Is the Forbidden palace really worth it?

[morchuflex]

Hello.

I play as a peaceful builder on Emperor level, and I have come to think that in most of my games, the FP is barely worth building. In a typical situation, if I build it during the medeival era, it will save me about 10 gpt. That's not much for such a hammer investment. Upon completion, I barely notice any reduction in my deficit.
Even CHs seem to be low priority buildings. They'll typically save 2 or 3 gpt per city. Most buildings available at about the same time (forges, MPs, harbors...) will give me much more return on my investment. Of course, espionage points may add some incentive to build them...

I realize that heavy warmongers who love to conquer whole civilizations on other continents will claim that the FP (same for Versailles) is a critical building, but at least in my games it seems to do very little.

Opinions?

 

[reverend oats]

Well, it's the most useful building if you rex or conquer; it can save you 30-60 gpt, but for a builder like you it won't give you much mileage.

 

[obliterate]

Just like everything in the game, it's situational.

 

[DigitalBoy]

Forbidden Palace is still fairly cheap, when you consider it only costs as much as a univeristy/bank or 50 hammers more than a market/grocer. For rapid expansion and warmongering, it saves you tons on maintenance. Not worth prioritizing if you only save 10 gpt.

 

[cabert]

situations:
1) early warmongering, you whip courthouses in every captured city, but you're miles away from state property. you have the needed courthouses early, and the Forbidden Palace can be a real help.
2) In BtS, you've set foot on another island; colonial costs are high, and the forbidden palace is THE key, if you want to put corporations to good use.

 

[madscientist]

If you limit yourself to enough cities to peacefully build/tech and settle in a circle arround the capital it is not worth it.

However, if your capital is on a coast and you settle in more of a longish empire or have several cities off shore, then it is worth building.

Generally by the time the FP is available it's pretty clear to me how the game will proceed, so I either build it where I need, wait until I have the AI donated capital, or forget it.

 

[SnowlyWhite]

also, if you run corps(I like running mining/ethanol when given the opportunity)... courthouses are a must. Especially when you own... 40-50% of the land. On small and peaceful... shrug, still they seem worth the investment. 3gptx200 turns is more then you could get by doing... research or wealth.

and... if you're a builder, build damnit

 

[morchuflex]

... In BtS, you've set foot on another island; colonial costs are high, and the forbidden palace is THE key, if you want to put corporations to good use.

You're right: in the late game, Corp maintenance really makes CHs worthwhile.
As for colonial expenses... I dislike the vassal system, so I turn it off. Hence no colonial expenses. But your point is valid, of course.
The FP would be more useful if it affected global maintenance, not only distance related maintenance.

 

[DeaExMachina]

As a builder my preferential use of the Palace is actually...Culture. I've found it very useful to snag a spot between two other borders and drop it there simply for the culture to push those borders back.

 

[TriPp]

For me the forbidden palace is always useful i ussualy build it in my closest nieghbors capital if its a medium-far distance from my own then save versialles for a capital on another continent. Ussually saves me around 60-120gpt! Noway im sayin no to that.

The only time i could see it as useless is if you dont have any cities besides the ones you settled yourself. Definately alot more useful for large empires.