These are the traditional duties and powers of all ministers:

Post polls and discussions to determine citizen desires for departmental policies, plans and agendas.
Cast a tie-breaking vote in the polls determining their departmental policies, plans and agendas.
Formulate departmental policies, plans and agendas based on citizen feedback.
Formulate departmental policies, plans and agendas of their own in the absence of citizen feedback (forum outage, low participation, etc).
Convey these policies, plans and agendas to the President for play in the game.

These are the duties of the Trade Department:

Organize trade deals.
Track the status and expiration of established deals.
Assess the resource needs of the nation.

I nominate Donovan_Zoi, Civgeneral, Bootstootes, and Stuck_as_a_mack

I wish to Accept my nomination :D

ill support CG and SaaM

You know what? I accept this nomination.
SaaM for Trade
Making Friends, Not Enimies (and abusing Interns with stupid choral numbers and dance routeens)

I support Civgeneral and SaaM here

i support CG and SaaM, i dont know if boots will be running though, i think he got demogame burn out. :(

As boots has burned and DZ has yet to show, I would like to chalange CG to a debate.

CG: Please answer the following question. Given the fact that we are boxed in between several early UU civs (two of which with resourcless UUs), do you have any plans to deny resources to those civs that do need a resource (iron) for their UU (Legionary)? Also, do you believe we should try to make traiding partners out off all of our neighbors, regardless of what future actions we may or may not take against them?.

SaaM

Given the fact that we are boxed in between several early UU civs (two of which with resourcless UUs), do you have any plans to deny resources to those civs that do need a resource (iron) for their UU (Legionary)?

I do plan to deny and refuse the trade of iron to other civs, especially if the civ has an iron dependent UU. If we traded iron with the civs, they would use the iron against us in a form of a swordsmen (for civs w/o an UU after the discovery of IW) or a iron dependent UU (Legions for the Romans, Immorals for the Persians, etc.)

do you believe we should try to make traiding partners out off all of our neighbors, regardless of what future actions we may or may not take against them?.

I believe that we should make an attempt to forge a good trading relationship with our neighbors. During the early part of the game, trading is very valuble since we are able to obtain tech and/or gold via trade deals. If we plan to go to war against the trading civ, I would be sure to deny trades of techs that enables the construction of newer military units on the civ in question.

My answers:
As per the denial of resources, I feel it important to try to keep as many sources of both Iron and Horses away from our Neighbors. Unfortunatly, some have already been taken by these same neighbors. We cannot conduct wars over these reources, unless the public wants that. I doubt they do, but it may be an interesting idea. (We are, after all, Japan)
As per the Trading Partners, I also agree that we should try to make partners out of all of our Neighbors. However, all stupid trades are, for that sake, stupid. Trades like possibly buying a tech two turns before we get a tech on a monopoly. This is the ancient age. All techs will eventually be researched. It is a good idea to trade them when we get them, for some techs. Techs like Literature and Monarchy are not the wisest thing to trade. But some are.

Vote SaaM

CG- Your turn for a question.

Request Of The Candidates

Can each of the candidates make a post showing the current trades available to us? You can list them in the way you feel is most appropriate (by nation, by resource, by importance, whatever). I would like to know which of you can post the best analysis of the curren trade situation.

Comming right up.

Here is the chart, oh Cyc-ly One

Available Trades 1450 BC:

ZULU:
They Give
Contact With the French
We Give
156 g
ADVICE
WORTHLESS TRADE. We have spotted a pink border and can meet the French ourselves.

ROME:
They Give
34 (all) g
We Give
Masonry
ADVICE
Decent deal. Masonry is a 1st level tech and this is a chance to clear Rome's coffers.

Babylon:
They Give
NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE
We Give
NOTHING
ADVICE
No trades to be found here.

IROQUOI:
They Give
43g
We Give
HBR or Writing
ADVICE
Don't do it. HBR is the tech needed for the Iroquoi UU, and we may want to hold on to writing.



That is all feasable trades as of this turn. This form would be updated (hopefully, depending on a little thing called SAT Prep) after every TC and would be available to download.

Vote SaaM

Here is how I would list my trades. I have place them in an easy to read chart.


Romans
We Give They Give
Masonry 34g
Advice: This is a reletivly good trade that would be benificial for our funds. But the downside
would enables them to build City Walls.

We Give They Give
Horseback 34g
Advice: Eventough we get money, I would not recomend this since it enables
them to build a new military unit that would be used against us

We Give They Give
Writing 34g
Advice: This trade is a bit iffy. If we give them writing, we might lose the ability to
establish an embasy with them once they do that first.

-==-

Babylons
We Give They Give
Iron Working 4g
Advice: This trade should not happen. IMO, its not worth 4g. Plus I dislike giving
iron to a civ that would use it against us

We Give They Give
Writing 4g
Advice: As with the Roman trade with writing, this would make us lose the ability to establish
an embassy with them. Why I say that it is bad is because we get a free "view city" action for
every embassy built

We Give They Give
Masonry 4g
Advice: As with the iron working trade, this is also not worth 4g, plus they would use the horsemen
against us. But the downside would enables them to build City Walls.

-==-

Zululand
We Give They Give
156g Contact with French
Advice: Not worth the money since we are bound to contact them anyway. I would rather
save my money for something more important than a worthless
and expensive contact trade.

-===-

Iroqois
We Give They Give
Writing 40g
Advice: Even though this will bost our coffers. I am still skeptical that we
would lose the ability to establish an embassy with them before they establish
there embassy with us. Also We cannot shake them for more gold unless we put
something more to the table

We Give They Give
Horseback Riding 40g
Advice: This is not a good trade deal. In looking in the civilopedia on there stats.
The Mounted Warrior, There UU, makes an apperance in this tech.

We Give They Give
Writing 43g
Horseback Riding
Advice: Eventhough this is the only way to get all of there gold. I am against giving
them a tech that would enable them to build UUs.


I hope to create an Excel Version of this chart and disribute them for the population :)

Vote for CivGeneral

CG, your "code" section is messed up... ;)

To the nominees.

About those civs - Is that all of the gold they have? Have those prices gone up/down since last time? If they're going down (i.e., writing for 8g on turn 0, writing for 6g on turn 1, writing for 4g on turn 2), tell us what that means. (I know the answer). CG, you go first.

Oooh, I think I know. :)

Another question; assuming we haven't connected our 3 gems (I've been on vacation so I don't know..), would you be willing to trade one or more, and if so, for what in exchange?

I know, but I'm letting CG go first.
CT: PM you with my answer?

Drat, most of my questions are already out there.

Hmm,

To all candidates for the Ministry of Trade:

1. Describe your general philosophy of trading - what would you trade? What would you NOT trade? Please explain both answers.

2. What type of leader are you? Do you plan to poll for each detail, for general direction only, or a mix? Be nice to us, explain a bit!

3. Why should I vote for you?

-- Ravensfire

To Ravens questions:
1) I am a firm believer in trying to milk our neighbors for whatever we can. If there is a trade (and it isnt stupid), I will recomend it if it makes us money. I'm the type of player who goes around and sells maps, even when I'm making 300+ gpt. I believe that tech should be tradeable, except for a few situations. These situations are when we have a significant tech lead (but then we have older techs to sell) or when we are building a wonder and can loose it if we trade the tech. Techs are for all civs, its a part of the game. They'll come to them eventually.

2) With polls (yes, I'm sorry, they will be public, but Abstain will be renamed Ravensfire Dislikes Public Polls) I will be (since this is trade) doing a poll for each major trade. There are departments that must poll every thing, and trade is one of them. Also, all citizen discovered trades will be listened to. Sometimes someone else might have the better idea. (Keep explaining?)

3) Because I said so :P No, seriously. I think I have an idea as to what I'm doing and I'll listen to other peoples opinions.

Vote SaaM

1. Describe your general philosophy of trading - what would you trade? What would you NOT trade? Please explain both answers.

My General philosophy of trading is get as much gold from the other civilization as I can with out giving away any of our military secrets. I would trade techs that would not be a threat to us. Take the Alphabet for example, it is a non-military tech and thus can be traded safely for gold. With techs like Bronze Working and Iron Working, I would not trade these techs for gold since the units in these techs would enable a civ to build a newer military unit or even a UU and would use them again us (If they use a UU on us and they get a victory or there UU defeats one of our units, we would trigger a GA for them which is what I am aming to prevent)


2. What type of leader are you? Do you plan to poll for each detail, for general direction only, or a mix? Be nice to us, explain a bit!


I am a leader who would generaly lisen to the populous. Also, I am more willing to work with other department leaders since IMO, Trade, FAs, Domestic, and Science would have to work closely together for a common goal. As Trade Leader, I would work closely with the Science and FAs department. With Science, I would see what techs we have and dont have. With Domestic, I would trade techs to bring in more gold to the coffers and also to see what amount we can use in our budget for tech purchases. With FAs, I would seek advice in terms of inter-Civ relations between us and the other civ.



3. Why should I vote for you?


In Term 1 I was a Trade Deputy, I beleve I have gained enough experiance to run the trade department. I have helped DZ with the office by posting discussion threads and polls. I have also posted in the Instructions thread when DZ missed the opertunity to post his instructions. Also, I have set it as my goal to return back into the ministry and do a good job in the office :).

Vote CivGeneral for Trade

To the nominees.

About those civs - Is that all of the gold they have? Have those prices gone up/down since last time? If they're going down (i.e., writing for 8g on turn 0, writing for 6g on turn 1, writing for 4g on turn 2), tell us what that means. (I know the answer). CG, you go first.
Well, I would say that the price dropage would be due to other civs possesing the tech via trade, scientific discoveries on there own, or poping the goodie hut. Also, in regards of the gold amount the civs have, it is all the gold they have (The Highest amount of gold)

Questions

1. At this stage, which civilization should you avoid trading techs with?

2. In term 2, which should we trade with as our client state?

3. Do you have any strategic vision of our trading partners, where to go, ro do you simply go for the best trade?

edit: thanks

1) I am actually not sure of who our primary war goal is. Whichever civ it is, however, is the one we immediatly stop dealing with, far more than 20 turns in advance. Should it be someone with (possibly) vast tracts of land, then trade would be stopped when the war planning started. Should it be someone who is hidden in the mountains, then trade (non-gpt/lux deals) could continue until a few turns before the invasion

2) Once again, we are not sure of who we are going to war with first (why do I have the feeling it is emminent once we get a core established and begin to raise an army?). Term 2 is still in the ancient age, and all techs are fair game there (except three: monarchy, republic and literature. never trade these away. let the AI research it themselves). Come the middle age (and the presumeable beeline to Chivalry), trade would be less frequently done for the sake of cash and more tech for tech and resources.

3) Try to use trade to get where you are going. If you research one path and your neighbor goes for another, try to trade and save time. And yea, I tend to go for the best trade.

Vote SaaM

SAAM

side=civilization

Well, I would say that the price dropage would be due to other civs possesing the tech via trade, scientific discoveries on there own, or poping the goodie hut. Also, in regards of the gold amount the civs have, it is all the gold they have (The Highest amount of gold)

Didn't answer my first 2 questions... and you missed one on the 3rd, which was the one I was looking for.

It is due to the current research of the AI. i.e., if they're researching IW in 5, we might be able to trade it for 10g. Next turn, they have it in 4, and we might be able to get 8g out of it.

Didn't answer my first 2 questions... and you missed one on the 3rd, which was the one I was looking for.

It is due to the current research of the AI. i.e., if they're researching IW in 5, we might be able to trade it for 10g. Next turn, they have it in 4, and we might be able to get 8g out of it.
I thought I answered your first 2 questions. Anyway, the techs have gone down since the last time I have checked. Again, That is all the gold that they have.

1. At this stage, which civilization should you avoid trading techs with?

I would avoid trading techs with civilizations that have an early UU, Like the Babylons and the Romans for example. Generaly, I am open to any trade. But if there are talks of a war against another civ I would consider not trading with the civ in question.


2. In term 2, which should we trade with as our client state?


At this point in time, its still unknown on which techs we should trade with since most of the nations would have gotten them by researching themselves, Poping goodie huts, and/or trades with other civs. The things that I would trade with with our client state would be techs that would not threaten our national security (Like non-military techs)


3. Do you have any strategic vision of our trading partners, where to go, ro do you simply go for the best trade?

I do a bit of both. Mostly I look for the best trade advalibe. I often times like to be good trading partners with our neighbors.

I will back up CG on this one, as he did an excellent job in backing up DZ when he forgot instructions, putting out small fires, drving the TA on the side of DZ loyally, and filling in where he should fill in. CG is an excellent organization person, in here most of the time, cooperates well across ministries, get the job done and can be relied on for running trade.

I think it is high time that is fair and good efforts are rewarded, so he can take a step up from TA deputy to TA Minister. Please vote for CG, this time.

CivGeneral, you have my support in this campaign as well. Good luck! :)

I urge citizens not to automatically jump to conclusions based on the fact that one candidate was a deputy for a previous term.
And remember: unlike other polls, this one isn't public. You do not have to reveal who you voted for.