'I give you this gift as a token of goodwill.'

[misfitpunk]

Is there a set minimum value for adjusting AI attitude towards you by giving them gifts? For example, would it be more beneficial to give them 1 gold 50 times rather than fifty gold, and if I'm giving them 2 things should I give them out in two seperate turns?

 

[bobgote]

I doubt it, if you're aiming to get them to be gracious, trading and signing agreements is usually a more effective route. I found Giving gifts is generally only useful in the easiest difficulties. Now I only do it if i feel really sorry for a civ and give them horses, iron and luxuries

 

[misfitpunk]

why give any civ any of your trade stuff for free out of pity? I'd rather at least give it to a civ that I want to like me.

 

[Khshayarsha]

When a civ AI demands an unequal trade (like I have to give them double the value of what they're giving me), should I take it? I always decline such trades because I don't like being cheated. When I in turn change the terms of the trade to make it equal, they get all huffy and accuse me of trying to cheat them! The nerve!

Is it worth it to allow yourself to get the worst of the deal to make the other civs happy? I've noticed that even when I have given in, they still don't respect me in the morning.

 

[Zouave]

You should give free stuff only to a smaller civ that might need help resisting a larger civ. You do NOT want a large rival civ to roll over a smaller neighbor and thus increase its power. So help out certain little guys. . . to restrain the big guys.

I once, for example. gave Military Traditon to a smaller civ being attacked by my main rival, that on another continent. They survived.

 

[Daaraa]

I only give away things if I have run out of other civs to give things to. If I have 8 spice and there are only 5 civs, I might give away the spice to the weakest civ for the same reason Zouave said.
As for unfair trades, the AI is just a bean counter that figures out how many happy faces a new lux will give you in return for the amount of happy faces they will get. If you have marketplaces in 100 cities and you want an eighth luxury, that'll be (4*100) 400 happy faces. The AI will want at least somewhat close to that and if they only have 10 cities with marketplaces, they will want A LOT!

 

[eighty]

I agree with Zouave, but I have made the mistake of giving away a tech to a weak civ and then they traded it to a strong civ. Since then I make sure any techs I give to the weaklings won't come back to haunt me. Also, I do think it is to the advantage to keep some weaker civs around. I would rather compete against a fragmented world than a couple of superpowers.

 

[alexander dumas]

Greece: What can I get for Saltpeter?
Rome: 5 gld/trn
G: Horses?
R: 2 g/trn.

G: How about alliance against England for Horses?
R: OK

G: How much for Saltpeter?
R: 34 gold/turn.
G: Nice doing business with you.

 

[Zouave]

The AI is crazy. Example:

I cut a deal for some maps, techs, and gold with a civ. Done deal. I then throw in free of charge TWO LUXURY RESOURCES as a bonus and they refuse the deal!! Man, you guys are slick. Has something to do with my supposed reputation. So what? Does that make the dyes and silk less valuable to you?? Jeez.

 

[Trinity]

What happens when you click, "That's it! Goodbye." in response to a civs demand for technology? Rather than "Take your idle threats elsewhere."?

 

[SCPete]

Originally posted by Trinity
What happens when you click, "That's it! Goodbye." in response to a civs demand for technology? Rather than "Take your idle threats elsewhere."?

One of two things:
Praise you for having a back bone
or
declare war with you.

All depends on the AI attidue towards you

 

[Trinity]

The AI hates me. Time for whupping on the Iroquois for 10 turns --- again.

 

[JollyRoger]

Originally posted by Zouave
The AI is crazy. Has something to do with my supposed reputation.

Your supposed reputation causes irrational behaviour from HI also. I agree that it is a game flaw that the AI won't take a per turn deal if it is in addition to a lump sum deal that they would take without the per turn bonus. I also agree that gifting to weaker civs is often the strategically sound thing to do. I wish there were the option to gift, sell, or rent military units to another civ. It would provide a way for you to get involved in a war without getting formally involved.

 

[ProPain]

Originally posted by Daaraa

As for unfair trades, the AI is just a bean counter that figures out how many happy faces a new lux will give you in return for the amount of happy faces they will get. If you have marketplaces in 100 cities and you want an eighth luxury, that'll be (4*100) 400 happy faces. The AI will want at least somewhat close to that and if they only have 10 cities with marketplaces, they will want A LOT!

Thanks for this post cause it explains a lot to me. In my gotm I had loads of cities but no market places. Lux trading supplied me with heaps of money. After I cleaned my continent from other civs i started building city improvements. Suddenly the AI wants to empty my coffers for lux res deals. Now I now why.

I also have the impression that government type has something to do with it. When the AI sees you're in republic or democracy they seem to ask more (or is it me being more annoyed at unfair deals cause i need the resources more now ?). Has anyone researched this maybe?

ProPain

 

[Pygzilla]

I gave 4 techs to Joan once because I was about to eliminate her and wanted to check her out in the industrial era.

 

[Zouave]

All I know is that I've been blamed for stuff I never did by the goofy AI, or, the AI hates me for stuff that happened two thousand years ago to a civ that, one, has been extinct for a millennium, or, two, has been my good friend for over a millennium. It is just not logical or historical. I'd like an AI that acts a little bit like a human leader instead of a bean-counting computer.

 

[Trinity]

If the world worked according to the bean counter, Japan, Germany, and Italy would still hate us. The AI needs to increase its medication. In my current game everyone except the British are at war.

Also the diplomacy screen sucks big time. I can't see who Zululand is allied with, or if they have an MPP with anyone, or who they are trading with, even though the Greeks were eliminated and made room for them. They need a 16 nation diplomacy screen. All I know is that they attacked Babylon on the side of Persia with whom I'm at war. I've got 4 more turns to finish my business with Persia before I implode with war weariness.

 

[Zouave]

I suppose it's less confrontational to NOT click "Take your idle threats elsewhere"; that would be logical. I'm not sure. Sometimes you can't click "Good-by" and have to make a decision as to such as war or not.

 

[Khshayarsha]

The sneering "Take your empty threats and stick 'em you-know-where" versus the simple "Goodbye." If we are given a choice between the two responses, it must make some difference in the game, n'est-ce pas?

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Zouave
The AI is crazy. Example:

I cut a deal for some maps, techs, and gold with a civ. Done deal. I then throw in free of charge TWO LUXURY RESOURCES as a bonus and they refuse the deal!! Man, you guys are slick. Has something to do with my supposed reputation. So what? Does that make the dyes and silk less valuable to you?? Jeez.

That's because luxuries are for 20 turns, and they may not want to extend the peace treaty by another 20 turns.