Research Agreement vs Tech Brokering/Trading

[Delvemor]

I usually enable Research Agreements and disable Tech Brokering/Trading because that's what I was used to before converting to VP. But since the default settings are the exact opposite I wonder if the mod is balanced around that more and if I should not play that way instead. I just finished a game today in which I could have made a LOT of money from Tech Brokering/Trading because I forgot to disable the option before starting the game. I refused to gain gold from it on purpose because it honestly felt a bit OP.

I would like to hear what other players prefer and if the mod is indeed balanced around this feature or not.

 

[zeofig]

I don't think the mod is really balanced around these features. Brokering/trading is extremely broken, as it's always been in Civ games. Maybe agreements are all right, but I've always disabled them because they annoy me.

 

[General_Drax]

I disable brokering but keep trading. Trading tech is extremely rare outside vassals. Ais give you horrific deals like 5 luxuries for your best military tech then asking 140 gpt for some low tech.

On a warmonger playthrough I like gifting/trading tech to my vassals but is just a marginal benefit. They are useless military wise.

I'm keeping research agreement off at the moment. Adan is tweaking more wonders mod (Hubble telescope specifically) to require it. In my experience research agreement were like def pact AIs keep 3/4 of them and never allow human to get.

 

[Delvemor]

I don't think the mod is really balanced around these features. Brokering/trading is extremely broken, as it's always been in Civ games. Maybe agreements are all right, but I've always disabled them because they annoy me.

Why do they annoy you ? I find them useful to solidify a friendship with an AI since they are much less likely to declare war on you that way. They also give you an additional reason to get the declaration of friendship to begin with.

I disable brokering but keep trading. Trading tech is extremely rare outside vassals. Ais give you horrific deals like 5 luxuries for your best military tech then asking 140 gpt for some low tech.

That's basically the problem I have with brokering, it is inconsistent and is sometimes very exploitable. But trading alone used to be a problem in an earlier 4X game I played in which the peaceful AI were getting ahead of everyone else simply because they were trading techs between them while the warmongers were lagging behind precisely because of their lack of techs trading.

 

[Zanteogo]

I always have tech brokering off because if it's on, you will basically have the entire world always at the same tech level due to the AI just loving to trade away tech.

Research agreements are nice because I love more diplomatic options.. though mid game onward they put the human at a disadvantage because the AI will have declared friendship with half the world till the end game, OTHER than the human player that they will just chain denounce.. sadly. Never got an explanation for this.. as the AI is supposed to see the human player the same as an AI player. I think it might have to do with the human always going "first" and the AI checks each civ that will go after it if it wants to DoF and the human always gets checked last? Pure speculation on my part of course.

 

[LifeOfBrian]

I disable everything, makes everything more balanced.

 

[Grassland Farm]

Tech Trade (even without Brokering) can honestly lead to kinda silly results. I've had a game as tall China where me and Pacal were MILES ahead of technology by a landslide because we'd just keep trading techs to each other nonstop as we, mutually, were our only friends.

 

[Delvemor]

Research agreements are nice because I love more diplomatic options.. though mid game onward they put the human at a disadvantage because the AI will have declared friendship with half the world till the end game, OTHER than the human player that they will just chain denounce.. sadly.

That's something I tend to get too once in a while, especially if I warmonger too much. I find it to be very situational but when it happens it makes the science game significantly harder.

 

[andersw]

Both off and I still think science is a bit too fast atm.

 

[Delvemor]

Both off and I still think science is a bit too fast atm.

I have to agree, even when I don't work scientist specialists very often I can barely build everything I need before I unlock something new.

I disable everything, makes everything more balanced.

Ya it's probably what I should do to be honest.

 

[Kim Dong Un]

I used to disable everything, but I've occasionally used RA over the past few months (I find them more consistent and less jarring than the tech trading). With the diplo AI having gone through substantial changes over several versions, I've noticed a few questionable decisions where I've been declared on by a friend with few turns left to complete a RA, but other than that they're fine. I've tried basically all the games' options and features, but science is the last yield that needs inflating, as others have pointed out, so I've had it all off again for this version to get a sense of the tech pace at the new 5% values.

 

[JamesNinelives]

I love tech trading myself. It makes diplomacy much more powerful. I know people don't feel the AI ever gives you acceptable deals, but if you trade a lot of techs to AIs who are behind, they will often offer you new techs they discover for a low price. I almost always get at least one free tech from these civs as well. I really enjoy gifting AIs who are being dogpiled by other countries lots of tech so that they don't get steamrolled. I also like gifting techs like Corporations so that civs who are behind have a chance to build them first (meaning the leaders might not get them, and effectively levelling the playing field somewhat). I also really like that being ahead in tech can be a source of income through tech trading. And I don't feel it's unbalanced because selling/gifting tech always has risks as well as rewards. You might think that the person you are trading with is your friend, but diplomacy is fickle as you may end up regretting giving them access to Ironclads when they declare war on you . I really enjoy making those kinds of risk/reward calculations and trying to find the right balance!

Research agreements on the other hand require saving up gold, which is not something the game generally incentivises - especially once spying becomes available. I find that it also mainly benefits those who are already ahead.