Trade Scenario

[Battlecry]

Ok, I've looked at the manual and all the Dev info on trade, and I still don't feel I have a complete grasp of it, so I'll present a scenario and see if I have it down:

-I am France (hear me roar).
-My "best" trade locus (the one which encompasses most of my provinces) is Bordeaux.
-I collect in Bordeaux, and want to increase what I collect there.
-The next upstream locus is Sevilla, so I have a merchant transfer power downstream to Bordeaux, and have light ships protect Sevilla > Bordeaux route.
-Upstream from Sevilla are Tunis and Genoa, so, assuming I had the merchants, do the same with those - transfer power ultimately to Bordeaux.
-Is there any point in using merchants downstream from Bordeaux (London or Antwerp?) There seems to be un upstream-transferring effect, so does the relative wealth of Antwerp vs. Sevilla cancel out the difference?

I am (theoretically) doing this right? If not, how should I being doing this to maximize income? (Ignoring number of merchant limits for our purposes - an idealized scenario).

 

[unperson]

Ok, I've looked at the manual and all the Dev info on trade, and I still don't feel I have a complete grasp of it, so I'll present a scenario and see if I have it down:

-I am France (hear me roar).
-My "best" trade locus (the one which encompasses most of my provinces) is Bordeaux.
-I collect in Bordeaux, and want to increase what I collect there.
-The next upstream locus is Sevilla, so I have a merchant transfer power downstream to Bordeaux, and have light ships protect Sevilla > Bordeaux route.
-Upstream from Sevilla are Tunis and Genoa, so, assuming I had the merchants, do the same with those - transfer power ultimately to Bordeaux.
-Is there any point in using merchants downstream from Bordeaux (London or Antwerp?) There seems to be un upstream-transferring effect, so does the relative wealth of Antwerp vs. Sevilla cancel out the difference?

I am (theoretically) doing this right? If not, how should I being doing this to maximize income? (Ignoring number of merchant limits for our purposes - an idealized scenario).

Yes your on the right track.
As for placing merchants downstream, you cannot send money back upstream, but if you have power in those nodes you can send part of that power back up. (only about 20% so not much)

Check out this table to see all the effects (not made by me)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At73KTzHGGdXdE9VRDYxbEVXV1NlOTdlRTI4QjU2dnc#gid=0

 

[Battlecry]

Yes your on the right track.
As for placing merchants downstream, you cannot send money back upstream, but if you have power in those nodes you can send part of that power back up. (only about 20% so not much)

Check out this table to see all the effects (not made by me)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At73KTzHGGdXdE9VRDYxbEVXV1NlOTdlRTI4QjU2dnc#gid=0

And transferring power away from Sevilla will piss off the Iberian countries right? Muhahaha death to Castille!

 

[unperson]

And transferring power away from Sevilla will piss off the Iberian countries right? Muhahaha death to Castille!

No you misunderstood I think, Sevilla is upstream (not geographical up/down but the direction of flow) and London/Amsterdam is downstream from the Bordeaux viewpoint.

You can only transfer money away from Sevilla ( but thats better then power anyway), and if you happen to have some power in Amsterdam for example, you can place a merchant there and send part of that power back to Bordeaux to boost your collection there.
From my experience transferring power back upstream like this is usually not worth it, so don't do it unless you can't find more profitable places for your merchants, but of course my experience only comes from playing in the limited demo timeframe.

 

[Battlecry]

No you misunderstood I think, Sevilla is upstream (not geographical up/down but the direction of flow) and London/Amsterdam is downstream from the Bordeaux viewpoint.

You can only transfer money away from Sevilla ( but thats better then power anyway), and if you happen to have some power in Amsterdam for example, you can place a merchant there and send part of that power back to Bordeaux to boost your collection there.
From my experience transferring power back upstream like this is usually not worth it, so don't do it unless you can't find more profitable places for your merchants, but of course my experience only comes from playing in the limited demo timeframe.

O...k...So I collect in Sevilla? I thought I was transferring power downstream to Bordeaux...is a merchant set to transfer in Sevilla sending money or power to Bordeaux? And I pissed off half the HRE by transferring power from Frankfurt as Austria, so I'm pretty sure I'll irritate/hurt Castille by transferring from Sevilla.

 

[unperson]

O...k...So I collect in Sevilla? I thought I was transferring power downstream to Bordeaux...is a merchant set to transfer in Sevilla sending money or power to Bordeaux? And I pissed off half the HRE by transferring power from Frankfurt as Austria, so I'm pretty sure I'll irritate/hurt Castille by transferring from Sevilla.

Collecting in your home node is almost always best, you get a big bonus there. The strategy you described in your first post was good.
-collect home ( Bordeaux )
-find profitable nodes upstream and transfer trade towards home ( Like Seville )

Sorry if I confused you :-(

 

[Battlecry]

Collecting in your home node is almost always best, you get a big bonus there. The strategy you described in your first post was good.
-collect home ( Bordeaux )
-find profitable nodes upstream and transfer trade towards home ( Like Seville )

Sorry if I confused you :-(

Lol ok good. But as I understand it the nodes have to be steered in sequence, so if you transfer power from one that is two-upstream from home, you won't get any benefit unless you have power in the one that is between them...?

EDIT: Scratch that - the sequence thing only applies to transferring power back upstream from downstream of you home.

EDIT: Ok read the spreadsheet more carefully, and apparently transferring in Sevilla will send money, not power, to Bordeaux, because I have no provinces in Sevilla's zone. Transfer from upstream of home is always money, transfer from downstream back up is power. Jesus...

 

[unperson]

Lol ok good. But as I understand it the nodes have to be steered in sequence, so if you transfer power from one that is two-upstream from home, you won't get any benefit unless you have power in the one that is between them...?

Yeah thats correct.

 

[ANO1453]

Lol ok good. But as I understand it the nodes have to be steered in sequence, so if you transfer power from one that is two-upstream from home, you won't get any benefit unless you have power in the one that is between them...?

It depends. The trade may be flowing naturally in your direction anyway, even if you are not controlling the node. For example, with Portugal and the Mauritanian Coast trade node. If you take your merchant out, it makes no difference, because both nations that have power there (Castille and Portugal) are sending the money upstream.
For the French case, given that Portugal and later Spain will be collecting money, while another number of nations will be steering money in another direction, you need to have power to have more money in Bordeaux.