Reworking the Entertainment Complex

[rattatatouille]

I think most of us can agree that the Entertainment Complex is one of the weaker districts in terms of bang for buck; it's certainly not as useful as a Campus or a Commercial Hub, or even as situationally important as a Theater Square or Harbor. There are a few reasons as to why:

1. The district yield is very weak

For the price of one district slot and tile, you get one Amenity in the city. That's much more than simply improving or buying a luxury.

2. The buildings aren't much better either

The Arena only grants 1 Amenity to its native city, while the Zoo and Stadium grant regional bonuses.

3. The district buildings come in late

While the EC and Arena coming in the Classical Era via Games and Recreation is fine, the Zoo coming in the Industrial era (Natural History) and the Stadium in the Atomic era (Professional Sports) is too far into the civics tree for my taste. That said, they'd be fine if they had better yields.

Here's what I'd do:

1. Entertainment Complex grants +Amenities based on its adjacency bonus. +1 Amenity for every adjacent City Center, Theater Square, Natural Wonder, or World Wonder.

2. The Arena still grants +1 Amenity, but also grants +Gold based on its district's adjacency bonus.

3. The Zoo still grants +1 Amenity to nearby cities, but also grants +1 Amenity for every Camp in its city.

4. The Stadium, in addition to its regular yields, also grants Tourism equivalent to its district's adjacency bonus.

Is this too strong or is it just all right?

 

[Phrozen]

They added the Bread and Circuses project to it which increases loyalty and loyalty pressure so it did get buffed.

 

[PhoenicianGold]

I have a different complaint about the entertainment complex, namely that it's conceptually the thinnest with what are effectively two arenas. The "Arena" feels obsolete and redundant once the "Stadium" is built and seems to only exist to make the Tlachti feel as important as other UBs.

The solution is simple in retrospect, just combine the two.

• Arena (upgrades in appearance to Stadium in Modern era) (replaced by Tlachti, which never changes appearance)
• Menagerie (upgrades to Zoo in Modern era)
• Theme Park/Casino/Resort (or something like that)

 

[Lily_Lancer]

I always build 1 for Colosseum.

On the contrary, the number of commercial hubs I build is often zero.