trade deficit?

[civ-n00b]

i'm refreshing my skills after a counter-strike related sabbatical from civ3 (if you're a cs fan, might wanna read that backward... a civ3-related sabatical from cs), and i have come to notice that the AI seems to overcharge for luxuries. here's why i'm saying that:

-i'm the biggest empire
-most advanced
-2nd or 3rd largest army - but its all mech inf & tanks
-richest
-most luxuries overall
-happiest
-etc...

BUT, i can't seem to trade for a luxury, with a weaker civ, without having to offer 2 luxuries, several techs & a map. why?!? is it my fault (y did i do it in the first place?) or the AI acting up on me?

btw, the game is 10 civs, in warlord and most of us are in the modern era... i'm the most advanced though.

[Jon Shafer]

Have you given the AI players any reason to be mad at you or distrust you? They can hold quite a grudge for a while if you do anything to upset them.

[Jaybe]

Trading values not only take into account their attitude towards you, but also what you can afford. If you have a lot more than they have, you are expected to pay more. Perhaps if you didn't have much (cashola / advances) compared to them and if they respected you, you could get trades for a 'fair' price.

'Fair' is totally subjective. It's just a matter of whether you are willing to pay their price.

[civ-n00b]

bah, then i'll do the easy thing and nuke 'em all...

[Grrr]

A grudge for a while? Trip? isn't it an eternity .

[Carver]

Of course, if you're feeling greedy just go into diplomacy and renogotiate your peace treaty. i.e. demand the goodies for continued peace. I just discovered the joy of peacetime extortion the other day. I'm keeping up in techs much better.

[Jethro83]

Even if I maintain excellent relations with the civ, I still get the same problem.

AI civs are just too shifty. Renegotiating peace is the best option to get that resource off them. Better yet, conquer their lands and take the resource yourself.

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by Grrr
A grudge for a while? Trip? isn't it an eternity .

A while could be eternity.

[Spiffor]

You pay several luxuries for 1 because :
The AI considers the value of a luxury in temrs of "what will be his profit compared to mine ?" If you have 50 cities and the AI has 2, it will understand you'll make 50 citizens happy with the traded luxury, while it'll have only 2 happy citizens because of the luxury it gets. To equalize the relative value of the trade, it'll demand more. The ideal situation would be 25 luxuries for the AI Civ traded for 1 luxury. In terms of happiness, such a trade would be fair.