CaterpillarKing
Conqueror of Cacoons
I'm sure there are tons of these everywhere but I want a current one. What is the consensus for people who have bought BNW? I'm not sure I want it. I want to see what the community thinks. 
BNW, Yea or Nay
- Thread starter CaterpillarKing
- Start date
forcedalt
Warlord
Well, i went straight from vanilla , to BNW , and , i think its tons better. Its not like everything is magically fixed ,but , there is more stuff , and , they changed the rules of great people in a way that i feel makes more sense. It depends how important your money is to you. If $20+/- for the expansion disc isn't that big a hit to you , its definitely worth a shot. If you keep a tight entertainment budget ,and , this would delay you from doing something else , just do the other thing ,and wait till used copies start showing up for $10+/-
CaterpillarKing
Conqueror of Cacoons
What I'm afraid of is that it's too complicated...
Mr. Grieves
Wondermonger
I'd say the differences are quite subtle, all new stuff is either explained in-game or pretty straightforward.
CaterpillarKing
Conqueror of Cacoons
What are flaws?
redwings1340
Emperor
Pros:
New stuff is all really cool (more below)
World Congress creates more interactive world diplomacy
New Culture victory is decently hard, but also probably the most fun victory yet, and one that I hope they build off of in Civ VI.
Trade routes are a very nice addition to the game, creating a more active style of costal play.
Great works are also a much more active style of culture/tourism, forcing you to think a little more about how to get culture. It's nice when they take away flat bonuses (+1 gold per river/costal hex, +large culture for having a building) and give more dynamic bonuses with additional options on how to use them (using trade routes to either gain gold or grow your empire, working guilds to create great works to store in your buildings)
Archeology is another cool example of a more active mechanic this expansion brought (create archeologist, send him out, create either a landmark/artifact vs create a building and experience culture)
Ideologies provide a lot more policy choice late game, and provides actual gameplay incentives to get others to switch to your ideology
More city state quests
The new civilizations are pretty fun and probably better designed as a whole than ones from vanilla.
Cons
Tall is now a dominant strategy, which is kind of boring at times
Science is just as dominant as ever, and is kind of even moreso than before the engine that drives all victory, even cultural victory
Warmongering is perhaps overly difficult without serious diplo penalties, especially if you take cities by force and not through peace treaties.
On that note, some games can be overly peaceful if you don't do anything to provoke the AIs. Although, Alexander is still just as big a jerk/warmonger as ever.
Some people really hate the world congress. Not sure why, although there probably should be more options and more useful options early on.
I think it's well worth taking. Any pros and cons I missed? These seem to be the big ones that I can recall.
New stuff is all really cool (more below)
World Congress creates more interactive world diplomacy
New Culture victory is decently hard, but also probably the most fun victory yet, and one that I hope they build off of in Civ VI.
Trade routes are a very nice addition to the game, creating a more active style of costal play.
Great works are also a much more active style of culture/tourism, forcing you to think a little more about how to get culture. It's nice when they take away flat bonuses (+1 gold per river/costal hex, +large culture for having a building) and give more dynamic bonuses with additional options on how to use them (using trade routes to either gain gold or grow your empire, working guilds to create great works to store in your buildings)
Archeology is another cool example of a more active mechanic this expansion brought (create archeologist, send him out, create either a landmark/artifact vs create a building and experience culture)
Ideologies provide a lot more policy choice late game, and provides actual gameplay incentives to get others to switch to your ideology
More city state quests
The new civilizations are pretty fun and probably better designed as a whole than ones from vanilla.
Cons
Tall is now a dominant strategy, which is kind of boring at times
Science is just as dominant as ever, and is kind of even moreso than before the engine that drives all victory, even cultural victory
Warmongering is perhaps overly difficult without serious diplo penalties, especially if you take cities by force and not through peace treaties.
On that note, some games can be overly peaceful if you don't do anything to provoke the AIs. Although, Alexander is still just as big a jerk/warmonger as ever.
Some people really hate the world congress. Not sure why, although there probably should be more options and more useful options early on.
I think it's well worth taking. Any pros and cons I missed? These seem to be the big ones that I can recall.
CaterpillarKing
Conqueror of Cacoons
How similar is the UN in civ IV to the World Congress? Thank you redwings for your help.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Part of the answer will depend on whether you mastered GnKs first. I basically jumped from vanilla to BNW and yes there is a lot of new things to learn but that is part of the fun. It does make a richer & more immersive experience. I would say getting BNW for the revamped culture victory is reason enough to get it, its the most interesting victory strategy I've ever seen in a TBS game.
