Panhandling AI Leaders

[Brutus66]

Is it just me, or does anybody else get annoyed with the leaders of other civs constantly hitting you up for free techs or resources?
It seems to me that they are constantly expecting to get something for nothing, and when you say 'No', you get yet another -1 modifier.
"You refused to help us!".
You're darn right I did.
If you ask the AI for something, they usually (though not always) will say no. The important difference is they can say no to you with impunity (at least until you can raise an army to go whack them).

I realize that you can use this aspect of the game to your advantage in building alliances, but there are times when the best strategy is to give nothing away.
You have to play according to the strengths of your civ. If you are Ghandi going for a culture win, it is to your advantage to be buddy-buddy with other leaders.
But if your civ's advantage lies in research (for ex. Elizabeth gets double production speed of University) then you want to pour everything into that and ruthlessly tech whore. Then result is that eventually all the other civs are going to be annoyed because you didn't give them enough charity.
Buzz off already, Isabella, I'm not giving you gunpowder. The last thing the world needs is a nut like you getting her hands on musketmen.

[Welshie]

Originally posted by Brutus66
"The important difference is they can say no to you with impunity (at least until you can raise an army to go whack them)."

Give them a -1 "You refused to help us" in your head, if it makes you feel better.

It's true it's annoying, but it's the AI's way of gauging your attitude towards it - otherwise what clue do they have?

[Brutus66]

Agreed Welshie, but they need to stop constantly expecting to get something for nothing.

[patcon]

What really bugs me is when they ask for something for nothing when they have something to trade. Even if it's worth enough, they should at least offer you their meager 100 gold for the tech they want for nothing.

[Will9]

Do what I do. Kill everyone so there won't to ask you.

[rah]

Yeah in my last game, after denying another freeloaded I went right back and they had tons of crap they could have offered. Interesting enough, I traded for what they demanded and got the +1 for you have traded fair with us to offset the the -1 for you refused to help.
Straight out gifting doesn't help. And how often do you give them what they demand and then they attack you 3 turns later even though they're "PLEASED" with you.

SO it's my theory that if doesn't matter if you give in to their demands because they're either going to attack you or not regardless. So I don't roll over any more. I just prepare my defenses. (or prepare to take it to them)

[Calvin Vu]

I give it to them !!

I deal with the demands differently depending on different situations:

- if they ask for some cheap old techs which I no longer care about then I give the techs to them. Refusal in these cases almost always result in a war a few turns later. It's even more annoying if they are not my neighbors so I can't do anything to them other than suffering the war warriness and the occasion troops which just come to rip up the improvements.

- if some nuthead neighbors, like Monty and Isabella, ask for a more expensive tech (or for gold) before I am militarily prepared to deal with them, then I (seethingly) give it to them. However, I always try to get a little back from them in return. If I give them tech then I ask them to give me all of their gold (they will happily give me the gold in this case), and conversely, if I give them gold then I will try to sell them some old tech to get my gold back. So, I lose a little in the exchange but I will be left alone to build up my tech lead while still getting a +1 for "You gave us tribute".

In other cases, refusal is fine and they won't declare war.

[Virdrago]

They actually give you their gold after getting tech tribute? I've never tried it, but it doesn't seem right somehow.

[ColdPhoenix]

Last night Catherine declared war on me but was safe from my wrath as Tokugowa (who she had open borders with) was between us. In annoyance I demanded that he give me 100 gold in the hope that he would declare war and take the diplo hit. I would have declared war if he didn't. To my surprise he gave me the money, wish I'd asked for more!

I decided not to declare war as he'd given me the money, but then he declared war a couple of turns later anyway. Probably bribed by Catherine.

I think I'm going to make demands more often!

[Welshie]

You'd be surprised how much you can squeeze out of AIs if you just ask nicely

[gdijedi7]

Or not too nicely.

If they want something from me for free, I refuse. Then I immediately offer the same thing to them and ask them what they'll give me for it.

I'm suprised at what they have to offer many a time.

Of course, if they don't pay, they don't get anything from me.

Period.

Unless I like them.

[MikeH]

As far as I can remember, you can refuse the tech -1, then gift them a token 10 gold +1 to cancel it out.

[HaplessHorde]

And then somtimes they'll happily empty their pockets. Just for the Hell of it I ask a civ with "Cautious towards" what they'll give for 1 Wine, and they offer me 11 gold per turn, which is all they have available.

[MikeH]

They'll pretty much always give you all their available cash for resources.

[Brutus66]

I tried playing the Earth scenario (the one with the huge map and 18 civs) this week.
During the course of the game I was endlessly hit-on by the AI civs for free tech.
I played as England, which is a weak civ in that scenario, and the only shot I had at winning was maintaining a tech lead, so I couldn't go giving my advances away.
The result was about half of the AI leaders were annoyed or worse by mid-game, mostly because "you refused to give us help" or "You refused to give us tribute".
It devolved into perpetual war.
I had a tech advantage and made good use of forts, locating them behind rivers in strategic spots.
I had expected the fighting, so I had plenty of troops.
The AI in Civ4 doesn't declare war until it's ready to clobber you with a stack outside of one of your cities. In this case it sent waves of macemen and the like against my redcoats, usually in forts and across rivers.
The battles were slaughters, but the overall strategy was effective. Your citizens eventually get war-weary after so many turns of non-stop war. Your production and science rate begins to slide. When you produce troops, your city development stops.
I found myself wishing for the forbidden palace of Civ2, which cut off communication with other leaders for a while.
It would be nice if they would just stop pestering me.