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Is trade worth the effort?

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Is trade worth the effort?

from Stardock Forums
I am a GalCiv1 vet and therefore was fairly familiar with the value of Trade. It improved relationships tremendously in the early game and generated more money than most other methods.

When I started GalCivII I obviously prioritised it as I had in the past. Now that I’ve played dozens of games I’ve got to the stage of ignoring it completely. The game seems to give much more value on military might in the early stages. Therefore whereas I used to rush freighters to get on good terms I now rush a few defenders. On the finance side, Stock Exchanges are so good I rush to research them and then I can always run a high moral, high income economy which generates more money than I can spend.

I must admit to only playing with conquest victory enabled. Therefore I spend most of my time at war rather than diplomacy (and I can see the value of trade in a peaceful Universe). However for me I do not spend my time establishing and protecting trade. What is everyone else doing?

Please don't take this as a dig at the game. Merely a query about how others viewed the relative balance of the elements within a great game.
12,457 views 33 replies
Reply #26 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
yeah, trade is squirrelled. I use it for diplomacy but since I play on smaller maps the income is not important.

the per turn income is erratic. I can sometimes get as much income trading with a minor in my own sector as I get by traversing the galaxy.
Reply #27 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I used freighters for the first several games I played and it was not worth the time and resources. Better to put your effort into other areas. I hope they strengthen this area in the future so I can make it a part of my strategy again. Then again, I always play on Macho or harder so the level of difficulty may affect the value of trade.

Cheers,
Superconductor
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Reply #28 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Trade is useful. With the appropriate use of enough starbases, it can give rise to a decent quantity of cash. But my primary use of trade is as a minor income supplement and as a way of warding off predators. Trade lets be get over the "hump" (where I start making 1000+ each turn and have a number of high-production worlds. And lots of research), after which I've already won the game and nobody in the galaxy knows it.

So you've lots of money... I'm sorry I didn't see the "win the game by getting 1M credits" option


Have you been paying attention to the game? If you have money, you have everything you need.

You can turn off Social spending and military spending entirely if you have enough money to buy everything you need. And, in the very end of endgames on highly populous maps, I've done exactly that (or, at least, turned off military spending, and split the rest between social and tech).
Reply #30 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Trade is useful for diplomatic relations but not very useful as a source of money. I don't even bother with trade anymore, because I want there to be a greater chance that the computer will attack me. The game gets kind of boring when everyone likes you and no-one puts up any resistance to your plans to conquer the galaxy.
Reply #31 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
So you've lots of money... I'm sorry I didn't see the "win the game by getting 1M credits" option

I said I'm trying to play the game by conquest. As soon as you go to war against a decently powerful civ the AI seems to target your freighters and starbases in space you do not own.

Maybe I'm missing a trick but I seem to get on fine by having my own economy support me.


Um, in this game, money = winning I the game i was talking about, I'm also doing a conquest victory. Can't be done without money. Bleed them dry, then conquer them.
Reply #32 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Skyjack and Megavolt
Are you playing on gigantic? How do you keep your routes safe or do you never go to war?

I play on conquest victory only on Suicidal. War can put pay to trade so quickly, wrecking game-years of construction. How do you overcome this problem?


Galactic Privateer...freighters get destroyed but the routes is maintained! Plus I'm not at war with everyone at the same time.
Reply #33 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It is up to you to determine whether trading is a viable option. If, for instance, you have a bunch of trade routes converging in a small area that can easily be covered by multiple economic starbases, you may want to consider trading. If, however, you are on a gigantic map full of enemies (or worse, Dread Lords On Parade!) and another civilization has already gotten Galactic Privateers, then it is probably not that good of an idea to trade. Trading is most effective (in the short-term) on small maps where you can easily guard your routes and where you have so few planets you need ever extra billionth credit you can get ( ). Trading is most profitable on gigantic maps with a ton of potential trade partners and the time to build trading posts along your routes, but your trade routes are generally a lot more exposed.