The AI does NOT negotiate!

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Some very interesting points of view to this thread but I still agree with you Cybershy.Also be nice to insult the AI during trading,Im sick of Abe telling me my deal smells like a barrel of rotting fish when all I can do is say "take this deal or suffer" like some kind of illiterate Darlek or Clingon with a seriously low IQ!

[KingJoshi]

It would be nice if when the advisor said, "We're close to a deal" and we risked it, some times it went through. However, that also means sometimes when the advisor says, "The deal is acceptable", he's wrong. And the latter could get on my nerves. Only having the former would give the trade initiator too much of an advantage. Having both types might be fun for some, but annoying for others. In some games, like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you can get better advisors, but that's out of the scope of this game.

As it is right now, if you don't want to hassle, you can just accept what the AI says. If you want to bargain, you still can (in some sense).

As I started going up in levels (now I play at Monarch), I seem to get farther and farther behind in techs and I always catch up through trading and eventually take the lead. To me, it makes perfect sense for there to be a few AI civs to all have the same techs. Usually, there are different tiers and that's how it should be. Sometimes, the trading is tough, and sometimes it works to your advantage. You just have to know how to play it.

[Coracle]

Originally posted by ChrisiusMaximus
I would agree with you the AI is very biased in its dealings with you.There have been other threads on this subject but maybe it needs to be said again,Call to Power 2 had some good diplomatic options. . .

Sorry Firaxis if this sounds too critical but Cybershy is right it does seem fixed and can be very frustrating at times. . .

Yes, you are totally correct, unfortunately. That old Bean Counting AI.

Tell you something else we need - trade negotiations for a peace treaty. Why are resources OFF the table when making a peace treaty??? Many, many times I refused to stop a war as I wanted a luxury resource or two. So, I ended up taking them ALL by conquest. It is not smart of the AI civ to do that.

[Willem]

Originally posted by KingJoshi
You just have to know how to play it.

Well there's the key phrase IMO. I haggle a lot, bouncing around with various sums, and sometimes I find the process very tedious. To me, it would be nice if occasionaly I could just say "To hell with it, I'll take a chance".

But there are no chances, no risks! If your Foreign Advisor is glowing, you know you've scored the deal, but not until then. It might even be interesting, if the other civ doesn't agree, that you can't offer that particular bargain again for 20 turns. It would certainly add an element of suspense towards making a deal, which is totally missing now.

[YC4B4U]

Diplomacy is currently just a matter of getting an offer greater than a computed value. The computer doesn't actually get insulted when you offer it an insulting deal (well not that I have noticed). There is no diplomatic history.

Another reason why I can't wait for MP.

A deal will be acceptable to a human because it has defined goals and requirements, not because it meets a certain value!

[The Pioneer]

I'd like to see a bit of randomness in AI when it negotiates, especially in the early ages (or earlier forms of gov'ts). Think about it as a Despot I can do whatever the heck I please but under Democracy I gotta think of the upcoming election and behave myself?!

But then of course some people would again complain that the system is unfair and the randomness is nonsense

[Harovan]

Resources and luxuries are not off the table, but the AI has to be very desperate to part with them. If you are winning so-so, they probably won't. But if you crush them severely, they are out of units and cannot poprush more, they consider to part even with resources. In the Minitourney 2 (v1.21f) I succeeded to get a city with 3 wines prize from the English.

[Robert]

You could easily programm a few things that will make the AI negotiate more like a human:

- Now and then the AI does accept a 'doubtable' offer
- If you propose too much unacceptable deals the AI will raise it demands
*This increases the fun of negotiation, since you might lower your changes by asking more, but will get it now and then. You might get rewarded for trying to get the best deal, but you might get nothing as well. There's more of the unpredictable in it.

- If you offer a 'pherhaps' deal that't not acceptable for the AI, but it's close though, the AI will come with a DIFFERENT deal than it offered first.
* That way it will be more like:
AI first bid: 10 gpt WM 80gold vs tech
Human bid: 12 gpt WM 90 gold vs tech
AI 2nd bid: 11 gpt WM 85 gold vs tech WM
Human 2nd bid: 11 gpt WM 90 gold vs tech WM
AI last bid: 11 gpt WM 88 gold vs Tech WM
IT's A DEAL.

I'm sure these two things will make it all more fun.
You can try to make a better deal, but spoil the change for it by doing that, but you might get it as well.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Cybershy have you played Colonization,the Native Indians would barter in a similar way to your suggestion but only for few turns before getting angry.

This game is getting on a bit now so I dont see why it would be to difficult to code some variations into trade and diplomacy.Have to admit though I would'nt know where to start

Some good debate here but no change IMO.Firaxis if you see this thread is there any hope of more options etc in PTW.

[Robert]

No, I never played colonization.
I think Soren created a great AI, if it's about warfire.

That's why I'm that suprised about the not that good negotiation options.

I'm not sure if Firaxis dudes still hang around here.
They could improve it in PtW. Ater all I'll pay another load of € for that

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Hi Cybershy sent you PM with a link for colonization.

Ive started a thread on the stories page Unfinished Stories if you get chance Id appreciate any thoughts you might have.