Kill or pet?

[namliaM]

I am attempting my first GOTM and find myself thinking all new things.
For instance what is better keeping a "pet"-like civ or killing them off?
I mean, I have them "down" we are about equals on research but they have 2 techs I dont and I have 3 techs they dont.
Now they willl "grant" peace for the 2 techs and 3 citys (leaving them with 2, their capital & 1)

Would you push onward and kill them off?
Take the deal and leave em be for 20 turns, then kill them
Take the deal and go on as if there were no treaty, thus ruining your rep
Have them as your pet

Would like to know what you would (like to) do and what is best to do. Obviously the 2 techs are tempting.... and they (the intended victim) are Scientific

 

[Durkz]

Scientific than pet... else kill.
but if you are afraid of flips then kill

 

[Shadzy19]

Get those free techs and kill them off in 20 , dont really have a lot of problems with flips cause i only keep cities with good wonders with lotsa army in it.

 

[rbis4rbb]

pet for 20. Focus on building up those cities

 

[BasketCase]

Technology > all, by far. The entire map can be conquered, on Emperor or Diety level, by four or five strong-producing cities near your Palace or FP. Extra cities don't do much except churn commerce and hold territory.

 

[Twonky]

Durkz said it all.
I would take the techs and make them pets. See if they keep up in the tech pace and maybe use them to pull off further deals. If they become backwards, well, I like the F4 screen nice and clear...

 

[PaperBeetle]

If they dowed on you, keep them alive for the war happiness you get. Take their capital first, lock them up in the smaller city, and never give them peace.

 

[.Shane.]

*raises hand*

n00b here...

I take it a "pet" is a weaker civilization that you can dominate. What are the ways by which you take advantage of this pet and keep them in their submissive status?

I had what I thought might have been a pet last night, then they joined forces with an enemy and beat the snot out of me.

 

[Abaddon]

beat the snot out of me.

Hehe!


Yes a pet is something easily controlled, just one city left usually.
It can be used in all kinds of ways.

If friendly you can use it as a vote to win a diplomatic victory.
If its an enemy, surround it then sign alliances against it with other.. drawing their units them trapping them

 

[Zydiax]

Argh, in my current game I left the Spanish with one city because it would take too long to get my troops there.
The next turn they flip a city on the other frickin' side of the continent -_-

You learn by your mistakes, right?

 

[Raijer]

Pets eat a fortune in kibble, and then pee on your rug. The merciful thing to do is to "put them to sleep."

 

[Wolfwood]

In the days of Civ2 I often had 1 city civilizations as pets around the map.

Now, in Civ3, there's the problem of cultural flips. I you are able to ensure that the cities you captured from your enemy will not flip back over, by all means keep them as a pet. Unfortunately, I've found that often it is just best to kick them off the map completely rather than waste resources on keeping the cities around the enemies happy articifially.

 

[mastertyguy]

pêace for 20 turns, then...

 

[rysingsun]

i went for the 20 turn thing. the reason i didnt choose "pet" was because it was my understanding that the peace treaty would give me their remaining technology so there would be only minimal purpose left in keeping them around.

the primary argument against pet civilizations is that as long as they have even one city (or settler) they can gain culture flips. if i am far behind in culture then this can be a serious issue. if i cannot get their remaining tech before the 20 turn treaty is up i will usually keep them as a pet until such time as i do. i will research techs they dont have and trade for the ones they do have until they have no more that i dont have. then their use as pets is usually over.

i agree about keeping friendly pets for the sake of favorable UN votes. on the other hand i never hold votes even if i know i would win because ... because i prefer conquest actually.

oh yeah .. another use for a pet. make an ROP agreement with them and surround their lone city, their capital. now whenever a civ goes to war against them they cant get to their city. it can be rather disruptive to the ai.

 

[azzaman333]

id take the deal and go on.
but normally every civ hates me, so rep hits dont mean much