Bots co-operating in gunboat

[Bananaman86]

Playing games against bots which I thought were supposed to be gunboat (though the issue I am explaining would be a problem even if it wasnt). The bots are clearly co-operating in some of the games in ways which seem counter to how a Diplomacy game should operate. For instance in my current game, Russia is on 16 centres and Turkey on 11 - both played by bots. Italy and Austria have been eliminated and Germany (also a bot) is down to a single unit in Holland. I as France am restricted to the English and French home centres and Belgium. Classic juggernaut, well played the bots you might think. Except that the only units in the South East quadrant of the board are Turkish armies in Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania and a Turkish fleet in Ionian Sea - the nearest Russian units are armies in Silesia, Tyrolia and Piedmont. The Austrian home centres, Rumania, Sevastopol, Venice and all the Russian home centres are unoccupied and Russian controlled. This quarter of the board has been this way for several years. The Turkish bot is effectively allowing and even helping the Russian bot to a solo victory. I don't think this should happen if the AI was evaluating the victory conditions correctly - and it kind of ruins the game when two or more countries combine to generate a solo victory for one of the bots.

[Bananaman86]

Sure enough, a couple of turns later the Russian bot has completed a "solo" victory with the Turkish bot sitting on 12 centres with its units in the Balkans sitting next door to empty Russian controlled supply centres (with no Russian pieces within two spaces) - the Turkish bot even moved out of Spain to clear the supply centre for the only Russian unit in the South West quadrant to take.

I have seen this behaviour several times in bot games, but never to the benefit of the human player.

[cdazz30]

Same thing is happening to me playin as Germany where Italy and Austria support moving and holding one another with just us 3 left

[Rainfromabove]

Yeah couple of games I had where bots move to eliminate the human even though in turns after there would clearly be a bot solo

[A_Tin_Can]

The bots are not very aware of how to stop a solo. I don't think they are cooperating beyond seeing the moves on the board. I also don't think they're aware of who the human player is.

[Squels]

Yes, it is possible that the bots are colluding in order to ensure a solo victory for one of them. This is a problem that can occur in any game that involves multiple AI players, as the AI algorithms can be quite complex and difficult to debug. In the case of Diplomacy, the AI bots have to be able to evaluate the victory conditions and make decisions that will help them achieve victory. However, it is possible for the AI bots to be programmed in a way that causes them to make decisions that are not in their own best interests, but which instead help another bot to win.

[Tugster]

The Bots are awful. They do not even understand the objectives of the game. They have no concept of stalemate lines, stooping solos, even recognizing solos, or the consequences of their actions. The best solution for avoiding frustration with bots is to not play with bots.