How important is the Great Library to you?

A

Athenaeum

Prince
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Mar 20, 2015
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I feel that in any game online, the majority of humans tend to race to the GL.

On Vanilla, I ignored the GL because I considered it too risky to race other humans to.

Plus, I wanted to get the National College as early as possible, and I felt that you could achieve this faster if you just a regular library and then the NC.

However, on the DLC, building the Great Library instead of a regular library actually speeds up the National College, because you need to research calendar before philosophy. So it is faster now to build the GL, and use your free tech on Philosophy. That makes the NC available faster than if you were to build a regular library instead.

I recently downloaded the DLC. So now, I have a renewed interest in racing to the GL. I have studied it fairly well and have gotten good at building it fast, but it is still risky in multiplayer matches, and I would like to feel like there is a better option than building it.



So how important do you think the GL is, and do you think it is worth it to race for it at the beginning?
 
I've given up on building it in any and all scenarios, and my play immediately improved. Its just too costly to your early development, and its benefits are overrated.
 
The great library is really important because many AIs like to build it. Other people like in multiplayer like to build it also so its a challenge to get to build the great library. If somehow you don't get to build the great library, then you can still keep the fail gold which is still useful for purchasing your beginning worker or archer to defend your improvements from barbarians. If you do get to build the great llibrary, then you would get a free technology which is worth it if you research calendar and then get poetry and drama or philosophy for free because they're technologies that are more expensive at that era.
 
0%. I don't think I've tried building it in over a year. High difficulty games, it's just another boast to the AI.
 
Given that after Emperor it's impossible to build and I don't play Multiplayer games.. It's hard to name a building that is less important to me. :)

If you are playing King and below it's a great wonder, gives you a good boost to reach the NC asap.
 
In Emperor and above it is easy to take a fail gold from great library that allows you to purchase items when you have too much gold and when others want some of your gold.
 
If I'm going for SV, I'm building GL (at least trying). It can be really good, especially for Korea and Babylon. You are already fast in science and it pushes you further. So, if it seems possible to build, I'm mostly trying.
 
You can build it on Emperor easily enough, but its clearly not optimal.

On King or lower, it probably worthwhile.
 
Athenaeum said:
Why not optimal? What would you suggest in lieu of it?
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The standard library in the capital. And as soon as you can National College.
 
joncnunn said:
The standard library in the capital. And as soon as you can National College.
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Yeah that's what I did in Vanilla.

The problem is, with the DLC, you have to research calendar before philosophy (whereas you could go straight from writing to philosophy on vanilla). I think they might have upped the research cost for philosophy too.

So I've found that building the GL can actually help you get the NC quicker with the DLC by using your free tech on philosophy.

Maybe you could go straight from library to NC with Babylon, because of their early academy. But with other nations, you're going to have a time slot in between completing your library and having the NC available.
 
If you get a city with a ton of production where you can build the great library before any of the AI have the chance to do it, I don't see why there would be any reason not to build the Great Library.
 
I think the issue is: fail gold sucks. I'd rather have those turns of production back to nab a library and get a unit or shrine out instead. Getting a couple hundred early game gold can be accomplished by building a regular library and a caravan or cargo ship in the same amount of time. Then there's a guarantee.

After struggling with it on immortal, I finally gave up on building the GL above emperor. If I'm going to go after a wonder, I'd like a more than reasonable chance to get it. Particularly early when scouts, shrines, and granaries really impact the game.
 
Honestly I can't remember the last time I built this.

If I was going for an early wonder I'd rather Hanging Gardens and then have enough food to be able to work a university & Writers Guild.
 
Redaxe said:
Honestly I can't remember the last time I built this.

If I was going for an early wonder I'd rather Hanging Gardens and then have enough food to be able to work a university & Writers Guild.
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A caravan can easily provide that much food.
 
Great Library? That thing is a myth to me. I only managed to build it once. I had a start with marble, stone, high food and high production. And I still got beaten to great library by one turn.

I cannot build it at all so it's very unimportant wonder to me and I build the stonehenge instead. Stonehenge much more delicious, it gives you great engineers! It lets you to beat the AI on other wonders because of the way AI hogs the great library XD

You actually have a decent shot at Colossus or great lighthouse unlike the great library. I've had few games where I managed to nab both colossus and great lighthouse.

But since it's a multiplayer match, It's all dependant on the power of your starting location and civilization choice. You want Marble, tradition and possibly egypt too for as much boost as possible on building great library asap.

Although if you make it too obvious, other players will suspect you are racing for the great library and invade you immediately the moment you build the great library so that they will have the great library not you xD
 
Great Library is overrated. The science boost is insignificant compared to getting your cities and key infrastructure out quicker. The opportunity cost so early is just too high.

I've built it twice ever in multiplayer; once when beelining Petra (its greatest use) and once when it was still available just before getting my NC. Hanging Gardens or Temple of Artemis are better science wonders.
 
TheGuineaPig said:
Great Library is overrated. The science boost is insignificant compared to getting your cities and key infrastructure out quicker. The opportunity cost so early is just too high....
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Totally agree with this. You may get to Education faster, but you won't get to Scientific Theory faster if you build the GL.
 
phillipwyllie said:
Totally agree with this. You may get to Education faster, but you won't get to Scientific Theory faster if you build the GL.
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Now why would you say this? I understand the GL might be overrated, but how much infrastructure are you really missing out in the 10-12 turns it takes you to build it? A granary?

Besides, if you're going to rush early NC, you will actually get the NC faster by building the GL and then using your free tech on philosophy.
 
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