Merchants kicked out after reload

[knul]

I'm playing 1.09 with AGCEEP 1.39 and I found something rather annoying. I have 5 traders in almost all COTs in the world and with a TE well above the rest of the world my traders are seldom kicked out. However, after a reload of three because of crashes, I noticed that right after I load the game, about 1/4 of my merchants are kicked out! It is rather annoying to send so many merchants every time I reload the game.

I've read somewhere that you can "wake" the AI by reloading. Is that what causes the high kickout rate? Or is it something else?

I'm not sure if this is WAD, or a bug of either EU2 itself or something with AGCEEP. I'm sorry if this should be posted at the AGCEEP forum.

 

[artemis667]

I've read somewhere that you can "wake" the AI by reloading. Is that what causes the high kickout rate? Or is it something else?

I'm not sure if this is WAD, or a bug of either EU2 itself or something with AGCEEP. I'm sorry if this should be posted at the AGCEEP forum.

It's not so much a bug as an undocumented feature. The AI traders tend to be pretty quiet most of the time, but upon a save load, they all spring into action at once.
This happens regardless of what mod you use. If your trade efficiency is relatively high, you have good stabliity, and a good ADM monarch, this won't be such a bother to you.

 

[unmerged(36826)]

Yes, it is simply the AI waking up, sending out some traders then stopping again. Perfectly normal if a bit irritating.

 

[knul]

Thanks for the replies Djeheuty and Dr. Bob. I guess I have to grin and bear it

I find it a bit odd that the AI wakes after reload. Why can't it be active all the time? Concentration problems? (can't blame it, the current campaign has been a quiet one )

 

[unmerged(20077)]

You'll have to ask the developers... this is the reason why quite often you get an event the instant you start a loaded game, and why within a couple of days of a re-loaded game starting everyone seems to declare war on each other. I suspect events and other actions work with an accumulating % chance to happen and this is instantly checked again on start, or something like that.

 

[unmerged(49508)]

I've read somewhere that you can "wake" the AI by reloading. Is that what causes the high kickout rate? Or is it something else?

Not only that, but you may see the ai to declare war more often after reload.

One way to handle somewhat the merchants is to end sessions at stab +3. This way you will experience less kickout.

 

[unmerged(6147)]

Yes it is a deficiency of the code. And as a player one must try to adjust. There exists several good tips how to adjust intelligently to this.

However, do not view it as something bad for you. Instead consider the fact that the AI is at sleep during most of the time as something good for you. After a reload he merely behaves as he always should, i.e. using his saved up merchants (although he uses them rather stupidly but that is another story).

You should not complain of him performing as he should

 

[Mork]

The AI does go to sleep after about 5 years. So always reload at at least when you adjust the slider settings.

 

[knul]

Yes it is a deficiency of the code. And as a player one must try to adjust. There exists several good tips how to adjust intelligently to this.

However, do not view it as something bad for you. Instead consider the fact that the AI is at sleep during most of the time as something good for you. After a reload he merely behaves as he always should, i.e. using his saved up merchants (although he uses them rather stupidly but that is another story).

You should not complain of him performing as he should

Well I'm not realy complaining about the AI, but more about all the work I've to do when I load a game. It is just a bit depressing to see 6 or 7 "market share lost" messages. The whole CoT thing is for me the worst part of EU2, a lot of work with few strategic choices.

One thing I've learned is to directly send 1 merchant to a CoT where I'm kicked out. That way there is a big chance there's a space open (where your former merchant sat). For expanding I use the three-merchants-at-a-time method.

 

[DSYoungEsq]

Well I'm not realy complaining about the AI, but more about all the work I've to do when I load a game. It is just a bit depressing to see 6 or 7 "market share lost" messages. The whole CoT thing is for me the worst part of EU2, a lot of work with few strategic choices.

One thing I've learned is to directly send 1 merchant to a CoT where I'm kicked out. That way there is a big chance there's a space open (where your former merchant sat). For expanding I use the three-merchants-at-a-time method.

3-at-a-time, while easier, is less remunerative than empty-slot sending. And the benefits of having lots of trade are enormous; over one-half of your annual income can be from trade by the middle of the game, if you do things right!

 

[knul]

3-at-a-time, while easier, is less remunerative than empty-slot sending. And the benefits of having lots of trade are enormous; over one-half of your annual income can be from trade by the middle of the game, if you do things right!

I know that trade is the mayor source of income later in the game, I've never challenged that. And about the age-old debate of Empty Slot versus 3-at-a-time, I'm in favour of the second because it is so much less tedious micromanagement. As I said, I kind of use Empty Slot sending when a merchant of mine is just kicked out. Then I know for sure there is a open slot in that CoT and I just send 1 merchant. For expanding, I find it to tedious to check all the CoT's in the ledger to find one with <100% space used. True, it is less efficient considering money and merchants. But it is more efficient considering RL time. And for me, that's a bit more important

 

[unmerged(49508)]

One more thing to be noted in the empty slot vs 3-at-a-time debate is that the ai will more likely to embargo you if you send more merchants in the same time. Easy exploit to get a free CB, but if you do not plan to go to war then it hurts more.