Science brokering: what's for sale?

[peso79]

Based upon strategies found on this board, I've been trying the science brokering method as a strategy of keeping up with rival civilizations. On Warlord level, I'm managing to stay about one or two research steps ahead of the others, but it always feels like they're nipping at my heels. So I sell many of the tech advances, figuring that they'll get them anyway, and I might as well make some money off of it. So where does my question come in? Here goes:

An issue I've had so far is that I have no worries selling off the dead end techs, or the ones that have very little strategic value. Once into the Industrial Age and beyond, however, EVERYTHING seems to be valuable.

So I'd appreciate suggestions and advice on how to continue this approach...or at this stage of the game, do I just quit the brokering business?

 

[Beam]

This is where some key units and Wonders come into the picture that you definitely want to have first. As for Tanks, i.e. being the first and only gives you absolute supremacy for a while, virtually eliminating most civs. You can still do soem tech trading of course, just maintain a bigger gap. The more you can avoid it the better your position is!

btw this also applies for the earlier stages. If you can do without the money, why bother about trading techs?

 

[Woody]

I try to do just enough tech trading to where I can keep my science at 100% and have a small amount of income above my requirements. In the industrial and moderen era this usually invloves researching a good tech every other time. This way about if im getting a tech every 4 turns, I will have a tech to trade every 8 turns. Once I see that some other civ has one of my "good" techs then I go around and sell it to everyone.,

 

[Bamspeedy]

I try to do just enough tech trading to where I can keep my science at 100% and have a small amount of income above my requirements. In the industrial and moderen era this usually invloves researching a good tech every other time. This way about if im getting a tech every 4 turns, I will have a tech to trade every 8 turns. Once I see that some other civ has one of my "good" techs then I go around and sell it to everyone.,

I try to trade only every 10 or 20 turns. Preferably 20 turns, because then the AI has the gold/turn back that they had been spending for the last tech they bought from you, plus they will have more money, usually, to spend on this new tech. So every 20 turns I'll see a big drop in my income, that reminds me to sell off another tech. This allows you to get further ahead and make alot more money. If I sell more often than this, I bankrupt alot of civs and end up only getting 2 gold/turn or just a World Map.

This is where some key units and Wonders come into the picture that you definitely want to have first. As for Tanks, i.e. being the first and only gives you absolute supremacy for a while, virtually eliminating most civs. You can still do soem tech trading of course, just maintain a bigger gap. The more you can avoid it the better your position is!

Totally agree on this, if you can afford to live without selling them, then which would you rather have: having tanks, with the other civs only a couple of techs away from getting them, or still being stuck in the middle ages .

 

[Magnus]

I take all of the AI's gold I can in trade (my current game has 100% science and income of c.650 per turn, bankroll of 25,000 - Egyptian democracy, 9 cities, regent level, 12 remaining civs (of 16), standard map size, 1760 AD, early industrial age, slim tech lead on all other civs) because if they have no money they can't research anything because they have no gold to increase science spending - I would rather be the one to control what is researched when, rather than the other way around.

EDIT: for cegman's post after this one - my science rate in the above game is roughly 6-7 turns per advance at 100%, but I agree if it is 4 turns at 100%, I will slide it back a bit to keep it at 4 turns and make more money.

 

[cegman]

You don't need 100% unless that is the only way to get 4 turns cause you can't get less than 4 turns and you don't lose as much money.

 

[Beam]

Subtle tip (a rare species..... ). Attempt to set sliders for min. turns while still making profit and when advance is one turn away put the slider to max. profit with the advance still one turn away.

Lots of cash!

 

[Bamspeedy]

Another point to consider: If I learn a tech every 4 turns, that's 5 techs every 20 turns, so even if they did get one tech all by themselves in that 20 turns, if I sold them a new tech (taking all their money, of course), I would still get three techs ahead every 20 turns.