10-11-2001 01:08									#1
	Greedy AI Civs. Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

What is up with the AI civs being so greedy. They offer a map for a map but want tech and some money too...when I trim the deal a bit (less money, not tech....well, it depends on the tech, but if I'm building a wonder that requires it I ain't givin' it up til the wonder is built or too near completion for me to be beaten to it.)

What does my foreign advisor say? "They'll probably be insulted by this deal." Huh? I'M insulted that they had the gall to ask for a lot of stuff for their measly map.

Bismarck wanted a mutual protection pact, right of passage gold and electricity! (I had just discovered it.) When I took out the electricity and right of passage (he just wanted to cross border and settle in my domain..no way, Jose') He says "You call that a deal? Who do you think you are dealing with!?" Oh, Gawd, I wish there was a respone of "I'm dealing with a bald man with no cash that'll be reading his paper by candlelight and he'd better keep his no electricity havin' ass on the other side of the border!"

The romans had a lopsided deal too and Caesar says "That deal is totally unfair to us!" Huh? My map, for your map, plus I'm giving you GOLD and you think its unfair becasue I won't give you an advance? And when I changed the deal to include the advance but requested an advance from them Caesar was still upset!

The AI is just too greedy....

	10-11-2001 01:18									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

A lot of people have been complaining about this.

My experience (playing at all levels) has been that they are FAR more likely to offer a good deal if you have competitive culture, military, and tech behind you. I get bad deals when I'm in a low-culture mode (and my advisor says they aren't impressed by my culture - guess this is why he brings it up).

My first few games I was stuck in limited terrain and wound up with few cities, but they were large and incredibly culture rich. I got great deals from the AI. I would trade them maps even or get money in addition to maps, ditto on the techs. I would regularly get two techs for one (slightly higher) tech.

My most recent game turned into an ICS strategy and among my 20 cities I get about 8 total culture per turn. Result: lousy trade offers until I thump them with my immortals

I don't know if others have noticed but it also SEEMS (I have not yet enough data) that it makes a difference where you make contact. I have taken the habit of trying to contact a unit near my most cultural city.

Fun bargaining trick: the computer values cities very highly. Take a settler you don't care about into their territory, maybe dump in some captured workers if they are spare, and you can sell it to the opponent for great return! If you do it at the border near a cultural city you might even get it back soon