Why doesnt dipomacy work?

[baron_Leo]

What does annoy me is, when the frogs bring some troops into my territory, and do nothing with it. Really nothing. They do not intend to attck me, they are not allied, they don't do anything. They park there for 40 rounds and then leave. Theres is absolutely no point in doing that. Okay when Milan parks some armies in my terf I know what he is up to. He brings another army. And another. And another, Joins them, and attacks me and gets horriby beaten in Tolouse. (I would be so glad if they would attack Bordeaux one time - less troops and another scenery, maybe it would add a challenge:-).

[gardibolt]

But there is a point. If they're parked on your lands 40 turns, they're causing devastation and reducing your income from farming (and trade, if they're sitting on a road). So it's a very hostile act to go onto another's lands.

[Quillan]

Neutrals and allies don't cause devastation, only enemy armies. At the beginning of my Byzantine campaign, I had a Hungarian stack parked in the Sofia region for 20-30 turns that just wouldn't leave. Eventually they decided to attack, which started the long march to their extinction.

[econ21]

An AI army camping in your land is surely an indication that the AI is thinking about attacking you, just that the time is not quite right.

I've seen them march off sometimes, when I move a big army nearby - it's like they decide there's no point waiting for an opportunity to arise and go elsewhere.

I quite like the AI camping behaviour - it's sort of menacing. I just wish there were some diplomatic options for dealing with it - e.g. a "get of my land" type threat to force the issue.

[Joshwa]

I'll buy that even allied nations will look to shaft one another given the chance, but what i can't fathom is why the AI doesn't seem to comprehend what a Vassal is. Surely, once i become their vassal, they will leave me alone, at least for a while, right? Wrong. As the Byzantines, I have had the Hungarians attack me, demand i become their vassals, and then attack me again within 5 turns at least three times running. I could understand them getting in first if they percieve i am building up forces to attack, but within three turns? What was the point in asking in the first place?

[Snoil The Mighty]

An AI army camping in your land is surely an indication that the AI is thinking about attacking you, just that the time is not quite right.

I've seen them march off sometimes, when I move a big army nearby - it's like they decide there's no point waiting for an opportunity to arise and go elsewhere.

I quite like the AI camping behaviour - it's sort of menacing. I just wish there were some diplomatic options for dealing with it - e.g. a "get of my land" type threat to force the issue.

Hear hear!
I've thought since they upped the diplo options in RTW that the most glaring options that were not present at all were were: Not having a diplomatic way to warn off other soldiers, as well as the fact that there is no way to declare war diplomatically. Both options should be feasible without excessive coding issues. They would also be nice to further differentiate between whether your leader in that campaign was pursuing 'dreaded' as opposed to 'chivalrous' behavior and also both would make the reputation rating more meaningful. Taking a world-wide reputation hit because some snert faction keeps sending his soldiers into my countryside is something that should be remedied.

On a side note, I have to say I applaud the vision of M2TW even though it appears to have exceeded CA's reach. I like the direction even if the execution is currently a bit off, or more likely, rushed to sale for holiday time.

[Zuraffo]

actually, I find the diplomacy in this game was quite realistic. I was playing as Moors (H/H) and France, Venice and some other factions offered me alliance at the beginning of the game. Since at the beginning I was taking my time to conquer Iberia and fend off sicily, I accepted. Now that I have cleaned up Milan, I am actually waiting for France to break their alliance with me. But even though they hated me to boot (I think it's something like Abysmal), they are holding on to the alliance because they fear my armies.

It seemed to me the AI only uphold the alliance when it's beneficial to them (i.e. when they are weaker than you). In a situation where an alliance with you would be a hinderance to their expansion, the AI won't give much thought about upholding the alliance. Anyway why should they? If I have a weak alliance, I would want to attack them as well. Dogpiling on an already besieged target is good, realistic behavior. IMO, in order for diplomacy to work in your advantage is to maintain a strong army and scare everyone to your biding.

[Empirate]

For me, diplomacy seems to work just fine, with one exception: It's not very transparent, although better than Rome.
As for allied armies camping in your terrain: I (English, H/H) was awed by the way I felt threatened when my Milanese allies moved first one, then another high quality stack into southern France. I had just cleared out the French, taking Marseille, their last settlement. The Milanese had driven the Venetians out of Venice and the HRE out of Bologna, the Sicilians being very strong and cozy with the Pope. The Milanese actually sent a diplomat to negotiate an end of our alliance, their priority being "war". I declined and even sent them home with monetary gifts, as well as a princess. Still, having one of the most powerful militaries in the world, and no other easy route of expansion, they sent those two armies over into my territory. I assembled a stack of high quality troops, led by a six-star prince, and just kept it near them. I always sent that army right into the red zone of control of the bigger Milanese armies, and also kept a spy near the other one. The wandered about a little, only a few squares per turn, whereas at first they had marched directly at Marseille and Dijon at top speed. Then, after five or six turns, they decided to leave and try their luck elsewhere. They've never bothered me since, but I keep a sharp eye on my southeastern border now (towers and spies).
This might be a glitch, but I saw a danger, reacted to it in an intuitive way, and this solved the problem in exactly the way I wanted it to.
On a different note, I have been at war with the Danes for decades now, and only one big battle and one siege ever happened. Other than that, it's been a staredown. We both have very high relations with the pope, and it seems, both sides are trying hard not to risk too much there. Even their fleets seem to try to avoid an engagement.

EDIT: I just remembered one thing I don't like about the diplomacy: The AI easily gives up much you would have to fight long for otherwise, at least on H difficulty. The Spanish have just given me two settlements (one of them a heavily defended citadel at Pamplona) just for a ceasefire after I wiped out 2500 of their men in the field. Earlier, the Scots were so keen on cancelling our alliance that they gave me Oslo. A few turns later (they had, predictably, attacked and been beaten bloodily and repeatedly), they sued for peace. I offered them a new alliance if they gave me Brugges, which they happily accepted. I had gotten two settlements, one of them too far away for my inferior fleets to reach, in exchange for nothing at all. Well, I did bruise their field armies, but their situation wasn't that bad!