Trader Joes house of shady deals

[Alneyan]

You can't figure out *what* exactly is offered for trade, though you know the names of the items to be traded. By the way, any entry under Systems is pointless, so be wary if someone offers those to you: it should remove claims over the system, but I'm not even sure if *that* works, and it won't affect the colonies, ships... in the system.

Other than that, you just have to trust the other player. Ship trading is particularly risky, given all the opportunities you have for deceit here, and I think you can also promise to give a lot more resources than you actually have (though it will create some trouble for your own economy).

For ships though, you could put a Long Range Scanner and require to scan the ship before trading. It will only work on ships without a Scattering Armour (or the much rarer Scanner Jammer), of course. There is no such trick for planets or resource trades.

[Suicide Junkie]

Just keep the trades small, and don't trade with anyone who's ripped you off in the past.

The less you swap in any one trade, the less you stand to lose.
Breaking up a trade over a couple turns means you only risk a fraction of the trade's value it each step and can back out at any time.


Of course, if you're not quite so paranoid about your neighbours, you'll be a little more easygoing.

Note:
If you meet a race called the "Hedgemony of Evil", paranoia is probably justified.

[Slick]

That's the game. Is your opponent trustable or not? If so, for how long? If you aren't comfortable, then you might consider not trading at all; but maybe everyone else is and you'll fall behind... Is the game using role playing? If so, read the empire's description. If no role playing, you could take your chances.

For absolute certainty, you could request that your opponent "gift" the items to you, and you will "gift" your stuff the next turn after examining the gift. I don't know a worse way to carry out a trade from the perspective of trust, though, nor many who would agree to this.

I'll say this: most of the regular players will not intentionally screw you on a trade. (Sometimes the game screws up diplomacy so make sure that it is the very last thing you do in a turn.) The trade may be better for them than for you, but most won't lie. They know that it'll be the last time they are ever trusted, and reputation is something that most players like to keep clean.