Discovering the New World and getting stuff for a song.

[Lancer]

That's basicly what happened in the real world. Now in my Civ game I've gotten first to optics and sent my sailors out into the void. Found land, found stupid uncivilized natives with an advanced knowledge of bartering.

I should have been able to sucker them every which way.

If there is a great difference in tech then trade should not be even imo. I should be able to trade 1 silk for gold, silver, and iron. Take em to the cleaners in true european fashion.

[Tattila the Hun]

Well, think of it in the other way. If you happen to be the less civilized one... Would you give the "founders of the new world" stuff for cheap?

[Yaga]

It's all about supply and demand, really. If you're on a lonely little island with three iron, two horse, and a copper all to yourself, why not trade away some of the excess for sundries like sugar, fur, corn, etc?

[Marcusem78]

Its also about game balance, and giving the player with the crappy solo start even just a slim chance to remain competitive, as opposed to totally losing any chance to stay in the game.

[Theben]

BOth sides thought the other a sucker. Europeans: "We get land for cheap trinkets! Damn they're stupid!" Natives: "White men give trinkets for nothing (since land wasn't a commodity)! Damn they're stupid!" In the end, it was who had the most boots on the ground and the better weapons.

[Lancer]

I guess you guys are right, I wouldn't want to get stuck in the new world without the ability to trade equally.

[Unimatrix11]

Originally posted by Theben
BOth sides thought the other a sucker. Europeans: "We get land for cheap trinkets! Damn they're stupid!" Natives: "White men give trinkets for nothing (since land wasn't a commodity)! Damn they're stupid!" In the end, it was who had the most boots on the ground and the better weapons.

...and the deadlier deaseses... (in a way, tho not intentionally, the ´new world´ was to a great degree conquered with ´biological weapons´. Not trying to defend anything here, but it was the biggest holocaust that has ever occured)

[joncnunn]

The native americans spread their own germs to the Europeans as well. In both cases it was primarily unintentional, but there were some scatered intentional cases.

[Yosho]

Originally posted by Theben
BOth sides thought the other a sucker. Europeans: "We get land for cheap trinkets! Damn they're stupid!" Natives: "White men give trinkets for nothing (since land wasn't a commodity)! Damn they're stupid!" In the end, it was who had the most boots on the ground and the better weapons.

Axtually, that's not generally true, not for most Native Americans anyay.

The big thing was that, since the population of the native americans on the East Coast had dramatically reduced by the time the English got to the new world, there was large amounts of farmland that were being unused, whole villages that were empty, and the native americans were willing to trade away land that they could not at all use.

[dregor]

I don't think you have a good idea here. Shocking, I know.