• Civ7 is already available! Happy playing :).

value of luxuries

sealman

Hater of Babylonians
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
Messages
3,326
Location
Manassas, VA
I though I was dreaming the other day when, while playing civ, the French came up to me and offered me this deal:

<B>Ivory for Wines.</B>

I almost fainted. A luxury for a luxury. I also had a good amount of gold and some tech which was not asked for.

Later on in the game, the Japanese offer me this trade:

<B>Silk for Wines.</B>

This time I did hit the floor. But it made me start to wonder. I had 7 wines. What is worth more, that 7th wine or a new luxury or are they worth the same, in regards to hapiness.

I would have paid an arm and a leg for Ivory because I was India and the mod I was playing says that you need Ivory to build the War Elephants but I digress.

2 times in one game I got a one-for-one deal which made we wonder about the value of extra luxuries. Any insights?
 
did u happen to have a really powerful army and heaps of citys? .... or perhaps they had a HUGE amount of citys and u had a tiny amount of citys? .... VERY weird ... perhaps u were dreaming? :p
 
Wow. I've gotten similar deals before, but I have no idea what determines how much they want in return. Usually I'll offer Iron, a luxury and heaps of gold before they'll part with their precious luxury.

Maybe they offer more if you're much more powerful than they are. Possibly, they'll really want what you're offering. I mean, Sealman wanted Ivory really badly for the War Elephants, so maybe they desperately needed a luxury to prevent rampant rioting.

:soldier: :soldier: :soldier: :soldier: :tank: :tank: :soldier: :soldier: :soldier: :soldier:
 
That brings up a good question...why is luxury for a luxury not a good deal for the computer? Sometimes when I have traded two luxuries for one of theirs, they will not want to continue this deal...I don't get it. I never understand why they require so much for one of their luxuries...what makes them more valuable?
 
The computer knows how much each luxury will benefit you and you will have to kick in something extra if a lux-for-lux deal benefits you more than the AI.

If you have lots of cities (at least, more cities than the AI) the price rises for you, since that luxury is providing more happy faces due to there being more cities using it.

If you have marketplaces in those cities, the price will rise again because each additional luxury over 2 adds multiple smiley faces

If you have lots of different luxuries already, then the price shoots WAY up because the benefit of having that eighth luxury is HUGE in a city with a marketplace, since it accounts for four smiley faces all by itself. However, having more than one source of the same luxury does nothing for you except that it gives you an incredibly valuable trading commodity.

So add up the number of smilies that adding another luxury would provide civ-wide, compare it with the same value to the civ you're trading with, and if your pile is bigger, they'll ask you for something more. It's more or less that simple. The problem is when AI civs ask for an arm and a leg for that sixth/seventh/eighth lux, high enough that you'd be better off just conquering them than paying for it since they insist on a fair deal from the human, even if they'd be better off making the unfair deal and not getting the full market value of that commodity.
 
Does that mean in that mod Ivory is noth a startegic and a luxury resource:confused:
 
Originally posted by allhailIndia
Does that mean in that mod Ivory is noth a startegic and a luxury resource:confused:

Ivory is a luxury resource only. Indians do not need anything other than the appropriate tech (chivalry) to build elephants.

What Carbon Copy says is right: marketplaces increase the value of luxuries. Without a Marketplace, each TYPE of luxury adds one happy person. With a marketplace, the happiness "pyramids" as follows:

1st and 2nd different luxury = 1 happy persons each
3rd and 4th " " = 2 happy
5th and 6th " " = 3 happy
7th and 8th " " = 4 happy

EG if your city has a marketplace and you have access to 6 different luxuries, you get 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 +3 + 3 = 12 happy people.

If AI is offering even trade in lux they either like you a lot or they already have more different luxuries than you.

Extra luxuries of the same type add no benefit so trade them! Even if other civ has nothing, you can sometimes (in late game) get nice GPT for luxuries - I've got as much as 25 GPT for one lux.

Also, AI seems more than willing to give luxury for a tech, or lux for a SR - but I never do this with a civ that is likely to be at war with me soon.

;)
 
Thanks for the info. In the mod I am playing Ivory is a luxury resource but also a strategic one for the Indians only. They need it in order to build the War Elephants.

In this game, I am second in score but with probably the 4th strongest military and probably the 3rd largerst civ. (I have also been in a state of war with England since about 3000 BC - or at least that is how it seems, we are well into the AD's now, they keep re-starting the war.)
 
alot of people have complained that the AI will never trade you luxuries for luxuries. often it seems that the AI will only trade you a luxury for your surplus plus a subtsantial amount of gold/turn and tech.

i think the reason for this is that the AI does not want luxuries unless they are absolutely needed. the AI places very little value on luxuries unless they are necessary, while the human player will always want a luxury or 2 to give themselves a couple of extra tunrs to build a temple or cathedral before the city falls into disorder.

I played my 1st small map game last night and noticed that the AI was continually offering me very favorable tades for luxuries. then i noticed that the civ in question was invariably at war. i think that unhappiness must be a serious problem for the AI, say due to excessive pop rushing or drafting, before the AI decides that luxuries are a priority.

when trading luxuries, look for a trading partner who is currnetly at war (preferably for a number of turns) and has alot to offer. I believe these will be the best luxury trading partners.
 
Park Ranger,

Thanks for that breakdown of how luxury value works.

I was seeing in my cities that some luxuries were giving two or three happy faces and others just one. I thought that was due to the luxury itself (ie - gems give three happy faces and ivory only gives one). I was looking around and trying to find out how much each one was worth but couldn't find any info on that and it seemed to be different in each game, which was really frustrating me as it made no sense.

It's nice to have it broken down how it all works.
 
Originally posted by sealman
Thanks for the info. In the mod I am playing Ivory is a luxury resource but also a strategic one for the Indians only. They need it in order to build the War Elephants.

Seems an odd requirement. Surely the requirement for building a War Elephant should be ... (wait for it)... an elephant (or a commitee and a mouse :D )
Having the elephant could also give you the ivory (you can always cut the tusks off the corpse after the AI's regular warrior has killed it...)
 
I both like it and hate it. Like it because it makes sense to me and hate it because I am India, with no Ivory so I can not make my elephants and since I am India, I can not make knights either. Not that it matters since I have no horsies either. As the game develops, I will probably be oil less as well.

Better get my spearmen ready for those fights with modern armor. :lol:
 
Top Bottom