Arabia 23
Aztecs 15
Babylon 25
Carthage 20
China 23
England 21
Ethiopia 16
France 12
Greece 27
Inca 25
Iroquois 12
Korea 26
Maya 27
Netherlands 22
Ottoman Empire 11
Persia 18
Roman Empire 18
Russia 21
Siam 17
Uhh what is with people and korea, they arn't that good, they are a nock off science civ. Babylon gets the academy super fast, and continues to get the most throughout the game until the bulb fest at the end. by the time korea even gets a university to use the specialists it's hardly useful over babylons scientists. and it takes a lottt longer to get there do to not having that early academy.
There are plenty of specialist buildings that aren't universities, including two that commonly come earlier (three if you have the chance to select Cathedrals for your religion). Korean Academies come later but are better than Babylonian ones due to the GP improvement science bonus. And while the boost from building a library is no Academy in the early game, it's something other civs don't get.
There seems to a lot of theorycrafting by people who play Babylon but not Korea, but when it comes down to in-game experience, Korea is by every report here from people who appear to be experienced with both the better science civ (I've only played Babylon once since they're rather dull, though I like Nebby's AI, so can't really compare).
Arabia 23
Aztecs 13
Babylon 27
Carthage 20
China 24
England 21
Ethiopia 14
France 11
Greece 25
Inca 27
Iroquois 14
Korea 26
Maya 25
Netherlands 20
Ottoman Empire 6
Persia 18
Roman Empire 15
Russia 19
Siam 17
England: First time I've played them is my current game, and both the naval movement and, particularly, the extra spy are nice to have. Haven't really used the longbow, but there can be no doubt it's good.
Greece: Now everyone seems to be hung up on the "influence decay doesn't happen" issue. Quite apart from the big "so what?" this elicits post-G&K when natural influence decay is almost meaningless, even in order to get this mediocre bonus you have to get the appropriate religious belief, which is often not hard but makes this a sub-par civ on Deity where you need to specifically focus on getting a religion to get one at all, let alone your choice of beliefs. Not to mention that it requires a religious belief generally considered mediocre, and that you want only to augment a UA that isn't as good by itself as it needs to be, in place of one that's likely to have more general utility. Someone asked early of Siam "a civ that gives me a bonus but no way of getting there?" and voted the Siamese down on that basis. Although that was a bad argument against Siam, the Greeks not only don't give you a specific way to get to the influence you want to retain in the first place, they also don't give you any particular bonus for actually maintaining that influence. The Hoplite is a serviceable, but average and uninteresting UU. Only Companion Cavalry shines.
which helps me with every aspect of the game and every possible strategy making them the most versatile civ to play? Yes please!
