Voting Instructions
Players, please cast your votes in the poll above. Vote "Yea" for every proposal you'd be okay with if it were implemented. Vote "Nay" if you'd be okay if these proposals weren't implemented. You can vote for any number of options.
All votes are public. If you wish, you can discuss your choice(s) in the thread below. You can change your vote as many times as you want until the poll closes.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13
Discussion Thread: (3-13) Proposal: Authority (1/2) - Swap some Imperium/Tribute bonuses
Proposer: @Stalker0
Sponsor: @Legen
Proposal Details
Proposal: Swap some of the bonuses from the Tribute and Imperium policies.
Tribute
Old: Cities gain 20 gold and production when expanding borders, era scale. +25% to Heavy Tribute yields (from Heavy Tribute change in recent congress).
New: Cities gain 20 gold and production when expanding borders, era scale. Cities founded or conquered gain 40 science and culture, scaling with era and population.
Imperium
Old: A free settler appears near the capital. Cities founded or conquered gain 40 science and culture, scaling with era and population.
New: Gain a free settler. +25% to Heavy Tribute yields (from Heavy Tribute change in recent congress).
Finisher
Change the text of "Double all Tribute bonuses" to "Authority bonuses to CS tribute and border expansion are doubled". This is purely a text change to highlight that the exact same bonuses are being doubled as they were before, no mechanical change here whatsoever.
Rationale: From our deep dive into Authority, there seemed to be a general notion that Authority could use a little more economic boost, that was also more decoupled from active warring and CS usage. This small change allows Authority to gain core yields earlier through its expansion without relying so much on immediate CS tribute and Barbarians. It reinforces the expansionist nature of the tree. While it may not go far enough for everyone's taste, its a simple, solid change that moves the needle forward.
Note: I have placed a second change to Authority here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...rison-bonus-with-barracks-requirement.681465/
If you wish to push Authority further, feel free to vote for either of these policies, or both.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13a
Discussion Thread: (3-13a) Proposal: Authority (2/2) - Replace Militarism's Garrison bonus with Barracks requirement
Proposer: @Stalker0
Sponsor: @pineappledan
Proposal Details
Proposal: Change Authority's militarism policy.
Militarism
Old: Each city with a garrison gives +1 happiness and +2 culture. -15% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance.
New: Each city with a barracks gives +1 happiness and +2 culture. -15% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance.
Rationale: There is nothing wrong with a garrison bonus in general but its not suitable for Authority's playstyle. The tree greatly encourages you to have your military units either hunting barbs, shaking down city states, or being engaged in active war. Having to hold your units back from those activities to gain the bonus is the exact opposite of what you are otherwise encouraged to do, and so the tree conflicts with itself.
This version still maintains the theme of "military police maintaining happiness and culture in your cities" but doing it in a way that encourages military buildup and utilization, rather than discouraging it.
Note: I have placed another change to Authority here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...-2-swap-some-imperium-tribute-bonuses.681464/
If you wish to push Authority further, feel free to vote for either of these policies, or both.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13b
Discussion Thread: (3-13b) Counterproposal: Swap some Militarism and Honor bonuses
Proposer: @ma_kuh
Sponsor: @Legen
Proposal Details
Counter proposal: Swap some of the bonuses from the Militarism and Honor policies.
Problem:
Authority has a problem with incentivizing very aggressive play (tributing CS, capturing cities, killing units (once the barbarians are all cleaned up)). I'm not talking about "it wants you to build units so you can attack and defend with them", I mean it puts a LOT of power in actively killing civs (not just units). This dynamic just isn't appropriate for the Ancient era. The policy tree asks the player to commit to an economic engine fueled purely by combat, before they even know the layout of the terrain around them, and the opposing civs they'll need to conquer to do so. The number of games where authority is appropriate is disproportionately small compared to Tradition or Progress; as many have noted Progress is often a more successful combat tree simply because it gives you the flexibility to develop an economy before choosing to leverage your tech for war.
There are very few aspects of the Authority tree that let the player build up for the long-game. The garrison is one of the pieces. Removing it waters down the tree, and homogenizes it by putting its bonuses on buildings. +1
happiness and +2 
culture is already cost-effective relative to the monument when building early game units. Tying it to the barracks delays these yields, and eliminates rewards for the natural play where an escorted settler starts a city with the bonuses already rolling.
Militarism
Old: Each city with a garrison gives +1 happiness and +2 culture. -15% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance.
New: Each city with a garrison gives +1 happiness and +2 culture. Free unit every 8 
pop.
Honor
Old: +10%
CS, free unit every 10 pop, -25% to 
war weariness.
New: +10% CS, -25% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance, -25% to war weariness.
Rationale:
The garrison bonus is perfect for Authority. It lets the policy's key attribute, owning units, translate directly to a bonus in the city. No fuss about hoping to find barbarian camps, or a neighbor you can snipe, or building a certain structure. Authority should be about something different than Tradition and Progress. They have building production and tile improvements; Authority should have unit-based triggers.
Moving the free unit for a city forward a policy solves the issue of having too few units to trigger this bonus. It no longer scales, but works even better for forward settlements, giving you both an extra unit as well as increased border growth. At the same time, moving (and slightly strengthening) the maintenance reductions lines up better with when those costs are starting to compound, making it easier to feel the difference.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13c
Discussion Thread: (3-13c) Counterproposal: Authority Redesign Proposal
Proposer: @gwennog
Sponsor: @axatin
Proposal Details
Proposal: Redesign Authority
Opener
+25 % VS Barbarians.
Gain Culture when training Units equal to unit strength.
+1
Production in every City.
Tribute
Cities gain 20
Gold and Production when their borders expand, scaling with era.
Raise to 50% Gold in 
Capital when Tribute demanded from 
CS (Proposition 2-23)
Imperium
Receive 40
Science and Culture when found or conquer Cities, scaling with era. Conquest bonus also scales based on City population.
Walls provide -1
Poverty and Castle provide -1 Distress.
Maintenance for Routes reduced by 50 %.
Dominance
Empire with supply use > 80 % gain +1 Culture in every city and +1 Science additional if the supply use is > 90 %.
Melee units heal for 15 points after killing a military unit.
Militarism
Gain Science when promoting Units equal to new level, scaling with era.
Barracks provide -1 Boredom and Armories provide -1 Illiteracy.
Maintenance for Units reduced by 15 %.
Unit Supply generated by population increased by 10 %.
Honor
Units gain +10 % Strength.
Gain
GGPs and 
Faith when upgrading Units equal to 50% of new unit strength.
War Weariness reduced by 25 %.
Finisher
No change
Rationale: No longer link Authority to its ability to kill (barbarians, ...) but to its intrinsic power. Avoid the barbarian race at the start of the game and see the AI running after the camps at the other end of the map, even if it means exhausting themselves at the task and scattering their armies everywhere. Avoid bogging down the empire for lack of enemies.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13d
Discussion Thread: (3-13d) Counterproposal: Authority Shakeup
Proposer: @azum4roll
Sponsor: @azum4roll
Proposal Details
This proposal moves some abilities around and adds a new ability. It aims to give Authority some passive bonus for having units instead of needing to use them, shifting it to major Unit focus instead of Conquest focus.
Opener: Unchanged
Imperium: now the first policy on the left
Free settler
30 (instead of 40) Culture and Science when found or conquer cities, scaling with era, and population if conquered
Gold maintenance for Routes reduced by 50%
Tribute: now the second policy on the left
Unchanged
Dominance:
Killing military unit gives Science equal to CS of defeated unit
Melee units heal 15HP after killing military unit
Unit supply generated by population increased by 10%
Militarism:
Each city with garrison generates +1 Happiness and +2 Culture
A supply-free military unit spawns near Cities that reach a multiple of 8 Citizens for the first time
+1 Science for every 4 military units on Empire (use same counting method as Fiefdoms)
Honor:
+10%CS on units
War Weariness reduced by 25%
Gold maintenance for Units reduced by 15%
Finisher:
Unchanged
Overall this gives an extra +5 Science per turn if you have 20 units on Empire (should include the free units from Militarism, which are supply-free). Still less than what Tradition and Progress give (+3 Science per city plus other sources), but doesn't require war or actively farming barbarians.
Tribute and Imperialism are swapped to encourage settling earlier, at the cost of slightly reduced founding/conquering yields.
Players, please cast your votes in the poll above. Vote "Yea" for every proposal you'd be okay with if it were implemented. Vote "Nay" if you'd be okay if these proposals weren't implemented. You can vote for any number of options.
All votes are public. If you wish, you can discuss your choice(s) in the thread below. You can change your vote as many times as you want until the poll closes.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13
Discussion Thread: (3-13) Proposal: Authority (1/2) - Swap some Imperium/Tribute bonuses
Proposer: @Stalker0
Sponsor: @Legen
Proposal Details
Proposal: Swap some of the bonuses from the Tribute and Imperium policies.
Tribute
Old: Cities gain 20 gold and production when expanding borders, era scale. +25% to Heavy Tribute yields (from Heavy Tribute change in recent congress).
New: Cities gain 20 gold and production when expanding borders, era scale. Cities founded or conquered gain 40 science and culture, scaling with era and population.
Imperium
Old: A free settler appears near the capital. Cities founded or conquered gain 40 science and culture, scaling with era and population.
New: Gain a free settler. +25% to Heavy Tribute yields (from Heavy Tribute change in recent congress).
Finisher
Change the text of "Double all Tribute bonuses" to "Authority bonuses to CS tribute and border expansion are doubled". This is purely a text change to highlight that the exact same bonuses are being doubled as they were before, no mechanical change here whatsoever.
Rationale: From our deep dive into Authority, there seemed to be a general notion that Authority could use a little more economic boost, that was also more decoupled from active warring and CS usage. This small change allows Authority to gain core yields earlier through its expansion without relying so much on immediate CS tribute and Barbarians. It reinforces the expansionist nature of the tree. While it may not go far enough for everyone's taste, its a simple, solid change that moves the needle forward.
Note: I have placed a second change to Authority here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...rison-bonus-with-barracks-requirement.681465/
If you wish to push Authority further, feel free to vote for either of these policies, or both.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13a
Discussion Thread: (3-13a) Proposal: Authority (2/2) - Replace Militarism's Garrison bonus with Barracks requirement
Proposer: @Stalker0
Sponsor: @pineappledan
Proposal Details
Proposal: Change Authority's militarism policy.
Militarism
Old: Each city with a garrison gives +1 happiness and +2 culture. -15% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance.
New: Each city with a barracks gives +1 happiness and +2 culture. -15% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance.
Rationale: There is nothing wrong with a garrison bonus in general but its not suitable for Authority's playstyle. The tree greatly encourages you to have your military units either hunting barbs, shaking down city states, or being engaged in active war. Having to hold your units back from those activities to gain the bonus is the exact opposite of what you are otherwise encouraged to do, and so the tree conflicts with itself.
This version still maintains the theme of "military police maintaining happiness and culture in your cities" but doing it in a way that encourages military buildup and utilization, rather than discouraging it.
Note: I have placed another change to Authority here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...-2-swap-some-imperium-tribute-bonuses.681464/
If you wish to push Authority further, feel free to vote for either of these policies, or both.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13b
Discussion Thread: (3-13b) Counterproposal: Swap some Militarism and Honor bonuses
Proposer: @ma_kuh
Sponsor: @Legen
Proposal Details
Counter proposal: Swap some of the bonuses from the Militarism and Honor policies.
Problem:
Authority has a problem with incentivizing very aggressive play (tributing CS, capturing cities, killing units (once the barbarians are all cleaned up)). I'm not talking about "it wants you to build units so you can attack and defend with them", I mean it puts a LOT of power in actively killing civs (not just units). This dynamic just isn't appropriate for the Ancient era. The policy tree asks the player to commit to an economic engine fueled purely by combat, before they even know the layout of the terrain around them, and the opposing civs they'll need to conquer to do so. The number of games where authority is appropriate is disproportionately small compared to Tradition or Progress; as many have noted Progress is often a more successful combat tree simply because it gives you the flexibility to develop an economy before choosing to leverage your tech for war.
There are very few aspects of the Authority tree that let the player build up for the long-game. The garrison is one of the pieces. Removing it waters down the tree, and homogenizes it by putting its bonuses on buildings. +1
happiness and +2 culture is already cost-effective relative to the monument when building early game units. Tying it to the barracks delays these yields, and eliminates rewards for the natural play where an escorted settler starts a city with the bonuses already rolling.Militarism
Old: Each city with a garrison gives +1
happiness and +2 culture. New: Each city with a garrison gives +1
happiness and +2 culture. Free unit every 8 pop.Honor
Old: +10%
CS, pop war weariness.New: +10%
CS, -25% to Unit Maintenance, -50% to road maintenance, -25% to war weariness.Rationale:
The garrison bonus is perfect for Authority. It lets the policy's key attribute, owning units, translate directly to a bonus in the city. No fuss about hoping to find barbarian camps, or a neighbor you can snipe, or building a certain structure. Authority should be about something different than Tradition and Progress. They have building production and tile improvements; Authority should have unit-based triggers.
Moving the free unit for a city forward a policy solves the issue of having too few units to trigger this bonus. It no longer scales, but works even better for forward settlements, giving you both an extra unit as well as increased border growth. At the same time, moving (and slightly strengthening) the maintenance reductions lines up better with when those costs are starting to compound, making it easier to feel the difference.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13c
Discussion Thread: (3-13c) Counterproposal: Authority Redesign Proposal
Proposer: @gwennog
Sponsor: @axatin
Proposal Details
Proposal: Redesign Authority
Opener
+25 % VS Barbarians.
Gain
Culture when training Units equal to unit strength.+1
Production in every City.Tribute
Cities gain 20
Gold and Production when their borders expand, scaling with era.Raise to 50%
Gold in Capital when Tribute demanded from CS (Proposition 2-23)Imperium
Receive 40
Science and Culture when found or conquer Cities, scaling with era. Conquest bonus also scales based on City population.Walls provide -1
Poverty and Castle provide -1 Distress.Maintenance for Routes reduced by 50 %.
Dominance
Empire with supply use > 80 % gain +1
Culture in every city and +1 Science additional if the supply use is > 90 %.Melee units heal for 15 points after killing a military unit.
Militarism
Gain
Science when promoting Units equal to new level, scaling with era.Barracks provide -1
Boredom and Armories provide -1 Illiteracy.Maintenance for Units reduced by 15 %.
Unit Supply generated by population increased by 10 %.
Honor
Units gain +10 %
Strength.Gain
GGPs and Faith when upgrading Units equal to 50% of new unit strength.War Weariness reduced by 25 %.
Finisher
No change
Rationale: No longer link Authority to its ability to kill (barbarians, ...) but to its intrinsic power. Avoid the barbarian race at the start of the game and see the AI running after the camps at the other end of the map, even if it means exhausting themselves at the task and scattering their armies everywhere. Avoid bogging down the empire for lack of enemies.
VP Congress: Session 3, Proposal 13d
Discussion Thread: (3-13d) Counterproposal: Authority Shakeup
Proposer: @azum4roll
Sponsor: @azum4roll
Proposal Details
This proposal moves some abilities around and adds a new ability. It aims to give Authority some passive
bonus for having units instead of needing to use them, shifting it to major Unit focus instead of Conquest focus.Opener: Unchanged
Imperium: now the first policy on the left
Free settler
30 (instead of 40)
Culture and Science when found or conquer cities, scaling with era, and population if conquered Gold maintenance for Routes reduced by 50%Tribute: now the second policy on the left
Unchanged
Dominance:
Killing military unit gives
Science equal to CS of defeated unitMelee units heal 15HP after killing military unit
Unit supply generated by
population increased by 10%Militarism:
Each city with garrison generates +1
Happiness and +2 CultureA supply-free military unit spawns near Cities that reach a multiple of 8
Citizens for the first time+1
Science for every 4 military units on Empire (use same counting method as Fiefdoms)Honor:
+10%
CS on units War Weariness reduced by 25% Gold maintenance for Units reduced by 15%Finisher:
Unchanged
Overall this gives an extra +5
Science per turn if you have 20 units on Empire (should include the free units from Militarism, which are supply-free). Still less than what Tradition and Progress give (+3 Science per city plus other sources), but doesn't require war or actively farming barbarians.Tribute and Imperialism are swapped to encourage settling earlier, at the cost of slightly reduced founding/conquering yields.
