Never declare friendship and they will be your friends

[TallNSturdy]

After all the games I have tried to find a way to actually do diplomacy witht the AIs I have only come up with 1 strategy that can keep everyone my friend into the late game. The way, never declare that you are friends.

After too many tries to build a coalition of the willing, coalition of the weak and coalition of the strong I have found the only way to keep everyone from hating me by turn 75 is to not be the friend of their enemy. All other trades still work to add to friendship and even if I declare war I get the "they don't seem to mind" after the war is over. The greatest benefit otherwise I have found is no "can you spare that lux resource" request that would just eat at my funds because I couldn't sell it instead.

 

[Sincro]

This has been my experience as well. It doesn't seem to help a situation where Monty, Alex or Bismark spawns within 15 tiles of your start, but otherwise it does wonders. I especially like not having to deal with AI begging.

I am still playing at King level, so I don't know if this applies to higher difficulties.

-Sinc

 

[TallNSturdy]

I'm playing at emperor and it still works.

 

[smallfish]

It... seriously depends.

DoFs are very good for preventing a backstab/back-DOW in certain games. For example, a recent Immortal game of not-Pangaea, where I was neighbors with massive runaway superpower Russia. The moment she settled cities near me and massed troops, I knew she was coveting my lands, but I didn't have a navy and much of my army was preoccupied to the far north against a coalition of runaway China and Babylon. So things I would have normally done - conquer CS, denounce anyone else - I just kept aside and kept a healthy trading regime with Russia.

She never jumped the shark at all, even when I had unlocked Stealth and was busy running away on the Chinese... and then the Indians. At that point, she even offered me a DoF!

 

[IgnatiusTBarfat]

While it is possible to muddle through without DoFs, as I did for much of my CivV play, I've found more recently that DoFs can be really helpful.

The key is knowing who to DoF and when. Looking at the global politics screen will help. E.g. You want to DoF your enemies' enemies. Getting a bunch of other CivVs to help you warmonger can be really useful when your neighbors are bigger and stronger. If I am going for a non domination victory then strategic DoFs make all the difference. Maintaining them might even lead to defensive pacts which have saved my ass from nuclear destruction at least once. Yes, it is possible to get defensive pacts out of the AI if you trade constantly, maintain DoFs, don't warmonger or steal city states.

 

[JaGarLo]

I never sign DoF at the early game. First, I want to know which civs will turn hostile to me, and which ones are rather friendly. Then, at the Mid or Late game I do some DoF with the ones I'm sure they won't try to kill me.

Those friendly civs are usually the ones that are not next to me. Maybe in the same continent but not one or two titles away from me. If they are powerful and they got resources and gold, you can have lots of happiness / money if you sign a DoF with them. It will be less likely to get backstabbed as well. In one game I made like 36 GPT and 16 extra happiness thanks to this.

However, it is important not to sign a DoF with everyone. That will only lead to trouble.

These are my thoughts as a Prince player...

 

[Tabarnak]

I will sign a DoF for 3 ways situations i.e. if im going to war and want some back up(or simply ensure that the other guy will not attack me while i'm defending/conquering against the other opponent). Still very situational.

 

[Gomer_Pyle]

She never jumped the shark at all, even when I had unlocked Stealth and was busy running away on the Chinese... and then the Indians. At that point, she even offered me a DoF!

I am not very good at this game and have resently learned the expression "runaway". But what options is there to stop a runaway? Only warfare against the runaway? Will the runaway not have superior armies? Sounds like you will use too much time trying to stop someone who cant be stopped if you ask me. What is the gameplay against runaways? In most highl level games most AI will be runaway when it comes to the human players right?

 

[joncnunn]

That's indeed been more experience. If I don't sign any DOFs I'm on good relations with over half the AIs even at the end of the game.
(The only ones I'm not are my neighbors and sometimes one or two join the dislike list due to wonder envy, city state envy, or form of victory envy)

 

[Esoteric Arcane]

My expierence is the same, I knew when an Empire wanted to fight me when they asked for a open boarders agreement with out a DoF, I even tried to force the issue that it was a bad idea to Declare War on me by putting my troops on their boarder, finding out that in CIV V they not only dont care about it, and can just smite me when they finally declare war.

 

[prince_caspian]

My experience is there's pros and cons to DOFs, just as there's pros and cons to not declaring. I do find the DOFs to be extremely useful in science and cultural games, even more so now that RAs require DOFs in G&K. #Swedenisawesome

The Pros:

1. DOFs with neighbors, especially warmongers, are a surefire way to avoid wars.
2. Friends like you if you DOF their friends too, but of course.
3. Multiple DOFs snowball increasing the probability of DOFs again and again, thus millenia of peace.

The Cons:

1. Opportunistic mother f*****s who expect freebies first chance they get.
2. 1
3. 2

 

[Esoteric Arcane]

2. DoF with a AI that other AI's dislike makes them not like you.

 

[smallfish]

I am not very good at this game and have resently learned the expression "runaway". But what options is there to stop a runaway? Only warfare against the runaway? Will the runaway not have superior armies? Sounds like you will use too much time trying to stop someone who cant be stopped if you ask me. What is the gameplay against runaways? In most highl level games most AI will be runaway when it comes to the human players right?

If it has chosen you to be the target of destruction, well then, there is nothing to do but to fight. And there are times when their advantages just snowball so much you will not have a chance to survive their onslaught (ie. Siam vs me/India)

Usually, yes, they will have advanced units even if you are an era ahead of them.

My expierence is the same, I knew when an Empire wanted to fight me when they asked for a open boarders agreement with out a DoF, I even tried to force the issue that it was a bad idea to Declare War on me by putting my troops on their boarder, finding out that in CIV V they not only dont care about it, and can just smite me when they finally declare war.

Don't put all your troops on the border. Put one or two Advanced Units for show, and the mass waiting three or four tiles behind in defensible positions. When they ask Open Borders, just refuse or TRADE SOMETHING ELSE EVEN IF ITS ONLY IRON.

 

[Esoteric Arcane]

Thank you Smallfish, I learned my lesson, I rolled back the game, and just kept the troops in my cities, till war was declared, and let the enemy run themselves to death against my walls. Than moved out and took his nation out

 

[Securion]

At emperor and Deity level its best to not interact with the computer at all, unless a close civ all of a sudden wants to be friends and you really feel you have to for some reason, then perhaps... But that will probably cement you as enemies to many other civs, making it harder to sell stuff.

Its better to be "neutral" (no such thing in the game but you know what i mean..) and just sell stuff to the AIs and then deal with the inevitable denouncements and DOWs as they come up.

 

[smallfish]

Nein

If you have Persia and Ottomans to the west and south, and the Persians have the largest army of the block, you want to DoF the Persians pretty quickly and constantly. Especially when the Ottomans will make the massive blunder of DOWing you and the Persians.

 

[Buccaneer]

Only interact with an AI opponent to sell things and to declare war. It is that simple and there are much better things to be focusing on in the game.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Not that I agree there are better things to be focusing on in this game, most of them just are less annoying. Which is totally game mechanics implementation's fault. Seeking to please AI is ungrateful and wasted effort. You may DoF somebody's friend trying to cause that somebody like you, and five turns later you find that these two backstabbed one another and you get extra hate due to befriending somebody's enemy.
However, when you're isolated to the point none of the potential 'friends' can covet you land in near future, has no military and are scared for your life, you have nothing to lose, I guess. Close look at Global politics screen is still required. When blocks form and you don't mind to face the other party, it can be quite powerful. But these situation are rather rare, in my experience.

 

[binhthuy71]

It seems to me that signing DoFs is, like so many other aspects of Civ, dependent on your situation. In my recent (And first) OCC game in Civ 5 I was able to lose a cultural victory by less than a dozen turns (Another Civ took Space) because I'd signed an early DoF and maintained it throughout the game.

In brief:
Playing as Siam.
Inca are my nearest neighbor and they start spamming cities. Usual AI shenanigans follow.
Mohawks are next-nearest and they offer DoF. Several turns of trade and "gimme" follow.
Inca DoW on me in the Medieval Era. I have enough units for an effective defense, but not enough for a meaningful counterattack.
I ask the Mohawks to DoW on the Inca. They agree without asking for anything in return.
Mohawks beat the Inca down to one city.

 

[Buccaneer]

It seems to me that signing DoFs is, like so many other aspects of Civ, dependent on your situation. In my recent (And first) OCC game in Civ 5 I was able to lose a cultural victory by less than a dozen turns (Another Civ took Space) because I'd signed an early DoF and maintained it throughout the game.

In my last game, I also played my first OCC (going cultural) and narrowly lost to space. I was on a spit off of a pangaea, so I basically ignored everyone else - let them fight among themselves - and everyone (except Russia) ignored me. Russia's attempts to attack were easily repulsed. I just traded with everyone and didn't get involved in anything (as usual). So I guess people can manipulate other civs if they want, but I don't think it makes much difference thankfully.