Being a tech provider for the world vs. not

[Torpid]

Usually when I'm playing a game, I'm the scientific leader (probably because I'm still doing Chieftain, but I think I'll try Warlord soon.) What I usually do is sell them my techs for tons of gtp, and I always have thousands of gold to rush production and upgrade units and stuff. Is this a good strategy? Because while I have tons of gold to make units and buildings fast, they can build the same units I can. What do you guys do?

EDIT: Crap, forgot I was in stories (great story, joe!). Someone move this to strategy or general, thanks.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Hi there Torpid, I thought this was another story at first but then your request to get the thread made me realise it was not. Oh well it would have been nice to see a new writer.

This will most likely get moved but I will gladly tell you my thoughts on your question. It seems to me you are already well past the point to move up to warlord, maybe even regent, you should try it out for a whole new gaming experience. Most of the so called expert players who post on these forums will tell you, even civ2 vets that when they first fired up civ3 they got thrashed, many on the lower levels and so had to re-earn their stripes working back up the difficulty levels. I think that is part of the fun of this game.

Ive been playing at regent now for about a year, and I have got to a point where I am always winning quite early through conquest so I have been dabbling with monarch with mixed results, sometimes geting beaten up on good style.

Youre question about what is sensible with a huge tech advantage, well its not easy to answer because every game is different but as long as you are also by far the largest, and strongest in terms of army size then you should have no serious problems with trading your tech.

One other thing to watch for is in the very late game dont give your competitors an opportunity to build the spaceship before you by selling them the right tech, and remember that if you only sell it to one they will whore it to all other takers, so sell to everyone if at all.

[DarkCloud]

Don't worry. I moved it.

[Datajack Franit]

Yes it is a damn good strategy (what's the global tech level?) if you're not looking for Great Wonders to be completed..I usually trade everything BUT Literature, Feudalism, Theocracy, Monotheism and Music Theory- those GW-related techs are WAY TOO IMPORTANT, in order to having strong chances of making it to the modern ages without being forced to waste 60gpt for luxuries, while you could just had Sistine Chapel and JS Bach's Cathedral saving you so much time and money- I noticed that most of the civs have a common research line, meaning that they usually research Literature in the late stages of Ancient Ages. Try and figure out by yourself what you should trade and what not. And remember that you can always ask an ally of yours to attack a strong opponent located on the other side of the world, just for the sake of slowing their research, losing gpt in support, watching their cities going nuts (republic+war= ) and eventually wipe out an enemy without ever lifting a finger (I suggest gpt pacts as stupid AI could always plead for a peace treaty)

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Torpid
Usually when I'm playing a game, I'm the scientific leader (probably because I'm still doing Chieftain, but I think I'll try Warlord soon.) What I usually do is sell them my techs for tons of gtp, and I always have thousands of gold to rush production and upgrade units and stuff. Is this a good strategy? Because while I have tons of gold to make units and buildings fast, they can build the same units I can. What do you guys do?

It is a good strategy. Once you get up industrial age, I may not want to sell techs any more. As you move up the tech race will start to accerate and it will be harder to get the lead early in the game.

[bvoncranium]

Tech leadership can be a pretty powerful advantage. Some thoughts on the tactics and considerations of Tech leadership include:

a) As some Techs reveal new resource types, it is a huge advantage to see these resources before anyone else. You can then lay your plans to acquire the resources and use them for leverage, or starve your opponents of crucial resources. In general, these Techs are ones to avoid or defer trading if you can help it.

b) If you have a Tech that no-one else has, and the Tech gives you better units or improvements, it is advisable to wait a number of turns of production before trading it. That way even though other Civs will be able to build the same units, they'll always be a number of turns behind you in terms of actually being able to deploy and use the units or improvements.

c) When you decide to trade a Tech, try to trade it to as many Civs on the same turn as possible. This way you maximize the return for the Tech. Tech trades can proliferate pretty quickly once they're out of your hands, especially if you've traded one to an AI.

d) There is a great cost to Tech leadership, since the first Civ to research a Tech pays the greatest cost for it. Some Civ players prefer to 'draft' the Tech leader, allowing them to stay just behind the Tech leader while paying less for research. This reduction of Tech research cost is another reason to trade to everyone at once - better to get what you can for the Tech before it gets very cheap to research.

e) If you covet Great Wonders, this is another reason to be the Tech leader. The great thing is that a number of the Wonders (Newton's, Copernicus', Evolution, etc.) boost your ability to maintain Tech leadership - a nice plus.

f) I find it far more effective to progress up a line of Techs to get to a 'breakthrough' type Tech (e.g. Iron Working, Replaceable Parts, etc.) rather than to progress gradually up each Tech path in an Age. Getting key units or resources before anyone else does is a most compelling advantage.

g) One drawback is that you may NOT want the new units that come with your Techs to be produceable (a new word) in all of your towns. For example, you may want that low-production border town to churn out 7 Spearmen instead of 2 muskets in the same time. There are ways around this though...

In the 15 games I've completed from Chieftain to Monarch (half of them multiplayer), I've tried various Tech strategies. My best results have come when I've been either leading or close to the lead in Techs. Though its usefullness depends significantly upon the scenario and your opponents, I'd conclude that in general it is a worthwhile strategy for sustained advantage.

Cheers, bvc