Controlling Inflation???

[giddion]

I thought some of you would have some good ideas on how to control inflation and prevent it from crippling your empire...

 

[Lade]

Your empire grows over time, so to keep you from getting uber rich, things start to cost more.

In this way, empires that don't expand slowly die

I'm not sure, but I don't think there's any way to stop it

 

[avalonnn]

If inflation is hitting you hard, you may have just jumped up a difficulty level. It hurts more at each jump.

In order to fight inflation at lower difficulty levels, you simply have to produce enough gold that it doesn't matter.

In all economies, having a shrine helps a lot (and having 3 or more may allow you to run at 0% gold, splitting all coins between science and culture).

The Calabim have a tough time getting science early on.

Have you been building markets? Some of the buildings that generate a specific number of gold can really help fight inflation.

Did you conquer a distant enemy? Fight your neighbors in the early wars. Consider moving your capital if your empire is spread out and the capital is distant from most of your cities.

 

[Annex]

You cant fight inflation.

Instead, fight maintenance costs and, as stated in the above posts, use shrines and markets for gold.

 

[giddion]

yer am working on tackling the income side of things, but inflation is raises too rapidly for me to cope.

I can't even abandon one of my own cities to curb the cost. I have to leave it unguarded and wait for it to be attacked but this has its own problems.

I wish I could abandon a city, or raze it... When I have already claimed it... etc...

 

[Zechnophobe]

Sound more like a maintenance issue than an inflation one.

Inflation is a modifier of your existing costs, so decreasing any cost will decrease the impact of inflation on your economy. If you have over expanded, perhaps due to early conquest, try switching to the city states civic to drastically reduce maintenance. Perhaps modify your civics so you aren't using ones that are so expensive.

If you can, building market places and assigning merchants can dig your way out of debt. Other than that, make sure your empire in general has a growing economy. Cottages, Calendar Resources, wines, whatever.

 

[Jabie]

It's a shame that the 3.17 patch didn't include a "No inflation" game option, maybe some wizard in the FfH team can find a way to optionally turn it off.

 

[bc1]

Yes it does! Its called "Chieftain"

 

[skallben]

Inflation just adds to the existing total expenses, the reason it hurts more later on is because inflation goes really high and if you allready got big expenses, inflation makes them huge. Lots of units, expansive civics and mostly distance+number of cities are the reasons. City states works wonders and Aristocracy also helps some. Also, courthouses, forbidden+winter palace helps in large empires. Another way to keep the science bar high is like someone mentioned, religious shrines - ideally with Bazaar of Mammon+all "+gold% buildings" in it. Add great merchants in that city can be a decent tactics aswell.

Edit: And yeah, marketplaces early on. Later when you get more food+health you could consider adding more cottages/specialists depending what you prefer.

 

[OzzyKP]

There is an event that knocks off 3% inflation for you. Usually hits early on I think. Not much of a strategy, but nice when it happens.

 

[Humakty]

order special building (basilica?) + courthouse nets a 80 % maintenance reduction. Best religion for large empire, as it widdens your government civic choice

 

[arcticnightwolf]

Basilica + Courthouse + 4x Law mana = no maintenance
Courthouse + 12x Law mana = no maintenance
Grigori Medic or High Priest of Order = no maintenance
anarchy = no maintenance

 

[Lade]

I got the event that changes inflation

something about your agricultural advisor painting all the cows purple to see if it increases milk output

if you fire her or appoint a new advisor it raises/lowers inflation

 

[bc1]

Building & law mana bonuses only apply to city maintenance, while inflation also applies to unit maintenance costs. Runaway empire costs are built into civ according to difficulty level, best way to deal with it is to plunder the AI's cities (that's what those units are for in the first place).

 

[Honor]

I wish we had another option when conquering cities: Looting. Instead of razing or capturing the city, you loot it for gold, possibly gaining 2 to 4 times the amount you normally get when you conquer a city, but you can only loot the same city once, say, every 100 turns or so.

 

[Forral]

Would be even more interesting if the looting of a conquered city had the same effect as razing it, only that it would take a number of turns comparable to the size of the city, during which time your unit would be locked down and vulnerable to counter attack.

Each of the turns passed you'd recieve a little bounty of gold and the population of the city would drop, untill eventually the city is completely destroyed or the enemy counter attacks and defeats the looters, retaking the city.

Could be cool tied in with the Raider Trait too, giving raider units accellerated speed for looting.

 

[skallben]

A major issue I forgot is of course when the pressure to jump to Republic makes it a must. Going from City States or Aristocracy can be horrible and I must admit, I don't know how to deal with it myself

 

[OzzyKP]

Get more happy resources and happy buildings. Stay with city states.

 

[Yaotzin]

Or mod the awful Republic civic out the game.

 

[avalonnn]

I wish we had another option when conquering cities: Looting. Instead of razing or capturing the city, you loot it for gold, possibly gaining 2 to 4 times the amount you normally get when you conquer a city, but you can only loot the same city once, say, every 100 turns or so.

Here's how I would do looting (but this would tax the CPU): destroy _all_ buildings in the city. Attacker gets c. 20 percent of their hammer cost in gold.

City population drops by 1/2, and 1/2 of that (rounded up) arrives in either a) new capital of the defeated empire, if any or b) city with highest happiness on the map.

Also, all towns/villages/cottages etc. in the fat cross get looted as if by a unit and all farms in the fat cross are destroyed.

Starvation would follow.

1 army regular deserts and goes home wealthy (add them as one population point to a random city if your empire or to the city with highest happiness -- if no cities have positive happiness, the unit goes to the city on the map (of a civ other than the looter's) with the highest happiness, adding one population there).

This event would benefit Kurio or non-evil religious civ, most likely.