Commerce Discussion: Sliding the, erm... sliders. (1000 BC)

It seems we've got a little problem on our collective hands. While the Resources and Technology Consulate prefers the path of rapid research even at the cost of our treasury - we currenly have 249, and are losing 3 gold coins a turn - the External Consulate apparently prefers a reduced rate, so we can shore up the treasury in preparation for a war with India, forcasted to commence 700 B.C.

Which do you prefer, citizens? Two conflicting goals need to be confronted at this junction.

These are our possibilites at the current time:


Please note that a settler will be built in Camelot next turn. With the lower population there, we would be able to (I think) lower the lux rate a tad.

Because we only have 6 cities at 1000BC it is difficult for us to research at a rate that will get us to currency first. Secondly, we need cash to upgrade warriors and chariots. I would therefore like to see the science slider reduced to 10% until we have switched government and are in the MA. By then we should have 15 cities or so and be in a position to build libraries.

Wait until Republic for self-research. In Despotism with 6 cities we produce little commerce, even with rivers. Republic will allow us to make use of those rivers and coast. We wouldn't be able to have a high research rate now, anyway, if we were in Repubic, as we have units over the unit support rate and we wouldn't earn much gold at 10%, let alone 60% or 70%.

With the way we're going, all of our money that would be put into science while we're in a republic will be spent on unit costs. We will barely have a faster research rate, if any, in that government than we do in despotism. How will we get what we want? Rely on the AI to do it? Too unpredictable. Marketplaces need to be up, especially if we're to become a republic. I don't want to wait for an AI to get currency, then have no techs to trade for it. Do you think they'll accept gold? We should begin counterfeiting some.

What I see is interesting. We want to make war against the Indians, then the Dutch, then finish off the Indians, then take the Pyramids from Portugal. Yet we also want to be in the government worst suited for maintaining such an army required to accomplish these goals. Make up your mind, Fanatannia!

Focus on cash for upgrades first please.

Our goal is a 130,000 point cultural victory. In order to achieve this we need to build numerous (100+) cities and in each build temples and libraries, and in many cathedrals and universities. It will take time to build such culture, so we also need to prevent another civ from first winning through other means before we are able to achieve our goal. Our strategies and tactics should always reflect and further our ambitions.

In order to build 100+ cities we need more land than we have at present. Therefore we’ve targeted the Indian and Dutch territories for annexation. Acquiring more land is the first step towards our goal, and a step we must take immediately. This means building an army and waging war. We don’t want to speed research at the moment because it doesn’t contribute to our immediate goal; raising cash to upgrade units is the means to realizing our immediate goal.

Learning currency is important because marketplaces contribute to a healthier economy, and more gold gives us more flexibility. They also contribute to happiness, something we’ll need when we switch governments to the Republic. However, before we focus on learning this tech we have at least another couple of more important tasks to accomplish first. We need cities before we can build marketplaces; our task at present is to acquire and build some. Likewise, eventually we’ll want to build many universities, but that doesn’t mean our immediate tactic should be to race towards learning Education; that’s step 5 or 6 along the path to realizing a cultural victory.

I support a minimal research rate now so we can raise cash to upgrade units, and use our military to lay the necessary groundwork for achieving a cultural victory.

Unfortunately, with a late TCIT no official instructions were posted concerning slider levels, so the DP followed the ones posted by the Resources and Technology Consul to maintain max research without going too negative (to paraphrase).

Unfortunate only to some. I wonder why only five people have reveiled their opinions thus far?

RegentMan said:

Unfortunate only to some. I wonder why only five people have reveiled their opinions thus far?

Click to expand...

Because I don't want to post: "I agree with X" in every thread

Anyway I agree with the majority on this one: min science please. If we are really close to currency we may want to finish that. It has the enormous risk of advancing the dutch to Feudalism if we are not careful

One thing you could do if there is little discussion is to simply post a poll.