Questions on timing:

About how long do you stay in slavery? Once you get serfdom or caste system do you switch into this?

Also, if you don't get Civil Service from Oracle, then is it worth the cost to immediately start researching this (to get benefits of Bureaucracy)? Or do you wait -- and if you do, how long?

Thanks.

I stay in slavery until i am forced into emancipation most of the time(unless i am spiritual). Slavery is one of the most of the most powerfull effects in the early game.

Slavery can be run with bureaucracy. In fact, it should be for a long time.

The question is when to change from bureaucracy to free speech.

You should do this when you have enough villages and town that the increased commerce from these makes up for the loss of commerce and hammers in your capital. For me, this tends to be right after I've conquered several cities that had mature cottages.

I stay slavery until emancipation usually. Though i have sometimes done caste system when the situation allowed it ;)

Bureaucracy the turn i get the tech. Always :p

(serfdom is a waste of anarchy... don't use it. Get more workers instead)

One thing that's fun, when you have a spiritual civ, and are going for a cultural victory...

Be in caste system (for the artist specialists) until all your cities are ready for a whip.

Convert to slavery, and do your whip in all your cities.

As soon as the waiting period is over (which should be right about when you've gotten some of your population back to make them specialists again), back to caste system.... until it's time for the next whip.

Fun times.

Going for cultural is about the only time I'll use caste system. I'd rather have engineers, which caste system doesn't allow.

I usually switch out to caste system combined with pacificism (and representation if can nab the pyramids) as soon as I get CoL and lightbulb Phil. I stay in it until I have produced enough GSs for the techs I want to lightbulb. Then I'll switch back to Slavery until the end of the game (finished usually late renaissance or early industrial).

CoL -> CS -> Paper is my usual path to liberalism, and i like courthouses, so i don't usually put CS off for long. oh yeah, also what future hermit said, i want CoL so that Philo is a GS option.

(serfdom is a waste of anarchy... don't use it. Get more workers instead)

interesting choice of words. "get" more workers, not "make". warmonger much? :lol: