"He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude..."

[Arrian]

I finally decided "screw it, let's play Emperor." I chose China and after a couple of false starts, I've got a promising game going.

Some of it was luck. Some was sheer balls. I took a regular archer and attacked Bombay very early on, and though I failed to capture the city, I got my archer promoted to elite, killed several Indian units, and got tech, gold and 2 workers for peace. More on this later.

I then hit Japan with archers, and shortly after the fall of Kyoto, I received a GL. I decided to build the FP in Kyoto as soon as it was available. Kyoto isn't all that far from Beijing, but the immediate boost plus the possibility of later moving the Palace elsewhere won out over an Army or the Pyramids (my other options). I have since hit Japan again, taking a couple more cities and getting more tech & gold for peace. I then turned back to India.

I'm kicking the hell out of them, but I've got a potentially terrible problem: my first attack vs. India was a sneak attack. I moved my archer in, they asked for me to leave, I said I would, and then I attacked them. Therefore, I assume my reputation sucks. The Indians have contact with the Babylonians, who have contact with the Zulu (dunno if they have contact with others yet).

The secret appears to be out of the bag. No Arrian deception this time... the world will know of my devotion to the Dark Side. I'm gonna be strong, but not strong enough that my rep is irrelevant (at least for a while).

So here is my question: should I bother being "honorable" from here on out, or is my reputation unredeemable... and therefore should I be even more ruthless?

-Arrian

[alexman]

Arrian, as long as you don't break any per-turn deals, your reputation doesn't take a hit. I know people say to have your troops outside their borders before attacking, but I have been sneak attacking for the longest time and have no problem trading with the AI. I think sneak attacking must hurt their attitude towards you, not your reputation. So they might hate you, but they will still trade with you.

[vmxa1]

I do not sneak attack, but if you mean honorable by not breaking treaties, I say sure. I do not see much evidence that I can keep the AI from not liking me anyway.

[Theseus]

What the hell... be a psycho bastard. See what happens.

Can you credibly grab at least of couple of each luxury on the home continent? If yes, then even if your rep has suffered, you'll be able to master the game.

[Jawa Jocky]

I've been hated for razing cities b4. But when I started to give away the luxuries, I gained some new friends.

[vmxa1]

I do not want any friends at that price. Well if I need an ally badly maybe.

[Arrian]

Well, I won't be able to play more for a couple of days (game's on my gf's comp, and I'll be home until friday probably). Here is a more complete rundown of the situation:

Japan and India are on my continent. I sneak-attacked India once, but since then have declared war properly w/o breaking any 20 turn treaties. Japan is just about dead (2 cities) and India is taking a beating. Once I finish with India & mop up Japan, I will have my own continent and 3 luxury monopolies. It is possible that the Babs could slip a coastal city or two in while I'm fighting.

Babylon is on a rather large island to my south. They are, true to form, technologically advanced. They will enter the medieval age very soon. I don't know where Zululand is yet, but they are either on their own island or perhaps even in contact with yet more civs (normal map, 8 civs total).

I'm a Monarchy, and hope to build the HG. If I get another leader, I'll do my best to rush the GL - but that means I have to get literature. Part of the problem is that I don't have writing yet (will beat it out of India).

My main question is this: if I am careful not to break any 20 turn agreements, will I be able to trade with the AI, including gpt deals, normally? Or did my sneak attack of India screw that up?

Alexman has indicated that I should be able to trade normally, but people just won't like me. With 3 luxury monopolies, I could do well with that.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

OT: anybody get the song reference from the thread title?

-Arrian

[Jawa Jocky]

Unfortunetly I got the song stuck in my head, which is bad since I can't stand the Eagles. Now I'll have to go listen to Britney Spears (because only something more obnoxoius can replace what is already stuck in there).

But I guess that's Life in the Fast Lane. It will surely make you lose your mind (or in my case my cookies)

[alva]

In my recent game I went for being nasty too (I'm usually quite honorable) and I must say that it does make it much harder.
I could get some Ai to deal with me on a GPT basis, but they would never agree to pay in advance.

Once I discovered new civs, there were somewhat less hostile, but not much.

I would say that as long as you got an MPP or equivalent, there are willing to trade. Other than that....

What level do you play normally btw?

[Arrian]

Jawa Jocky - bingo! Sorry if I got it stuck in your head. Please, don't resort to Britney... listen to some Metallica instead.

alva848,

I have been playing Monarch for a long time now, and kinda got comfortable with it. But then I decided that I wanted more late-game showdowns, so I figured I'm made the jump to Emperor.

-Arrian

[jshelr]

I've always found paying cash is better than per turn deals anyway. The AI charges interest even higher than credit cards for per turn agreement. AI civs on Emperor sneak attack you all the time.

More interesting for Arrian perhaps will be whether he can use Monarchy as freely as he could in Monarch games. The research pace is more frantic, and I think that gives Republic/Democracy more survival advantage on this level. On pangea maps, a Monarchy can create havoc and keep up on tech. But, when there are large AI civs off the human's continent with the Emperor research rate they can sometimes leave a Monarchy civ in the dust.

[Arrian]

jshelr,

I think I will switch to republic once I have dealt with India, which will mean I have my 3rd luxury hooked up. That assumes I will have republic by then. Man, I could sure use the Great Library.

I'm REALLY missing being religious. I chose China figuring industriousness and archers from the start would be key. I was right, but at the same time, 60-shield temples and anarchy are brutal.

-Arrian

[Theseus]

One of my recent tricks for non-religious civs:

When doing intercontinental attacks, build a larger-than-normal number of Galleys / Caravels / Galleons, so that you can transport your entire attacking foce for max concentration of power. Disband excess ships to get Temples up more quickly.

Same applies to vet Cavs with the advent of Tanks.

[punkbass2000]

I beg of you, please don't listen to Metallica.