The final three are very interesting to me. They are UB equivalents of the Monument, Shrine, and Library, which are generally the first three buildings in my capital and other early cities. For a comparison, I decided to see how they stack up not by comparing them to each other, but comparing them assuming that you build all three standard buildings. For the comparison I will assume an early population of about 6 (for the purposes of the library assigning 3 at a ratio of 1/2). I generally have all three buildings up by turn 30 or earlier.
For any other civ (without UB), the total would be: 2 , 1 , and 3 at an upkeep cost of 3 .
For the Ethiopians (with a Stele replacing the Monument): 2 , 3 , and 3 at an upkeep cost of 3 .
For the Mayans (with a Pyramid replacing the Shrine): 2 , 1 , and 5 at an upkeep cost of 3 .
For the Chinese (with the Papermaker replacing the Library): 2 , 1 , and 3 with no upkeep cost. The extra from the Papermaker essentially pays the upkeep for the other buildings.
To simplify this a bit more, the trade off is 2 , 2 , or 3 .
Based on this, I would vote to the timeless classic, the Papermaker. An engine for your early research and economy available at Writing. It is a tough call, because the extra 2 available early from the Pyramid may have a big impact as well. The early Pantheon and Religion from having the Stele can also be nice. Really tough with three very good buildings.
Nice and interesting way to compare the 3. But you are making a mistake since the pyramid is +2 faith. So the tradeoff is 2 , 2 and 1 , or 3 . Considering that and the fact that sci / gold tradeoff imo is more than 1:1, I would prefer the pyramid. I think paper maker and steele is pretty even, but in the long run I would prefer the extra gold, since faith loses value.
Paper Maker 6
Pyramid 52 (+1)
Stele 16 (-3)