Fourth Age musings....

[hoplite_fan]

The game ends around 1960. The Qing and French Empire no longer exist. The abilities of the civs from this age don't really represent their contemporary versions, I mean the US isn't exactly still dominated by prospectors trying to strike it rich in the gold mines out west.

But compare, for example, factories in 1950 with factories in 2025

Other than having supply chains stretched all across the globe, they are not significantly different from each other

 

[sTAPler27]

I don't know exactly how we got on that topic but i'm assuming your point is that little would change between a modern and contemporary/information age. I've never worked in a factory so I can't say for sure but lets say you unlock them around 1850 it's going to be a bit ancient by the time the game ends 200 years later. The game still has 100 years of development to fill in manners ranging from social to scientific discovery ranging from the rise of automation to shrinking of computing technologies and that's not even mentioning the stuff that will be developed in the 25 or so years after the game is usually set to end which can open the door to so many unique gameplay features based on specualative futurism.

 

[hoplite_fan]

I don't know exactly how we got on that topic but i'm assuming your point is that little would change between a modern and contemporary/information age. I've never worked in a factory so I can't say for sure but lets say you unlock them around 1850 it's going to be a bit ancient by the time the game ends 200 years later. The game still has 100 years of development to fill in manners ranging from social to scientific discovery ranging from the rise of automation to shrinking of computing technologies and that's not even mentioning the stuff that will be developed in the 25 or so years after the game is usually set to end which can open the door to so many unique gameplay features based on specualative futurism.

We have reached a point where too much automation is actually a hindrance, and where writing more lines of code won't make factories more efficient than what they already are

Even when billions of dollars are invested and when cutting-edge machines are installed, they still need just as much manpower as they did in the 20th century, humans are still very required

Were if not for red tape, many factories could still be in business with century-old factory equipment, as unbelieavable as it sounds

 

[sTAPler27]

We have reached a point where too much automation is actually a hindrance, and where writing more lines of code won't make factories more efficient than what they already are

Even when billions of dollars are invested and when cutting-edge machines are installed, they still need just as much manpower as they did in the 20th century, humans are still very required

Were if not for red tape, many factories could still be in business with century-old factory equipment, as unbelieavable as it sounds

I really don't get the focus on factories when a lot more has changed in the past century or two. I get that humanity stays relatively the same but if you kept that mindset there would be no age system. I feel like the invention of computers, television, the internet, robotics, etc are strong enough reasons to justify a new age. This is preferable as opposed to America's Gilded age never ending with Railroad Tycoons basically running the government up until 2050.