Fixed price caravans

[Chenier]

I have often had trouble dealing with trade because I wanted a high public price so as to tempt the random traders, but while wanting to maintain the ability to buy food cheaper. I have had many lords saying "I would be more than happy to sell food to you cheaper, will you lower the price?". However, I can't, as it could screw other inbound caravans and make them turn back.

As it is, caravans going to sell food have a minimum sell price, but not a maximum sell price, which really complicates and limits things when it comes to treaties and agreements that concern food. I would be really nice if lords would have a checkbox when sending out food so that it sells at the specified price, even if the region would be willing to pay more.

'cause as it is, I'm paying food from some people at a higher price than both of us are willing to agree for. This truly limits the potential of having treaties with some realm where one will offer cheap food in return for something else (if anything). The alternative is that I send caravans to their regions, but then the risk is that someone else picks up that food before me, as they can't reserve that food for my caravans.

[egamma]

This is what traders are for--send them to buy or sell food, and have a special buy/sell order set up for them.

[Chenier]

This is what traders are for--send them to buy or sell food, and have a special buy/sell order set up for them.

You and I both know that trading partners far outnumber traders. Furthermore, these are without caravan reach, why should the traders go buy this food for little profit when he can go buy other food for higher profit?

D'Hara has more than the average number of traders, but it'd never be enough.

[De-Legro]

I have often had trouble dealing with trade because I wanted a high public price so as to tempt the random traders, but while wanting to maintain the ability to buy food cheaper. I have had many lords saying "I would be more than happy to sell food to you cheaper, will you lower the price?". However, I can't, as it could screw other inbound caravans and make them turn back.

As it is, caravans going to sell food have a minimum sell price, but not a maximum sell price, which really complicates and limits things when it comes to treaties and agreements that concern food. I would be really nice if lords would have a checkbox when sending out food so that it sells at the specified price, even if the region would be willing to pay more.

'cause as it is, I'm paying food from some people at a higher price than both of us are willing to agree for. This truly limits the potential of having treaties with some realm where one will offer cheap food in return for something else (if anything). The alternative is that I send caravans to their regions, but then the risk is that someone else picks up that food before me, as they can't reserve that food for my caravans.

Hmm I can see how it would be helpful, but my feeling has always been that trading isn't meant to have this level of micro control.

[Chenier]

Hmm I can see how it would be helpful, but my feeling has always been that trading isn't meant to have this level of micro control.

If that was the case, then every city should be surrounded by enough rurals to feed it twice!

It *was* intended that food serve as a leverage for war and conflict, this was stated many times. For this to be fully effective, though, there needs to be a greater control over the resource. Otherwise, treaties that concern food will just be too complicated to put in action for people to bother with.

[De-Legro]

If that was the case, then every city should be surrounded by enough rurals to feed it twice!

It *was* intended that food serve as a leverage for war and conflict, this was stated many times. For this to be fully effective, though, there needs to be a greater control over the resource. Otherwise, treaties that concern food will just be too complicated to put in action for people to bother with.

Thus if you want food, war and stealing regions will perhaps be preferable to treaties ensuring food supplies. I've never had a huge problem with this though, the selling party massed the food they wished to sell in one region, set the correct price and a trader or a caravan picked it up. If we were worried that someone would buy it before the caravan arrived, we simply messaged the Lord with the ETA for the caravans. All worked pretty well.

[Chenier]

Thus if you want food, war and stealing regions will perhaps be preferable to treaties ensuring food supplies. I've never had a huge problem with this though, the selling party massed the food they wished to sell in one region, set the correct price and a trader or a caravan picked it up. If we were worried that someone would buy it before the caravan arrived, we simply messaged the Lord with the ETA for the caravans. All worked pretty well.

Looting for food is not a solution. Short-term, it can help, but if you do it too long, the regions you are looting won't be producing anything, and you'll have to look elsewhere (but will likely be stuck in a war, so unable to do so).

Managing the ETAs, now THAT's a hell of a lot of micromanagement. Fixed price caravans allows everyone to play at their own pace, you shouldn't have to ask people to set trade orders exactly on a given date, and then risk wasting two weeks if he fails to do it as the food goes back home before being sent again.

The game really needs some way to help trading at various prices with various partners. This would, imo, likely be a very easy way to code such a way. Another way would be to be able to set a different buy price according to a trader or caravan's realm. But this would likely be a lot more complicated to manage.

[De-Legro]

Looting for food is not a solution. Short-term, it can help, but if you do it too long, the regions you are looting won't be producing anything, and you'll have to look elsewhere (but will likely be stuck in a war, so unable to do so).

Managing the ETAs, now THAT's a hell of a lot of micromanagement. Fixed price caravans allows everyone to play at their own pace, you shouldn't have to ask people to set trade orders exactly on a given date, and then risk wasting two weeks if he fails to do it as the food goes back home before being sent again.

The game really needs some way to help trading at various prices with various partners. This would, imo, likely be a very easy way to code such a way. Another way would be to be able to set a different buy price according to a trader or caravan's realm. But this would likely be a lot more complicated to manage.

Did I say looting? Pretty sure I specified taking food producing regions. Any way this request is kind of similar to this one

http://forum.battlemaster.org/index.php/topic,1223.0.html

This part is probably relevant

What people have said already:

If you want to have fine-grained control over trade, you need to do it manually or with Traders. That is why that character class exists.

There is a system behind the madness. We have three methods of trade in the game:

• automatic caravans
• manual caravans
• traders

As listed, these are in increasing order of flexibility and control - and also in increasing order of complexity and decreasing order of convenience. All of that is intentional. Don't expect us to add code to automatic caravans that would make manual trade superfluous, or traders. All of these things have their place.

[Chenier]

Did I say looting? Pretty sure I specified taking food producing regions. Any way this request is kind of similar to this one

http://forum.battlemaster.org/index.php/topic,1223.0.html

This part is probably relevant

How would it make manual trade superfluous? It would make it more meaninful, and every transaction would still have to be done automatically, and prices set individually.

[De-Legro]

How would it make manual trade superfluous? It would make it more meaninful, and every transaction would still have to be done automatically, and prices set individually.

My reading of the entire thread was manual trade INCLUDED having to fiddle with prices to get the results you wanted if you didn't want to just sell/buy everything at a single price.

[Chenier]

My reading of the entire thread was manual trade INCLUDED having to fiddle with prices to get the results you wanted if you didn't want to just sell/buy everything at a single price.

Every agreeing lord would have to personally check it every time he sends out a caravan, and nothing would automatically stop him from not checking it to sell at market price instead.