Despotic Golden Age

[Rambuchan]

Some people don't seem to mind triggering a Golden Age whilst in a Despotic government. Good players at that!

So let's poll this old favourite to update our opinions on the matter.

Personally, I find the idea of a Despotic GA quite abhorrent. I will nearly always wait until I'm in a Monarchy to trigger the GA, even better in Republic. Such a potent boost to commerce, science, productivity etc just seems utterly wasted in such a crappy government.

If you DO believe in Despotic GAs can you please indicate under which circumstances you would find this acceptable? I've tried to include some in the poll options, but I aint' the world's most experienced or serious player, so I may have missed some.

So, do you ever trigger Despotic Golden Ages?


The poll is a multiple choice.

 

[Rik Meleet]

"I do because of a trick that the thread starter doesn't know about (pls explain)."

->

In my recent game I was forced to do it and I didn't like it.

The problem with a Despo GA is not the failure to maximise shields and commerce, but the anarchy that comes when you want to revolt from despotism. With a late-Despo GA you are practically extending your despo-time since an anarchy-Golden Age really sucks. An early Despo Golden Age has only a few shields and commerce extra, when the focus should still lay on food then.

 

[azzaman333]

It's not ideal but, if forced to, I do.

Pretty self explainetry.

I do with certain civs

This more depends on the early game strategy. If im so lucky to get a SGl when playing as Egypt or Maya, I will always trigger my GA by building the Pyramids. Also, if i want an early war, UU's are normally better than the alternatives.

I do for the sake of building a wonder

I dont mind triggering my GA in Despot to build the Great Lib, Pyramids or ToA. Colossus, The great Lighthouse and MoM are okay as well, but only from a wonder cascade.

I do because of a trick that the thread starter doesn't know about

I voted this one because in some cases, an early GA will help you expand twice as fast as you would without one, giving you a big lead in the later game.

 

[Turner]

I'm more likely to do it if I have a religious civ, since it's the one/two turns of anarchy. Yeah, it hurts, but it's tolerable.

 

[tupaclives]

I voted depends on the map conditions. If you have a poor start (ie. no river, precious few bg) then a GA actually does wonders. Suddenly every roaded tile is like being border by a river and every mined grassland or irrigated plain is like a bg. Of course if you already have a river (or the collosus) and plenty of bg's i would do my utmost to avoid wasting my GA then, usually try and then hold it off until I'm building factories and hospitals where possible.

 

[Richard Cribb]

I had a couple of games (Emperor level) where I got a despotic GA which did me good.
On one occasion I was playing Rome on pangea and was boxed in by the Celts with only 6 cities and no room for expansion. Luckily I had iron and they had not so I went for a devastating offensive with my mighty legions. During the GA I more than doubled my land and amount of cities, got a MGL, money, techs and an incentive to push further. That was a most excellent game.
Another one was archipelagos with the Persians. I shared a huge island with the Portuguese. Somewhere in the expansion phase they declared war on me, while at the same time being so generous as to calmly continue to build the Great Lighthouse and the Great Library(The Colossus they had already built)(!). My immortals made short shift of them and suddenly I found myself in possesion of a bunch of great wonders and plenty of land. Another good game.
I would say that a despotic GA is wasted most of the time, but it can be a life-saver or even great once in a while. This is one of the things that is highly situational.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

the GA is helpful, but its' not sacred. if you *know* you are going for early war, then you can plan around it by not worrying about roading river tiles or mining BG, which can help your expansion some.

But yes - I try to avoid them.

 

[BuckyRea]

The poll is a multiple choice.

D'oh!! Too late

 

[rysingsun]

none of the above.

i have no problem at all with a despotic golden age.

 

[Twonky]

I avoid it like the plague, but I have used it when survival was at stake.
Other occasions might call for a despotic GA as well. The SGL-Pyramids azzaman mentioned is one. Another might be a food-rich and shield-poor environment, in which your GA might seriously accelerate your early expansion.

 

[ac196nataku]

Personally, I think a lot of you guys here make out a Despotic GA to practically ruin a game. Sure it's not optimal, but it's not game ruining. I tihnk too many people exaggerate the losses/penalty.

Then again, I don't play Diety however where I wouldn't be surprised if that lost shield could be life or death.

 

[Whomp]

I'm with Twonky. If i have the choice I'd rather have to core working on either 2 turn units or finishing markets, libs and ,if later, unis. This accelerates the game from early expansion to confirmation of victory condition.

 

[Desertsnow]

One of reasons I tend to favor Egypt is that I can build Pyramids early on (usually a phase of the game that most players might consider to be too early to start work on a Wonder), and use the resulting Golden Age to produce Settlers and expand; this is especially useful as I'll have at least one very efficient settler farm as a result (Pyramids = free granaries). I call it the Giza Gambit. I imagine it is akin to what might be called a 'Rhodes' Gambit with the Colossus, or a 'Delphi' gambit with the Oracle, but the Pyramids are especially well suited for expansion.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

I avoid them like the plague, unless I have to during an early war.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

I don't really care...

 

[thetrooper]

I would say that a despotic GA is wasted most of the time, but it can be a life-saver or even great once in a while. This is one of the things that is highly situational.

Agreed. I try to avoid despotic GA triggered by Great Wonders, that's just silly. Despotic GA triggered by an ancient UU (Hoplite, Enkidu etc) is harder to avoid.

 

[Evil Tyrant]

It's not a great thing to have, but it isn't all that bad either. I would rather have it after I switch to monarchy, but if I get one during despotism, it won't throw my game.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

Put it this way:

If I have the chance to build the pyramids, I won't pass it up because it will trigger a GA.

If I have 20 MW ready to take out my opponent, I dunno that it makes sense to wait through 6 turns of anarchy.

it's 20 turns - that's all. It can have a large impact or a small impact, depending on where in the game you are.

in fact, the largest impact can be in despotism - if you leave bonus grass alone and mine grass, and irrigate desert/plains... if you dont' bother roading river tiles...

a despotic golden age can *double* your productivity for 20 turns, early in the game, when it's most important, with no work from you.

if you have your golden age later, in monarchy/republic, then the percentage impact is less (25-30%) - if you wait until rails, then its' even less (as a percentage).

a size 5 city working 5 irrigated plains has 5 SP . That produces an archer every 4 turns.

That city has 10 SP in a ga, producing an archer every 2 turns!

It's not bad to trigger a despotic GA - there are consequences, of course.

As a rule of thumb, triggering one tends to be a bit of waste - but if getting a despotic GA is the price of something like wiping out another civ, or getting a crucial wonder, then there it is..

 

[WackenOpenAir]

Over my dead body.

There is only 1 AA Unique unit important enough to be worth that sacrifice, the iroqois horse, but by the time i get a bunch of those, i have republic as well.

Wonders and defending units (leaving you no choise if you are greek) shouldn't be build anyway.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

I dunno - if you are going for the fastest possible conquest victory on a tiny map, you are definitely going to be using zulu/egypt/maya/aztec, with the early fast UU, and you will definitely have a despotic GA.