I don't understand D, but I certainly agree that the races should not be Hostile towards one another in order for tech trading to be allowed. I don't, however, think a trade route should be required.

H. Should only beable to trade techs that you researched. This goes for the Ai also. Sort of like trade goods.

Thanks

B, C and F

I like big96d's idea. I also think that the AI should treat each other like they would the player. So if they wouldn't trade it to them for reasons x,y, or z, then they should apply the same logic to other AIs.

Big96d is talking about techs you actually researched, rather than traded for.

...personally, I don't see the problem. When I get a tech from the AI I do the rounds and trade it to everyone who doesn't have it, unless it would directly damage my chances. Why shouldn't they do it too?

Assume that most non-weapon techs will immediately be spread out to the other races. Hoard techs you don't want to have spread around (for me, that's either the defense to my main weapon, influence techs if I'm going for that victory, and diplomatic techs because that harms later trades). It's hard, because when you research sensitive tech you've got nothing new to trade for yourself, but that's life. I leave my most likely enemies out of the tech-trade loop, but I'm sure the other folk will trade it to them eventually, so it only slows them down.

Remember that the AI only checks to see if trades would hurt *itself*, not if it'd hurt you. If it has missiles and you give it shields, it should have no worries trading those shields on - what does it care if you have lasers?

Considering that big96d idea seems a very good idea, How can i add this option in the original text without messing anything? If the thread goes on this idea could not be seen by other posters.

D, or not tech trading at all. I dont like the other options (-1 for them )

A

MORE OPTIONS! (for non-metaverse games obviously)

I dont want it 'changed', i want the ability to have more options

- an option for friendly + trade route to trade is good. maybe even add a NEW! tech before its allowed. Maybe a diplomatic freighter you have to build to go actually pick up stuff? The freighter would kinda suck during wartime though =/ and thats when you need friends help most.

- an option for zero trading would be nice

- my favorite still, would be an option to only allow you to trade away techs that YOU research yourself. no 2nd hand technology stores in my galaxy!

Of those choices, D-Blueprints, the Hearts of Iron 2 model is definately the way to go when it comes to tech trading. More like real life. The Japanese recieved alot of plans from the Germans in WW2, but it still took them time and effort to get them running.

But I would still like to see an option for completely turning it off like in Civ4. That was the best thing Sid ever did to that game.

I vote for D, as people mentioned before Hearts of Iron II uses this and its much more logical and it eliminates the instant trade of tech to other races.

If not D, either alliance trading or not trade at all.

I think a combination choice between

Friendly relations, Blueprint trading is the best way to go.

I dont think they need to change the system just add these options for all the people that dont every race to be exactly the same in tech.

H

AI decides which of your techs it really wants (Industrial sector and planetary invasion, for instance), and will refuse to buy any others, at least until the most desirable ones are acquired. Decisions may be based on
1. Its own tech items. The AI is unwilling to buy any tech obsoleted by another that it owns. Weapons of another class than its main weapons are not very interesting unless an enemy has great defences against its main weapons or it is more powerful than the current level of its main weapons. If it is contemplating an invasion against the player, no defences against its own weapons will be traded.
2. Friends' and enemies' techs. It will not give as much for a tech that friends have, as there are more potential sellers who ought to be willing to sell at a lower price. It does encourage whoring away a tech to everyone who is interested once you decide to release it, but will give diminishing returns for each race that gets it. Or it may expect to capture the tech from a weakened enemy in a short while so it's not worth paying for. Defences to the weapons deployed by its enemies are more valueable than other defences.
3. Longterm goal. For instance the Yor may not be particularly interested in diplomacy techs, after all they seek the extermination of all non-mech life. If a race wants to aim for research victory (I've never seen this happen), items along that path would be valuable.
4. Current lacks of its civ. If it is lagging behind in research, techs which boost reasearch would be welcome. If it is lagging far behind in weapons techs (or even has none), it should be extremely eager to get some.
5. Current military positions. If an enemy has multiple fleets roaming near your fleets, a quick boost to logistics could make a huge difference. If the AI has defeated defenders at an enemy's planets or is about to launch a great offensive where it expects to invade planets, soldiering boosting techs are valuable.
6. Previous trades. If the player has been generous in previous trading, the AI may allow a better price, or even give away something as the AI "owes" something. For instance, give (or sell cheaply) the Arcean the techs they need to repel the Drengin fleet threatening their worlds, and it could be very grateful and eager to repay the favour. Whore away techs you get from the AI, and it may take offence (it's kinda their intellectual property as they developed it) - unofficially or officially - and give you worse deals later.

And on and on... The problem is, all this logic is probably pretty time-consuming to implement. Barring these improvements, I'm rather happy the way it is. Playing on higher difficulty levels, the tech trading doesn't give you a huge unfair advantage. Although I'd at least like number 2, as it should make a good difference and not be too hard to implement, save perhaps for calculating expectations to conquering planets.