Lego FA thread 1

[Beta]

Early response from vondrack. Official reply on its way.

We are going to respond to your "official" PM hopefully soon. In
brief:

- Astronomy will be sent this turn; though, do not hold your breath...
Isaac Newton, our caravel, checked the solitary sea tile Northwest of
Voxtavia and there is nothing but ocean beyond - no sign of an island


- Banking will be sent right after discovering it (2-3 turns)

- the peninsula site is unfortunately considered of great strategic
importance to us (a naval base for a fleet that is supposed to guard
the entrance to the Bay of Panama; our settler is about 4-5 turns from
settling the site); settling it was postponed because nobody had navy
capable of attacking us... but with the war winding up, this is going
to become an issue very soon. Sorry to sound a bit harsh perhaps, but
that site really is out of question - not a matter of distrust, but a
matter of that we have our own plans with the place.

[Rhothaerill]

Cool, banking and astronomy. That means we will be able to start right in on democracy. With the news that we will indeed have banking in time I suggest we try to trade printing press for chivalry and some cash (or perhaps an extension of the luxury to 80 turns) from GoW. I'll post that in the GoW thread for discussion too.

News about the peninsula site is what I expected so that's not a big deal. News about the sea tile is too bad though.

[Beta]

To Lego:

Greetings vondrack. Happy New Year to Lego!!

Rhoth and I have lost track of what techs were scheduled to come Vox's way. We are assuming chivalry and banking, but we would like to make sure. The reason for asking is that we have started to negotiate a deal with GoW for chivalry in exchange for printing press, but if there is little to be gained by such a deal we will not pursue it. We would rather get cash for library and harbor rushes, and then we can use our cash on hand to research at a reasonable rate.

You had mentioned earlier that the deal we had swung with GS for printing press worked out well for all: we are simply looking for similar advice regarding the proposed deal with GoW. If there is indeed a benefit to completing the deal, we will pursue it further.

Thanks, and again, thank you for astronomy. VCS Exploration and Discovery are now underway.

And stay tuned for further installments of the Cadogan Guide to Voxtavia. Speaking of which, do you think we should keep the strategic resources on the island a secret? The iron has yet to be connected, but the name of the city probably gave it away.

Again, cheers to the folks in Legoland.

Beta.

ps - we are deeply sorry that Panama Vox was not a hit with your citizens as it is with ours. But don't worry - we are building a new vacation spot shortly, and we will try to cater more to your tastes.

[Beta]

And the response:

RE: Lego-Vox and Techs
Hello, Beta! Happy New Year to all the Voxians, too!

There is no need to pursue a PP for Chivalry deal with GoW, as we are free to gift you this tech at any time (and as a matter of fact, I have offered that at least once in a chat) - the no-resale period negotiated with GoW ended long ago. The only reason for not sending it in earlier was we were not sure if you actually wanted the tech (not to mess with any horseman prebuilds - haven't realized you could have allowed it by dis- or not-connecting iron).

So, as for Chivalry - will be on its way this very turn, no problem. Banking sent last turn. That's, for this moment, all that's planned. We have gunpowder, too, but we are waiting for GS (and RP) to get it first, not making it any easier for them.

Take care,
vondrack

P.S.: I believe that the strategic resources found on Voxtavia (iron & horses, to be precise) are not really a secret. The information was acquired by others (GoW, GS) both through their own explorations and from us during the peace negotiations preceding the Voxodus.

[Wittlich]

Originally posted by Beta
P.S.: I believe that the strategic resources found on Voxtavia (iron & horses, to be precise) are not really a secret. The information was acquired by others (GoW, GS) both through their own explorations and from us during the peace negotiations preceding the Voxodus.

Ahh, so no one knows about our 5 Uranium deposits yet...

[Beta]

Originally posted by Wittlich


Ahh, so no one knows about our 5 Uranium deposits yet...

Wouldn't that be the utimate .. well... Irony.

[Rhothaerill]

Too cool about chivalry and banking! Thanks Lego. Well with banking now ours we can begin on democracy straight away. If we can get the same mileage out of it that we have for printing press then that's great!

[Beta]

sent to Lego

Greetings vondrack!

Just a quick note from your friends to the north. Our commercial and scientific investments are starting to pay dividends in terms of our research rate. The current schedule sees us completing democracy in 18 turns. This may change slightly as we get closer - if anything - it will likely decrease. We will keep you updated.

Also we have completed our transactions for printing press, including the latest deal - where we got chemistry from GoW. We were once again unable to complete any sort of deal with Neu Demogyptica, so I presume they will get it from GoW.

We are now pursuing deals for democracy. Lego will, of course, get it provided as soon as we have completed it.

Our caravel searches were unsuccessful - just more water. So until the next upgrade in seafaring - we will do with what we have.

That's it for now. Trust all is well with Lego. And by the way, we are putting the finishing touches on the latest vacation spot for Legolanders. More on this soon.

Cheers! Beta of Vox.

[Rhothaerill]

I knew I forgot to do something last night. I was going to send a note to Lego about chemistry and metallurgy. Thanks Beta.

[Beta]

vondrack's response:

vondrack wrote on 30-01-2004 19:44:
Hi, Beta!

This is excellent news about your research speeding up. 18 turns sounds even better than 20-25 Rhothaerill mentioned few turns ago.

Strictly confidential: Jackson should finish Magellan's Expedition in 9 turns, triggering our GA. I made some preliminary number crunching and found out a very important thing. We need you to arrange a deal for Metallurgy. GoW should be going for Metallurgy (at least according to a trade agreement with us), so if you can strike a deal with them (or anyone else, of course), it would help us tremendously. Trading them Democracy for Metallurgy, no resale rights, eternal NDAs would be just fine (from our PoV, of course - it would favour GoW by ~100 beakers... could make it sweeter for them...).

Here is why: sometime mid GA, we should finish researching the last mandatory tech of the medieval era. We will, of course, immediately send it to you, and wait one turn for your free tech before going for a new research goal. While every remaining mandatory tech in the medieval era but Metallurgy will be researched by us, Metallurgy will be out of our reach. We have already made a deal for it with GoW - with a 20-turn NDA that will unfortunately not allow us to give it to you in time.

So... in order to waste as little time as possible at the end of the medieval era, we need you to somehow get Metallurgy before we finish the rest. Getting it in 18 turns, after you finish Democracy, should be perfect. If you can prearrange a deal before we trigger our GA, it would be awesome - once we trigger them, everybody will easily "see through" the manoeuvre and the price will skyrocket.

BTW... ND was researching PP (still is, actually, but close to completion) on their own, that's why you're unable to strike a deal. And, yes, also because it's ND. We've been having better luck recently. Traded them Banking for gold and lux. Considering to sell Astro for another lux. The war improved our relations big time.

Speaking economy-wise, we are really starting to rock... donegeal gave me a good laugh with his post in the public forum (that one with the "Lego may not be the fore-runner in terms of economy yet"). If only others knew what our shield production is... ...but GS is still very close to us in GNP.

Regarding sea exploration... we do have Navigation researched. Just that we are the only one so far and we assume GS is going for it. So we'd prefer letting them spend as much gold as possible before lowering the tech price by gifting it to you. But once they finish it, it should be no problem to provide Navigation to you, as we assume we will be trading the tech to GoW & ND anyway.

That's about it. The Metallurgy matter is of the highest importance, so if you can start working on it right now, it would be appreciated. But be careful not to give GoW a hint that Metallurgy is important for you... ah, uh, you silly... it's Beta! Stop telling him how to do diplomacy and trading...



Take care,
Radek

[Beta]

And my response to his response - about 60 seconds after receiving his PM - hence the joke.

OK - how's this for getting at it. The deal is done - Democracy for Metallurgy from GoW in 18 turns. What's next?

I forgot to mention this part. Rhoth closed a deal with GoW for democracy and metallury as well. Paper work is being signed.

Sorry about that. I was so pleased about the 18 turn research rate.

....Beta.

[Beta]

Originally posted by Rhothaerill
I knew I forgot to do something last night. I was going to send a note to Lego about chemistry and metallurgy. Thanks Beta.

N/P - considering I forgot the metallurgy part as well. Besides - I sort of consider myself as the ambassador to Lego - given my long-standing relationship with them.

[Beta]

vondrack's response:

RE: Re: democracy and Vox
WOW!!!

Now that's SOMETHING!!! Yay!



This is a very, very, veeery good news!

BTW... is there anything you might need from us? Do not be shy to ask... as long as you do not ask for anything, we assume you are just fine.

Cheers, vondrack

So - anything we want? Half-dozen modern armors?

[Rhothaerill]

Originally posted by Beta


N/P - considering I forgot the metallurgy part as well. Besides - I sort of consider myself as the ambassador to Lego - given my long-standing relationship with them.

That's fine. I've pretty much left the Lego dealings alone for that reason, but it was something I was thinking about while writing up the tech deal with GoW and then forgot to do it.

Also, I know I've kind of taken over a lot of the duties with being the primary turnplayer, the main MoI, and the liasion to three teams, but if you want more of the responsibility back that's fine. I'm enjoying myself with Vox, but I don't want to feel like I've pushed you out.

[Rhothaerill]

Originally posted by Beta
So - anything we want? Half-dozen modern armors?

I don't think we need anything at the moment. Perhaps in the future we can try to get some saltpeter and upgrade a lot of our units, but it's probably not necessary at the moment. Thanks to them we're already among the tech leaders, and we should be able to climb even higher with more democracy deals.

BTW, I don't have any idea if they have metallurgy or not, but if they want it from us we can give it to them, just not until the NTA is up...roughly 40 turns. I imagine they will have it themselves by then, but it's just a thought.