Trading

[unmerged(937)]

Hello,

The computer sucks at trading. There is hardly any competition in the rich CoTs, while in Venice, Genua, Holstein, Anglia the Merchants are stepping on their feet even though these places combined are far poorer as Jalisco, Delhi and Isfahan.

Can this be fixed? My trade income is currently ridiculously high.

 

[unmerged(90)]

The AI must think in term of cost to send a trader vs value of COT.

Probably the first factor is overweighted versus the second one.

Then it is not always that easy to spend 25 € for one single merchant, especially for small nations that compete only in European COTs.
Full scale offensive of 6 merchants ? 150 €
Even with an overpowerful Portugal in my GC this is my yearly budget... ANd I have so mny colonies to establish...

 

[unmerged(358)]

And Frodo if you've read the Bugslist of the 1.08 patch you'll see this exact point listed among the most wanted changes..

Cobos

 

[unmerged(1261)]

One other thing to consider is that many countries may not have discovered many of the COTs. If they don't know it where it is, they can't send traders there.

 

[unmerged(1295)]

It's a high stakes poker game

The only real payoff at the CoT is the monopolist status, who wins the rest of the pool. However, if there is no leftover pool, there is nothing to gain, so why fight over it? If there is a pool, only those with deep pockets can continually send merchants into the fray. And since the rich overseas CoTs are cheaper for the locals, its a rigged game in their favor, just like the nearby CoTs are cheaper for Europeans. So the payoffs can be good, but it's not a game for sissies!