My premise is this: The AI never, or almost never, contacts the player first (that is, out of the blue, the player has not already initiated contact) at the beginning of the game to get the ball rolling between the 2 regions. My opinion is that the AI should be more proactive in contacting the player at the beginning, the AI should get the ball rolling first, even if he doesn't keep it rolling. I think this would improve what is already an excellent game. My reasons are the following:
Personality and Drama
Realism
Video Game Canon
Personality and Drama. This is the most important reason. When the AI acts first, it gives it a personality. It's saying, 'hi'. And when you say hi, you engage the player. Hey, look, Moldavia wants to talk to me. He's interested to find out what the offer is. It's no longer an AI, it's a guy, a possible friend, a possible enemy. And it required no input from the player, the game made this happen. Cool.
Then, the nature of the offer reveals details about the AI's intentions, which furthur personalizes him. An example: Two regions, A and B. A is big and powerful and agressive, B is medium and less powerful. You're playing B, and A contacts you. He doesn't like you, but the game is programmed to contact the player no matter what at the beginning. So he makes an outrageous offer, he wants a bunch of nice tech and is willing to give you a pittance for it. If the player rejects (he finally had to click on something to keep the ball rolling), he has showed defiance towards the bigger region and has basically said 'you can't threaten me'. The AI is seen as a threatening type, he has been personalized into 'arrogant' 'dangerous' 'greedy'. So not only has the player been engaged, but each decision is defining his attitude towards the AI, putting a face on it. We have a story, we have drama, we have an AAR happening. And the game can provoke this, the player did nothing.
Realism: I'll let the realism guys step in here, but the current behavior of the AI doesn't seem very realistic either. As the leader of a country, it seems reasonable that the other regions should at least touch base with you at the beginning of the game to set priorities. 'Hi, my name is Madrid and I don't trust you, but I could use some petrol if you have some, and I *might* be willing to trade tech, make me an offer I can't refuse'.
Video Game Canon: I've played a lot of games that have diplomacy in them, and some were good and some were bad, but one common trait they all seem to share is, the AI contacts the player at the start and throughout the game to get and keep the ball rolling, even if the player doesn't do likewise. I can't remember one where I would think of this particular complaint. So we're used to this, and it seems strange when it's missing.
There's my reasons, fire away.
DeanCo--
