Another Diplo question

[NightReaper]

In diplomacy there is an option to give a gift, but it seems to be set to predetermined % and based on the amount of BC you have at the time. This seems to me to be counter productive in that the best time (least expensive) is when I can least afford it (low treasury) and when I do have enough to buy some good will, I have to spend nearly 25% of the treasury at the minimum which is a bit steep IMHO! If the AI/faction you are trying to appease/bribe/influence (pick your choice) feels insulted maybe (s)he could make a more acceptable counter proposal. Seems reasonable…is it doable?

[jdmillard]

I've asked this question myself. I think the giving % amounts ought to be percentages of their treasury. Here's why: If the AI doesn't have a lot of money, then a small amount of the player's money could be very impressive to them because you could very well double their balance. If the AI has a lot of money, the human player might only be able to afford the lowest tier which would not impress the AI very much (even though it's a big sacrifice from the player).

The problem is this: If I recall correctly, the AI is pretty much programmed to not save money. If they are constantly at a balance of near-zero, this wouldn't work. So I suggest using that same method, but base it off of the current monthly income instead. So the gift options would be:
-gift of 1 turn's income (of the receiving faction's income)
-gift of 2 turn's income (of the receiving faction's income)
-gift of 3 turn's income (of the receiving faction's income)
or some variation of that. Yes, this tells the player the amount of income per turn of their opponent; but that's irrelevant because the economic ratings by "dots" are based on the income so you already know roughly who is making how much per turn already.

If you can't afford any of them, the offer gift option will be grayed out in the first place. Or a "never-mind" option can be added to the amount-selecting screen.

Plus this would give diplomatic leverage to the the economically powerful factions.

On a different note, the AI shouldn't offer money so often. I stopped accepting gifts in my games because it didn't make sense that they would do that all the time... and I wanted a challenge. They should only offer gifts if they want your help in war, or are your ally.

[fortydayweekend]

On a different note, the AI shouldn't offer money so often. I stopped accepting gifts in my games because it didn't make sense that they would do that all the time... and I wanted a challenge. They should only offer gifts if they want your help in war, or are your ally.

The only exception I can think of to this is if there's a role-playing element involved, ie if you accept a lot of gifts and then declare war/cancel pacts there's a bigger diplo hit because they "trusted" you more. While if you refuse gifts there's a smaller penalty.

[jdmillard]

On a different note, the AI shouldn't offer money so often. I stopped accepting gifts in my games because it didn't make sense that they would do that all the time... and I wanted a challenge. They should only offer gifts if they want your help in war, or are your ally.

The only exception I can think of to this is if there's a role-playing element involved, ie if you accept a lot of gifts and then declare war/cancel pacts there's a bigger diplo hit because they "trusted" you more. While if you refuse gifts there's a smaller penalty.

I think that sounds good to me. It might even be in the game already, but I think the effect isn't potent enough.

[Apheirox]

On a different note, the AI shouldn't offer money so often. I stopped accepting gifts in my games because it didn't make sense that they would do that all the time... and I wanted a challenge. They should only offer gifts if they want your help in war, or are your ally.

Diplomacy generally needs a lot of help. The AI behaviour is schizophrenically insane, giving out gifts and praising you one second only to be demanding tribute and denouncing you the very next turn. I suppose your policy of not accepting gifts is what makes the most sense for now.

[boulugre]

Diplomacy generally needs a lot of help. The AI behaviour is schizophrenically insane, giving out gifts and praising you one second only to be demanding tribute and denouncing you the very next turn. I suppose your policy of not accepting gifts is what makes the most sense for now.

I love when the AI comes to me and asked a tribute, I refuse and next turn they come back with a gift...

[jdmillard]

On a different note, the AI shouldn't offer money so often. I stopped accepting gifts in my games because it didn't make sense that they would do that all the time... and I wanted a challenge. They should only offer gifts if they want your help in war, or are your ally.

Diplomacy generally needs a lot of help. The AI behaviour is schizophrenically insane, giving out gifts and praising you one second only to be demanding tribute and denouncing you the very next turn. I suppose your policy of not accepting gifts is what makes the most sense for now.

For a long time now, I've really firmly believed that the single most effective and efficient way to improve the game (in it's current state) would be to fix diplomacy and them polish it up real nice. It would really help bring the game closer to where it should be. There are other types of worthy improvements that are discussed on a daily basis, but I feel like diplomacy is almost breaking the game right now.

[fortydayweekend]

Increasing the Aggression level of all the factions is the simplest improvement that you can do yourself, and improves the game a fair bit I think - 0.55 - 0.8 seems like a good range. It's right at the top of the faction xmls. It means they won't just give you every pact straight away, makes your friends Co-operative rather than Generous, and cuts a lot of praise-spam.

[Dr. Foo]

Increasing the Aggression level of all the factions is the simplest improvement that you can do yourself, and improves the game a fair bit I think - 0.55 - 0.8 seems like a good range.

Oh, I went with all factions aggression at 0.85! Oh man....it's a mad house! No one likes each other, it's war...sue for peace and then war again. LOL! I think I'll tone it down a bit for my next game but it's a lot of fun, throw in very high bug aggression and I'm fighting someone or something every turn.