PYRAMIDS a must or no??

Pyramids A must or not

  • Yes

    Votes: 259 47.5%
  • No

    Votes: 286 52.5%

  • Total voters
    545

CivJester

Chieftain
Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Messages
17
Location
Yuma
One of my carry overs from CIV II is that I have to have the Pyramids. It just seems the time and money that can be saved by having graineries in each city automaticaly is worth putting a city on the pyramids as soon as possible. I just got CIV III about a week ago so I havent played that many games, but I will usually start a new game if some one beats me to the Pyramids. Just wondering about others feeling on this.
 
I'd have to say yes, it's a must. Same as Sun Tzu's Art of War and Magellan's Voyage for me. There are some others that I absolutely must have as well, but those 3 are the ones I am usually tripping over myself to build. Overall, any wonder that never becomes obsolete is worth going to great lengths to build, IMO.
 
Hmm...Pyramids are good (high culture value, never expire) but not as good as they were in Civ II (only work on home continent, I gather from what happened when I captured them?)

I haven't built the Pyramids yet in Civ III (not for lack of trying, but the AI always beats me to it.) Colossus (Super Science City) and Great Library (12 culture per turn after a while) are much more important to me.

Sun Tsu's is way down my list...it's a great one to let someone else build and then capture! The two cathedrals, now...those are pretty much must haves to me (very high culture and great for happiness), as are all of the science wonders in your SSC.
 
Maybe an option like "It depends" should be available at the poll.
In my opinion wonders like Pyramids and Hoover Dam are very good, but their effectivness varies according to the size of map/continent you build the wonder in.
For example, in a Pangea (any size) I'd say Pyramids are a must. However in an archipelago Standard map or smaller they aren't so important.
 
I agree with ACM. The time is saves depends on the number of cities you're going to eventually have. Smaller maps decrease the value of the wonder.
 
Not necessary. Granaries halve the amount of food needed to increase population. Unless you are using a strategy that involves trading population for production, it's not that important. Cities with proper terrain improvements will max out at 6 then 12 pretty quickly. Additional growth is constrained by tech research so I wait until Sanitation to build most granaries. It is beneficial for your starting city to have one though.

It really doesn't help much to increase population faster than you can keep your citizens happy. The Pyramids are more important on easier difficulty levels than harder ones where happiness is less of a challenge. On Emperor level, the 2nd citizen is uhappy so what's the point in having them breed like rabbits? Besides, the AI builds the first age wonders so quickly that you really don't have much of a shot at any of them. Better off racing to Music Theory and JS Bach's Catherdral.
 
Originally posted by lwchen
Not necessary. Granaries halve the amount of food needed to increase population. Unless you are using a strategy that involves trading population for production, it's not that important. Cities with proper terrain improvements will max out at 6 then 12 pretty quickly. Additional growth is constrained by tech research so I wait until Sanitation to build most granaries. It is beneficial for your starting city to have one though.

It really doesn't help much to increase population faster than you can keep your citizens happy. The Pyramids are more important on easier difficulty levels than harder ones where happiness is less of a challenge. On Emperor level, the 2nd citizen is uhappy so what's the point in having them breed like rabbits? Besides, the AI builds the first age wonders so quickly that you really don't have much of a shot at any of them. Better off racing to Music Theory and JS Bach's Catherdral.

I couldn't agree more. The pyramids are only really helpful up until the point you switch out of despotism, and sometimes, by the time I might have built them I am almost ready to stage a revolution.
 
I think it depends on what type of game you are playing. I play "The Big Game" - huge map, large continents, 16 civs. I don't think it is possible to dominate through growth. Trading and limited conquering seem to work better. So, in my big game, the Pyramids don't matter quite as much - I'd sure like them - but there are 2 wonders I had to have.

First, the Great Lighthouse is a must. This is because there are usually 8 civs on another continent and no other way to get there before Navigation. If you are the one civ with contacts with everyone, you can broker the science (ala Pope strategy) for lots of gold, which not only makes friends, but gets you enough gold to up your research.

Second, the Great Library. It doesn't give you much, but it defends your store of knowledge and position as knowledge broker.

I'll take any wonder I can get, but without those 2, my strategy falls apart.
 
in civ 2 i'd always push for leonardo's workshop. Then it would upgrade all obsolete units(as you all probably know). But now, it just cuts the price in half. Which really doesn't help that much unless you have a ton of cities or your low on cash. But I still like to build it, me being a big fan of all his works.
 
I always try to build the Pyramids; theres no question as to it's value. Still, it reqires a hefty turn investment from a powerful city that could otherwise be developing numerous military units / settlers / workers. Still, I think the Pyramids' value to your civ outweighs the cost and time to build.
 
With the technological constraints of size 6 and size 12 respectivly, I must say I find the the advantage of the pyramids to be less than overwhelming.
 
After reading about some of the despot rush strategies, I kind of think building granaries in the early game is no big deal.

You can just sacrifice a couple of pop points to get them, and then your despot rushing is going even faster as the pops grow back in 1/2 the time.

I guess it's worth building if you can spare a city with a lot of production early in the game.

Personally, I'd rather have the colossus.

Freakboy
AKA
Toolboy
 
I have to say I have had my eyes open a bit here. I was looking a pretty one sided stratgey, I am a culture kind of a person so I like as many cities as big as I can. I also am playing on an easier level since I started just a week ago.

Thanks for all the inputs
 
no.Good but nothing is a must.They are an even better wonder in 3 than in 2..but the only "must have" seems to be at least 1 barracks.
 
Definitley. Any wonder that builds an improvement in all of your cities is a must.
 
It is not a must for me. Like all wonders it is nice to have, but the Pyramids are not necessary. My cities grow too damn quick with or without them anyhow so having a granary means little to me (esp after leaving despotism since I have to pay cash for rush building unless I go commie). Sun Tsu Art of War and Smith's Trade thing are better continental wonders, esp after conquering cities and leaving units in the cities to become museum exhibits and the trade wonder pays for improvements I know I must have. You talk about must have wonders, let's talk Sistine Chapel, Bach Cathedral, Hoover Dam, Leo's Workshop (not really needed once factories come by and you can pump tanks like Fords).
 
I have Pyramids, Sun Tzu's, and Adam Smith's... it sure is nice to look at a city and see granary, barracks, marketplace, and bank with no little red maintenance icon beside them.
 
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