Diplomacy is entirely broken

[Cheetah]

Diplomacy is DEFINETLY/Entirely broken. First I thought Didz might have just been very annoyed because something really upset him, but no, playing a campaign again, diplomacy is definetly broken.

Started a Prussian campaign (M/M), Got Bavaria, Hannover Wurttemburg Wesphalia Georgia and Savoy to become my protectorates. I realised I wasn't going to get anywhere in europe so I decided I would send an army to the new world. 27 years later that still hasn't happened.

...[snip]...

There is no logical reason that it should have declared war on me considering I just beat 2 major nations to their knees, We were allies for a few years and had been trading partners for much longer
and both had Sweden AND Poland as enemies.

There are several nations in my game that are war with all of europe for no apparent reason. I really was hoping this patch might change things, but diplomacy is still hopeless.

Okay Russia is a similar sized country to me and to some people maybe they think russia thought it was a good time to pick on me, Then CA can at least get Russia to either send me a letter of demands before it declares war or give some sort of pathetic excuse in a news bulletin telling me why theyve declared war before the DoW panel comes up.

I agree with your last point, it would be nice to get some official reasoning why the war broke out (which may or may not be the same as the real reason). However, don't you think that it is bit hasty to conclude based on one DoW which seemed to be irrational to you, that diplomacy is entirely broken?

By the way IMO you just captured one of the eastern polish provinces (Vilnius?) which might be amongst the Russian victory conditions. Also, would not you be afraid of a "friend" who keeps conquering its neighbours?

[Didz]

It would be hasty to conclude that the Diplomacy system is broken if it were based upon a single illogical action by the AI. But its not, the stories of the dumb actions (or lack of actions) by the AI are numerous and my own testing has shown that the Random DOW's are just that, and are not influenced by logic, diplomacy, geopolitic's or the even an assessment of likely success.

The inability to get an AI faction to response sensibly to its current situation, its failure to act to try and minimise a threat or maximise an opportunty, and a general failure of the AI to understand the basic elements and factors that contribute to the survival and prosperity of the factions it controls, all indicate that the system is broken.

What we have instead is a 'player hate routine' the sole purpose of which is to ensure that the player faction is kept in a state of pertetual war, regardless of what strategy that player happens to be following or what the diplomacy system indicates the player factions status to be.

[Ordani]

It would be hasty to conclude that the Diplomacy system is broken if it were based upon a single illogical action by the AI. But its not, the stories of the dumb actions (or lack of actions) by the AI are numerous and my own testing has shown that the Random DOW's are just that, and are not influenced by logic, diplomacy, geopolitic's or the even an assessment of likely success.

Does trade work? Can you form alliances? Do your allies join wars with you? Can you send state gifts that do influence behavior, and bribe your way into long term trade agreements? Can you force states to become your protectorates on threat of war?

More importantly, do even factions you declare war on really fight back?

The unexpected, counterproductive DoWs are not random. They are reproducible from saves. The player-hate is a cheap cop out, and I dislike like it as much as the next person, but that's not a bug or an unintentional side effect. They want it to work that way. It may not make any diegetic sense, but there is an evaluation that sends factions to war with you. It just isn't an evaluation based on whether that faction has any hope of a good outcome (which is arguably dumb, but not random). This is the way every other Total War title has worked -- the difference is that the campaign factions in Empire are huffing paint and swilling Wild Irish Rose in between turns and thus aren't a threat to anyone except themselves.