Documentation of AI tech trading in 1.50x patch

[Hydro]

Tech trading was made much different after the 1.50x patch. This was likely done to combat ‘tech whoring’ and abuses of the AI by players.

One of the questions that has come up since the 1.50x patch is to what degree is the AI trading tech between each other. Well, it turns out the answer is quite a lot. Below is documentation of AI tech trades from debug.err file for AAR Scenario 2: Korath from Jan 2226 to Feb 2227.

1. Year: 2226. Yor Collective traded Xeno Communications to the Jessuins in exchange for Starship Defenses
2. Krynn Consulate traded Research Centers to the Thalan Empire in exchange for Xeno Factory Construction
3. Drengin Empire traded HyperDrive to the Paulos in exchange for Missile Defense Theory
4. Krynn Consulate traded Xeno Factory Construction to the Yor Collective in exchange for Barren World Colonization
5. Yor Collective traded Xeno Factory Construction to the Dominion of Korx in exchange for Master Trade
6. Thalan Empire traded Planetary Improvements to the Krynn Consulate in exchange for Advanced Computing
7. Dominion of Korx traded Xeno Factory Construction to the Drengin Empire in exchange for Heavy Gravity Colonization
8. Krynn Consulate traded Advanced Computing to the Drengin Empire in exchange for Diplomatic Relations
9. Krynn Consulate traded Universal Translator to the Jessuins in exchange for Starship Defenses
10. Yor Collective traded Planetary Improvements to the Paulos in exchange for Chaff
11. Thalan Empire traded Sensors to the Drengin Empire in exchange for Universal Translator
12. Krynn Consulate traded Diplomatic Relations to the Paulos in exchange for Chaff
13. Thalan Empire traded Universal Translator to the Yor Collective in exchange for Xeno Communications
14. Drengin Empire traded Diplomatic Relations to the Yor Collective in exchange for Chaff

Notice that the AI traded extreme colonization tech several times, as well as military techs. Some of the trades are fairly even and others a bit lopsided. Of course, when I tried to trade any tech (at any level of diplomatic ability) I was told to either get lost (any weapon tech, extreme colonization tech) or the exchanges was simply unacceptable (e.g. – all my tech for a tech I could research in ~3 turns).

For me this is proof enough that the patch hosed over the tech trading. At a minimum it is not at all clear how the system works – there is no feedback for a player - and it is quite obvious the AI understands how this works – to the detriment of the human player. So it would seem the human entity isn’t seen as just another AI since, functionally, the rules seem to operate differently.

THEREFORE – I’m turning tech trading off from now on. I’d be interested if others have had this observation.

Hydro

[Colonâ„¢]

Re: Documentation of AI tech trading in 1.50x patch

Originally posted by Hydro
Tech trading was made much different after the 1.50x patch. This was likely done to combat ‘tech whoring’ and abuses of the AI by players.

Can you tell how it was changed? (I assume this is about Dark Avatar)

[tetley]

Tech trading was made all but impossible for human players in the patch.

[Colonâ„¢]

So tech whoring (by the AI) still exists? Wish they'd simply tag traded techs to make it impossible to trade those to another party.

[Hydro]

You can still tech whore, where you take a tech and sell/trade it to every AI and minor race for whatever you can get from the AI. But be prepared to get rotten deals individually. In total, though, you might come out ahead. Of course, the chance of getting a ‘good’ tech is fairly small, and many desirable techs are completely off the table.

What I find to be the most irritating is that the AI trades tech between itself that it won’t under any circumstances trade to a human player. This indicates that, contrary to what Stardock says, a human player IS treated differently than the AI entities in diplomacy.

Hydro