money, units... everything, but they all hate me. In fact, my longest ally, whom I had a pact of cooperation with and helped out the most, declared war with me right in the middle of all that. We are finally back at peace but he is still hostile.

I was expanding very quickly and am top of the heap score-wise by a hefty margin. Does that in and of itself make others hate you or could there be something more subtle going on?

How do you repair relationships? money and gift resources don't seem to be working...

I really think they are going to try and gang up on me any turn now, as I keep seeing their forces on my borders...


...

the end is nigh...

 

[Generals3]

Diplomacy in Civ V is random at best . Certain civ i have had good relations with for a long time end up hostile simply because i take 1 city state (which had no allies) . And on the other hand you have civs i almost obliterated who aren't even hostile after a peace declaration . Quite silly if you ask me

 

[Valdyr]

How big is your military? Civs won't respect you if your armed forces are weak. This isn't like in real life; remember, you're supposed to be an empire, and people expect you to look the part. Having a small or outdated military is a sign of weakness. This seems to apply regardless of individual AI leader personality. I've even had Gandhi send me a message literally saying that my military was "kind of the laughingstock of the world".

Possibly, AIs formed pacts of secrecy/cooperation against you if they sense a weak point in your defenses. They'll sometimes give you hints about why they don't like you by sending insulting messages about how your military/culture/economy is pathetic.

So far I've seen military as the biggest variable, followed by economy. AIs will declare war on you "out of nowhere" if they see an opportunity to strike, such as when you have a very small military or your economy just crashed down to < 100 gold or so. They're ruthless. The message they send you in their war declaration will usually reflect this type of strike by saying something like "we need to take this opportunity".

I did badly in my first game too. It's a lot different from Civ4. Don't listen to the people who say it's random, it just takes some getting used to.

 

[Dodge_272]

They'll sometimes give you hints about why they don't like you by sending insulting messages about how your military/culture/economy is pathetic.

I know that but is there any reason for them to be so nasty about it???

 

[Valdyr]

I know that but is there any reason for them to be so nasty about it???

Yeah, I know what you mean. I did a double-take the first time grandfatherly old Bismark, who I'd been on good terms with, sent me a message insulting my culture and sarcastically asking whether my people spent all day banging rocks together or something.

The fawning messages from friendly civs kind of make up for it, though. I like when a leader tells me my military is the mightiest of all, and that the world's villains would do well to fear me. Or when they say my nation is famous for its strong economy, although that message is kind of spoiled by the undertone of "So why don't you give me some of your extra money, old buddy old pal?"