War declared with Neutral rep

[rustyj]

I have noticed that war is being declared when reputation is only slightly in the negative in recent games. I play on Extreme and Chaotic and in my current game an empire just declared war when my rep with them was -5 (neutral). Is this an intended mechanic of the game? If it is intended it seems rather unfair, regardless of which level is being played. Can anyone clarify?

[OrnluWolfjarl]

If you play on Chaotic, then everyone is a lot more aggressive and even willing to break alliances if they smell you are weak and own things they want to own.

[rustyj]

If you play on Chaotic, then everyone is a lot more aggressive and even willing to break alliances if they smell you are weak and own things they want to own.

As I understand it, alliances are not the same as reputation. An alliance is an arrangement based on mutual benefits at the time of the forming and, yes, your rep must be favorable for the alliance to take place. However reputation can change from moment to moment based on transgression events. Reputation is supposed to be a gauge of how the emp feels towards you from moment to moment. You can have an alliance but your rep can deteriorate to the point that the alliance can be broken. This is and should be the usual mechanism regardless of which level you are playing.

Also I didn't say I had an alliance with the emp (I didn't have one).

[MaximKI]

There are a lot of factors that go into it. As Ornlu mentions, Chaotic ramps up the aggression further.

The empire's faction can make a big difference in an empire's desire for war. For example, Boskara and Gizureans are quite aggressive, while Ikkuro and Quameno aren't particularly aggressive, so are less likely to attack you.

[OrnluWolfjarl]

If you play on Chaotic, then everyone is a lot more aggressive and even willing to break alliances if they smell you are weak and own things they want to own.

As I understand it, alliances are not the same as reputation. An alliance is an arrangement based on mutual benefits at the time of the forming and, yes, your rep must be favorable for the alliance to take place. However reputation can change from moment to moment based on transgression events. Reputation is supposed to be a gauge of how the emp feels towards you from moment to moment. You can have an alliance but your rep can deteriorate to the point that the alliance can be broken. This is and should be the usual mechanism regardless of which level you are playing.

Also I didn't say I had an alliance with the emp (I didn't have one).

Sorry, I meant to emphasize that even the best of relations can be irrelevant to Chaotic AI. If you want a more... sane and logical diplomatic game, I suggest you don't go for Chaotic.

[rustyj]

There are a lot of factors that go into it. As Ornlu mentions, Chaotic ramps up the aggression further.

The empire's faction can make a big difference in an empire's desire for war. For example, Boskara and Gizureans are quite aggressive, while Ikkuro and Quameno aren't particularly aggressive, so are less likely to attack you.

I understand that different factions have different aggressiveness and I understand that a lot of factors go into it. This is not core to what I am referring to. My query is about the use of reputation to gauge a race's intention to act on that aggressiveness. Are you saying this is not the case in Chaotic but is in the lower levels, or not intended at any level?

[Edited to better explain how I use reputation]

[MaximKI]

There are a lot of factors that go into it. As Ornlu mentions, Chaotic ramps up the aggression further.

The empire's faction can make a big difference in an empire's desire for war. For example, Boskara and Gizureans are quite aggressive, while Ikkuro and Quameno aren't particularly aggressive, so are less likely to attack you.

I understand that different factions have different aggressiveness and I understand that a lot of factors go into it. This is not core to what I am referring to. My query is about the use of reputation to gauge a race's intention to act on that aggressiveness. Are you saying this is not the case in Chaotic but is in the lower levels, or not intended at any level?

[Edited to better explain how I use reputation]

The basic way Chaotic AI works is that it ramps up aggression for empires and reduces the benefits of positive relationships and reputation. Reputation does still have an effect, but positive relationship will have a lower impact than it would on non-Chaotic AI, while negative reputation impact is amplified.

Hope this clarifies.