What would happen if it was changed it to:
0.5 * PT Bonus * Rationalism Bonus * min (your median tech value, your partner's median tech value)
That way, if you are trading with someone that is ahead or at your level you would get about the same. If you are ahead, however, you will get at most their median tech value. So if you are trading with some backwater civ that you just kept alive for RA purposes or some other obvious exploit, then you wouldn't get many beakers for your buck.
Under this mechanism, AIs that are behind could catch up (which is largely the intent) but AIs or players that are ahead wouldn't be able to sail foward.
Thoughts?
This is an excellent idea. It could be balanced so that science-light (esp. AI) Civs could use them to almost keep pace (e.g., at least avoid ending up pitting Archers against Riflemen), but that science-heavy Civs would still enjoy several turns of technological advantage (in combat, wonder production, building production, etc).
After all, thematically speaking, an Modern Civ signing an RA with a Medieval one shouldn't really do much for the former Civ. And it definitely doesn't make sense that an RA is an RA is an RA, regardless of who they're signed with.
RAs should give you a certain amount of beakers each turn. A DoW still make you lose money but at least you got beakers from previous peace turns. They can give less beakers in the beginning of the deal, but more they are close to completion, more they give beakers.
This too. Not only does it link RAs with war/peace more tightly, it also would make RAs less susceptible to micro-manipulation – a good thing, in my book. Perhaps each subsequent turn of an RA could give you x% more than the last turn (compounded interest!), calibrated so that something like 50% of your research comes in the last 1/3 [i.e., 10 turns] of the RA.
[Just because I'm a math geek, I figured out what that rate (x%) would be: 4.93%. (But because I'm a lazy math geek, I used
WolframAlpha.)]
Or actually, maybe an RA should generate 10 turns of
nothing, followed by some sort of increasing rate of beakers/turn. It'd be nice to see "
Your Research Agreement with Ramesses has begun to bear fruit! Over the next 20 turns, it will generate Science for your empire."
As far as war/deceit, a pop-up would appear after each RA signing asking something like "
You have signed a Research Agreement for 241 with Suleiman. Did you enter this agreement with honest intentions?
- Yes, invest in Science (will begin yielding after 10 turns).
- No, pocket the money (entails WAR with Suleiman within 10 turns!)"
It'd add a whole new level of complexity to negotiations with Civs you've been to war with in the past, for example. Making it a viable game mechanic might necessitate making AI Civ leaders' deceit biases much random (less predictable from game to game).