With the base cost of 2 and the only one pricerising event after 1570 leaves it as one of the cheapest goods in the game.
Tropical wood is too cheap
- Thread starter Messy
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I don't see a reason why its price should be increased. It's not like it was a major good in Europe or anywhere for that matter.
Most tropical wood that found its way to Europe was controlled by Spaniards and mainly used for shipbuilding. It had nowhere near the same value it has today.
" [...] the mahogany trade on the Pacific [...] will yet require many years to become remunerative and permanent, there being no sure market for the wood [...] " (Wells 1857:347)
The situation remained unchanged even well into the twentieth century, which is outside EU4's timeframe.
Most tropical wood that found its way to Europe was controlled by Spaniards and mainly used for shipbuilding. It had nowhere near the same value it has today.
" [...] the mahogany trade on the Pacific [...] will yet require many years to become remunerative and permanent, there being no sure market for the wood [...] " (Wells 1857:347)
The situation remained unchanged even well into the twentieth century, which is outside EU4's timeframe.
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Sandalwood and Brazilwood (the first two period appropriate luxury woods I thought of) were not highly valued? I'll admit that 'tropical wood' is frustratingly vague but there were woods which were incredibly valuable during the game's time period
Brazilwood suffered from the same issues Mahagony did and only started to take off late in the 16th century. Its unavailability made for barely any market.
You didn't trade these goods, you controlled them.
And controlling them didn't mean the same as controlling the spice trade did. There wasn't any commerce coming from it.
If you can make a case for Sandalwood, feel free to throw me a book. Would probably be sth like Asia to Arabia, but that's just one type amongst many that are listed under "tropical wood".
The market for tropical wood and the prices we've come to accept as normal nowadays started evolving during the late 19th century into something we can call an actual market.
Prior to that it was more of a novelty to encounter/control them and if you had control you didn't trade them away.
A good example would be the Brits trying to capture ships they've sunk from the Spanish Armada to get their hands on Mahagony because it was known to resist rotting, its lightness, etcetcetc.
Lots of qualities, but unavailable aside from scrapping destroyed ships due to the lack of a market.
If we want to argue over the trade good the real direction we should go would be towards "it needs to give a stronger bonus and have no price at all".
Which is the opposite direction of where you want to go.
Personally I'm fine with the compromise of it having the lowest price in the game. Tropical wood doesn't really fit in the timeline of EU4 as a tradegood inside the abstraction we're using.
You didn't trade these goods, you controlled them.
And controlling them didn't mean the same as controlling the spice trade did. There wasn't any commerce coming from it.
If you can make a case for Sandalwood, feel free to throw me a book. Would probably be sth like Asia to Arabia, but that's just one type amongst many that are listed under "tropical wood".
The market for tropical wood and the prices we've come to accept as normal nowadays started evolving during the late 19th century into something we can call an actual market.
Prior to that it was more of a novelty to encounter/control them and if you had control you didn't trade them away.
A good example would be the Brits trying to capture ships they've sunk from the Spanish Armada to get their hands on Mahagony because it was known to resist rotting, its lightness, etcetcetc.
Lots of qualities, but unavailable aside from scrapping destroyed ships due to the lack of a market.
If we want to argue over the trade good the real direction we should go would be towards "it needs to give a stronger bonus and have no price at all".
Which is the opposite direction of where you want to go.
Personally I'm fine with the compromise of it having the lowest price in the game. Tropical wood doesn't really fit in the timeline of EU4 as a tradegood inside the abstraction we're using.
To be fair, tropical wood was very important in the latter half of the Japanese Namban trade period, when most of the trade was conducted within East Asia. Having said that we're talking about five decades absolute maximum (although it might have been longer if Iemitsu hadn't enacted the sakoku edicts)...
Just remember that not all trade during the EUIV timeframe had one end in Europe, OK?
Just remember that not all trade during the EUIV timeframe had one end in Europe, OK?
Yea, but trade has to occur at least somewhere somehow and my point is that these goods were not being traded in the timeframe we're playing.
I used Europe as an example because my argument was based mostly on Mahagony, which only had one end and that was Europe.
But they were. Specifically, they were imported into Japan from South East Asia in the years either side of 1600.
I could believe an argument to raise the price from between 0.25 and 0.5 initially. But aside from some specific cases, a lot of what we call "tropical wood" was not super valuable until more in to the 19th century and the growth of the furniture industry, especially high class furniture.
Yea, but quoting yourself:
That doesn't mean it didn't exist, only that it was insignificant when looking at the whole timeframe and the whole map.
Really, tropical wood of any kind having a value is... it's too vague a topic to put a price tag on it. Can't split it up in every different type of tropical wood either because that'd make you production leader with 10 provinces or less.
Really, the current solution of it just having the lowest price is fine imo.
As an addendum to Dominion's well considered posts - Tropical does become an important and valuable commercial good in Victoria 2 which of course takes place in the 19th and 20th centuries.