davis freeberg
Chieftain
For the last six months I've read a lot of strategy posts on the CivFanatics forums and it seems like most will agree that the internet is the most worthless wonder in the game. After 50+ games, I would have agreed with you, but last night I played my most satisfying civ game to date.
In the game, I was the Ethiopians and started on a small island with the US. Normally I like to engage in a quick ancient war at the beginning to boost my chances, but Roosevelt used a galley to expand onto another island and it took longer then normal before I had concluded my war.
Between the isolation of my island and the prolonged early war, I was behind in the tech race from almost the beginning. Normally at this point in the game, I would just quit and start over, but I really liked the dynamics of the game and I wanted to see if I could win a come from behind victory.
By the middle ages, it was clear that I had no chance at victory. The other civs hated me (political) my tech was so far behind I'd never get a space race, because of the islands, it was going to be hard to win via domination and without careful planning my chances at a culture win were slim to none.
It was at this point that I remembered the internet wonder and so I set out for a beeline to the computer tech so that I could unlock the wonder.
In the past, I'd get the internet, but by then the game was almost over so it never gave me any free techs. This time though, I was able to make it to the computer tech before the other civs (I think they must ignore it) and ended up being the first to discover the internet.
Had I been in strong 2nd, this strategy wouldn't have helped, but since I was in the middle of the pack, the wonder gave me all but two techs that the AI had.
I can't understate how powerful this was. After computer, it was really easy to tech to the space elevator (another underutilized wonder) and once I had the space elevator completed the leaders stood no chance in catching up with me.
The end result was a space race victory in the 2025 time period. While certainly not my strongest game, it was exciting because I was able to win after being so far out of the race. While players who are much better than I will scoff at the internet, for me, it was a great way to win a game after I had counted myself out.
It may not be the strongest wonder for those in the tech lead, but if you can get it while you're behind you can use it to slingshoot your way to victory. Now that I know how powerful this wonder can be, it makes me want to keep playing games even if I fall behind. If you need to use it, you won't break any point records, but it's great that Civ includes a way for the underdog to win the game.
In the game, I was the Ethiopians and started on a small island with the US. Normally I like to engage in a quick ancient war at the beginning to boost my chances, but Roosevelt used a galley to expand onto another island and it took longer then normal before I had concluded my war.
Between the isolation of my island and the prolonged early war, I was behind in the tech race from almost the beginning. Normally at this point in the game, I would just quit and start over, but I really liked the dynamics of the game and I wanted to see if I could win a come from behind victory.
By the middle ages, it was clear that I had no chance at victory. The other civs hated me (political) my tech was so far behind I'd never get a space race, because of the islands, it was going to be hard to win via domination and without careful planning my chances at a culture win were slim to none.
It was at this point that I remembered the internet wonder and so I set out for a beeline to the computer tech so that I could unlock the wonder.
In the past, I'd get the internet, but by then the game was almost over so it never gave me any free techs. This time though, I was able to make it to the computer tech before the other civs (I think they must ignore it) and ended up being the first to discover the internet.
Had I been in strong 2nd, this strategy wouldn't have helped, but since I was in the middle of the pack, the wonder gave me all but two techs that the AI had.
I can't understate how powerful this was. After computer, it was really easy to tech to the space elevator (another underutilized wonder) and once I had the space elevator completed the leaders stood no chance in catching up with me.
The end result was a space race victory in the 2025 time period. While certainly not my strongest game, it was exciting because I was able to win after being so far out of the race. While players who are much better than I will scoff at the internet, for me, it was a great way to win a game after I had counted myself out.
It may not be the strongest wonder for those in the tech lead, but if you can get it while you're behind you can use it to slingshoot your way to victory. Now that I know how powerful this wonder can be, it makes me want to keep playing games even if I fall behind. If you need to use it, you won't break any point records, but it's great that Civ includes a way for the underdog to win the game.