how do you respond to blackmail

[MidnightRambler]

This is for emperor and up players. In the early stages of the game, when you are almost always the most pitiful civ in every aspect, how do you usually respond when a more agressive and powerful Civ demands a tribute?
I had gotten so used to blowing them off and then destroying them in a war that when i first played the game on the higher difficulty levels i did the same thing. Needless to say my early expansion/building efforts were abandoned in place of all out, desperate military production and i was crushed by the huge AI advantage, losing border cities, the open land to my east and west and, more importantly, any chance of a substantial recovery.

I know its tough to get pushed around by your own computer, but it seems like discretion is the beter part of valor in this situation.

 

[LordKestrel]

Unless it's a tech that I just discovered and have a monopoly on, I cave in.

 

[WackenOpenAir]

Real early, when i am just a fly on the map, i always pay.

later on, i don't pay as often as i should. When i have average militairy strength, am at war with my neighbour and am asked tribute, i often don't pay. They declare and i have to call home my forces for defence. screws up my war against my neighbours. Should pay.

 

[WildFire]

I pay when I should, say hell no when I have developed.

Of course...

When I was playin an emperor game in PTW the other day, everyone kept demanding (the best and worst) horses and luxuries. I said "No" everytime which made me wonder if they ever declare war when demanding resources/luxuries.

 

[microbe]

You know the first thing I learned when I moved up to Monarch/Emperor? Cave to tribute demands! Unless the AI is far away and don't have gold to buy my neighbors against myself, or do not have contact with them.

 

[general_kill]

If u think defying the AI on emperor is hard, try doing it on sid here's a bunch of crazy folks who are doing it right now in a succession game: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=90682

 

[Binnor]

If its a resource or lux then no. If its a tech that I have a monopoly on then no. otherwise i'm happy to pay 20 gold and territory map to prevent being crushed by my neighbour.

 

[baboon]

Just pay them, they'll love you. Until you destroy them. I always remember who blackmailed me

 

[sabo]

If they only want a territory map and a few gold I give it too them. I will comply until late middle and early industrial age then I start telling them to buzz off. But if it's early and I'm small and the AI is on another continent and they want something big like a tech or lux's I will still tell them to buzz off, the AI doesn't know how to correctly invade by sea so chances are nothing will become of this new war.

 

[SesnOfWthr]

I probably don't cave as much as I should, but I do try to ask myself a couple questions. Like: Am I prepared to fight this war? And: How will this affect my overall plans? Obviously, the across the ocean civs are not much of a threat, but they sure are good at buying MA's with closer civs, and that can become an issue very quickly. Another thing I probably don't do enough of is selling off my techs as soon as I get them. The longer you hold a monopoly, especially early, the more likely a demand becomes.

 

[Arathorn]

Learning to cave is one of the harder things to do. We all feel so superior to the computer (probably because we ARE superior to the AI opponents), so we don't want to give in and give up hard-to-acquire gold. It's almost always worth it to cave, though -- even to far away opponents. The real danger isn't that opponent, it's a dogpile which will be much MUCH more expensive to get out from.

Unless you're prepared to fight all your neighbors simultaneously OR pay to dogpile whoever declares on you, CAVE. (My advice for Deity and Sid games)

Arathorn

 

[Pook]

I probably don't cave as much as I should, but I do try to ask myself a couple questions. Like: Am I prepared to fight this war? And: How will this affect my overall plans? Obviously, the across the ocean civs are not much of a threat, but they sure are good at buying MA's with closer civs, and that can become an issue very quickly. Another thing I probably don't do enough of is selling off my techs as soon as I get them. The longer you hold a monopoly, especially early, the more likely a demand becomes.

I agree in full (except for the Red Sox portion ). I cave in unless it's a far away nation with little chance to hurt me, or if they're demanding a resource critical to making military units. I love it when the AI threatens to crush me unless I give it iron. "Bring it on!"

 

[Rammstein]

I have to consider whether or not I can at least defend myself from any onslaught - it also depends on if the civ is far away or close. If it's a bordering civ, I'm a lot more careful. I'm talking monarch here, I'm guessing that these considerations become a lot more difficult at higher lvls.

 

[Dell19]

Its best to accept early demands if the AI is strong... There are perhaps occasions in the early game where I may have begun building an army and be moderately confident that I could win a war.

 

[BassDude726]

I'll give in at the beginning. And maybe even later on, if they're still more powerful than me. But when I establish myself as a superpower, I remember their past treatment, even if it was 3000 years ago. Then I steamroll them.

 

[zerksees]

Just pay them, they'll love you. Until you destroy them. I always remember who blackmailed me

My sentiments exactly.

It was very hard to give in to their demands the first few times. Revenge is a dish best served by 50 artillery with cavalry and infantry support.

 

[Jason Fliegel]

When I was playin an emperor game in PTW the other day, everyone kept demanding (the best and worst) horses and luxuries. I said "No" everytime which made me wonder if they ever declare war when demanding resources/luxuries.

I recently played a C3C regent game in which one of the A.I.s declared war on me when I wouldn't give them iron. My knights and medieval infantry made short work of their spearmen.

 

[davidcrazy]

this reminds me of what i did in a few games recently. i wanted to find an excuse to attack my neighbor but there was none. so i asked for gold. and he gave in. i did this on three consecutive turns (~30gold each time in middle age) and always got what i wanted. finally he refused the forth time and i declared war on him... i was terribly guilty..