Managing Cities/Staffing Specialists

[Plumfairy]

do you often have cultural city states allied before finishing tradition?

I wanted to get folks' opinions on this, actually. In normal games (i.e. I'm not going for an all-out ASAP domination victory, and I'm not playing a civ that radically changes my strategy) I generally don't prioritize allying with cultural city states or staffing my guilds until after I hit the Renaissance, so that I don't acquire "wasted" policies before Rationalism opens up. (I know, they're not really wasted. But that policy pick in Commerce or whatever would have been much more helpful in Rationalism.)

After I hit the Renaissance, then culture acquisition goes way up on my list of priorities. Is that similar to what y'all do, or do you focus on cultural city-states ASAP so that Tradition is finished ASAP?

 

[Chum]

I wanted to get folks' opinions on this, actually. In normal games (i.e. I'm not going for an all-out ASAP domination victory, and I'm not playing a civ that radically changes my strategy) I generally don't prioritize allying with cultural city states or staffing my guilds until after I hit the Renaissance, so that I don't acquire "wasted" policies before Rationalism opens up. (I know, they're not really wasted. But that policy pick in Commerce or whatever would have been much more helpful in Rationalism.)

After I hit the Renaissance, then culture acquisition goes way up on my list of priorities. Is that similar to what y'all do, or do you focus on cultural city-states ASAP so that Tradition is finished ASAP?

Honestly, commerce 3 is so overpowered in almost every single strategy, it's really hard to justify not taking it. So, I don't really sweat it that much. As a minimum I want to finish either lib or trad, get Commerce 3, and get 6 in an ideology in every game, so there's really no lost opportunity cost to extra policies as long as you have commerce unlocked.

 

[Iamteehee]

Honestly, commerce 3 is so overpowered in almost every single strategy, it's really hard to justify not taking it. So, I don't really sweat it that much. As a minimum I want to finish either lib or trad, get Commerce 3, and get 6 in an ideology in every game, so there's really no lost opportunity cost to extra policies as long as you have commerce unlocked.

I think Commerce 3 isn't insanely overpowered. You still have to grab merecenary army, which doesn't end up being useful for a victory which mercantilism is. It's pretty much 2 policies for the price of 3.

 

[Chum]

I think Commerce 3 isn't insanely overpowered. You still have to grab merecenary army, which doesn't end up being useful for a victory which mercantilism is. It's pretty much 2 policies for the price of 3.

Which victory are we talking about here?

Even ignoring the above question, there aren't anywhere else you can spend extra policies to give you the power of mercantilism + big ben for any VC. Buying space ship parts, buying units, buying buildings, it doesn't matter. It's ridiculous how good it is, which is probably why Acken nerfed it down.

 

[Iamteehee]

Which victory are we talking about here?

Even ignoring the above question, there aren't anywhere else you can spend extra policies to give you the power of mercantilism + big ben for any VC. Buying space ship parts, buying units, buying buildings, it doesn't matter. It's ridiculous how good it is, which is probably why Acken nerfed it down.

I wasn't really talking about any specific victory. I guess you are right. Similarly to rationalism, it is one of the social policies which is helpful for any victory condition, no matter what. I think that mercantilism itself is balanced, but the fact that Big Ben also gives a purchase cost reduction (which is additive with mercantilism) makes commerce 3 good.

 

[miaasma]

just in response to something suggested earlier about the default focus never staffing scientist slots - in cities that are at least fairly tall, i found science tends to get focused before production slots and way before merchant slots

to answer the thread, i recently began micromanaging virtually everything, including specialist slots and tiles, and found that my overall performance in games went up dramatically. i was richer, had better science, better growth, much better production, etc.

keep in mind that i tend to go wide rather than tall and because the AI governor tends to prioritize food, a taller empire could probably get away with just leaving everything on default, but i would definitely recommend tweaking your cities in your own way; i've found it to be a much more effective way to play the game, as well as a more immersive experience

and finally as a side note/question: is doing the production focus trick always worth it? i've been doing it every game and i think i'm doing it right, but i'm not sure. should it be done on every city? are there times when it's more of a hindrance?

 

[beetle]

You still have to grab merecenary army, which doesn't end up being useful for a victory which mercantilism is.

I very much like the no-move-to-pillage Lancers and Gunships, so I almost always get something from it. The Freedom policy that buffs CS gifts makes Mercenary Army quite valuable, if you go that route.

Even ignoring the above question, there aren't anywhere else you can spend extra policies to give you the power of mercantilism + big ben for any VC.

I find myself a little disappointed with how flexible and OP Commerce is! I am kind of bored with Rationalism, but can only rarely afford to skip that. So I pick my “filler” tree more for the role play. Still, full Patronage for Diplo VC and full Aesthetics for CV both work reasonably well.

 

[fimbul]

The biggest argument for micro-ing citizens is the fact that the AI is terrible at the game... do you really want the same AI routines to be running your cities? :s

Production focus, lock good tiles, staff scientists and guilds slots, thats about 50% of all the micro to do.

 

[EthelredFTL]

This thread is gold. Thank you!