# Civ 5 research agreements **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866 "2011-07-30T22:25:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866/1 "2011-07-30T22:25:32Z")
I have never made a research agreement with a computer player (playing on King level) in which the computer player did not declare war on me before the agreement was completed, thereby canceling the agreement. I have never actually experienced a research agreement completion in all my time played. I have 270 hours played of civ5, most from pre-patch, and about 50 post-patch. Am I just unlucky, or does signing a research agreement actually increase hostility with the agreeing civ? I am at the point now where I will not sign research agreements with anyone, unless I want to be at war with them. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866/2 "2011-07-31T00:19:06Z")
I’ve had several run their course. This was a few patches ago when it gave each civ a whole free tech of their choice (I think they’ve nerfed it since). If you ever find yourself with a healthy cash flow during a peaceful build phase, trying signing research agreements with everyone. It’s ridiculous; your rate of advancement doubles or triples. Bear in mind that I haven’t played much since the last few patches. Could be the AI became even crazier in that time. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866/3 "2011-07-31T19:39:39Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I have never made a research agreement with a computer player (playing on King level) in which the computer player did not declare war on me before the agreement was completed, thereby canceling the agreement. I have never actually experienced a research agreement completion in all my time played. I’d say 90% of mine run to completion. That’s quite remarkable. I usually only end up in wars with countries who have some territorial reason to attack me. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866/4 "2011-08-01T09:04:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’d say 90% of mine run to completion. That’s quite remarkable. I usually only end up in wars with countries who have some territorial reason to attack me. Most of mine complete also. Don’t do an R/A with a Civ that’s close to you. That’s just throwing money away. Also, once a Civ declares war on you… you probably don’t want to sign an agreement with them because they’ll probably declare again (and again and again). ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866/5 "2011-08-04T03:52:02Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > Most of mine complete also. Don’t do an R/A with a Civ that’s close to you. That’s just throwing money away. Also, once a Civ declares war on you… you probably don’t want to sign an agreement with them because they’ll probably declare again (and again and again). I think that’s my problem. I usually play on smaller maps, and most of my rivals are close to me. I tend to ignore civs further away, which is probably why I never have successful research agreements. No matter what win condition I try originally, I end up going for domination because they just won’t stop coming for me. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civ-5-research-agreements/590866/6 "2011-08-04T14:17:28Z")
I love research agreements. I’m on a Mac so RA hasn’t been changed yet though. I’ve only had one or two agreements killed by a war. It doesn’t really bother me since it hurts the other player too. I love research agreements so much that I’ll give gold to a weaker player to make an RA if they don’t have enough cash. I haven’t had many wars lately either. Maybe you need to build a bigger army to make yourself less enticing? I find that if I keep a decent army, the AI is less likely to declare war on me. If I want the AI to declare war on me, I reduce my army and stockpile gold so that I can create an army/upgrade quickly when a war happens.