Civ asks for help in war then signs treaty?

[Rook]

Has anybody ever been asked to go to war with some enemy, then the very next turn the civ signs a treaty leaving you to duke it out with the other guy?

I have on several occasions been asked to go to war, but I refuse and the very next turn they get all kissy with each other. It leaves me to wonder what would happen if I DID go to war. Would I be left to fight alone or would my help bolster my allies confidence so that he doesn't sue for peace?

[Nacht]

Maybe they signed peace because you refused to help?

[LordShiva]

Well, I often ask AIs to go to war with one of my enemies and then make peace the next turn, leaving the AIs to fight it out, so it's only fair...

[Unimatrix11]

AI asking you to join war and then bail out ASAP happened to me in CivIII all the time, until i decided to never fall for it again.

[Amarsir]

My games frequently go like this:

1605 Montezuma has declared war on Cyrus!
1610 Montezuma: Will you join us in wiping out the Persians?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1615 Montezuma: Will you join us in wiping out the Persians?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1615 Cyrus: Will you join us in wiping out the Aztecs?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1625 Cyrus: Will you join us in wiping out the Aztecs?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1635 Montezuma: We demand you cancel your trade agreement with Cyrus!
--- Me: Nope, they're my friends!
1640 Montezuma: Will you join us in wiping out the Persians?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1650 Cyrus: Will you join us in wiping out the Aztecs?
--- Me: Fine! I declare war on Montezuma.
1655 Cyrus and Montezuma have signed a peace agreement.

and then . . .


1665 Cyrus declares war on you!

[vovan]

[Rook]

Originally posted by Amarsir
My games frequently go like this:

1605 Montezuma has declared war on Cyrus!
1610 Montezuma: Will you join us in wiping out the Persians?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1615 Montezuma: Will you join us in wiping out the Persians?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1615 Cyrus: Will you join us in wiping out the Aztecs?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1625 Cyrus: Will you join us in wiping out the Aztecs?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1635 Montezuma: We demand you cancel your trade agreement with Cyrus!
--- Me: Nope, they're my friends!
1640 Montezuma: Will you join us in wiping out the Persians?
--- Me: Can't afford a war right now.
1650 Cyrus: Will you join us in wiping out the Aztecs?
--- Me: Fine! I declare war on Montezuma.
1655 Cyrus and Montezuma have signed a peace agreement.

and then . . .


1665 Cyrus declares war on you!

Exactly. So it aint just me then. Good.

[Blake]

Note that when an AI is in a 1v2 situation it becomes very eager to sign for peace!

Cyrus and Monty are fighting:

Cyrus: Declare war on Monty!
Okay.

Monty now freaks out, he can't sign peace with you (because of 10 turn thing) so he gives Cyrus something for peace.

Cyrus is now not in a war. AI's like being in wars, they ESPECIALLY like 2v1's. Cyrus can't declare war on Monty because of 10 turn peace thing, so instead he declares war on...

.

Simple AI logic and rather stupid, even if it comes across as downright devious.

[madmaxxam]

I've had the AI declare peace after I joined them, but never then turn around and declare on me. Of course, sometimes the AI will ask you to fight with them when they first declare war, and when they do that they never back out the next turn. Just in my experience though. I usually don't join the AI unless it's someone that I really need as an ally, or it's against someone that I was going to fight soon anyway.

[Vince278]

I've done quite well going through entire games without any alliances. Avoids any entanglements. This worked great in Civ3 but I'm not entirely sure about Civ4 yet.

[fed1943]

My first thougt:How can a thing be both logical and stupid?
But then I thought:morality is afterall a survival tool.
So,I got it.
Best regards,

[Martin the Dane]

I think joining someone in a war should tie those countries together in some kind of treaty, (offensive pact?) so that if one of the treatie partners want to sign a peace treaty/cese fire with the oponent, all parties in the offencive pact must be involved somehow.

If Monte have asked you to join him again Cyrus, and you joins, Monte canot withdraw from the war without your consent, while you can at a diplomatic penalty.

If you on the other hand asked Monte to join you in your fight against Cyrus, you would not be able to sign a peace treaty with Cyrus without Montes consent.

[joncnunn]

Basically, you're being asked to help because the AI feels overwhelmed. Of course he's going to try to sign peace as soon as he can.

[CerberusIV]

The moral is to either join in the war straight away so it is too early for your AI ally to sign peace with the enemy or stay out altogether.

If they have been in a serious war with cities changing hands for some time then one or both probably have few units left beyond city garrisons so ending up at war with both may not be a problem as only one will be in any position to attack you.

It might be nice if one consequence of joining a war at someone else's invitation was that they could not then sign peace for a few turns or alternatively that they are then barred from declaring war on you for 10 turns after they do sign peace. But it's no big deal really, you just need to be prepared to deal with a former ally stabbing you in the back.

[Rook]

Originally posted by Martin the Dane
I think joining someone in a war should tie those countries together in some kind of treaty, (offensive pact?) so that if one of the treatie partners want to sign a peace treaty/cese fire with the oponent, all parties in the offencive pact must be involved somehow.

If Monte have asked you to join him again Cyrus, and you joins, Monte canot withdraw from the war without your consent, while you can at a diplomatic penalty.

If you on the other hand asked Monte to join you in your fight against Cyrus, you would not be able to sign a peace treaty with Cyrus without Montes consent.

That makes entirely too much sense.