Quote Originally Posted by Didz View Post
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.