I just posted about this is the poll forum. Because of the way that the two "preemptive" polls were set up, the value of the citizens vote on the matter was discounted in a way to make it almost meaningless. But that's what happens when you rush polls with no discussion and they wind up poorly written. The Public, as you so clearly point out Donsig, does not want to give input on matters dealing with Regional or National concerns. They just like to vote. True there is a handful of Phoenaticans who are very vocal, myself included, but pretty much anything will fly these days as long as you rush the poll and don't explain it very well. The Domestic Department has been in charge of making decisions on the building of Wonders since the begining of the game (I believe). The choice of which wonder to build has not always gone to public opinion. I like to get a feel for how the citizenry feels about the Wonder issues. This does not mean that I value the results of these last two polls.
You Donsig, want our Science rate kept up. Best way to do that in this stage of the game is to keep the population happy so that lux's can be kept low. Building the Longevity Wonder at this point would be counter productive because the cities would grow faster than the happiness inducing improvement could be produced. You help the Nation prepare itself by building the CFC first, giving all cities that extra edge of happiness.
Building the Longevity Wonder would be next because, as stated above it would double the the pop number at every growth stage. Of course the more happy people we have, the stronger our Cultural influence on the rest of the world is. So, as you can see, the CFC and Longevity (in this order) are a good combo.
Building the Manhattan Project has already been discussed by the citizenry. We will not be needing the many benefits of nuclear bombs in our quest for Victory. The manhattan should only be used for prebuilding until after the the SMD. Then the Manhattan can be built for the extra icing on the cake, so to speak.
All of this was pretty much laid out in the extensive discussions held on Wonder Building. As the discussions died down, I was left with the feeling that this course of action was suitable. As far as locations for pre-build, several locations have volunteered to be the sites for future Wonders. PDX is a great builder and could use another shot in the arm Culture-wise. Khatovar is a prime location as it is just about to climb onto the Top Five Cities of the World list. Pherris is another example of a strong builder with a potentially high Culture rating. Fox Nest should be concentrating on projects other than Wonders as its rating as the Number One City in the world will never be dislodged. What wonders we have left to build should go to the cities struggling to join Fox Nest on that list. Our great Phoenatican Capital city can concentrate on other projects such as military units, remaing improvements, and spaceship parts.
So, we're looking at pre-building the Longevity wonder and using the GL to rush the CFC. Because of the length of time needed to achieve the Genetics advance (I would estimate 16 turns at the current rate) and the speed with which our top producing cities can knock out a Wonder (probably 15 turns or so), we should wait a bit before starting any pre-build. The war and the weariness it will cause is another factor we have to take into consideration as this may require adjusting the Science slider.
Did I answer your question, Donsig?
(Sorry, couldn't resist that one!)
