Why does aging only slow down Merchants?

**Conan's Might** · October 07, 2010, 07:30 AM

Hi guys,

Just wondering why reduced movement with age only effects Merchants + not priest or diplomats?

Could it be that diplomats + priest transport is provided by the state and Merchants provide there own transport?

Since Merchants have to generally travel some distance before there income is worth the while it is mildly annoying they start to slow down pretty quick as you seem to recruit Merchants in there 30's + 40's

**bɑne** · October 07, 2010, 08:10 AM

The historical theory is that with age, a merchant will switch from beeing a "wandering salesmen" to one with a steady operation in one place. Once a merchant has enough money he can afford his own place of business for even greater profit.
The gameengine reason is to prevent highlevel AI merchants from blitzing Europe and gobbling up every newly recruited merchant that crosses their path.

**For England Men** · October 07, 2010, 08:35 AM

I think it works pretty well apart from in their 60s it gets to a point where if they get knocked one tile from their resource it takes like 3 turns to get back on it lol

**Slyspy** · October 07, 2010, 02:28 PM

I think it works poorly and is a flawed idea.

**Sanderlicious** · October 07, 2010, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by bane_tw

The gameengine reason is to prevent highlevel AI merchants from blitzing Europe and gobbling up every newly recruited merchant that crosses their path.

For this aspect, I love it.
If it weren't that AI Merchants with one or two finance can buy out my much higher level merchants, I would use them a whole lot more.

**Fakir** · October 08, 2010, 02:56 AM

Originally Posted by Sanderlicious

For this aspect, I love it.
If it weren't that AI Merchants with one or two finance can buy out my much higher level merchants, I would use them a whole lot more.

Why shouldn't they be able to? Percentage is a measure of likelihood, it doesn't rule out chance. When I get a 1 or 2 finance merchant, I usually "kill him off" by throwing him at a 5-6 finance enemy merchant. Doing this, though, there have been times where my guy won and ate the other one!

**For England Men** · October 08, 2010, 04:23 AM

The good aspect of it is that because we now have independent merchants and the AI uses them more they tend to try and find a resource and stay on it which I like. couple of times a merchant has be knocked off resource as I say before and it takes so long to get back on it he ends up dying but to be honest that is an annoyance at the most and is well worth the plus side of not having AI merchants who travel around killing yours off for the fun like they did in vanilla.

**Sanderlicious** · October 08, 2010, 04:53 AM

Originally Posted by Fakir

Why shouldn't they be able to? Percentage is a measure of likelihood, it doesn't rule out chance. When I get a 1 or 2 finance merchant, I usually "kill him off" by throwing him at a 5-6 finance enemy merchant. Doing this, though, there have been times where my guy won and ate the other one!

No no, I am not ruling out chance, which is fine. Here is my problem:

My very high level merchants cannot win no matter what I try. Once testing it, my 6 finance merchant could not buy out a single finance merchant given a very high percentage chance and three tries at it. Its only if I reload the game after each failure that he is eventually able to win.

On the other hand, my merchants who are sitting on top of a resource for a while and are very skilled get bought out by very low merchants in only one try nearly every single time. I have never seen my merchants defend themselves or buy out the other guy for trying.

it just seems like it is weighted in favor of the AI is all...

**makute** · October 08, 2010, 08:27 AM

Traits play a big role for all characters, and Merchants are no exception. I.e. the Bean Counter and Legal Nouse traits gives a great boost when trying to buy another Merchant (I'm not sure about defending). The success chance is only a direct comparison of both financial skills, and doesn't count those traits hidden bonuses.

**preachercheeze** · October 08, 2010, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by Sanderlicious

No no, I am not ruling out chance, which is fine. Here is my problem:

My very high level merchants cannot win no matter what I try. Once testing it, my 6 finance merchant could not buy out a single finance merchant given a very high percentage chance and three tries at it. Its only if I reload the game after each failure that he is eventually able to win.

On the other hand, my merchants who are sitting on top of a resource for a while and are very skilled get bought out by very low merchants in only one try nearly every single time. I have never seen my merchants defend themselves or buy out the other guy for trying.

it just seems like it is weighted in favor of the AI is all...

remember that the seed will be the same if you just reload and try again... after reload, move a different unit first or the merchant will fail as it did at the last try...

**Fakir** · October 08, 2010, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by Sanderlicious

No no, I am not ruling out chance, which is fine. Here is my problem:

My very high level merchants cannot win no matter what I try. Once testing it, my 6 finance merchant could not buy out a single finance merchant given a very high percentage chance and three tries at it. Its only if I reload the game after each failure that he is eventually able to win.

On the other hand, my merchants who are sitting on top of a resource for a while and are very skilled get bought out by very low merchants in only one try nearly every single time. I have never seen my merchants defend themselves or buy out the other guy for trying.

it just seems like it is weighted in favor of the AI is all...

Oh I see. I've personally not had this very much, but then again, I have to admit that since SS 6.3 I've pretty much given up on buying out other merchants.

I used to train them up that way, but those days are gone now.

**Spartan90** · October 08, 2010, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Sanderlicious

If it weren't that AI Merchants with one or two finance can buy out my much higher level merchants, I would use them a whole lot more.

Just take advantage of a semi-'cheat' and stack your Merchants on an army that's sitting on top of a resource. I believe SS took out the fort-glitch, but you can still do it with a soldier unit. Safe and sound

When I get a 1 or 2 finance merchant, I usually "kill him off" by throwing him at a 5-6 finance enemy merchant.

My advice, try your best not to do this, as it makes you lose points with the Merchant's Guild, which therefore makes it harder for you to get the HQ.

**Fakir** · October 08, 2010, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan90

My advice, try your best not to do this, as it makes you lose points with the Merchant's Guild, which therefore makes it harder for you to get the HQ.

Noooo no no no. A lot of people seem to think this is true, but the truth is that you get +10 towards the guild for a successful acquisition, but there is no penalty for a failed one. The penalty will only go to your merchant (if he survives), in the manner of a loss of finance rating - and losing money for your faction.

Anyway, killing merchants this way inquires no penalty towards getting a merchant's guild, and it's faster than loading all those idiots onto a boat and finding a pirate ship.