WHY does everybody declare war on me?

F4Fergus

Chieftain
Joined
Dec 28, 2001
Messages
10
Location
Australia
Pacifist bleat: I hate war and am nice to everybody and all other civs, being polite, and i build libraries and universities and recycling centres and aim to win the space race (have done once) without getting up anybody's nose. I doing just great... but... why, when I'm nearly there, does every dam civ combine to declare WAR on me? (Geez, i know u gotta have SOME defensive capability.. I had a bomber and a jet fighter).. and ALL the other civs hated me... Help?
 
I always seem to end up saying this but....

The AI bean counts the number of units.
The AI does not understand friendship
The AI will kick your ass all over the globe if you don't have as many units as it does.

P.S. This has been discussed in other threads, no offense, but you should read through the last page or two, most problems have already been addressed elsewhere in this forum.
 
Originally posted by F4Fergus
Pacifist bleat: I hate war and am nice to everybody and all other civs, being polite, and i build libraries and universities and recycling centres and aim to win the space race (have done once) without getting up anybody's nose. I doing just great... but... why, when I'm nearly there, does every dam civ combine to declare WAR on me? (Geez, i know u gotta have SOME defensive capability.. I had a bomber and a jet fighter).. and ALL the other civs hated me... Help?

The AI civs also hate you because you are winning. In my experience, a late game war is very common when you are close to a spaceship win.
 
Originally posted by F4Fergus
Pacifist bleat: I hate war and am nice to everybody and all other civs, being polite, and i build libraries and universities and recycling centres and aim to win the space race (have done once) without getting up anybody's nose. I doing just great... but... why, when I'm nearly there, does every dam civ combine to declare WAR on me? (Geez, i know u gotta have SOME defensive capability.. I had a bomber and a jet fighter).. and ALL the other civs hated me... Help?

I used to try to be nice to the AI guys but now I decided it doesn't matter what I do (at least with some of them). Sometimes a commerce deal will help but I think that the real reason it makes them nicer is that they NEED the goods.
 
Originally posted by F4Fergus
Pacifist bleat: I hate war and am nice to everybody and all other civs, being polite, and i build libraries and universities and recycling centres and aim to win the space race (have done once) without getting up anybody's nose. I doing just great... but... why, when I'm nearly there, does every dam civ combine to declare WAR on me? (Geez, i know u gotta have SOME defensive capability.. I had a bomber and a jet fighter).. and ALL the other civs hated me... Help?

I play pacifist too, i feel your pain. I have to be careful. Here's my observations, which ive posted before, but i think theyre quite relevant here.


They love you, they hate you, they declare war on you. Yup, I'm
talking about your friendly (haha) neighbor civ.

What I hate, and i mean HATE is when a "polite" or "gracious" civ
declares war on you OUT OF THE BLUE. Doesn't matter if you reload
1000 times, give them gifts, beef up defense or whatever, they ALWAYS
declare war.

Now, we know the AI is pretty hardcoded, so there has to be a reason
right? So here's what I think you should be looking for in your
neighbors and when to be worried about the sneak attack:

1) are they expansionistic, militaristic, or (god forbid) the Zulu?
(both, hehe) --- thats always a red flag. These civs will always be
chomping at the bit to fight or expand their land. We all know
Eliza***** just LOVES to plop cities down ALL OVER THE MAP. And lo,
English are expansionistic. So keep the trait in mind.

2) are they losing/winning? Right I know, theyre of course at least
one of the two, but what you have to worry about is if theyre winning
and youre very weak -- theyll try and consolidate power. If you're
winning, and the civ next to you is desperate for some points, watch
out as well.

3) Have they recently acquired their Unique Unit? If so, watch out --
the AI KNOWS that using that unit is an automatic advantage, and will
almost always unconditionally attack when they get it.

4) Are they resource hungry? Desperate for resources or even luxuries
will cause an AI civ to launch a preemptive attack. If surprise is
their only advantage, theyll use it.

5) Do you own any, and i mean ANY cities that were once theirs?
Whether you took them over last turn or 3000 years ago, whether by
culture or by war, they will WANT THEM BACK. So if a preemptive
attack happens, you can lay money that theyll be attacking
to "liberate" their former city.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If at any time TWO or more of those situations happen in a neighbor
civ, WATCH OUT -- You could be at war in the next few turns. Hope
this helps!

Any thoughts?
 
If you have a lot to offer, get another civ to fight your enemy. You have to beat them to allaince. If you get 2 civs they will probably get 2 more added and then maybe another 2 form those guys. Ally very fast. Declare war on your turn if possible...
 
While the game still rewards being at war the entire game, it does not allow the player to be peaceful the entire game. The balance is off, but I wish neither whole-game strategy could work in the long run. If you decide to be peaceful though, some one will attack you. Heck, I admit I'd attack you. :)

Being good at diplomacy is critical. Embassies are a must early on or the other civs don't trust you. Right of Passage agreements also make them less likely to attack. If you are attacked, to avoid getting "dominoed" by all the civs, try to start some Military Protection Pacts or Alliances to get them on your side. Remember these agreements last for 20 turns though, & they'll like you even less if you make peace before one of these agreements is broken. Keeping up trade helps a lot too.

Your power rating seems to be the other major factor. We're pretty sure it takes into account mostly your territory, # cities, and military count. However, there's been stories of people who've never been attacked even though their military is tiny but they have a dominant grip on the world with the # of cities they have. City packing has also been shown to decrease the chances of war.

Anyway, good luck. Remember, the game will try to keep you honest in all regards from time to time.
 
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