Cheezy trade exploit:

[myz]

well, it could be interpreted as the medieval mafia, so if the neighboring nations' merchants do not pay protection money (pay in terms of losing trade $ every turn), your agents (of the mafia) will not let him conduct business, easy as that. Your own merchants bring in trade money for you every single turn they are on the resource, so consider that as protection money paid, so he can do his thing. Don't tell me there is no bribery involved, I mean, the pope is on your (and potentially other factions') payroll, right? It's natural for you to be on the merchants' payroll. Whoever don't pay, he can't trade.

[Sir_Hawkwood]

OK, as far as justification goes, this is pretty weak... But...

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/963medstead.html

... Just say your King has granted your Priest market rights on the resource...


^*%()>><~## Its not punctuation... Look closer and you'll see its scrapings from the bottom of a barrel...

SJH

[napoleon526]

I've seen the AI use armies to push my merchants off of resources before. I wonder if they'd do the same if your priest was blocking something good.

[JCoyote]

It's not terribly economically efficient for most resources; most that the computer goes after just aren't worth that terribly much. So what if he's trading wine in France and making what? Dozens of florins a turn? Some of the stuff they go after, they'll be lucky if they ever recoup the investment in their merchant in the first place.

And I almost never see the AI go after any of the really juicy merchant areas, Timbuktu, Arguin, the Americas... Hopefully in a patch or two, the AI will get more active on that. Not everyone should head there, but it'd be cool if playing a long style game having your next couple biggest rivals also pursue the new world. Right now it mostly seems like a fun diversion for single player games, instead of opening up a new battleground and new form of warfare.

[ezoons]

It's not terribly economically efficient for most resources; most that the computer goes after just aren't worth that terribly much. So what if he's trading wine in France and making what? Dozens of florins a turn? Some of the stuff they go after, they'll be lucky if they ever recoup the investment in their merchant in the first place.

And I almost never see the AI go after any of the really juicy merchant areas, Timbuktu, Arguin, the Americas... Hopefully in a patch or two, the AI will get more active on that. Not everyone should head there, but it'd be cool if playing a long style game having your next couple biggest rivals also pursue the new world. Right now it mostly seems like a fun diversion for single player games, instead of opening up a new battleground and new form of warfare.

Doesn't income from the exact same resourse differ from faction to faction?

[JCoyote]

Doesn't income from the exact same resourse differ from faction to faction?

Not as much as you'd think. The great resources are still the great resources for every faction... gold, ivory, chocolate, tobacco...No matter what faction you play, those are what you really want. Wine? Meh. It just doesn't make that much for anybody. (And why do official merchant representatives of Muslim factions get to trade in it anyway?)

There is still an inherent value level for each resource.

[gardibolt]

And I almost never see the AI go after any of the really juicy merchant areas, Timbuktu, Arguin, the Americas... .

I've seen plenty of merchants come after Timbuktu, but they always fall prey to my leveled-up merchants.

The ivory in southern Egypt has all kinds of high level AI merchants on it and fighting over it. I seldom can get my hands on that income.

[PseRamesses]

I've seen the AI use armies to push my merchants off of resources before. I wonder if they'd do the same if your priest was blocking something good.

On rare occasions yes. But it works the other way around too. Push a merch of the resource with a unit and place your agent or priest on it.

[General Zhukov]

I've seen the AI use armies to push my merchants off of resources before.

I seriously doubt it was on purpose. More likely your merchant happened to be standing at the end of the AI's move path for that turn.