Difficulty too HIGH?

How about not playing on Maso?

I had exactly the same problem, so i started from scratch to examine WHY these blighters were using me for target pratice LOL

This for me works, You need to kick thier butt fairly early on, modify your game strategy to suit, if your going to go for military then get to battle cruisers as quick as you can and kick the crap out of the nearest, biggest, baddest AI, im only on normal level but im always getting threatened, those dam green ET's all the time i then get the sectors with the most planets in to build one starbase and fit it with production bonuses meanwhile im keeping the AI 'leashed' by using the diplomacy to sell them useless tech at silly prices which keeps them skint and slows thier expansion. Then when they dont expect it, big shove on military , use waypoints to get your planets with starbases to send ships to your choosen victim then swap back and use the governor to swap all battle cruiser production with transports, they produce quicker but eat the population so only 1 or 2 from each planet , send these to another waypoint next to your battle cruisers then hit the AI, dont stop till you have run out of ships / transports , then declare peace and go annoy somebody else Thats just one of the little stratigies i use , you will need a boxfull to play the upper levels , learn how to get to any tech item you want, that helps to, learn to use starbases, learn what the all the ships look like , that way you wont send a fleet of corvettes against an avatar ... (yes ive done it)
Most of all just have fun, hope this has helped a little

You could be a little more tactful AIL.ST. Anyway, if it is because you're playing on Maso, then yes, you should stop. If it's on cakewalk, then it could just be your tactics.

He has submitted one game on Simple.

couple of points:

bribe, bribe, bribe. Give them gifts before they demand tribute. Every three or four turns if you can. Pay attention to the techs they research (the ones they offer for trade), research different ones and give them as gifts.

Big military and / or economy. If your military and economy are weak they will threaten you because they can. Learn to build a big economy (many threads already exist on this topic) and keep your military strong.

Keep the AI's at war with each other. Check the treaty screen and try to keep them at war by offering them bribes. This helps in two ways: it keeps their military power in check and it reduces the likelyhood they will declare war on you because they are already at war and don't feel they can win against you *and* their current enemy.

Mmm . . . what he said!

Never, never, never - - - NEVER! Bow to thier threats! Hehe . . . erhm yes, pay them off well in advance of that (a tech here a trade good there . . . ). Then when you have them eating out of your hand 'Strike like a deranged rabbit gnat!' Good Luck to you . . .

Early in the game, you do not have any Trade goods or technologies.
Not even any money. (:(

True but I've found that until an AI has a substancial millitary or Battleship technology they'll usually stay at neutral relationship-wise if you simply throw them just one or two techs early on . . . anymore than that and you can usually get them to friendly by gifting techs alone.

The AIs mostly follow a rather narrow tech research path (except of the Arceans who is supposed to have a dynamic path). So go for those techs that they don't usually research early (like Reinforced Hulls, Improv. Env Control, etc).

Alternatively, look for techs that are possessed by some but not all of the AI. Buy those techs over 100 turns and sell/gift them to those who don't have them.

~SDC~

On the easier levels the AI's tend to attack the weakest empire. Make sure that's not you. Use the military strength graph to gauge strengths and always try to be the 1st or 2nd place. You get to this place by building military ships and leaving them in orbit (the orbital bonus adds). Another easy solution is to change the alignment of the AI to all good. If you do this and remain good yourself then it will be very rare for the AI's to attack or demand tribute.

Try these until you get better at the game. Should allow you to have fun without getting crushed all the time.

Paul.

~SDC~

On the easiest levels, you can build up a military to fend off threats. If your military rating is near the ai's they won't threaten you very often. Then trade with them to increase relations.

Well, I've played the game extensively on my laptop during off-times (like class :P) and I haven't submitted many games to the metaverse because quite frankly they suck!

I seem to be doing a bit better now with 1.13, though my theory is that it can be attributed to the fact that I grabbed up stars very easily (I was lucky). The Drengin are actually OFFERING me money. That's definitely a strange twist.

I wish people would stop begging for a nerfed AI- it is what lead to no internal political game. At least that's my personal beef! er cheese.

~SDC~

The AIs hardly ever demand money off me, even at Maso. I'm not sure why not. I don't bribe them if they don't threaten me. My early tactics are to expand as far as possible at the start, keeping 100% spending in whatever field is important - military if building colony ships, social if building trade goods/wonders, or science otherwise. I also trade techs whenever possible, build trade routes rapidly, and always make the Good choice. I tend to have high economic strength (which scares the AI), and the AIs like me more because of all the trading we do (does tech trading improve relations?) and because I'm not evil.
It's a shame, really, that the players least able to handle AI aggression are the ones that must face it the most. It does cause a tough learning curve. Meanwhile, I often get such a good start that no-one ever attacks me, so I can win at leisure.

~SDC~