Tech Trading Issue (which I haven't seen mentioned before

from GalCiv2 Forums
I've had an issue with tech trading lately that seems obviously bad/unbalanced to me. After searching through the forums, I can't find any mention of it. I'm a relative newbie, so I may be missing something obvious. Nevertheless:

Why would an AI early in the game keep on buying my techs, thus depleting his treasury and crippling his expansion? For example, I just finished a game as Drath in a large universe with difficulty set to Tough. The Terrans were right next door, and the Drengins and Yor were a bit further out. All were set to Intelligent. So I colony-grabbed like a madman and financed my expansion by selling every non-military, non-diplomacy tech I could to the Terrans. Some of the supposedly Intelligent Terran's choices were suspect to say the least. E.g., he was consistently willing to pay a decent price for tech four levels up the tree, and then still pay for the techs earlier in the tree. Why in the world would he do that?

More critically, why was he so spendthrift early in the game? At some point, why doesn't he realize that paying over his treasury to me is inevitably going to cripple his expansion and help mine? The end result was predictable. The Terrans decisively lost the race for colonies, and were then far, far behind in economy and technology. Their early tech buying guaranteed that they had no chance whatsoever.

In conclusion: Would any competent human player squander his treasure by buying up every tech offered to him during the expansion phase? If not, why would the AI do so? I've tested the problem in three games, and in all three I was able to cripple my neighbor and take advantage of his distress by grabbing the colonies that he would otherwise have claimed (financing the expansion with his money). I like the idea of tech trading in general, but I think that in reality it's the only really weak part of an otherwise admirable AI. I'm being led to the conclusion that I have to turn off tech trading unless I'm in the mood for an automatic route of the AI.
3,115 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Sorry - just realized I posted this in the wrong place. I've reposted in the General folder.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Not necessary to turn off tech trading, just don't exploit this cheese tactic if you do not like how it feels. There are tons of cheezy strats that seem almost like cheating...I am with you on this one, but I use other cheeze tactics that another player may think is cheating...but it is a GOOD thing about this game that each player can use tactics they like. I may need this trick at higher levels so I am glad it is there, even if I don't use it yet...
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have not seen this bug, and I pay close attention to the AI when trading. In fact, the AI often scolds me If I have forgotten that they have a better tech.

If I were to guess, I bet you are trading cumulative techs. The best example is speed. Every tech level gives you a percentage speed increase in addition to new engine types. That bonus is quite significant in the early colony rush.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
""Some of the supposedly Intelligent Terran's choices were suspect to say the least. E.g., he was consistently willing to pay a decent price for tech four levels up the tree, and then still pay for the techs earlier in the tree. Why in the world would he do that?""

The reason they do it is they are AI.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Earlier techs often come with other bonuses such as improvements in economy, weopons effectiveness, hitpoints, special buildings, etc. So it is worthwhile to get them.