Do cater costs increase if you expand beyond adv. scouts?

[DeletedUser4628]

This question has probably been asked and answered but after going through several threads I can't find the answer. I've read in several places that if you expand your map beyond your research the battles will get tougher than they would be if you had stayed even with the research. I do don't battles, only catering. Right now I'm just starting chapter IV but have already expanded to 69/70 provinces for the chapter V adv. scout chest. I've been holding off on expanding more because I don't want higher catering costs. Will my catering costs increase if I continue to expand before getting to the adv. scout chest for the next chapter?

 

[DeletedUser4778]

The answer to all of your questions is yes. Each advanced scouts research reduces negotiation costs and combat difficulty by 25%.

 

[DeletedUser4628]

Was hoping the answer would be no but I guess that does make sense. Thank you Draconomicon!

Edit: (several hours later) I'm having a hard time letting this go because I'm a very detail oriented person and could really use some clarification. When I hover over the chest in the research menu it says, "With this technology you can reduce your scouting costs significantly." It doesn't say anything about reducing the costs of negotiations. I don't mind paying higher scouting costs in order to continue expanding, coins are easy to get and I usually have to spend them at the trader so they don't get wasted anyway. I just want to avoid paying higher catering costs because of expanding beyond the research because goods are not so easy to get.
I think someone did take the time to figure out that the opposing army forces do increase each chapter and that increase is based on opening the chest at the beginning of the chapter but that doesn't address the expansions and what happens if you have more expansions than the next chapter requires. I get the feeling I'm really not explaining very well what my question is and it's frustrating but I'm hoping someone reading this might understand what I'm trying to say and give me a direct and clear answer. Thank you.

 

[Mykan]

Just a quick clarification of terms to avoid possible confusion.

• Catering is used in tournaments
• Negotiating is used in world map provinces

We have had confirmation from Inno staff and mods that scouting technologies reduce negotiating costs. This means those costs will continue to rise as you progress for each province and each ring. Once scouted those costs are fixed and cannot change. I am not aware of a table or list showing how the costs increase but we do know in general that there are slight increases for each new province and larger steps when moving to a ring that is further out. This concept is easily seen in how the cost to scout increases within a ring and moving to rings further out.

There has been some lobbying for the in-game scout tech to have a clearer explanation for things like this.

The reason for differentiating between catering and negotiating is scouting technology is not believed to have any impact on catering costs but it is understood (not 100% confirmed yet) that catering costs increase in relation to the provinces scouted. This is important in terms of your towns production capacity and tournament participation.

I hope this helps.

 

[DeletedUser4628]

That helps tremendously! Thank you so much Mykan! I knew that the costs increase as you get further away from your city but I was referring to the research and how that affects negotiating costs. I did confirm that opening and completing the research for the chest only decreases scouting costs and does nothing to negotiating costs or the size of the opponents army. I did this in one province by writing down those costs before opening and finishing the chest and then comparing them after finishing the chest and there was no difference in either negotiating costs or army size. This leads me to believe that those increases come from expanding into another ring, not from opening or completing the research on a chest which I think is what you were saying but in contradiction to what Draco was saying. I suspect there's been controversy over this and it would be nice if Inno could clarify and confirm to clear up all the confusion.
Right now I have 69/70 provinces finished which is the requirement for opening the chest for chapter 5. I am just beginning chapter 4 so the only other question I have is if I complete another province now before completing all the chapter 4 research, will that increase my current negotiating costs?
Thank you for pointing out the difference between catering and negotiating, the terms used in the game are often confusing to me and that makes it much more clear!

Edit: I can see now why my question would have been confusing because of the difference between cater and negotiate doh! That really was a good catch on that Mykan! I'm not sure I would have caught that if I had known the difference, I'm so glad you saw that!

 

[DeletedUser3507]

Both negotiating & scouting cost go up by the ring # and by Inno's frequent adjustments to drive us wacky...

 

[Mykan]

I saw a tip in game on the loading screen yesterday confirming scout tech reduces negotiating costs. Sadly it was too quick for me to get a screenshot.

 

[DeletedUser4628]

Before I finished chapter 3 I looked at a province that still had 3 encounters open in it, 6th ring, dust. This is what I wrote down:
Left Encounter: 1700 supplies, 2300 steel, 260 scrolls
Right Encounter: 870 supplies, 1800 steel
Bottom Encounter: 1200 steel, 1000 scrolls
Army size, left: 67,67,266,266,67,67,67
Army size, right: 85,85,340,85,85
Army size, bottom:102,408,408,102

The numbers really aren't important, I just wanted to show that I really did write it down. I finished chapter 3, opened the chest for chapter 4 and finished the research on it this morning, then I compared the numbers for all 3 encounters in the same province, they were exactly the same. I logged out and back in to make sure it had updated and still the same, just checked it again and still the same. I think either it's a bug or Inno isn't being entirely truthful if they're claiming that finishing the research on an advanced scouting chest reduces negotiating costs as well as scouting costs because that isn't what the numbers are showing. The scouting cost did indeed go down for the provinces I had not yet scouted but nothing else changed.
Please don't get me wrong tho, not a complaint at all, it is what it is and I don't mind the costs. I asked the questions only so I could better plan when I complete provinces in the most efficient manner possible, it's how I play games and part of the reason I enjoy strategy type games, planning out the best strategy. Thank you Mykan

p.s. I decided to go ahead and complete another province bringing me to 70/70 which gives me enough to open the chapter 5 adv. scouting chest when I get to it. I'm going to take another look at the numbers in that same province and see if they've changed which will give me the answer I'm looking for. I'll edit this post and let you know

edit: no change so that answers my question. Doesn't seem to matter if you open provinces ahead of the research, the numbers stay the same. Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[Mykan]

The scout tech won't decrease costs for already scouted provinces. Once you complete that tech scout a province in the same ring and see what the costs do, I would be most interested in your results. The tech only reduces costs for future provinces, unsure if this means before the scout return home or before you send them out.

 

[DeletedUser4628]

That's a good point, I'll see if I can clear one in the same ring, preferably another dust one since it should ask for the same amounts and let you know.

Edit: no such luck, I thought I had more provinces left to scout in the 6th ring but I don't, just a bunch waiting for me to finish them. ah well, it was fun to crunch it up anyway and see what would happen It's unlikely that I'll be able to do it with the 7th ring and the chapter 6 chest since at this point I plan to just continue completing provinces regardless of the research. I had to sit at 69/70 for quite a long time and I don't like ignoring the map while waiting on research even though I know the costs are going to be higher. I...Must...Play! lol!
And btw, I've read several of your guides which have been tremendously helpful. I've learned from playing these kinds of games over the years that the best thing to do when starting one is to go straight to the forums and look for the beginner guides before doing anything in the game beyond the tutorial. Prevents lots of doh moments and stupid mistakes lol! So I want to thank you for taking the time to write those!