Reputation questions...

[12ozProphets]

Greetings,

I have been exploring the form with regard to civ reputation. In the past I would just attack and raze without thought but now I've started a new game and want to see what its like to not have everyone hate me. So now have a couple of questions for the reputation experts.

1. When I declare war, I make sure all of my troops are outside the other civs borders and I don't invade until the next turn. Is this all that I must do? Can I declare war as many times as I want in this fashion with taking a rep hit? What if I get a tech for peace and then declare war again a few turns later?

2. When a civ offers peace, do I have to take it? Is my rep tarnished if I ignore them and keep attacking?

Every other civ still seem to be 'Annoyed' with me.

Sincerely, trying to be 'good'.

 

[satchel]

12oz, with regard to your first point, if you declare war honorably you will not take a reputation hit. Making sure your units are out of enemy territory is a first step. But a crucial second step is making sure you have no active deals with the enemy when you declare war. When you make peace, you make a deal that lasts for 20 turns. Thus, if you make peace and then declare war "a few turns later" you have violated your pledge to keep the peace for 20 turns, and will sustain a reputation hit.

For an article I wrote about playing for a spotless reputation, see this thread.

I am not certain about your second point - it's a good question. My guess is that you are permitted to refuse to make peace without suffering a reputation hit, but I really do not know for sure.

If you get an answer, I would like to add it to my article! (with proper credit, of course.)

 

[12ozProphets]

Thanks satchel

I was checking the diplomacy screen for active deals, and with regard to the peace treaty, even though I just made peace, it said the deal was only good until someone declares war again, so I didn't think I had to wait 20 turns.

If this is so how do I know how many turns I have left in a peace treaty? Do I have to track this manually?

 

[anarres]

Ignore that 'until war is declared' message, it is lying . All peace deals are for 20 turns.

One way to check is to enter diplomacy with the person you are interested in, and select 'Active' at the bottom of the dialog. This shows active deals.

If you have ptw, an easier way is to go to the F4 diplomacy advisor. Click on the person you are concerned with, then select 'deals' on the right hand side. This will list all active deals with that person.

 

[Pots]

Originally posted by 12ozProphets
Thanks satchel

If this is so how do I know how many turns I have left in a peace treaty? Do I have to track this manually?

At the bottom of the diplomacy screen there is an option to check active trades/treaties. It will show you the number of turns left on both. Hope this helps.

 

[12ozProphets]

Thanks,

I'll give this a try tonight!

 

[Thoth]

Originally posted by 12ozProphets
Greetings,


2. When a civ offers peace, do I have to take it? Is my rep tarnished if I ignore them and keep attacking?

Every other civ still seem to be 'Annoyed' with me.

Sincerely, trying to be 'good'.

You don't have to accept peace when it's offered, but the AI tends to distrust aggressive warmongers. I've been trying out different playstyles (I'm a builder at heart) and the AI is definitely more difficult to deal with if I've been waging a lot of offensive wars (ie wars declared by me). It doesn't seem to bother the other AI civs much if the war is declared on me, even if I radically prune my enemy. Playing warmonger, I've found the AI to be much less friendly (this applies to civs I haven't been at war with).

In short, the more you declare war, the more the AI will be suspicious of you. If the other guy starts it, you can finish it and the other AIs won't get upset.

 

[greynite1]

Hey there

In the strategry guide that was put out by Prima it states in there that you can avoid the reputation hit altogether by going into negotiations with the poor sucker your going to attack and then ask him for a city and keep asking him for it until he declares war on your poking ass. I tried this and for the life of me could not get it to happen. Was the book incorrect or is there a specific # of times you have to do it??. I would rather have a person declare war on me then the other way around. thanks for the assistance.

 

[Angmar]

The guide is in theory true. Its a quick way to get the Civ to furious. This means they are more likely to go to war with you. Now from there it really depends on other things. If the Civ sees you as weak and doesnt like you get ready for war. If the civ likes you and sees you as weak, be ready for war. If the civ doesnt like and views you as strong then you will have to start it.

Rarely can a civ be bullied into starting a war with you if you are much stronger than it.

 

[12ozProphets]

I've also never been successful at getting the AI to declare war. If there's a trick to it I'd like to know what it is!

 

[Skullbones]

Originally posted by Thoth
In short, the more you declare war, the more the AI will be suspicious of you. If the other guy starts it, you can finish it and the other AIs won't get upset.

I wonder about this although I've heard it many times. I'm playing a game and the Romans demanded I give them communications with another civ. I told them no they went from polite to cautious. Two turns later stacks of their troops came into my offshore territory (my mainland is an island). I told them to leave and they declared war. I checked the diplomacy screen and everyone's feelings towards me went down. I didn't break deals with them since I was only able to trade through my harbors.

And just to add if you destroy a civ's last city the other civs always get upset with you no matter who started it. Even the civs you have a MA with.

 

[12ozProphets]

And just to add if you destroy a civ's last city the other civs always get upset with you no matter who started it. Even the civs you have a MA with.

Can anyone confirm this? Would it be better for you rep in the long run to leave a single city civ who hates you live or better to take the rep hit and eliminate the civ?

 

[Czarrillo]

A good way to get a Civ to declare war on you is to constantly try to plant a spy in their capital. If it gets caught enough they will declare war.

 

[RX2000]

Yep that always works Czarrillo. The only problem with that is, it charges you gold every time you fail, so it can get a little expensive heh..... And also I think you take a rep hit even tho they declare, since you were trying to plant a spy.

 

[Catt]

Cut and pasted from an old post in another thread:

Remember - there are two distinct but related concepts at play here: reputation and attitude.

Reputation is driven by your diplomatic and trading history. Made a peace treaty and then declared war again with 20 turns? Bad. Made a military alliance and then made peace with the enemy within 20 turns? Bad. Agreed to a gold-per-turn trade deal and then had the deal broken? Bad. Attacked a civ without first declaring war and/or declared war with any of your units inside the enemy civs territorial borders? Bad. Basically, not honoring your commitments results in a black mark against your reputation. Black marks may prevent you from entering into any per-turn deals in the future -- break a treaty in the Middle Ages and you may still have trouble in the late Industrial Ages trading with a civ for that extra supply of oil that they have within their borders and/or for that extra luxury which could mean so much to your larger, marketplace-equipped industrial cities - they "would never accept such a deal" with someone known for breaking his / her word in the past.

Attitude is simply a civ's current state of mind regarding your civ. Develop your empire into the world's dominant civ? Expect some negative attitudes. Hold a seemingly insurmountable technological / military lead? Expect some negative attitudes. Refuse to trade with your neighbors? Expect some negative attitudes. Refuse to ever grant an RoP and insist, at the first opportunity, on expelling interlopers? Expect some negative attitudes. Fight wars against your neighbors? Expect some negative attitudes. Rule your empire under a government that is a "shunned governement" for the AI civ? Expect mildly more negative attitudes. I don't fully understand the implications of a negative attitude - I'm pretty certain that it strongly affects an AI civ's decision regarding a UN vote; I suspect it makes certain trade deals harder to strike; I suspect that it makes alliances against you easier to secure; and I suspect that it makes war more likely. In at least certain circumstances, I have noticed that attitude does not affect the price of trade deals, but it certainly could in other circumstances.

Reputation and attitude are not joined at the hip -- you can have a sterling reputation and still have the entire world furious with you; and you can have a despicable reputation, but still have the world Gracious to you (I really enjoy seeing "Gracious" Elizabeth, in her most charming and gracious manner, say "We couldn't possibly accept that deal after the perfidy you displayed in your dealings with the Aztecs").

 

[Dragon67]

Originally posted by 12ozProphets
I've also never been successful at getting the AI to declare war. If there's a trick to it I'd like to know what it is!

If that AI has TWO or more units inside your territory, you do not have a ROP with him, try this: Demand a city fore free, he will refuse, repeat and repeat several times (in the same turn), then finally he will be furious. Now, demand him to redraw his units from your territory, then he will automatically declare war against you. It always works, and this is the way I do it if I want a war.

 

[DiamondzAndGunz]

If he doesn't have any units in your territory, just get him furious (via the way stated above), and unsuccessfully plant a spy (several times if needed), or just fail some spy missions. They'll declare war in no time. This does, though, require some cash, and of course an intelligence agency.

 

[MTheil3508]

I have seen, if they only have one unit inside your territory, then they won't declare war, only say that they will leave. They have to have greater than 1 unit to get the declare WAR option.

 

[Effing]

When you attack an ememy civ, properly declared war and do not have any units which may enter their territory in the current turn (read this in a thread before, it's true that this will cause a rep hit), the AI won't get angry. So far.
But what if you have got railroads all over your country and then honourably declare war on them, but at the same time are able to move all your units into his territory in a single turn, does the enemy get angry then?

 

[Dragon67]

Not if you have all your units OUTSIDE their border before you declear war. Declear war first, THEN move your troops into his territory.