So I've tried the right side progress starts now. I would say that its still a split between the right side and the left side. The right side feels better initially but if you have a *lot* of land and want to settle 6 or 7 cities, it feels really bad waiting for the 5th policy to give you culture. The culture from researching science policies isn't enough. It might be possible for a civilization that is strong with culture early, but I just went left side on a game where i wanted to go 7 cities early to take critical land and it felt much better going left side. The boost when I got the 5th policy for science was still felt and appreciated, but I couldn't have taken 7 cities the other way.