How many Golden Ages are good?

[Dubai Vol]

This is why I love the forum: I had this question, ran a search, and found this thread. 'm trying my first SE (specialist economy) and popping out great people like chicklets. Tempted to use 2 A (GM and a GSci) for my 3rd Golden Age (got Taj Mahal) and wanted opinions. Glad someone else thinks GMs are underpowered, and I have GSci coming out my ears; academies everywhere.

This will be my last Golden Age, I promise. I can quit any time I want!

 

[King of Town]

GM's are awesome, two of them equal another free specialist for your city when settled. I can burn the one GP for a GA maybe two towards th end but not more than that. With corps I can find a use for them.

 

[IronCrown]

Usually I'll have one Golden Age. I rarely build Taj Mahal because it's extremeley expensive when you've got no marble. I avoid triggering GAs in the early game because their effect is small... and if I wait, I can start a really helpful late game GA with only one GP. I like to start one in the final stage of a space race, when all cities are building space ship parts. GAs make for a really helpful boost there.

Sometimes, when I get the mausoleum (not too often, usually not in my research path) I'll go for 2-3 GAs. But I never triggered more than two with Great People. In fact I never have three different GPs around... I'll have mostly scientists and the occasional GM.

Though now that I think of it, it wouldn't be difficult to breed at least three different GPs under Caste System. Together with MoM and Taj Mahal that would be four extended GAs. I might try to do this in one of my next games.

 

[TheDS]

I have a hard time letting GPs sit and do nothing for seveal turns. I feel that if you have something that can do something for you, each turn of delay is a waste. Of course, this doesn't mean I'll burn them if I KNOW I have a good use for them coming up, but I've only once held one for more than 10 turns or so. (I held a couple GAs I got in quick succession to derevolt 2 major enemy cities I was going to be capturing - took me a little longer than I thought to be ready for war, then a little longer than I thought to take those cities, but I DID get them in there and set them off immediately, saving me 10+ turns of revolt apiece.)

 

[6K Man]

I rarely initiate a Golden Age with Great People. I do try to get the Taj for one, though. I also don't have BtS so I don't get the +100%GPP or the anarchy-free revolts.

In the early game, Golden Ages don't seem to be worth doing - settling 2 great people (or lightbulbing/shrine/whatever) always seems to have a better effect than 8 turns of +1 hammer/+1 coin per tile in my 6-10 cities. And by the late game, great people seem to come too far apart, and I don't like idling one for 40 turns. I have occasionally started a late-game Golden Age, but usually it's overkill.

Now that I have BtS, I wish to revise my answer. For me, the ideal number of GAs is now 3, possibly 4 (assuming you have the Taj).

Reason? Well, the GA benefits got a lot better in BtS. Considering that now a GA allows you to switch civics without anarchy, a late-game GA allows you to save thousands of lost hammers and commerce (and growth, incidentally) that you would otherwise incur by making a radical change involving 2 or more civics. This benefit is really noticeable in Epic/Marathon, and is on top of the extra hammers/commerce you get from the GA in the first place.

Add in the +100% for GPP generation (which in some cases means that before the GA is over, you'll have a new GP to replace one of the ones you expended) and the wonder that increases the GA duration by 50%, and multiple GAs become very tempting. The combined benefits just seem much better than lightbulbing or otherwise burning one or 2 GPs. I'm not sure about 3.

I now plan my major civic changes to take place around the time when I complete the Taj, and I may consider holding onto a GP (or if needed, 2) just to give me the flexibility to flip in and out (over 5 turns) of civics during wartime.

 

[Snapman]

I'll maybe have 1 or 2 Golden Ages towards the end of the game when the GPs don't have as much use.

GPs are too valuable to me in the early and mid game to use on a Golden Age. The earliest I'd have a Golden Age is around the Renaissance-era, if I need to make a few civic changes.

I very rarely build the Taj Mahal.