I, Robot.....trade!

[dojoboy]

Okay, I know I shouldn't allow the computer to control trades. But as a relative newb to Victoria, it seems a daunting task to handle it myself.

In my first GC as Belgium, my aim was simply to survive until the end. Therefore, the computer did a fine job in my newbish opinion. When I needed certain goods for improvements, I would go and buy them specifically for that task. I even bought some miscellaneous items early in the game and held them until the price went up over time before selling, kind of like playing the Stock Market.

But, as to how the veterans run the world market, I'd really like to get some feedback from the community.

 

[unmerged(23487)]

Computer trade WILL DESTROY YOU. It is absolutely no good, I tell you.

That all I have to say about it.

 

[Bladrov XII]

it seems daunting, but with a little "breaking in", your new country's economy will be familiar to you, and its resource requirements, allowing you to tweak your trade settings.

besides, its not like youre going to have much to do until a war breaks out anyway, so tweak your trade settings until your economy is running relatively smoothly.

besides the practical benefit of personal management, there is also the intangible satisfaction derived from knowing that you're at least partly responsible for your economy running smoothly, no?

 

[unmerged(26989)]

I do 1/2 and 1/2 with the trade, I let the computer controll things like fruit and grain, wine and what not, but other more important things such as steel, sulphur and machine parts I keep my own eye on.

 

[Arado]

Okay, I know I shouldn't allow the computer to control trades. But as a relative newb to Victoria, it seems a daunting task to handle it myself.

In my first GC as Belgium, my aim was simply to survive until the end. Therefore, the computer did a fine job in my newbish opinion. When I needed certain goods for improvements, I would go and buy them specifically for that task. I even bought some miscellaneous items early in the game and held them until the price went up over time before selling, kind of like playing the Stock Market.

But, as to how the veterans run the world market, I'd really like to get some feedback from the community.

Trade has to be do-it-yourself. Start a game or 2 just to learn what resources you need and how the market makes them available and how often. Get a feel for it, and before long you'll manage the trades with no problem. I decide the levels of resources on the first day of each game, and I modify them as my little kingdom grows into a gargantuan world power. You will eventually want to stockpile things like small arms, canned food, lumber etc... for mobilizations and rail improvements, as well as POP upgrades. Everyone will recommend to not let the comp do it!

 

[dojoboy]

Trade has to be do-it-yourself. Start a game or 2 just to learn what resources you need and how the market makes them available and how often. Get a feel for it, and before long you'll manage the trades with no problem. I decide the levels of resources on the first day of each game, and I modify them as my little kingdom grows into a gargantuan world power. You will eventually want to stockpile things like small arms, canned food, lumber etc... for mobilizations and rail improvements, as well as POP upgrades. Everyone will recommend to not let the comp do it!

Right. My mind tells me so, but when you do it manually it seems as if you need to go there constantly. Or, does one just go in and stockpile resources and check back periodically for deals or when needed? Also, what do you mean by when the "market makes them available?"

If the Market for "furniture" is 1, this means?

 

[unmerged(9404)]

Stock up reasonable amounts of lumber, steel and cement, those are needed for railroads and colonies (no steel for colonies).

Always set machine parts to buy more than you currently have, you might get lucky!

Sell your raw materials at low levels, large stocks are usually no use, I usually keep the stock of materials between 10 and 30

Whenever you've built a factory check to set the right buy/sell issue for the raw materials, check this again a couple of times in the coming months. Remember to try to produce most of the raw materials needed for factories yourself.

Before a factory is finished check if you have the resources to promote craftsmen/clerks so they can work in a factory, put a temporary buy on them if needed.

 

[unmerged(9404)]

Right. My mind tells me so, but when you do it manually it seems as if you need to go there constantly. Or, does one just go in and stockpile resources and check back periodically for deals or when needed? Also, what do you mean by when the "market makes them available?"

You only have to check periodically if materials you were previously underproducing (thus needed to buy) are now overproducing (thus you can sell them) and vice versa. This can happen through various reason, i.e. meddling with POPs in RGOs and factories or increasing production output of RGOs and factories.

 

[unmerged(2669)]

You only have to check periodically if materials you were previously underproducing (thus needed to buy) are now overproducing (thus you can sell them) and vice versa. This can happen through various reason, i.e. meddling with POPs in RGOs and factories or increasing production output of RGOs and factories.

You can also just check at a glance by sorting the list by stockpile, or even the production list by production amount. All you then have to do is look at the top few commodities to check that your settings are doing what you want. For example, running a coal and iron-based economy, I had big stockpiles of those as a hedge against supply shocks and they appeared at the top of the list - easy. I also only adjust trades as I start to need commodities, or to dump stockpiles, so there's no need to check every single trade at once. But yes, don't let the Nick-Leeson-style AI anywhere near the trading floor...

 

[Darkrenown]

Another good way is to check page 11 in the ledger and sort the factories by "lacking" so you can easily see if you're short on anything.

 

[Pafka]

aslo i usually set small arms and canned food to 50 so i can increase mob. pool

 

[unmerged(29803)]

I do 1/2 and 1/2 with the trade, I let the computer controll things like fruit and grain, wine and what not, but other more important things such as steel, sulphur and machine parts I keep my own eye on.

Ditto. Anything required for production I tend to control myself throughout the entire game. Goods needed for construction (railways, factories, colonial buildings, etc), POP upgrades or military units I control manually only when I'm about to use them. The rest I leave to the AI.
Mind, this usually implies that I'll be managing nearly all goods myself from some point onward but this approach at least avoids having to go through the entire goods list when starting a new game

 

[unmerged(7914)]

What about manipulating the market? I've read something about that, and while it makes sense, it seems that it would take an aweful lot of time. Do you all find this worth it, or do you just tweak here and there and sell your daily surplus.

(by manipulating, I mean stockpiling and then selling all at once when price is high due to the low supply caused by the fact that you haven't been selling).

 

[Nightcap]

(by manipulating, I mean stockpiling and then selling all at once when price is high due to the low supply caused by the fact that you haven't been selling).

Someone tested this, if you sell your goods all in one go you get the lower price not the higher one. You do however get more tarriff income because whilst stockpiling your POPs pay a higher price for that good.

ie if you sell 1000 steel when the price is £20 and it drops to £10 after the sale you get £10,000 not £20,000. To profit from a stockpile-sell strategy you need to sell off your stock pile in small blocks to avoid flooding the market (like real life).

 

[dojoboy]

What about access to resources for my POPs? I thought the only way for them to get tobacco, is if I'm trading for tobacco, even though I may produce it myself. Common sense tells me, as long as I have enough stockpiled, then I'm okay. Correct?

"There is always a domestic market for the goods you produce in your factories, but the fact is that the system makes the POPs buy their desired goods from the world market. This means that if, for example, you are the world’s only producer of furniture and you don’t offer your stockpile onto the world market, then your POPs won’t ever get any of it. This situation, recall, increases their Militancy." - VickyWiki Guide

I guess part of my hesitation is seeing my daily balance in the red. Is a negative daily balance just part of it, then off to the trade market and sell some goods for the end-of-the-month surplus?

 

[Darkrenown]

What about access to resources for my POPs? I thought the only way for them to get tobacco, is if I'm trading for tobacco, even though I may produce it myself. Common sense tells me, as long as I have enough stockpiled, then I'm okay. Correct?

No, your pops buy from the WM, like the wiki says. You buying the goods doesn't help your pops at all.

 

[dojoboy]

Oh, I see. If I'm the world's only supplier of a resource....

 

[Nightcap]

Oh, I see. If I'm the world's only supplier of a resource....

Then you would have to sell for your pops to get any yes.

 

[AndersSchm]

Some tips if you are working with trading in Victoria for the first time.

• Go to page 11 of the ledger, the shortages will be listed on the right hand side in red.
• Note these down and go to the trade screen. Set a trade to buy each of these goods when your stocks fall below 10.
• Run the game for a few more turns. Check page 11 again as most of the shortages should have gone by now, if you require something still then make sure you set up the trade correctly.
• If you have setup the trade correctly then it is likely that the world market has limited stocks (or none at all) of the good you require. Find a prestige improving method which will put you at the front of the queue to buy the limited items. Making a satellite of a small civilised neighbour is an easy way to do this at the start of the game.
• You can use your shortages as a guide for expanding your industry or targets for conquest. Most of my conquests in Victoria are aimed at grabbing resources such as sulphur, iron and coal.
• Check back once every few weeks to make sure nothing has changed.
• Check the stocks of items you have to see if you can start selling something. If you have a surplus then decide an amount you would like to hang onto and instruct it to sell anything more than this.
• It is good to hang onto large stocks of the things necessary for making colonies, railroads or soldiers. Hanging onto enough stocks to promote POPs into clerks and craftsmen is also essential when industrialising.

Once you've got the hang of the above you rarely need to touch the trade screen.

 

[AndersSchm]

Damn lists are big... anyone want to give me some tips on lists??