Happy AIs pt2

[alexander dumas]

Thanks to everyone for the responses on keeping the AI happy. So far the AIs are staying polite toward me. I just managed to get Theory of Evolution, so I now have a tech lead.

Here's another question:
Xerxes is polite with me but has just stacked around 40 units just outside my borders. He has already destroyed the French about 10 turns ago, and I think I'm his next target.
I know I can get MPPs with everyone else, but I'm now in a democracy and I'm worried about a rep hit if it's a short war. If I have an MPP with another AI, am I obligated to stay at war for 20 turns? If I have an Alliance against the Persians with other AIs (in the event of war) will I have to war for 20 turns?
I want to avoid war with the Persians because I hate war weariness. (I'm not sure I'll win the rush to Universal Suffrage.)

Thanks for any help.

 

[Maple]

Xerxes is probably going to sneak attack you, Rome did the same thing to me in a different game.

Try to avoid the war completely by asking Xerxes for a MPP. If he agrees to them, than will almost absolutely not attack you.

 

[Smoking mirror]

Also you could try doing a highly profitable trade; if Xerxes has a resource or a tech that you want, try to do a cash per turn trade with him, give him a good deal (say 10-15 gold per turn) and he will be unwilling to jepardize his income with a lame sneak attack, If he doesn't have any thing you want, you could try a 5 GPT gift, its what the british government did in the 19th century to keep the Afgan tribes from attacking the kyber pass.
Also you could try moving lots of military units near to where he is and begin strengthening your border defences, withdraw any workes and settlers, sometimes an AI will attack just with the chance of grabing a couple of workers and extorting some money from you.

 

[Catt]

Originally posted by Maple
Xerxes is probably going to sneak attack you, Rome did the same thing to me in a different game.

Try to avoid the war completely by asking Xerxes for a MPP. If he agrees to them, than will almost absolutely not attack you.

Be very careful in relying on this. Some time ago I was playing a random game as Japan on Monarch and was the number 3 civ out of 4 civs for much of the early and mid-game. Big Bad Mao was just to my south, my only co-habitant on our continent, with an empire about 25% bigger than mine, and a slight tech lead. I kept paying what I had to pay to keep an RoP with Mao, in the hopes that the RoP would prevent an attack, all the while furiously building military units and trying to get a decisive military tech lead (i.e., first to Military Tradition / Replaceable Parts / Motorized Transportation, etc.).

I was very pleased when Mao offered me an MPP -- I figured he had set his sights on the number 2 civ, and wanted to "sucker" me into his war of agression. I was only too happy to be "suckered" as this would surely delay any war for Mao for at least 20 more turns. Three (3!) turns after I accepted Mao's invitation to MPP, he sneak attacked me, abusing his RoP in the process. (I did manage to fight a long, defensive war and eventually make peace on favorable terms -- while knocking Mao into a communist dictatorship and thereby securing my never-to-be-lost tech lead ).

This MPP abuse / sneak attack has since occured against me several additional times, so I no longer rely on the fact that an MPP always operates as a "no attack" pledge.