This guide has been updated: 13 November 2021
What is popularity?
Popularity is a score that AI give to you. If your popularity is low they will declare war on you. This counts for computer countries but also inactive players that are taken over by AI. As the inactive players tend to have a lot of troops we want to avoid that they declare war on you.
Diplomacy with AI is very important. When you are fighting a challenging player the last thing you want is being attacked in the back by a player gone AI that declares war on you.
AI never eat, never sleep and they never stop attacking. For many players they can be hard to manage so it's better to keep that flank safe and keep on good terms with them.
So how to keep your popularity high?
First thing you do when you start a new game is to give all AI shared maps. O After day 4 every player that goes AI, I give ROW. Don't give an inactive player AI shared maps as in case he comes back he can see everything you do which is best to avoid. Don't forget to cancel the ROW to peace for returning players.
When you have adjusted all diplomacy settings with AI you do the following:
1st of all the more you trade with them in the market the more friendly you will be to them.
2nd don't skip steps in the diplomacy. If you are at peace, always give trade embargo first and declare war 24 hours later.
3th never attack without declaring war. If you attack without declaring war you get a popularity penalty of -25%.
4th declare trade embargo before declaring war.
5th declaring war to and attacking unpopular nations that AI already declared war on helps your popularity too.
Actions that improve your popularity with AI:
- being enemy with their enemies
- being friends (good diplomatic relations) with them and their friends
- trading with them
Actions that decrease your popularity with elite AI:
- having peace or better relations with their enemies
- having bad diplomatic relations or war with them or their friends
- starting new wars without declaring them
- when producing a lot of troops while already being unpopular
- having troops in their country without right of way
- getting your spies caught by them
- by having the largest army
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Excellent guide, not sure it meets the 1000 word-7 paragraph essay requirement though. 
I see too many questions about popularity now it's just a quick copy paste to answer
Now I learn this - lololol
But I must admit - I have read this somewhere in the forum before but just "forgot" about it.
Thanks for posting this BMfox.
Question - how long does this bad boy status thing last?
Heck I thought it was because I lobbed a couple of nukes in the last game to experience that aspect of the game for the first time.
lol - who knew it was because I didn't tell the AI first that I was going to drop a nuke on them?
Surprise attacks were (I thought) just another way to start a war. My bad.
Now I have to "flip the switch" and then attack?
Weird - but ok, if that keeps me off the "list". Same result though. Ten seconds later they are going to get "surprised".
Trading with the AI - I'm said my piece about this in the marketplace discussions. Isn't going to be happening any time soon. lol
Move to trade embargo first? Sort of like a heads up - "hey I'm going to flip the switch tomorrow and go to war with you"?
Ok - but a surprise attack or flipping the switch seems like a smarter approach to take.
Seems like I'll just have to assume the "bad boy" status after all.
If I am at peace why would I give RoW to an AI? Just to obtain a higher "popularity rating" so I can trade with an AI who has an embargo set against me? So what happens when I declare war later on by flipping the switch. Guess it's back to the "bad boy" status with that AI again?
Feels like diplomacy just isn't going to be my thing with AI's. Neither are robocalls and automatic call answering systems.
Think I will just hang up.
I'll take a human being to discuss diplomacy any time.
What's that?
I have to be part of their alliance to work with them?
Kinda like the cart before the horse approach?
Ok - got it.
Wonder if popularity rating can go negative like interest rates.
OK I dont want to piss on someones parade, but diplomacy with these rudimental steps with elite AI is a chore and does nothing to enhance the game experience for me.
Diplomacy with real people is cool, but diplomacy with a line of code is mega-lame.
Don't give me its more like real life on this one, because there is no chaos factor in AI diplomacy. One you get to right of way status with them they will never betray you with a surprise attack. In fact is just slows down killing AI and cleaning up a map in the final stages.
I know just being Mr gumpypuss again.
Edit... sorry for got to mention, Great job BMfox.
Just like in the real world going rogue on war would result in economical sanctions and maybe even a NATO deployment. In this regard the AI are not that different.
on the older version of Supremacy, trading between team members was a trick toCitizenkane wrote:
Diplomacy with real people is cool, but diplomacy with a line of code is mega-lame.
enhance popularity.
This resulted in the major-mega-lame behavior of mature adults trading
each other equal amounts of food constantly for the first 6-8 hours of every game.
Intended behavior?
I think not.
Ok - now that knowledge of how EI works has been dispensed and I am aware of the consequences of my actions how do I rectify the situation?
Meaning:
How many games and how many trades are required to meaningfully affect the popularity rating.
If one surprise attack results in a -25% rating how many trades with how many countries are required to positively affect the same rating?
Should I simply join another game and start actively trading with AI and do nothing else?
I'm ok with being put in the penalty box but isn't there a limit on how long the penalty lasts?
Even the bad boys of hockey still get to play after a few minutes of down time.
Questions:
What I am looking at here with a popularity rating of 5?
What are the ramifications to popularity rating of providing RoW to AI and then later on changing it to war status?
Seems as though that is being a "worse" person than remaining at peace and then going to war. But in order to increase popularity RoW should be given< so seems as though I'm in between a rock and a hard place?
Give ROW to the AI you don't intend to attack
Trade with the AI trough the market
Attack a player that has low popularity and that is already being attacked by AI
These actions will increase your popularity. As long as you continue from now on as being a good boy and not a cowboy you will be fine
I'm curious if anyone reports that his dropped popularity actually can be increased again ..
(..for that to work, the Elite-AI system must have been revised, that would be very welcome, of course -- but is it so? was that really done?)
.. in my previous experience from the past with several Elite-AI maps popularity, once decreased, worked only in one direction, it was possible to hold / stable popularity by the specified "actions" (for a certain time), but soon as popularity starts to fall it was impossible to increase it again over the existing value.
..but as I said, that was on maps BEFORE the big revolution
Can anyone with current game experience verify that AI will reciprocate diplomatic offers of RoW or SM?
Three weeks into a game, never at war, offered and accepted share map with
two live players, active on the commodities market. Global Popularity in the 70's the whole time.
And yet, NONE of the RoW or SM diplomatic settings with any of the AI countries
has been accepted.
Per recommendations have requested RoW with adjacent AI's today.
Will report back in three days or sooner if a miracle occurs 
Update #1 - 4 hours later. Set embargo to player the AI's were attacking. Then flipped to declaring war after day changed. Rating increased 3 or 4 points.
Update #2 - Popularity dropped 1 point to 6. Haven't a clue why.
24 hours later. No change yet with AI's that were given RoW's.
Update # 3 (6 hours after update #2 ) - Change of day occurred. No other changes made / done. Rating dropped from 6 to 4.
Update #4 (12 hours after #3) - Another change of day. Finished off one player at war with. Proceeded to take single province (Nuuk) from Iceland to finish them off as well. Rating dropped to 3.
Update #5 (36 hours after #4) - All active players have now dropped out except for one other than myself. Have seen a little change in the marketplace. Two metal offers and a couple of new goods and steel offers. Still no food offers though. Seems as though winning and producing the units necessary to do so aren't appreciated by the AI as well (see Freezy post further below).
Popularity now at a rip roaring 1%. 
I have actually gotten RoW with an Elite AI before, after the update which made Elite AI replace Normal AI. Two times, actually.
I was with Persia in the 1939 Historical World Map. Was just chilling, upgrading my provinces (because Persia is probably one of the worst countries in that map when talking about resources), RoWed Afghanistan, Iraq, Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia but Afghanistan eventually didn't accept my offer so I invaded it (declared war first, of course). Didn't work out eventually because I just wanted 3 provinces but my ally (Soviet Union) took it first so I just let them and British India take the provinces. By that time, however, Iraq and Oman had accepted my RoW, and I used their territories to invade Saudi Arabia later.
The other time was in a Pacific Conquest map. Had chosen Irkutsk Siberia, RoWed Tannu Tuva instantly at the start, and Tannu Tuva accepted a day or so later. I was already planning on invading Tomsk Siberia,but when they invaded Tannu Tuva I sent one troop to defend them but, as it it was already way too late, I invaded Tomsk instead. F for Tannu Tuva, couldn't be saved in time.
Apart from that, someone once told me in a chat they were able to get share map with an AI, specifically Michigan. They said they had gotten RoW with them first, then moved to Share Map and they accepted as well. Might want to try this some time later!
Elite AI seem to give RoW much less often than the old AI.
Yes, it is (or has been..!?Aimo Johannes Lahti wrote:
..Apart from that, someone once told me in a chat they were able to get share map with an AI ..
) not uncommon for Elite AI to grant Shared Map -- only Normal AI has never granted more than RoW.May I ask what kind of map it is?WayneBo wrote:
Can anyone with current game experience verify that AI will reciprocate diplomatic offers of RoW or SM?Three weeks into a game, never at war, offered and accepted share map with
two live players, active on the commodities market. Global Popularity in the 70's the whole time.
And yet, NONE of the RoW or SM diplomatic settings with any of the AI countries
has been accepted.
I used to find some differences between the different map types regarding the "generosity" of AI -- for example, I also played two 10-player maps where RoW was never given, even for no other player that I had asked there .. -- .. and if nothing has been changed on the Elite AI system ...____ 
my experience has been the opposite. I have seen the elite AI lately give me Row faster than previously. Sometimes even the same day.Nooberium wrote:
Elite AI seem to give RoW much less often than the old AI.
Actions that improve your popularity with elite AI:
- being enemy with their enemies
- being friends (good diplomatic relations) with them and their friends
- trading with them
- getting war declared on you (added Nov 27th 2019)
Actions that decrease your popularity with elite AI:
- having peace or better relations with their enemies
- having bad diplomatic relations or war with them or their friends
- starting new wars without declaring them before (removed Nov 27th 2019)
- when producing troops while already being unpopular
- having troops in their country without right of way
- getting your spies caught by them
I have given RoW to almost AI countries near me ... The one problem I have with this in my current game is that two inactive players (Canada and Australia) returned and have taken advantage of this feature ... 
The price we pay, I'm sure some of us have used it at some time or another ourselves.gusv wrote:
I have given RoW to almost AI countries near me ... The one problem I have with this in my current game is that two inactive players returned and have taken advantage of this feature ...
But seriously, how hard it is to cancel ROW?
I have rarely used the RoW feature unethically, though in a previous game I was talked into using it by an ally who wanted me to disable a rocket of an AI country before we invaded it ...
Of the inactive players that returned and found themselves with a RoW to the US (my country in the 39 map),
1) Australia scouted the shores of northern New Zealand (which I own), but he gave up after been confronted by my military assets there. After that I cancelled RoW of Australia. I did not want a war because I'm already at war with Russia. And I have an ally that is not doing that well with Russia and managed to get himself in a war with Turkey, where he may need my help.
2) Canada (a former coalition ally before he went inactive) has parked a large army in Anchorage (Alaska), which I fortified and send a cruiser fleet to support in event of war. I have not cancelled RoW (caused war in a previous game). But my thinking is ... If he wants to trade Canada for Alaska as a result of him invading, that will be fine with me ...
Have seen elite AI return Right of Way with players in 24 hours.
Yours is an abberation.
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