When it shows the popup for raiders demanding payment it would be nice to have at least an approximate number of raiders. That’s helpful to decide whether I can defend myself or make the effort to gather the gold.
I somehow disagree, not knowing upfront wether you can beat them or not is, in my opinion, essential to the idea of a ransom demand. But , I guess, you can always save the game right before the time runs out and first decline and reload if your village was destroyed.
When they initially show up, you can usually look at the armies, because they form up before demanding payment. When they come back, though, they’ll demand payment before they’ve formed up, so you won’t know what it is that time. (and it might be a different raider composition from before)