Technology Trading Strategies

[elementgoo]

Many people have different strategies for trading technology. I usually set a goal, such as a technology that will unlock wonder, and try to get there as fast as i can so that i can build that wonder before everyone else.
But how do you judge if a technology trade is fair?

 

[Speaker]

Technology trading depends very strongly on what level you are on. On a lower level, it might not matter as much, but on Emperor sometimes, and Deity especially, you can only hold a monopoly on a tech for a few turns. If you do not trade it quickly, the AI all research it. The best tech trading strategy, however, is the 2 or 3 for 1. You buy a tech (ie Writing) from Civ A and then trade it to Civ B for one tech (ie the Wheel), to Civ C for another tech (ie Iron Working), and to Civ D for a third tech (ie Mysticism). To keep up in Deity, it is very important to check for these brokerage opportunities every turn and take advantage of them whenever you can.

 

[Trev]

The 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 strategy would be fine if it was achievable, but on emperor I have learnt that even to do a trade, you need to give them 2 to get just 1 or a hell of lot of money along with the 1 for 1 which means no money left after the first trade usually to keep the trades going

 

[switch]

What I do is get the really big technologies. Like Iron Working, Alphabet, Monarchy and COnstruction. Then you can trade them for one or two techs, or lots of gold or anything else. You do get behind, but can pull ahead if you can trade properly.

 

[elementgoo]

I agree with switch because you can usually trade big technologies for a bunch of smaller ones

 

[Speaker]

I barely ever waste my time researching Monarchy because (especially with a non-Religious Civ) I never go into it. I usually don't even trade for it for the whole game. I find going for Republic to be much a more worthwhile use of time.

 

[Scyphax]

Never take the first offer.

Lets say I want Invention, I will ask the AI civ what they want for it.

They might reply - Printing Press and Education

Then I ask them what they will give for Printing Press and Education.

Often they add sometiming to the pot like ivory, gold and/or a map.

The best time to trade a tech is just before you (or anyone else) completes the associated wonder.
If I am one turn away from completing Bachs Cathederal I will sell (or give it away just for the good reputation)

Sell to the richest Civs first and finally give to the poorest.

Be careful when selling to a Scientific civ, if it is the last tech of the age they will get the tech you are selling plus a freebee.

If you are a Scientific civ it is often worth paying extra for a tech that is the last of an age as you will get that tech, plus your freee tech earlier.

 

[billindenver]

Originally posted by Scyphax
Never take the first offer.

Lets say I want Invention, I will ask the AI civ what they want for it.

They might reply - Printing Press and Education

Then I ask them what they will give for Printing Press and Education.

Often they add sometiming to the pot like ivory, gold and/or a map.

The best time to trade a tech is just before you (or anyone else) completes the associated wonder.
If I am one turn away from completing Bachs Cathederal I will sell (or give it away just for the good reputation)

Sell to the richest Civs first and finally give to the poorest.

Be careful when selling to a Scientific civ, if it is the last tech of the age they will get the tech you are selling plus a freebee.

If you are a Scientific civ it is often worth paying extra for a tech that is the last of an age as you will get that tech, plus your freee tech earlier.

Those are EXACTLY the methods I use. It's truly amazing what you can get for 1 tech, esp. in industrial age and modern era. In my current game, at one point I had 100% on science, but with trade money I was still making 500 gpt!! Like you said, best time to sell is one turn before you build the wonder, esp. Hoover Dam and ToE.

 

[Gothmog]

Originally posted by Trev
The 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 strategy would be fine if it was achievable, but on emperor I have learnt that even to do a trade, you need to give them 2 to get just 1 or a hell of lot of money along with the 1 for 1 which means no money left after the first trade usually to keep the trades going

You are probably trying to trade for a monopoly tech. The 2 or 3 for 1 is most profitable if you can buy in @3rd, then trade to 2 or 3 other civs. Sometimes you do have to sweeten the pot a little, sometimes not.

 

[Amask]

Research the tree AI at first ignores - engineering, printing press, atomic theory, ecology.

Then trade the tech no one else has yet for the ones they all have and watch some nice profit fall into your pocket.

 

[peace_frog]

I second Scyphax,Gothmog & Amask.

For Amask's list I would add polythesims, mathamatics & currency to the ancient age list. In industrial sanitation is easy to get first. In modern, the AI seems to go downt he middle, leaving you the top & bottom trees.

Even if you really want something like Rocketry, don't do it yourself (at least on higher levels.) A scientific civ will allways choose it as their free tech. If you do another you'll be able to trade for it.

 

[wargasm23]

i research all the harder techs at like 70% to 80% and sell them for 2-3 smaller techs after doing this a few times, you'll be well up the tech tree, if not in the next era.

 

[Shillen]

Originally posted by Trev
The 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 strategy would be fine if it was achievable, but on emperor I have learnt that even to do a trade, you need to give them 2 to get just 1 or a hell of lot of money along with the 1 for 1 which means no money left after the first trade usually to keep the trades going

This is based on how many civ's know the tech like other people said. If you're selling a tech that every other civ knows except the civ you're selling it to it's going to be practically worthless. This is one of the reasons the really backward civs get caught up so quickly later in the game, they get really cheap prices on all their techs. So the key is to get a tech before any other civ has it. Then trade it for the most expensive tech first. Then go to the next civ and trade it for a slightly less expensive tech. Then the third for a cheap tech, and so on. Because each time you trade it it becomes worth less and less.

Same thing for the reverse. Don't bother trying to buy a tech that only one other civ knows. You're better off waiting until another civ or two research it, or they buy it from the first civ. Then you can probably get it for 1/3 the price just because you waited a little longer.

 

[Jurimax]

I usually research the harder techs at like 10-20%. I usually play Emp and Mon. Haven't tried it at Deity though. I look at the different techs that I can research and usually research the most expensive one. For example if you start and you're not commercial, start researching Alphabet. Not only will you certainly get the tech in 40 turns, but in the meanwhile you amass gold very quickly. In turn you can use this gold to buy things like maps, communications, ...
A good thing to do, especially if you start out with Alphabet or Pottery, is beeline for Map Making. An ICS strategy goes along pretty good with this tactic. Do keep an eye on your commerce slider, it is possible with a succesfull ICS that you can adjust the slider and go below the 40 turns.

A small recap:
Start with Alphabet
Pottery in (+-) 20 - 30 turns
(T/S/L: max science without losing money)
Writing 40 turns (max out on taxes)
Map Making 40 turns (max out on taxes)

It is possible however that during the research of Writing or Map Making you can adjust the slider so that you can get one of those techs faster.

In most cases you'll be able to trade these techs and your amassed gold for all the techs of the AI.
Remember some important things though:
Don't trade evererything to one civ
(they'll get rich and may stay ahead of you forever)
Don't trade if you have few contacts
(the more people you know that have a tech, the cheaper it gets).

I know that this may not work on all map sizes and difficulties. But as I play, I adjust to the feeling I get from the game.