Lacking critical resources. Pay off city states or start kicking ass?

[Burticus]

I generally prefer a pacifist gameplay (unless I'm the first to get tanks, heh). But in previous Civ's if you were lacking a critical resource like coal, if you didn't take it by force you weren't going to get it. Now in Civ 5 I'm playing a game and hardly any coal in sight, and what I see belongs to 2 city states on the opposite side of the map across the ocean. So I guess I can just start throwing tons of gold at them, or I can get aggressive with them and have everyone else on the planet declare war on me.

Thoughts?

[Boracks]

How much coal do you need, and how much coal do they have?

Are they allied with anyone, or has someone declared they are protecting them?

I play passive with most CS, usually ally with one or two (okay, six as Russia, they were there...), prefer to spend gold if I can afford it.

If one doesn't like the other, knocking off the other to cheaply become an ally of the one may be worth it.

[Dinner]

You can't play Civ5 as a pacificst. You could in Civ4 but in Civ5 even if you give in to every AI demand and do nothing but suck AI **** all game they will still turn on you and attack you.

[dannubis]

Are you playing the same game as I am? Keep away from firendship declarations and you avoid most denouncements. The ones who do denounce you yiou pounce in the ground. Done.

[Dinner]

Yeah, I stopped making pacts of friendship with anyone as they're just not worth it.