The workshop changes and such were also listed in the 1.0.1.135 update notes (
link), and have been in the development versions for several weeks. I just haven't had time to write out the reasons in depth. Hopefully the math terms don't confuse anyone too much.
These are the estimated number of turns in vanilla of constantly constructing buildings (return on investment, ROI) until building the workshop no longer penalized your civ (considering cost, production modifier, and maintenance). Before this point your civ is weaker than it would be without the workshop; after this point it is stronger. This assumes a 1:1 gold:hammers value ratio. I haven't seen math on what estimates of the true value ratio is, and it depends on policy choices, so I picked 1:1 since yield rates and specialists seem to be at about that value. I also ignore the time-value of money (TVM) in the formula since the rate of value inflation in Civ V is not clearly documented yet. (Time-value of money is the question: how much more valuable are 100 hammers
now compared to 100 hammers in say, 50 turns?)
X city base hammers, Y turns ROI, +Z turns added to ROI for each 1 turn not constructing a building
- <9
, Never build a workshop in such a city; drains economy.
- 12, 100 turns, +2
- 15, 57 turns, +1.15
- 20, 33 turns, +0.7
Basically, in vanilla it's only worth delaying production for a workshop once a city reaches at least 15 base production, 20 recommended, and only if it never builds units (rules out military production city) or wonders (typically excludes the capital). Most other cities don't reach 15-20 production until the industrial or modern eras, so in vanilla workshops are generally not a good idea until forced to build one for a Factory (whose benefits exceed the penalties of having a workshop). Keep in mind this is also ignoring TVM. Considering Civ V's power curve on InfoAddict score graphs compared to previous versions of civ, with TVM I'd estimate these numbers are about 50% longer, though I cannot give a precise figure.
Increasing the effect of workshops 20% (1.5/1.25) makes them useful in almost any city, provided you're in a circumstance where it's safe to delay production for long-term gains. As a result it becomes a decent choice when stacked up against more useful buildings like Colosseums or Markets.
In addition, late-game buildings have a significantly lower cost/benefit ratio than early-game buildings. For example, the Stock Exchange is 1/4 the
/
value of a Market. The workshop's increased bonus is partially designed to help get these late-game buildings constructed in a timeframe whereby you can recover the up-front costs before the game ends. A 20% increase in the Workshop's effect seemed to be a better alternative than cutting the Stock Exchange cost by 75%, or other such dramatic measures.
Solar/Nuclear power plants and other production buildings like the Arsenal were also buffed for similar reasons, though they're in worse shape than the Workshop. The Arsenal is likely one of the worst buildings in the game, a 25% land unit production bonus with high cost and maintenance. That close to the end of the game there's little hope of ever recovering the investment. I increased it 20% (to 50%) and it now works with aircraft production as well. Other details can be found in the update notes on the update website linked at the top of the post.
scientist is moved from Library to Research Lab, but it remains 2
