Governments

[Houarno]

Playing with a building, defending (rather than shoot-em-up) strategy, what would be the ideal order for governments. I realize that getting to democracy quickly is key, but should you change to a republic or a monarchy in between (last game I played, I switched to a republic as soon as I had the option, avoided monarchy, but ended up having money problems until I discovered democracy, and even then it took a couple turns to start making money).

So, to put in other words, which is the better stepping-stone to democracy, monarchy or republic? Thanks--

Houarno

 

[Mega Tsunami]

I personally never go to Monarchy but head straight for Republic asap. Democracy is a long way off.
I always thought that, as far as money was concerned, there was no difference between Republic and Democracy. In fact the only two differences between them that I know of is the level of War Weariness and the speed of the workers.
Most games I stay at Republic right through.

 

[farting bob]

i go to republic, then to deocracy. in wars i stay in demcracy unitl cities start going inot disorder, theni switch to communism.

 

[elpadrino87]

Before I switch into a republic (which I choose always unless I'm stuck in a lengthy war), I always make sure that my infrastructure on the map (i.e. roads, sufficient irrigation for population growth), as well as in cities (marketplaces in cities near capital and at size six[depends on how many luxuries and what difficulty level] and above). As much as monarchy seems like a good government to switch into, I usually have trouble with money, even with unit support. Since towns only support 2 units each, I usually have to use up land for irrigating, leaving me with less land to mine. I'd rather stay in a despotism during a war because towns support 4 units, and it means saving some turns of anarchy during the war. But once I'm in a republic, I'm ready to go to war anyways. You just need to be a savy trader with the other civs, so that the gpt they give you goes toward your maintenance and income each turn, while the money from your cities pays for your research (you can maintain research levels around 70-80%, even without gpt from other civs).

 

[thedirk]

I go to republic and avoid monarchy. It's worked for me but I usually play at Warlord level, so it might be different at a higher level. If I don't expect to be at war any time soon I switch to democracy when I get it.

 

[BretP]

I have to agree with Bob on this one. Democracy and Republic are great until you go to war, which you will almost certainly have to at some point.

 

[Renata]

I played for conquest in GOTM 17 and was at war constantly from about 1300 AD to the end of the game in 1844. I was in Republic the whole time, and the worst thing that happened was once I had to make peace with a Civ for 20 turns in order to keep war-weariness lux tax below 30%. Most of the time I had no lux tax at all.

Just to point out that it *is* do-able.

Renata

 

[Ronald]

Originally posted by Houarno
Playing with a building, defending (rather than shoot-em-up) strategy, what would be the ideal order for governments. I realize that getting to democracy quickly is key, but should you change to a republic or a monarchy in between (last game I played, I switched to a republic as soon as I had the option, avoided monarchy, but ended up having money problems until I discovered democracy, and even then it took a couple turns to start making money).

So, to put in other words, which is the better stepping-stone to democracy, monarchy or republic? Thanks--

Houarno

Usually for a building strategy, republic is the better way to go. The exeption is if you don't have enough luxury resources (especially on higher levels when unhappiness becomes a big issue)
For instance, on emperor I look for at least 4 luxuries before switching to republic. With less luxuries, monarchy with one military unit in the cities can be the better choice.

 

[nihil8r]

i absoultely hate having to spend money on luxuries. and i also hate having unhappy people. so i almost always go monarchy>communism and stay there. plus on a huge map in my experience communism beats the pants off of democracy for corruption control. sure, it prevents you from spending cash to rush build things, but you can counter that by building artillery and crap under war mobilization and then disbanding it in your peripheral cities for shield boosts.

republic/democracy is killer too though. i just usually am under attack by the entire world so i can't afford the money to keep my idiot workers happy.

 

[Jamesds]

I never go to Monarchy, Republic is my next from Despotism. I don't even discover Monarchy, but capture it from the AI later in the game. It isn't really worth it.
Then I stay at Democracy through the whole game. Communism isn't any good!

 

[thefrenchzulu]

I prefer monarchy later in the game when at war. It beats communism hands down. It might seem as if communism reduces corruption, but actually it just spreads it. Having a few cities with market places and bank with little corruption beats spread corruption to cities with no improvements.

Early in the game, republic is better even with limited luxaries. The exta money generated from republic is normally sufficient for some luxary tax.

The timing for the switch to republic could be key. Some market places in the cities surrounding your capital and forbidden palace is important for generating sufficient money to pay for the luxaries.

I normally switch to democracy the moment I discover it, though not when I'm at war. The improved worker rate helps for building infrastructure, especially railroads.

 

[Shillen]

I always thought that, as far as money was concerned, there was no difference between Republic and Democracy. In fact the only two differences between them that I know of is the level of War Weariness and the speed of the workers.

Democracy also lowers corruption. Therefore it produces both more currency and more shields than Republic does. It always seems like a dramatic change in corruption too when I switch. Combine it with courthouses and you'll be amazed at how many productive cities you have.