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For a while, I've been playing SP, Monarch, Epic. I used to accept Open Borders with any civ that wanted it, unless there was a good reason for me to reject it. I've reconsidered lately and I now deny Open Borders unless there's a good reason to grant it. This seems to have had two effects.
One, even though it will lead some civs to view you less positively, it seems to have cut down on wars I'm not ready for. I'm guessing this is because the AI civs will declare war on you to get a resource that you have and they want. If they don't know you have the resource, there's less chance they'll jump on you.
Two, it really messes up their expansion. I've noticed a bit of strange behavior by the AI civs that benefits me. I was on a continent with one other civ. I had him bottled up in a corner and refused to grant Open Borders. After I had taken the land that I wanted, I granted Open Borders. His expansion logic seemed to be really messed up at that point. There was still available open land, and I was hoping that he would found a couple of cities there so I could take them. However, even though he only had three cities and had explored that available land at the beginning of the game, he didn't expand. I'm guessing that it was because he would have to cross a broad expanse of my territory with his settler, which the AI doesn't seem to do. However, he also had a galley sitting there next to his capital, but he didn't use it to expand either. It just sat there. In short, if you refuse Open Borders early, then grant it later, you still get the best of the effect because the AI civs' won't cross your land with a settler.
Has anyone else noticed this behavior, or have just encountered random behavior?
One, even though it will lead some civs to view you less positively, it seems to have cut down on wars I'm not ready for. I'm guessing this is because the AI civs will declare war on you to get a resource that you have and they want. If they don't know you have the resource, there's less chance they'll jump on you.
Two, it really messes up their expansion. I've noticed a bit of strange behavior by the AI civs that benefits me. I was on a continent with one other civ. I had him bottled up in a corner and refused to grant Open Borders. After I had taken the land that I wanted, I granted Open Borders. His expansion logic seemed to be really messed up at that point. There was still available open land, and I was hoping that he would found a couple of cities there so I could take them. However, even though he only had three cities and had explored that available land at the beginning of the game, he didn't expand. I'm guessing that it was because he would have to cross a broad expanse of my territory with his settler, which the AI doesn't seem to do. However, he also had a galley sitting there next to his capital, but he didn't use it to expand either. It just sat there. In short, if you refuse Open Borders early, then grant it later, you still get the best of the effect because the AI civs' won't cross your land with a settler.
Has anyone else noticed this behavior, or have just encountered random behavior?
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