When to stop trading techs?

[VilleDick]

OK, I'm in line for my first Regent win in my current game. I have the tech lead and should at least win by Histograph but more than likely space race victory. Anyway, quick question. Being the tech leader is nice but when should I stop trading techs to lesser civs? I know there's no "always do this" rule in Civ, but generally speaking when do all of you stop enlightening other Civs?

 

[Tomoyo]

Never do I.

 

[Yuri2356]

When there are no longer other Civs to trade to.

 

[T-Money]

When they're to weak to give anything useful up. I'd say if you're going for space race and you have the win lined up well, just keep it all to yourself to keep the win in the bag.

 

[vmxa]

In a Regent game with a good tech lead, I would probably stop as soon as they have no lux or cash I wanted.

Later I would maybe use techs to get alliances. If you want to get the vote, you could start gifting techs. If you just want to play conquest, keep the techs.

 

[777]

My weaknes is that I don't trade with AI. I can beat game with Monarch without big deals, but if I move forward I think I really should learn to trade. But I really suck making bisnes in Civ and in real life

 

[bonscott]

If you suck at trading then try this to help get you started: Say the AI has techs you want and you have stuff he may want (lux, techs, etc.) Then put the tech you want on the table and ask "what would you require for this tech?" Most of the time you'll get a response which will be way overpriced. So just start offer less and less until your advisor no longer says they will accept. Then bump it back up a bit to seal the deal. Same goes for the other way. Offer up one of your techs and ask what they will give for it. Sometimes you'll be in for a surprise and they will offer 25 gpt or something! Most likely you'll be able to raise this up to 30 or even 50 before they won't accept. Go as high as you can.

As for the original quesiton: I almost never stop trading. But if a space victory is in the bag then I usualy stop. Most of the time I'm at war so I'll trade with certain civs to give them a chance against the big boys. Really depends from game to game.

 

[Chieftess]

Trading (as well as signing alliances) is one of the most powerful leverages in the game that a player can have.

1 - With luck (and knowledge of tech depreciation, which techs civs go for, etc.), you can trade your way from most backwards, to most advanced. You'll be surprised at what you can get sometimes.

2 - Always renegotiate the AI's first offer. If they want Iron Working for their Horses, see if you can get something else, like maybe horses for spices, or 50g (gold).

3 - If you trade techs to civs for a ton of gpt -- gold per turn -- (be sure not to attack them in their territory, or break any treaties by going to war/pillaging a road, etc, since that's a rep hit - you won't get any gpt), civs will have to waste there income on supplying you with their gold. Additionally, having the AI go to war with eachother slows the tech pace (they use a certain amount of gold for war - 20gpt it seems - and on top of that, they're paying you, too, and they're not trading with the civ they're at war with). That really slows the tech pace down.

 

[catchsomezzz]

Once I get a tech lead, I would want to maintain that tech advantage. So, I would not trade away any tech that no other AI has yet discovered. If one civ has discovered it, then they probably would be trading with other civs soon, and I'd look for opportunities to trade it before them. Better me getting something for it than them.

Otherwise, I will trade some obsolete techs to the very backward civs if they have something to offer.

My rule for trading is: any trade is a good trade if I stand to benefit more than another civ.

 

[Scuffer]

I stop whenever they have nothing I actually want, where that's cash, lux, resource, alliances, or occasionally simply existance. Or a tight space race I guess.

 

[bonscott]

Once I get a tech lead, I would want to maintain that tech advantage. So, I would not trade away any tech that no other AI has yet discovered. If one civ has discovered it, then they probably would be trading with other civs soon, and I'd look for opportunities to trade it before them. Better me getting something for it than them.

Otherwise, I will trade some obsolete techs to the very backward civs if they have something to offer.

My rule for trading is: any trade is a good trade if I stand to benefit more than another civ.

Very excellent point. If you can trade that tech vs. that AI, then that makes sure that the AI's not only don't get sweet deals in return, it keeps the odds of them trading resources, lux, and forming MPP's and the like down to minimum. Trade it before the AI does. I'll trade away a tech in these cases even if all I can get is 10 gold because it is better for me to get 10 gold then the AI to get 50 gpt or Oil or something from another AI for it.