Spreadsheet that compares occupation productivity

Ya I've heard it's a bug / exploit in the first Col, and I can appreciate that it was a little overpowered. The basic tenants of it are all good, but it has to be weakened, ie you only get 60% of the european sales price or something like that. I remember in the first Col I started boycotting tax raises at like 15%, which basically made the European king impotent and I would declare independence only when I was bored... there was no need to do it quickly. There should be a middle ground.

I'll admit, the customs house you put in Dale is a big improvement over Vanilla. I think the angst that was raised in this thread is that trade being a less good strategy to straight farming is a little backwards, although I guess stifling trade is what would drive a colony to independence eventually. Although all trade being forced through the mother country is silly... it works for a small colony but not for a large, far reaching and diversified economy.

And ya trading with Europe is pretty pointless after DoI... if you're counting on trade after DoI to win, then you're probably hooped anyways. Besides, Galleons vs Man-O-Wars is certain death.

I can see your point why you would want it (who wouldn't) but quite simply the custom house could kill the game. Like you said, once you had one custom house (which could be built quickly) you simply boycotted every tax rise. This avoided tax rises.

Yes, it made trade extremely lucrative, but it's a pure out and out exploit. Like is said just above, you GAME the system.

What I implemented is a huge improvement on vanilla (which stifled trade completely after about 40% tax, or mid-game). Now, trade is a viable option, but not the only option. I've had games where luck led to economic, and others where DoI was the option. Now THATS a good game, where the play of the game, the terrain you get, the opportunities during the game, dictate where you head. Not the configuration and settings of the stats.

Sorry, but I'll be leaving it as it is now.

Oh no worries, I wasn't suggesting you change it... I've already barked up that tree on more than one occasion . This thread I think is more general Col and just happened to end up in your mod section (probably because this is where most of the activity in the Colonizations forum is).

What is your opinion though on the general theme here, that trade is not a viable long term strategy for victory on all but the easiest levels? I'm not expecting you to go do more modding... you've certainly done your fair share, but do you think it's possible to bring trade back into the game as a long term strategy that can compete with farming but not be an exploit?

And I do agree with you that AOD is an improvement over Vanilla as far as the trade vs farming balance goes... It does extend the useful life of a trade strategy.

OH and the question in my above post is theoretical, not a request