Market/Fairground?

[Jambo]

The Grainmarket building grants a city the ability to build one Merchant in a city, but I can't figure out what the rest of the buildings in this techline does - Market and Fairground? They don't bestow any ability to build an additional Merchant from that city. Instead, the only other thing the building scroll states is "Increase in trade goods" similar to the port's line of buildings. However, placing the building in the build queue creates no obvious effect on the settlement scroll?! There's nop jump in trade income per se. It appears the Market and Fairground don't actually do anything...

Any tips?

[Vicarious]

I think they do exactly what they promise - Give an increase in trade goods, that off course raises the trading and tax income in the settlement. At least this worked for me. I don't think placing it in the build queue is enough, it has to be finished.

Actually, from my experience with similar buildings in RTW, markets and fairgrounds wuld be the buildings I first construct after upgrading the settlement. Just check out the income before and after..

[econ21]

Just check out the income before and after..

I think Jambo's point is that you can usually get that information by queueing the building and looking at the settlement details - the difference between actual income and what it would be with the faded building icon. There's no effect with markets in my game so far.

[Vicarious]

I think Jambo's point is that you can usually get that information by queueing the building and looking at the settlement details - the difference between actual income and what it would be with the faded building icon. There's no effect with markets in my game so far.

Well, then I think the problem is that you don't see the result before actually finishing the building. I have a campaign with Spain where I first conquered Valencia and Zaragoza. I don't have the excact numbers, but my income increased a lot when i built Grainmarket and even more when I built market. It wouldn't be logical to see this before the building was finished would it? The income changes from turn to turn, depending on where/who your trading with doesn't it?

[Quillan]

I don't know about the increasing trade goods part, because I haven't looked into it that closely. However, each upgrade to the base merchant building lets you build another merchant.

[Jambo]

I don't know about the increasing trade goods part, because I haven't looked into it that closely. However, each upgrade to the base merchant building lets you build another merchant.

I don't think this is correct to be honest although it might be how it's intended to work. I wasn't able to build another merchant in the city once I'd built a market. Only by building Grainmarkets in other cities was I allowed to increase my total merchant output.

Regarding the build queue, econ picked up my point. If you put the Wharf, which gives an additional trade route, into the build queue you'll see an increase in the faded trade icons - i.e. what the trade will be after the building is completed.

[Quillan]

It's worked that way for me, but I haven't looked closely. I think it was the first market I built that let me build another merchant. Building more than one market may not allow for it. I might have to build a fairground before I can get another merchant.

[Jimmytwohand]

The better the markets, the better your merchants starting stats will be also allowing you to make more money proactively rather than just the passive trade bonus and extra income they give. They also seem to be vital in getting the higher levels of merchant guild which provides its own benefits.

[econ21]

Just to say, finally (turn 61), I had a case where the settlement details showed building a market would increase income. So the income effect can show up, but might require some advanced conditions. (For example, in BI, I believe building ports in some settlements did not increase trade income because their "twin" trading partner was held by an enemy - maybe something subtle going on like that.)

[majesticchapel]

I think you might only be allowed a set number of merchants over the entire range of your cities, in other words you can build 3 merchants in London, or one in Edinburgh, York and London each.
This number then increases once you build more merchant buildings.