Since I counted on my general knowledge of civilization to get me through Colonization, I didn't bother with the instruction manual and instead checked these forums when I got in a bind. During one of these reads I realized that any colonist could be purchased in Europe (though the 'purchase' button was a header, previously). I'm a bit disappointed by this, gameplay wise.

1. There comes a point where paying to hurry immigration exceeds the cost of purchasing a specialist directly. In my late games I gave up on trying to influence immigration as it was cheaper to spend the early game resources for more goods- more gold- and eating the few hundred gold increase from additional purchases.

2. It took a nice element of chance out of the game. A lot of the tension is gone when I can purchase a master directly rather than hoping they'll pop up in the immigrant queu or having to teach them locally. In general teaching is a lot less appealing, as I can get my experts by purchasing the directly.

3. Most importantly, it simplifies too much of the game to gold. Before I found out about the purchase button, I was more concerned about building a colonial infrastructure that could support multiple outputs- certain manufactured resources, the gold to purchase guns/tools/horses in quantities to generate units locally, and the universities to create the experts I really needed. However, that kind all be streamlined into producing gold, which has the greatest potential use as it can solve any of the above.

Don't really care about people who say the purchased button can already be ignored; I'm throwing this out there as a possible downside to Colonization's gameplay. Gold production is the answer to a few too many things.

Yeah I also think it's a bad idea (didn't see it either in my first test game btw). Specifically the fact that the specialists are pretty cheap to buy, even more so if you get Peter Minuit, and their price doesn't increase when you buy any, is annoying me. If they'd all cost 2000 gold or some more, you'd think twice about buying any of them but as it is now, training them in your colonies simply doesn't make sense what with the exponentially increasing cost.
Being able to buy ships and cannons is much too good, too. I don't even bother building the necessary infrastructure in my colony but rather go ahead buying them in Europe instead.

Specifically the fact that the specialists are pretty cheap to buy, even more so if you get Peter Minuit, and their price doesn't increase when you buy any, is annoying me.

They do, or at least some of them do. With my recently completed game, I certainly noticed no change in price when buying Statesmen, but Soldiers got more expensive as I bought more. Not prohibitively so, however.

Suggestion :
When the costs for new emmigrants excede the standard recrutement costs, the costs for purchasing missing crosses for emmigrants should be scaled down based on the total number of crosses for this emmigrant and the maximum costs ...

Example :
If max costs for specialists are assumed to be 2.000 $ (depends on game speed and Minuit) and you have already produced 50.000 / 100.000 crosses for this emmigrant, the costs for speeding up should be :

((100.000 - 50.000) / 100.000) x 2.000 $ = 1.000 $

Suggestion :
When the costs for new emmigrants excede the standard recrutement costs, the costs for purchasing missing crosses for emmigrants should be scaled down based on the total number of crosses for this emmigrant and the maximum costs ...

Example :
If max costs for specialists are assumed to be 2.000 $ (depends on game speed and Minuit) and you have already produced 50.000 / 100.000 crosses for this emmigrant, the costs for speeding up should be :

((100.000 - 50.000) / 100.000) x 2.000 $ = 1.000 $

I like this idea

Why not apply this to all purchases and not just those where the hurry cost is greater than outright cost? Basically don't allow purchasing of crosses but strictly use the cross ratio to determine the discount that you can apply to the random group.

The ability to hurry colonists on the docks makes the early game too easy.

I like this idea.

Early on it's extremely important to decide which masters one will purchase first, this is a brilliant strategy element and I wouldn't miss it. Games are always a blend of chance+strategy, less chance allowing for more strategic depth. More random chance means strategy goes to s%"§.

It's good that prices for specialists are fixed, because you already have diminishing returns from climbing taxes and falling sale prices. Fixed prices guarantee that value of gold is ensured.

Early on it's extremely important to decide which masters one will purchase first, this is a brilliant strategy element and I wouldn't miss it. Games are always a blend of chance+strategy, less chance allowing for more strategic depth. More random chance means strategy goes to s%"§.

It's good that prices for specialists are fixed, because you already have diminishing returns from climbing taxes and falling sale prices. Fixed prices guarantee that value of gold is ensured.

The idea is not to affect the outright purchasing of specialists at all; just modifying the hurry option so that the early ones cannot be had so cheaply (except maybe for non-professionals). For instance, instead of paying the flat rate per cross for a specialist the first immigrant would cost 20% of its outright purchase cost [ 100 - (4/5 * 100) ]% to hurry (example being you already have 4 crosses invested). This, for me, would be instead of disallowing the hurry option outright.

Pobolo,
I was refering to the first post. I understand what you are saying. When you hurry colonists you are spending gold for stuff which will be free in a couple of rounds, wouldn't it be wise to hurry a church, cathedral, instead?

Your idea is interesting for the starting game, but it would make crosses just a discount for specialist purchase shortly after, which is a bit silly. I imagine those people lining up at the docks are either religious zealots, or fools which have been tricked into believing that the (evangelical) religions in the new world are any less rotten and crooked, than Catholicism & Anglicanism at home.

Welcome to the Forums Seriously. :beer:

Supr49er: Thanks. I've been lurking here for years (since before civ3, at least) and after reading some recent comments decided to start posting. Your s/n a reference to the football 49ers? I grew up in the East Bay during the Montana and Rice/Young and Rice days.

Freddy K: I disagree that chance and strategy are directly proportional or oppositional. Rather I'd argue that as chance decreases, so does the need for particular strategies, as less chance allows for the refinement of a single method or the need for adaptation. When you can rely on the ability to purchase any strategist in the initial stages of the game you don't need to worry about scenarios in which you're wanting for specialists, you just need a single strategy for generating enough gold quickly enough to purchase whomever you need. If the direct purchase was disconnected from the random immigration pool, then you'd force players to find alternative solutions when the deck wasn't stacked their way.

More random chance means that abstracted strategy (by which I mean an idea of what you'll do divorced from the realities of a particular scenario) goes to . .. .. .. . while it encourages specific and contextualized thinking about the realities of a specific scenario. The game, as I mentioned in the first post, becomes all about gold, as enough gold allows you to ignore gameplay mechanics in other areas. However, if the overarching effect of gold is limited, then the player is forced to deal with selecting among less advantageous but exclusive options.

In the case of the example you gave, it would not be wise to hurry a church/cathedral. While choosing to hurry immigration buildings increases your ability to rush the acquisition of random specialists, choosing to focus on buildings that result in a gold increase (any specialist building) increases the player's ability to buy any specialist directly at any point in the future. Furthermore, if MrWhereItsAt's and Apalca's observations about the lack of a price hike in nonmilitary specialists is correct, the investment in gold outstrips an investment in immigration as the former's purchasing/rushes do not generate additional price hikes.

Serriafox: While your idea sounds like a better compromise, I'm personally for the purchase option adding the specialists to the immigration queue, rather than making them outright available.

There are a multitude of "abstracted" strategies, (1) build a lumber mill (BUY carpenter/lumberjack) industry to increase later profitability&productivity, while not generating any gold (2) Build a processing industry to generate cash early, for whatever resource is availabe (3) Build Guns/horses to generate massive profits from the natives without any tax or tax raise. (4) build liberty bells to get Peter Minuit - The Founding Godfather to get specialists cheaper (5) build churches to speed up immigration (and buy a second ship to transport them all). Multiple scouts (reduced equipment reqs) early specialist training in native villages. (6) wage war with your single Veteran, buy a cannon or two to burn and pillage the nearby native settlements...

The churches strategy is the one i'm tempted to try next, especially since one can turn crosses into bells (Laicism) or hammers (Theocracy) once independence is declared.

Supr49er: Thanks. I've been lurking here for years (since before civ3, at least) and after reading some recent comments decided to start posting. Your s/n a reference to the football 49ers? I grew up in the East Bay during the Montana and Rice/Young and Rice days...

You bet. 49ers forever. I saw my first game at Kezar stadium in 1965 with my Dad and Grandfather.

Unfortunately any change to this aspect of the game ties in to a number of game elements in a rather bad way (eg spiraling costs, WOI focus). If you couldnt buy people:

1. You will quickly notice that the crosses cost of immigrants becomes prohibitive, you will essentiall not get anyone from europe if you cant buy them. You already short circuit this by easily having a food city to make generic losers.

2. You will quickly notice that the cost of education becomes prohibitive, you will essentially not train anyone. You already short circuit this by easily having indian universities.

The way game works at present the elements you want in the game, having to take random immigrant off the dock and use them in your colony as is, till you can train them doesnt exist, and still wont exist if you cant buy specialists. You still wont educate people or get them off the dock once the first few come in.

The fact is, if you cant buy specialist you dont want gold at all, it doesnt do anything - yhere is no alternate victory, you must fight and get into the fight as fast as possible once you start going for it.

You need liberty bells to get into the fight and weapons to fight. Golds only use is specialists who make weapons and liberty bells.

Yes you could buy weapons, but it would be better to avoid the double handling and just make weapons and not waste time with gold.

A good economy is useless, a good school system is useless (except for a lawyer training academy), a slow build to revolution is useless, a large population is useless, ships are useless.