Original proposal (not sponsored):
It makes total sense to, by default, forbid the player from trading their per-turn goods for an AI's instant goods. You can trivially exploit the AI by making these deals and then reneging, getting something for nothing (well, probably diplo penalties). It can't guard against this.
But the reverse is strictly beneficial for the AI. It's getting its payout instantly and irreversibly, and it's up to the player to curate the relationship to make good on their investment. Most notably the current default constrains tech trading - rarely, if ever, does the AI stockpile enough saved gold to fully pay what it values your tech at.
(To head off a potential criticism: Technically the AI pays you more over time than the raw gold value of the deal, but that's over a huge amount of turns, and gold now is vastly more valuable than gold later).
Note: this is only the default. Players who wish to restrict themselves further have every opportunity to do so in their config.
My proposal:
The same as the original proposal, except that the AI cannot make offers for e.g., 100 instant Gold for AI's Open Borders.
AI can accept such offers, and if humans press "What will make this deal work?", the AI is allowed to suggest instant items, but they shouldn't make a bunch of offers asking for them. These offers are why I turned off the setting to begin with.
A note for critics of the original proposal, the prohibition on trading one type of item for another isn't applicable between humans, between teammates, or if war is disabled in RAS. It's simply the AI choosing not to accept any trades like this, for fear of the deal being broken by a declaration of war. Receiving instant items immediately is purely beneficial to the AI, so I don't see why they should be rejected.
| Current default | Proposed default | Rationale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ability to trade instant goods for per-turn goods | Disabled in either direction | Human can trade their instant good for AI's per-turn, but not vice versa | Don't forbid a trade deal that's strictly beneficial for the AI if the human wants to take it |
It makes total sense to, by default, forbid the player from trading their per-turn goods for an AI's instant goods. You can trivially exploit the AI by making these deals and then reneging, getting something for nothing (well, probably diplo penalties). It can't guard against this.
But the reverse is strictly beneficial for the AI. It's getting its payout instantly and irreversibly, and it's up to the player to curate the relationship to make good on their investment. Most notably the current default constrains tech trading - rarely, if ever, does the AI stockpile enough saved gold to fully pay what it values your tech at.
(To head off a potential criticism: Technically the AI pays you more over time than the raw gold value of the deal, but that's over a huge amount of turns, and gold now is vastly more valuable than gold later).
Note: this is only the default. Players who wish to restrict themselves further have every opportunity to do so in their config.
Spoiler Which items are considered per-turn/temporary? :
My proposal:
The same as the original proposal, except that the AI cannot make offers for e.g., 100 instant Gold for AI's Open Borders.
AI can accept such offers, and if humans press "What will make this deal work?", the AI is allowed to suggest instant items, but they shouldn't make a bunch of offers asking for them. These offers are why I turned off the setting to begin with.
A note for critics of the original proposal, the prohibition on trading one type of item for another isn't applicable between humans, between teammates, or if war is disabled in RAS. It's simply the AI choosing not to accept any trades like this, for fear of the deal being broken by a declaration of war. Receiving instant items immediately is purely beneficial to the AI, so I don't see why they should be rejected.
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