Tech trading for dummies

noontide · Jul 02, 2009, 01:34 PM

Thank to many ppl here, I almost always win on Monarch now after asking some questions and getting valuable suggestions. But there is one weakness in my playing I never address, which is tech trading. I almost never trade tech with AI, because I have a personal preference to staying ahead in tech. I know most likely it actually hurt me more than it keeps me in advance, can someone gives me a nuts and bolts of tech trading and rationale behind it? Thanks!

DaveMcW · Jul 02, 2009, 01:39 PM

No need to tech trade if you are dominating Monarch.

Try Emperor and see if you change your mind.

DMOC · Jul 02, 2009, 01:46 PM

I agree with DaveMcW.

Civman123 · Jul 02, 2009, 01:56 PM

Basically the point of tech trading is getting the most out of every beaker. So therefore if you research Aesthetics for example and trade that for Alphabet, Math, and IW, you've gotten 4 techs for the price of one. Also you could trade Alphabet or Math to another AI for even more. You want to avoid trading techs on the Liberalism path, crucial military techs like Rifling or Assembly Line, as well as cheap/normally worthless techs like Hunting, Monotheism, or Theology to avoid WFYABTA.

budweiser · Jul 02, 2009, 02:03 PM

The point of tech trading is not to get the most out of your beakers, it's to control the rate of advancement in the game. Every trade you make pushes you and the AI further down the tech tree. Sometimes you dont want the advance down the tree at all.

Morthrod · Jul 02, 2009, 03:03 PM

You should tech trade often because even though the ai gets more beakers than you, you can trade the same tech more than once and therefore get more beakers than any individual ai does.

slobberinbear · Jul 02, 2009, 03:14 PM

As Morthrod stated, ideally, you only tech trade with the AI when you can trade it to multiple AIs and thereby get many techs for the price of one -- even though you are getting a bad trade rate per trade. In reality, there are times when uneven trades are necessary to catch up or to curry favor.

The Sitting Bull game in my signature is a good example of the latter situation. By giving uneven tech trades (and converting Julius to my religion), I was able to get a key AI civ allied with me, which helped tremendously in the final push for a Domination win.

mi6agent · Jul 02, 2009, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveMcW

No need to tech trade if you are dominating Monarch.

Try Emperor and see if you change your mind.

agree
although Immortal+ s where tech trading really shine

mi6agent · Jul 02, 2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noontide

Thank to many ppl here, I almost always win on Monarch now after asking some questions and getting valuable suggestions. But there is one weakness in my playing I never address, which is tech trading. I almost never trade tech with AI, because I have a personal preference to staying ahead in tech. I know most likely it actually hurt me more than it keeps me in advance, can someone gives me a nuts and bolts of tech trading and rationale behind it? Thanks!

to start, trade non-military and non-economic tech with the AIs , like Aesthetics, Literature , Philosophy, Education, Liberism, Nationalism.
when you play higher diff, I'll trade even my mom in order to maximize my beaker profit and having Rifling fastest

dirtyparrot · Jul 02, 2009, 09:46 PM

It's kind of funny, when I was playing at lower difficulties, I used to hate it when I traded a tech to an AI and he would whore it around. Now, this is exactly what I tend to do (except for important military techs and strategic techs).

Crusher1 · Jul 03, 2009, 01:23 AM

Quote:

The point of tech trading is not to get the most out of your beakers, it's to control the rate of advancement in the game.

Crazy stuff right there.

TwoShedsJackson · Jul 03, 2009, 05:24 AM

Its also useful for diplomacy. I used to trade around with all the AIs in a game without thoughts to what the others would think. Invariably this results in a bunch of civs who are indifferent to you, and a couple who hate you for trading with their worst enemies.

Now I just pick a couple of AIs who like each other and should make decent trade partners, then will trade up into the Renaissance era. If you don't have a game-winning lead at that point (warning: Prince level) you might as well restart.

robyextreme · Jul 03, 2009, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtyparrot

It's kind of funny, when I was playing at lower difficulties, I used to hate it when I traded a tech to an AI and he would whore it around. Now, this is exactly what I tend to do (except for important military techs and strategic techs).

It's a rule of thumb to trade on the same turn with everyone to avoid this.

Jul 02, 2009, 01:34 PM	#1
noontide Warlord Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 137	Tech trading for dummies Thank to many ppl here, I almost always win on Monarch now after asking some questions and getting valuable suggestions. But there is one weakness in my playing I never address, which is tech trading. I almost never trade tech with AI, because I have a personal preference to staying ahead in tech. I know most likely it actually hurt me more than it keeps me in advance, can someone gives me a nuts and bolts of tech trading and rationale behind it? Thanks!

Jul 02, 2009, 01:39 PM	#2
DaveMcW Deity Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 6,475 Images: 2	No need to tech trade if you are dominating Monarch. Try Emperor and see if you change your mind. __________________ . Cottages! . GP Bulb Techs . Vaporize Stupid People Build at least 6 cities . Press Ctrl R to turn on resource bubbles . Build 1.5 workers per city . Check F9 Demographics often . Stay near the top in soldiers . Rush Buying Formula

Jul 02, 2009, 01:46 PM	#3
DMOC Mathematician Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 5,562	I agree with DaveMcW. __________________ Online games: Immortal: Darius I - Immortal: Boudica - Deity: Gandhi - Immortal: Julius Caesar (with 17 other AI's!) - Deity: Churchill (ALC 27) - Deity: Willem van Oranje - Deity: Suryavarman II

Jul 02, 2009, 02:03 PM	#5
budweiser King of the Beers Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 3,189	The point of tech trading is not to get the most out of your beakers, it's to control the rate of advancement in the game. Every trade you make pushes you and the AI further down the tech tree. Sometimes you dont want the advance down the tree at all. __________________ Budweiser, you have risen to become King of the Beers. You have knowledge of Brewing, Irrigation, Mining, and Roads.

Jul 02, 2009, 09:46 PM	#10
dirtyparrot Upholding Brannigan's Law Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,843	It's kind of funny, when I was playing at lower difficulties, I used to hate it when I traded a tech to an AI and he would whore it around. Now, this is exactly what I tend to do (except for important military techs and strategic techs). __________________ Zapp Brannigan: You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit. Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them, until they reached their limit and shutdown. Kif, show them the medal I won.

Jul 02, 2009, 01:56 PM	#4
Civman123 Warlord Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 106	Basically the point of tech trading is getting the most out of every beaker. So therefore if you research Aesthetics for example and trade that for Alphabet, Math, and IW, you've gotten 4 techs for the price of one. Also you could trade Alphabet or Math to another AI for even more. You want to avoid trading techs on the Liberalism path, crucial military techs like Rifling or Assembly Line, as well as cheap/normally worthless techs like Hunting, Monotheism, or Theology to avoid WFYABTA.

Jul 02, 2009, 03:03 PM	#6
Morthrod Chieftain Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 22	You should tech trade often because even though the ai gets more beakers than you, you can trade the same tech more than once and therefore get more beakers than any individual ai does.

Jul 02, 2009, 03:14 PM	#7
slobberinbear Ursine Skald Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Foraging in your trashcan Posts: 1,656	As Morthrod stated, ideally, you only tech trade with the AI when you can trade it to multiple AIs and thereby get many techs for the price of one -- even though you are getting a bad trade rate per trade. In reality, there are times when uneven trades are necessary to catch up or to curry favor. The Sitting Bull game in my signature is a good example of the latter situation. By giving uneven tech trades (and converting Julius to my religion), I was able to get a key AI civ allied with me, which helped tremendously in the final push for a Domination win.

Jul 03, 2009, 05:24 AM	#12
TwoShedsJackson Chieftain Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 63	Its also useful for diplomacy. I used to trade around with all the AIs in a game without thoughts to what the others would think. Invariably this results in a bunch of civs who are indifferent to you, and a couple who hate you for trading with their worst enemies. Now I just pick a couple of AIs who like each other and should make decent trade partners, then will trade up into the Renaissance era. If you don't have a game-winning lead at that point (warning: Prince level) you might as well restart.

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