IC Games: "Trade Missions" or Caravans?

[joethreeblah]

I noticed in the review, the statement:
"Great Merchants can conduct a trade mission to a far away city and give you a quick and sizeable boost to your treasury."

Does this mean that there will be normal merchants, or a new way to conduct trade which makes trade with closer cities easier?

What does this mean?

 

[mitsho]

Either a totally new trade system,
Or IC-Games just wrote that down this way so that it sounds more interesting,
but in reality, it just gives you 1000 gold in a second.

mitsho

 

[joethreeblah]

Here's the Link:

http://www.ic-games.co.uk/index.php...&articleid=3125

 

[vbraun]

I'll take 1000 gold

 

[joethreeblah]

Either a totally new trade system,
Or IC-Games just wrote that down this way so that it sounds more interesting,
but in reality, it just gives you 1000 gold in a second.

mitsho

Do we really know that?

 

[mitsho]

Well, once in a older preview it was mentionned that every sort of great people can 'produce' a big amount of something on their area, e.g. a merchant produces 1000 gold, a scientist xy beakers, a ingenieur xy hammers, etc. However that info is quite old, but still, it is a possibility.

m

 

[apatheist]

I hope this is something that is pretty independent from the overall trade system. Hopefully, it's just a flimsy rationale for explaining how a person can get converted into money rather than anything to do with real trade.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Well, everything we have seen thus far suggests that trade is performed via the diplomacy screen-as in Civ3. I think that 'Great Merchants' just represent people like Marco Polo who went to the 'Ends of the Earth' in order to forge more lucrative trade deals-which is what this latest preview seems to suggest. i.e. that great merchants significantly boost the value of existing trade routes, rather than just creating 1000 gold. Guess we will find out soon enough.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.