Corporations: Do you use them?

[Duuk]

A simple question really. Do you use corporations?

I don't, because they're a money pit. That's so fundamentally wrong as to be absurd. Even putting the corporate HQ in my market-grocer-bank-Wall Street-Holy City-courthouse-forbidden palace city causes the corporations to be a net loss for expanding them.

I've read the "Corporate Maintenance Explained" thread, and it still bothers me badly.

So I just want to see, all being said and done, if you use them.

 

[mkjhartmann]

Um, yes.

McDonalds, Exxon, IBM....

 

[Duuk]

Um, yes.

McDonalds, Exxon, IBM....

Thank you for ruining my poll with an idiotic response.

Side note: You wait 2 years to make an on-topic post, and THIS is what you use it on? I'm stunned.

 

[Rusty Edge]

A simple question really. Do you use corporations?

I don't, because they're a money pit. That's so fundamentally wrong as to be absurd. Even putting the corporate HQ in my market-grocer-bank-Wall Street-Holy City-courthouse-forbidden palace city causes the corporations to be a net loss for expanding them.

I've read the "Corporate Maintenance Explained" thread, and it still bothers me badly.

So I just want to see, all being said and done, if you use them.

Yes, but in combination with cottage spam , Libertarian civics, and spread to colonies and other countries rather than my own cities. I prefer Creative Constructions for a cash cow. I like to found Ethanol and Aluminum corps to help control critical resources.

I figure espionage and corps are integral parts of the game now, and I must use them to stay competitive, whether or not I always want to.


So if you forsake corps, are you going the workshop / Specialist economy/State Property route?

 

[Duuk]

It occurs to me that I should have made this a multi-choice poll and included "I am using Solver's Patch/I am not using Solver's Patch" as options.

 

[Underdawg]

I like the food bonus to be able to run extra specialists under representation. Only to select cities though.

You using Solver's fix or not? Even without Solver's fix, I would still use the corp in select cities and some AI cities.

 

[zahathustra]

Why not? They bring nice benefits if well planned and correctly used, I personally like the food producing ones and to counter the maintenance adopt Free Market first and spread them in other people's cities.

Actually there are more aspects regarding founding, spreading and making benefits out of corporations. They are available to the nation with the required resources each corp needs and a gp of a specific type to be found; even if you meet the requirements you need to check if you want the benefits or not. If your answer is Yes you need to be able to counter the maintenance costs in the first place and also be able to pay for spreading them abroad if you wish or can. Now if you were successful you get the benefits of it both from the resources they provide and the sweet cash they bring. Even after doing that all you might think that you ended getting the benefits so soon (which is good) or too late (well it's still okay but did it worth it?). As far as I experienced this is the way corps work in BTS.

At least they act somehow like end-game religions so you still have something to spread, get some stuff and get some $$$ .

 

[DemonMaster]

Sometimes. I have noted that, many AI civs uses Mercantilism and State Property now so in some game, they can't be used to "drain" a poor country's economy.

But if the world is more "opened up" it can be fun to drain those poor countries with my Corporations (until they end up changing to M or SP to stop it).

Quite realistic actually, it works just as WB in real life.

(Sorry about that last part, couldn't help myself, it was rather political)

 

[Lillefix]

Sometimes. I have noted that, many AI civs uses Mercantilism and State Property now so in some game, they can't be used to "drain" a poor country's economy.

Actually they can. I tend to use spies to force them out of mercantilism or state property. The drawback is of course that I can't use STate property or mercantilism either.

 

[RedRalph]

I obviously amnt using them correctly. they always make me haemmorage money, so no, I never do

 

[Sephlock]

Apparently the corporations in BTS are modeled after such shining examples as Tyco, Worldcom, Enron, etc....

 

[DemonMaster]

Apparently the corporations in BTS are modeled after such shining examples as Tyco, Worldcom, Enron, etc....

At least you have Sid's Sushi, you got food for you money, even though I don't like Sushi, but perhaps they have ordinary fish too.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Play huge maps, with a dozen or so civs. Corps are the single strongest aspect of the game now. If you spread the corp to around 30 or 40 foreign cities, you can easily afford it in your 15-20 or so. As someone else said, you can use spies to manipulate their civics if they start trying to run SP or merc.

This is without Solver's patch (what does that actually do in relation to corps?)

 

[TriviAl]

They may have a minor net cash cost, but I think the benefits make up for this (until inflation gets silly).

The food generating ones are rather funky - often 3-4 extra specialists - isn't to be sniffed at? A few of those batches as merchants and it's all looking more even again? And the ability to turbo grow new towns can be worth it?

The resource makers don't seem so great IMO - although invaluable if you can't smash and grab from somewhere round the world?

The production ones are a little pricey as well - tend to like mining co to push cities over key production numbers - 100, 150, etc - improving a city from 90-100 is just great?


In terms of the flavour I have no problem with them - in Civilisation corps cost you money - however they provide you with other benefits instead. Figure it's not totally unrealistic - look at government contracted defense companies? From a certain point of view - it's a tax money pit that spews out newer and deadlier weapons?

 

[Grimz101]

they are broken i dont use them.. all you need to do is spread 1 to the AI's best production city, and it will spam it to all its own cities, it wont even come out of enviroment civic which make them cost 25% more, it is clearly broken when it makes the AI tech around 50% slower because all its money is getting sucked by maitenance.. i sometimes spread them to my colonies/vassals since its all about exploiting your colonies and vassals ! But never spread to a real AI

 

[RedRalph]

but the thing is it CRIPPLES my economy. Like loses me so much money I cant spend on research at all

 

[Peng Qi]

I've never failed to turn a massive profit with Civilized Jewelers.

 

[modzso]

I try to found some corporations: Mining, Standard Ethanol, etc.

Mining could be good if you are in the space race building space ship parts when every hammer counts. Or to give production to flat land cities.
Standard ethanol: if you lack oil, this could be a saver.

Other corporations could be useful for a cultural victory.
Just carefully spread your corporations.

 

[Arlborn]

Play huge maps, with a dozen or so civs. Corps are the single strongest aspect of the game now. If you spread the corp to around 30 or 40 foreign cities, you can easily afford it in your 15-20 or so. As someone else said, you can use spies to manipulate their civics if they start trying to run SP or merc.

This is without Solver's patch (what does that actually do in relation to corps?)

Solver's patch fix something to do with inflation/corps. Check the thread for more info.

And I use them. IMHO Sid's Sushi is great to speed up the cultural victory in the end of the game. But no, I don't use them to cripple the AI. Rather boring then.

 

[mice]

Corps are the single strongest aspect of the game now.

Yes. Hammers and food are the life blood of a victory in Civ. Dont give them to the rivals, keep them in your empire. With Mining inc and a food corp your empire booms out to victory in no time.

As for the cost, they come at a time in the game when you can often cut tech spending right out. So who needs gold? With representation you can sneak through to that last tech you need with specialists and build beakers.

Golden ages are then just the icing on the cake.

I play without the patch and they still make sense, if you are prepared to turn down the slider.

If i miss mining inc. now I want to quit and restart.