I Think I Was Just Insulted!!!!!!!!

[Sprayber]

I think my long time Pact Brother Morgan just insulted me. We were both reserching Advanced Spaceflight and he finished it 4 turns before and immediatly started on the Living Refinery. So I call him up, and ask for his files on Advanced Spaceflight and the ungrateful wench told me that his datalinks were fully loaded right now because of his reserch into the Living Refinery. But I could call back after it's completion and he would be glad to give me the files on Advanced Spaceflight.

I mean it doesn't matter that i've rush built a few projects out from under him. He should be fair about the whole mess and give me the damn files. I mean it's been me protecting him from Domai, Lal and this bloodthristy custom faction I created called the Dreaka. I demand access.

[Cybergod]

Yep, pact "bothers" can be a real pain in the ... (I'm watching my language here since I got banned one too many times for my liking ), especially Morgan and Lal. They talk about you researching this so you can both "share data on equal basis" and then, they get the tech and go off constructing the SP on their own, telling you, when you ask politely for the tech, that they can't trust you with that SP in your hands.

I mean they are meant to be your BROTHERS (and SISTERS ). And also I hate when they get all steamed up when I am the first in the charts and they are second.

[civcop]

Hello....Morgan!

Time to bring out the Busters! I'm engaged in an SP game now wherein my only contact with Lal was near the beginning of the game. Yang soon began overrunning the Peacekeepers one base at a time. I kept waiting for Lal to contact me, we were at treaty after the initial contact, for help. Finally only one Peacekeeper base stood and I called up the commlinks. Lal was listed as standing at vendetta against me! What was that all about?! I simply closed the link and let Yang finish him off, which happened the next turn. Just as well because I'm pacted with Dee Dee and Santiago and am engaged in battle with the Believers.

[Method]

ah yes. i know this. Aki has an annoying tendency to do this unnecessarily often. oh no! i wouldnt want the planetary datalinks to fall into your hands (even if you're roze with the empath guild). same thing with trading tech SP or no SP. want to trade industrial base for singularity mechanics?(slight exaggeration) oh no, but you can have industrial base for the low low price of just 4 easy payments of 50 million EC's. but order now and we'll also include industrial economics... (also a slight exaggeration)

seriously though what happened was i had just discovered superstring theory, and i wanted D:AP so i could get to MMI. i called her up to trade but she said "knowledge is power as the saying goes, and can be bought. i will sell you my files on D:AP for 1500 energy credits." i quickly responded with a "Price: ridiculous!"

[Ironwood]

Originally posted by Cybergod
Yep, pact "bothers" can be a real pain in the ... (I'm watching my language here since I got banned one too many times for my liking ), especially Morgan and Lal. They talk about you researching this so you can both "share data on equal basis" and then, they get the tech and go off constructing the SP on their own, telling you, when you ask politely for the tech, that they can't trust you with that SP in your hands.

I mean they are meant to be your BROTHERS (and SISTERS ). And also I hate when they get all steamed up when I am the first in the charts and they are second.

Hey, have you ever had any brothers and sisters? Let me tell you, sharing is not a high priority, when there's something to be gained.

And besides, a pact brotherhood is about military defense, not share and share alike... *especially* with Morgan (not talking about comp AI, but the philosophy behind his faction). Pact Brotherhood, to him, is about sticking together to keep the barbarians off our asses, so we can get on with the business of trying to run each other out of business!

[Haon]

It depends on the level of difficulty. on the easier levels the pact prothers will willingly grant you all there data, on the higher levels theye are more protective. it shoudl motivate you to increse your research! I amplaying a game right now as the university. i was allied with morgan and he was fighting a war with the peacekeepred (though darn aliens corrupt everyone with the "planned economy"). my aim was to supply him with thechnology so he can hold out, then waht? the peacekeepes came and now are theonly super power!
But it doesn't end there, Svensguard though my policy of research was enough to cancel our pact, deidra did not like m y free market economy, and the aliens keep corrupting Lal soo much he has become a cartaker pawn!
Or course will the userpers help me fight the cartekers?
No! because my economy is "inferior".
Some times you may not be lucky to even have a friend.

[Sprayber]

It also depends on what the situation your alliance comes to be. A few games ago I was Yang and had beaten Zak into submission really early. I only took three of his bases and allowed him to expand into an unused portion of our really big continent. From that point on he actually called me up and gave me tech. I kept him defended from Domai and Lal and he continued to give me any tech he had. Usually I find Morgan a fairly reliable ally. Unless you do something to seriously piss him all, he don't cause problems.

The trouble makers in my experience are Lal, Dee and sometimes Roze. They are the one you have to worry about. Even Santiago can be a fairly good ally compared to those three.

[DavidByron]

I think it also depends on how well you are doing. There's a supreme setting and (I can't really remember...) maybe one for you just being in the lead. It effects the AI's production queues so when you are beating the snot out of them all on points their stuff costs less.

If you have spied out there datalinks you can see it in the number of colums they have to fill a production row or food row.

I would guess it also means they snub you on diplomatic requests more. I used to regularly be supreme and diplomatically I couldn't get any of them to do jack.

[Blake]

Speakin' of being insulted by AI's, reminds me off the time I was kicking Morgans butt across planet, just about to finish him off and he surrenders, I grudgenly accept, then he immediately demands I continue my loan payments, and informs me he has added INTEREST to the balance!

[Cybergod]

Deidre - (likes to betray you in the end)
Yang - (NEVER EVER have him as pact, unless you are looking for a challenge)
Zak - (tech's the word! But he can be annoying at times)
Morgan - (money is the word - he didn't even mind my Green Economy in a game!)
Santiago - (I don't know, UNPREDICTABLE)
Believers - (kill the ***** on the first sight)
Lal - (backstabbing SOB)

Don't know much about the SMAX factions but I think that Aki is the best ally.

Speaking of inhuman abnormalitites (), when I was playing another game as Lal, I was going for all-builder/research style, not getting any conquer techs or even Plasma or Laser! Then the next thing Zak, of all idiots, comes along into my territory with two Impact Rovers and demands tech! I give in to him because I was hopelessly overmatched at the time) and then he asks for more! I tell him that he is nothing more than a Madman and that's what he'll always be so we have a little war! Luckily, I had a couple of probe teams exploring (I had Planetary Networks) and I subverted one of his rovers and emmediately started reproduction of them. Next came his bases under my mindcontrol (I was running FM - with my extra Talents I couldn't care much about the drones). He he he, that taught him...

[Cybergod]

Deidre - (likes to betray you in the end)
Yang - (NEVER EVER have him as pact, unless you are looking for a challenge)
Zak - (tech's the word! But he can be annoying at times)
Morgan - (money is the word - he didn't even mind my Green Economy in a game!)
Santiago - (I don't know, UNPREDICTABLE)
Believers - (kill the ***** on the first sight)
Lal - (backstabbing SOB)

Don't know much about the SMAX factions but I think that Aki is the best ally.

Speaking of inhuman abnormalitites (), when I was playing another game as Lal, I was going for all-builder/research style, not getting any conquer techs or even Plasma or Laser! Then the next thing Zak, of all idiots, comes along into my territory with two Impact Rovers and demands tech! I give in to him because I was hopelessly overmatched at the time) and then he asks for more! I tell him that he is nothing more than a Madman and that's what he'll always be so we have a little war! Luckily, I had a couple of probe teams exploring (I had Planetary Networks) and I subverted one of his rovers and emmediately started reproduction of them. Next came his bases under my mindcontrol (I was running FM - with my extra Talents I couldn't care much about the drones). He he he, that taught him...

And Ironwood, yes I have a little brother who I need to teach a LOT about sharing, esp. when he broke my SMAX CD into little pieces just waiting to get his hands on the computer (which is why I no longer play SMAX)!

[Avenoct]

As much as I'd like to peg one or two factions as being the worst backstabbers, it's true that that behaviour and others are somewhat randomized, as you can easily tell by flipping on the scenario editor and using the menu to choose 'edit faction diplomacy' or 'edit faction strategy'. It varies game to game. That said, there may be some positional hard-coding of these traits (IE, Yang's first and ICS's..put another faction in Yang's spot and they ICS...hrm).

Now to the confessional:

"Yes it's true father, I beat the snot out of entire nations and then throw tantrums when they deny me MY knowledge. It's gotten so bad that I've taken to reconquering their entire people for this (framing it all on a probe-action of course to preserve my integrity with more honorable nations). When I'm told that I just 'Can't have that tech right yet' I simply steal it away and punish the insolence if necessary. For what is war but a means to an end, and that end is always control!"

-Confessions of a God-Fearing Meglomaniac

Really though, if you use a pet to research, be prepared to steal the tech, especially if it comes with the blueprints to a SP.

-Smack