So, I've seen some threads lately about how diplomacy is broken, bugged, etc, and I've had some recent game experiences that make me think it actually works great, and any issues are due to a misunderstanding than anything else.
Here's what I've done and what I've learned:
My first campaign (English, H/H), I played very aggresively, continually expanding my borders and stopping only on occaision to shore up re-inforcements or on orders from the Pope. This meant I pre-emptively attacked most nations I went to war with, broke an alliance or two, etc. By mid game my reputation was "untrustworthy" and it only got worse, and by the end of the game, my diplomatic efforts were nearly useless. After taking Portugal's 2nd to last province and landing an army on the shores of their final remaining one, I couldn't even get them to agree to a ceasefire without paying them large sums of money. I think I shared a lot of the same frustrations with people here about diplomacy issues, I had no ability to diplomatically disuade a faction from attacking me, it was kill or be killed with any of my neighbors.
I'm midway through my 2nd campaign now (Turks, H/VH), and I've been campaigning at a much slower pace and focusing more on the diplo game than before.
Anyway, nearing the defeat of the Byzantines, I had an incredible "diplomatic victory". After taking Constantinople, I noticed Byz occupied Thessalonica was lightly garrisoned, and made a bold move by dividing my army to take it, mostly I did not want my Hungarian allies, also at war with the Byz, to seize it first preventing me from easily expanding into Venice. This left both Constantinople AND Thessalonica very vulnerable to attack from the Hungarians.
1 turn later, sure enough, there's a Hungarian 1/2 stack just outside of Thessalonica, depending on the units, its probably enough to topple my battered garrison there.
Fortunately, I have a diplomat who gets to the Hungarians just in time. I noticed that our relationship has dropped from So-So to Very Poor since his last visit. In one turn, I gift them:
- Miltary Access & Map Info
- Tribute, 4 turns for 600
- Single Payment of 500
This bumps us back up to reasonable. (And also, I think Military Access prevents their army from devastating my lands!)
Next turn, the army makes a 180 and heads off into a rebel province in the North. Bingo, I'm free to restock my troops and head down to finish off the Byz in Corinth. It was somewaht expensive, but definitely worth it, a war with Hungary would be a huge detriment to my campaign.
Another thing I noticed -- I cancelled trade rights with Egypt, which caused a drop in my global rep from Mixed to Dubious. Immediately after that I noticed that my rep with each of my allies had dropped a level, and it was more expensive to bring it up. So keeping that global rep up is huge.
One thing I can't figure out though -- how can I increase my global reputation? The only things I've figured out are how NOT to decrease it...
Bookmarks