Does anyone try to build The Pyramids?

[BlackJAC]

Having successfully built them in my last monarch game (first time I've ever managed to build them at any level) I was amazed at how productive my other cities became, over 60% of my cities managed to churn out knights, longbows and Muskets in about 2-4 turns. Now i'm not saying there's not more important things that ones capital could be producing rather than wasting it's time building this wonder, but I thought this wonder made my game a hell of a lot easier than it would otherwise have been.

Maybe it's just me, but does anyone think this wonder is a little bit too powerful in the hands of a human player?

 

[Tomoyo]

I think this wonder is too powerful in the hands of the AI...

 

[Pentium]

I used to build them in every game. And still build them if I can.

 

[Hyronymus]

Yes, I build them too. As a matter of fact I always build all wonders that provide a free city improvement. The AI might indeed become to powerful if they own any one of those.

 

[Bartleby]

The pyramids don't increase production, they speed up growth by providing granaries. I assume the increased production you see is due to entering your golden age, which lasts for 20 turns. Cherish it while you can.

 

[jst666]

Well, in the end Pyramids increase production heavily. The cities grow in half the time, so you get the growth benefits much faster. And the benefits do include production.

 

[Rohili]

The benefit of the Pyramid is immense and lasts the whole game but I always lag behind severely in empire expansion if I build it.

 

[tR1cKy]

Never. Why wasting so many shield that can be devoted to military production? First, you let the AS build them. Then, with the soldiers you cranked up in the meantime, you capture everything.

 

[slightlymarxist]

Never. Why wasting so many shield that can be devoted to military production? First, you let the AS build them. Then, with the soldiers you cranked up in the meantime, you capture everything.

I second that...

 

[Rambuchan]

Whoever builds the Pyramids is most likely to be the world leader in the ancient age. But there are a few ages after that and a good few centuries to play catch up (which is fun) and personally I don't end games in the Ancient age.

I play on Monarch level and never build the Pyramids. There are always much better things to be building - like military, more settlers, workers etc.

OK if another civ builds them they do grow bigger and stronger but more often than not they soon get surpassed technologically and are then easy to crush, meaing the pyramids will be yours. Or you make them lame/wipe them out through all the other ways you take down a rival civ.

Although I haven't tried on higher levels I suspect those which choose to build the Pyr and doing so for very good reason.

 

[Parabellum]

If I´m playing lesser levels I do. If I´m playing regent or better I NEVER do it because always one of the AIs do it faster than me and is useless to keep on the production to build another thing by the time it shows. AND the lose os land, citys, workers and time working, never pays you off the shields wasted in that "monster".
The only thng I build in every game i can is the tsung tzu´s war acdemy. It´s very usefull `cos when you conquer a city, you find it always with a barracks and free! So you can recover your troops or even improve them faster.

 

[Grogs]

The Pyramids just happen too early to be practical for higher level games. Certainly you'll experience an explosive boom of population growth after you build them, but you'll have to sacrifice the production of one of your best producing cities for maybe 40 turns to get them. It will take quite a while for the increased population to offset that loss of production.

As others have mentioned, it is usually best at high levels to let the AI build the Pyramids and capture them. You may even want to gift the appropriate tech to one of your neighbors so they'll build them rather than a civ on the other side of the map.

 

[Hyronymus]

I never find it a problem to start and finish the Pyramids before someone else does. The AI prefers The Oracle and The Colussus much more than The Pyramids, they only start that one if nothing else is left.

 

[k-a-bob]

No, not anymore.

I just pray my neighbor builds it!

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

I do, It saves me the trouble of building granaries in all of my cities. And by this time I usually already have like 5 or 6 cities which is a small, yet decent number for this time period I think.

 

[BlackJAC]

The pyramids don't increase production, they speed up growth by providing granaries. I assume the increased production you see is due to entering your golden age, which lasts for 20 turns. Cherish it while you can.

Aye, but the extra boom in growth helps your production no ends in the early ages.

Also, i can see how others prefer someone else build them, that's not very useful if they're situated on another continent though.

 

[Shadow Phoenix]

i ONLY build Sun Tzus Art of War and sometimes Leonardo's workshop.

 

[gunkulator]

Never build. I play at Emperor and the AI has a signficant discount on production that I can't come close to matching in the Ancient Era. You can't really prebuild the Pyramid.

I'd rather use 400 shields to build 13 swordsmen and just go capture the Pyramids. If an AI on another continent builds it, I don't mind much. They'll have an advantage but they can't really hurt me until later in the Middle Ages when ships can cross the ocean. By then I'll have maxed out most of my cities via worker-pump cities. Once you or the AI has your cities maxed out, the Pyramids are effectively obsolete anyway. The only granaries I ever build are in settler-pump and worker-pump cities so the zero maintenance granary doesn't mean much to me.

 

[cfacosta]

I never build them. On emperor and above it is usually futile to race the AI in building the pyramids. Besides, I do as the real Romans did. Let some other poor tools build them, then march in with legions.

 

[geonnyboy]

If I pop an early Scientific Leader, of course.

Other than that, no.