Trading Cities mechanics

[babuchas1]

I have been playing as venice, and trying the "trading city" mechanics. I don't talk about invite existing OPM to a trade league, but creating new trading cities. A trade city that you create from one of your own provinces. In theory these trading cities should not expand and never leave the trade league.
This sounds interesting in theory, if you want to role play a bit and don't grow too large as a merchant republic. But the problem is that this is not working, because of several problems:

1- They fabricate claims and declare offensive wars with the "conquest" objective, so they usually grow to 2 provinces, and they leave the trade league. That makes all the thing just dumb, because why would you ever lose one of your own provinces to create such a trading city to see how they just leave the league one year later. Just silly and destroys all the fun and meaning that trading cities could have.

2- They ally your rivals, even if you have >100 relations and are super friendly. They ally your rivals so if you declare a war on them, the trading cities just leave the league. You could just invite them again after the war you could thing. But no, because they think "the trade league has too many members", and so they don't want to join. And so again, you have lost one of your own provinces to create a trading city for nothing. Silly again.

So i think trading cities should have a huge rework to make playing merchant republics fun. Of course you can play merchant republics and just blow but what is the point then?
My suggestion would be that the trading cities can't fabricate claims and that they can't declare offensive wars for conquest, that you gain a cases belli if they leave the league for som reason to "force them to join" the league again. And that if one of your trading cities get conquest you gain a cases belli to "liberate" them.
That way trading cities could be fun and worthy again. Otherwise i don't think any player would use this mechanic. Ever.

Thank you and i really appreciate any suggestion or comment on this topic!

 

[AnssiA]

They should probably just be vassals that don't take diplo-slot and doesn't participate in offensive wars.

 

[Canute VII]

You've forgot that you can't even call in your allies if your trading cities get attacked... which makes you an easy target.

 

[sigeena]

I would also like to earn trust with members of the trade league over time. It seems odd that an OPM can be a member for a hundred years and just because of mechanics, doesn't want to be a member again. It's fine if they've already got themselves an ally, but if they are alone diplomatically, they definitely should be looking at some bigger alliance web, such as the trade league

 

[sigeena]

You've forgot that you can't even call in your allies if your trading cities get attacked... which makes you an easy target.

If you gain a certain mass in the trade league, say 5 members, most 2nd level powers will hesitate to declare on any member. Once you reach 10 members, even great powers will blink before DoW.

 

[Galaahd]

Agreed that to have Trading Cities in their current state is pointless.

They're not interesting, meaningful, useful. It's just bad, they might as well scrap the feature rather than keep it like this.

 

[sigeena]

It's an easy way to get out of the 20 provinces state limit.

 

[babuchas1]

It's an easy way to get out of the 20 provinces state limit.

Yes, I agree, i think it could be an interesting mechanic if it worked well. That's why i try to make it work. But the problem is what I've said in the first post: They fabricate claims, they go to war for conquest, they gain 1 more province and leave the league. Result: You have gained a hole bunch of aggressive expansion and lost one of your own provinces for nothing.
Thats why it should get a rework, it would be very easy to make trading cities work properly and make it very fun, its just a few small changes.
Please Paradox, its not that difficult...Playing a merchant republic properly is one of the few ways we players have to play a bit different, and not just "blow and kill" style...

 

[Benghi Bon]

It's an easy way to get out of the 20 provinces state limit.

It'd be "easy" if it actually worked. You don't have any real jurisdiction over these pathethic little states.

They definitely need a rework, along with much of merchant republics. I'd like a state cap increase for a start and I'll gladly embrace the Respectful Disagrees™ for that.