Civilization III. I'm playing as the Byzantines and was hoarding literature so no one could beat me to the Great Library. For a spate of a dozen turns or so I'd have Persia, Rome, the Hittites, etc, all demanding I give up "Literature" or face their armies. Then Gandhi showed up wanting to trade it for polytheism. So polite -- it's a shame I have to annex his nation or be left behind by the ginormous Romans and Persians.
To be fair, I'm the only reason he HAS a nation. I saved his only city from being conquered by a stack of Hittite warriors early on, and since then they've declared war on me THREE TIMES. We just got into the medieval era.