Merchant Guide

[NorseThing]

I came across a Legend of Total War youtube.com video that might be of interest regarding Medieval II tutorial that begins with a discussion regarding the merchants. Worth a look. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3m8Wk2leP0

[Gigantus]

I am six minutes in and so far he repeats what should be common knowledge (well, maybe not for new players). Doesn't seem to know that multiple instances of a resource increases it's value.

One thing he stresses (rightly) about is the time\cost factor. If it takes 10 rounds to reach a resource that pays double then the one right next door then you need to stand on it for ten rounds just to make up the loss of income - that's 20 rounds gone without any improvement in income. Simply not an option unless you have at least 4tpy as the merchant will die of old age before he shows much of a improved profit.

To be honest I stopped watching after about 15 minutes, too convoluted to explain simple principles. Instead of simply saying that you can only recruit one merchant per building chain he took several minutes to demonstrate his console mastery.

You can sum it fairly easily: merchants are not for the early game as they require investment beyond simple recruiting. You get a better return increasing your population and squeezing the most out of them tax wise at this stage.

Understanding how the merchant income is achieved is a must and here he does a good albeit long winded job. Do let me know if there is something noteworthy after the 15 minute mark, eg some unusual approach.

[NorseThing]

No, I watched the whole piece. Yes. There is a great bit of repetition. Probably due to not scripting before the recording. I discovered years ago that preparation is key even if you post on TWC with a wall of text. I thought it great for the new people to take a look. We all learn best with a variety of resources.

[Gigantus]

Well, repetition does help in this age of 10 second attention spans Agreed on the info value for new comers, simplifying would however go a long way to convey that info.