Free money!

[kcbob]

I haven't been on the forums much lately (too busy playing??) so if this has been suggested, please forgive me.

I've pretty much gotten the handle on trade and negotiating and I've recently started following a simple practice that I believe merits consideration by others.

When another civ asks for a trade (or any contact for that matter), if there doesn't seem to be any real good deal for both parties, e.g. I get Monarch, they get spice, then before I say goodbye, I propose one last deal... every time.

I ask them... "How much will you give me for my World Map?" I have yet to see the AI NOT offer some quantity of gold. Granted, it's usually a small amount in the 1 to 5 gold range, but it almost ALWAYS offers something.

If you're playing vs. a lot of opponents and there is a lot of interaction, this will add up after a while, perhaps totalling hundreds of gold over the course of a game. Why not take it?

And before you say giving up my map for a pittance is not worth it, this even seems to be a valid strategy late in the game when everybody knows every detail about the map. Again... why not take it?

What d'ya think?

[Red-bled]

Nice idea. Also noticed you can usually get money when another civ wants to trade maps of any kind. Likely known by most, but just discovered it recently. Discover something new all the time. I may actually get to the next level after all.

[Dry]

I stopped doing that when I noticed that the AI used it to spot the good sites for cities.
The less the AI knows about the world, the best for me... at least, as long as I am still expanding.
I now sells my territory map instead of the world map.

[Marquis de Sodaq]

I, too, sell my map to everybody. The AI will cough up a good amount of gold. Yes, the AI uses it to find good city sites - but if I have known about that spot and haven't gone there myself, the AI will likely beat me there anyway, with or without my map. I say take the gold.

[dadacp]

The AI will usually give 1 gold to exchange territory maps, even if there's no new area. They're paying 1 gold to update their map. I suppose you could go to each civ every turn to get 1 gold from them. Just for the money it's probably too much work. But if you want to them to be happy with you, I think the steady deals would improve their attitude.

[SanPellegrino]

You can also make a few extra bucks if you renogitiate peace every 20 turns, especially from smaller civs.

[Thrawn05]

Originally posted by Dry
I stopped doing that when I noticed that the AI used it to spot the good sites for cities.
The less the AI knows about the world, the best for me... at least, as long as I am still expanding.
I now sells my territory map instead of the world map.

I stop giving away any of my maps to anyone. Most of time, if I trade territory maps, the AI attacks one of my most important citys (usually, the ones that help connect my empire).

I always BUY my maps for a few coins of gold.

[SlowwHand]

Right. I'm going to give my maps for 1-5 gold.
When is this going to become MP ?

[vmxa1]

I give the world map away later in the game. Say a civ ask for something I do not want to give (tech or terr map), I offer world map or give world map. It is of no real value anyway and I do not want and hassle at the time for what ever reason, may be at war already or just recovering. This gets rid of the deal with no fuss.

[The Eliminator]

I never sell or trade away any of my maps. I buy the AI maps. If you let them have any of your maps, within 2 or 3 turns galleys loaded with settlers/spearmen will occupy any open spot in your territory.

[kcbob]

Try it late in the game. There are no spots available for building cities and yet the AI will still buy maps from you.

I've also noticed something else. When the AI offers me a trade, e.g., their world map, Free Artistry, and 50 gold for my incense, Education, and 3 gold per turn, counter-offer them the incense alone and you'll probably get just as much from them anyway.