Questions

[WB - Water's Blessing]

I think allowing resources to be transferred other than by trade routes diminishes the importance of trade routes and disincentivizes raiding other players or building roads. I am not sure that would be a good thing, because it removes a potential reason for conflict. More conflict is generally better for BR than less.

[DM Juan]

Could do ... Raiding trade routes steals resources available on that chain, and destroys a local leg, I suppose. And is the only(?) Way to raid for resources.

Smuggling routes don't exist?

[DM Juan]

I like the concept of resource raiding and linking it to trade routes preserves their function of spreading resources, while enabling theft. And perhaps the targets start paying protection money...

[AaH - Avicerra al Hamam]

Who will loose gp then. The guild owner?

[DM Juan]

Swapping settlers: I am not sure I like the idea of trading around settlers. Settle a province and sell the province?


The guilder would lose the GB that trade route was going to generate in this plan as it is destroyed.

[TH - The Hunt]

That sounds good. Trade routes would be by far the easiest target for raiding for resources, since all the shopping and packaging has already been done. You could even take their vehicles. ...which helps explain why the route shuts down.

Trading settlers is essentially slave trade. Even if possible, it should be inefficient, because it'd cost 1 GB per settler and require a ship to transport them, on top of the sale itself. Loyalty loss at the capital of the seller seems likely, too, if they're selling off their own people. And a province settled by 'bought' settlers should start at poor loyalty...

[AaH - Avicerra al Hamam]

I dont think the current raiding rules will work for raiding trade routes. You need one rule for sea trade routes and one for land trade routes. I think it will become very timekeeping which provinces still provide resources because of chain trade. Each player has to be informed by Juan. What happens if trade route A is raided and takes the stone will trade route B from the same area be affected and what of the owner of the province will he loose the stone as well?

I think it will become to much to keep track of. I had difficulties myself to keep track of last game where I was missing which resources. Now Juan needs to inform me seperatly if any trade routs are not working. It will also make Rouges become much weaker. They are investing a lot of cash into the building of roads and ships for trade. If the raiding rules are changed they also need a lot of units for protection.

The result will be that a lot of provinces will lack resources to build as it wont be easy to defend and noone will build roads so trade routes can be established. Also raiding trade routes on the sea will result in higher amount of ships sett up for defense of the trade routes. Lets say you need 2 ships for each trade route for protection and still you will be vulnerable. The cost to get the traderute established just increase and so the upkeep.

Also how do other empires know which trade route to raid? Will it be random? Unless we do a espionage action we dont know who is trading with who.

I think it is to much of a change. I myself would probably not play a guilder if trade routes can be raided. But we all have made our Characters so changes now wont be possible.

[TH - The Hunt]

Trade routes could always be raided, this just means they can be raided for resources instead of only GB (and this would be the only way to raid for resources). It would be very strange if trade routes couldn't be raided at all. They provide a large source of reliable income that doesn't have to compete against anything except other trade routes. An alternative to them being destroyed by raids would be if they're suppressed temporarily, but that would be many times harder to keep track of.

Which trade routes connect which provinces is automatically available in every turn report.

[WB - Water's Blessing]

I actually think that lots of provinces lacking the resources to build regularly is a feature rather than a bug. It should be hard to build. Plus, piracy was the plague of international trade for centuries. Playing a pirate (or, being hired by a realm to be a privateer and steal resources from a third country) seems like a great domain possibility with this set of rules.

I think TRs being destroyed is a good thing too. TRs become fire and forget sources of easy money. Making them targets for raids (and that they get destroyed if raided) makes trade routes require more actions to be invested in them to keep them going and takes some GBs out of the game. Too many GBs in the economy is always a problem once the game becomes mature.

[DK - Duergan King]

You don't want raiding to be too easy or it will happen all the time and force everyone to do it.

So long as people with fortresses/ large armies etc are harder to raid it might stop it being too much of a problem.