Nobody likes poor England

[Benandorf]

To improve your reputation:

Always release prisoners.
Always occupy captured settlements.
Never start a war, always wait for someone else to start it first.
Always do what the pope says.
Avoid spying whereever possible.
Never assassinate.

In other words, don't do anything that will speed up winning.

My suggestion is just don't worry about reputation. Keep an assassin (or four) around Rome to keep the pope happy with you or dead (doesn't matter which), and make sure you only fight a one-front war. This should be fairly easy for England, who can just push east and forget about it (after going south into Iberian Peninsula and into Africa to finish off Portugal, Spain, and The Moors).

[Philbert]

If you have a bad rep now, you need to stick to the 'always'. But I have been a reasonably good boy from the start and I can get away with doing those things 'mostly'. When I am in a pinch for money I occasionally sack a city, and when a remaining army would still pose a threat I occasionally ransom my prisoners (never execute them though) and my reputation is great.
That really helps in maintaining my alliances.

[Daveybaby]

In other words, don't do anything that will speed up winning.

My suggestion is just don't worry about reputation. Keep an assassin (or four) around Rome to keep the pope happy with you or dead (doesn't matter which), and make sure you only fight a one-front war. This should be fairly easy for England, who can just push east and forget about it (after going south into Iberian Peninsula and into Africa to finish off Portugal, Spain, and The Moors).

Winning quickly gets boring after a while. Someone a while ago talked about playing a chivalrous campaign, where you try to be as 'nice' as possible - yet still win the game. i'm playing my current campaign along similar lines. More challenging == more fun.

[Galain_Ironhide]

Thanks to all you guys for responding, I now have a much better idea of what to do.

From my RTW experience, I think I am one of those players who tend to get caught up in the conquest side of the game and let the diplomacy side suffer a bit.

I think Englands campaign future is pretty much set, being on Hard, but I think for next campaign I do, I might even kick it back to M and have a bit of fun with diplomacy.

[Guyus Germanicus]

Thanks to all you guys for responding, I now have a much better idea of what to do.

From my RTW experience, I think I am one of those players who tend to get caught up in the conquest side of the game and let the diplomacy side suffer a bit.

I think Englands campaign future is pretty much set, being on Hard, but I think for next campaign I do, I might even kick it back to M and have a bit of fun with diplomacy.

Welcome aboard Galain!

Chivalry/reputation/dread are features of M2TW. They give interfactional relationships more sophistication than what we're used to in RTW. You can develop a rep in RTW, but it's not quite the same. Some of our fellow guild members like to keep their chivalry levels high. There are within game advantages to playing that way. And some simply enjoy the game staying true to the code of chivalry. Personally, I mix it up a bit.

There is also a diplomacy dimension in this game that is much more sophisticated than in RTW. The princesses can be used to form marriage alliances or to secund generals from another faction to your side. I don't know if many players have used that feature to any success. But it's there.

In my Milan game last night, I negotiated a cease fire with France that was one of the most profitable diplomatic maneuvers I've ever accomplished. I offered a cease fire and trade rights and demanded from them Marseilles. The French amazingly agreed!!! I got five units of Frankish knights thrown into the bargain as a garrison. And the French STILL want to encroach on my land. Crazy, eh?

I don't play the VH settings myself. But from all that I've read from our fellow guild members, diplomacy becomes increasingly irrelevant at VH/VH. At that level difficulty, the game is set up to be miserably competitive and cutthroat in the diplomacy department. So it doesn't surprise me that you can't seem to get out of the doghouse with the other factions. Believe me, that can happen even at the easier levels if you play aggressively initiating war with your catholic neighbors. Sometimes your relations with your neighbors seems to fall apart if you start taking too many rebel settlements too quickly.

You can check some of that by playing a more passive game and simply waiting for the Pope or the Merchant's guild to advise your moves. But, again, some of our more aggressive players in the Guild find that kind of game boring. To each his own. We have some serious master players who can 'blitz' their way to victory. Then there's guyus's like me who do the thing.

There's one thing you can always do if you don't like how things are unfolding and the game is becoming unenjoyable. Simply start a new game and chalk up the one you're playing to 'learning curve.'

Enjoy!