megabearsfan
Prince
Since last year's patch that re-worked the thresholds for amenity bonuses, I've been finding that amenity has become more and more of a non-factor in my games. In recent games that I've been playing with Babylon, Byzantium, and now Vietnam, I've been noticing that a lot of my cities are holding at -1 amenity, so I look around for ways to improve amenity (specifically things like social policies), and I find that it's usually not worthwhile. Since being at -1 amenity is no longer penalized, and a city has to get all the way up to +3 before it sees any positive effect, slotting in a policy or 2 and only getting 1 or 2 additional amenity just seems wasteful and pointless.
I find myself looking at policies like Liberalism (+1 amenity in cities with 2 specialty districts), Retainers (+1 amenity from garrisoned unit), and Civil Prestige (+1 amenity, +2 housing in cities with governor with at least 2 promotions), and thinking that these just aren't worth taking up a whole policy slot anymore. I'm even playing a game with Vietnam right now in which I've built/captured, Alhambra, Potala Palace, and Forbidden Palace, so have a bunch of extra policy slots. Yet I'm still thinking that these amenity policies just aren't worth the slot they consume. Even if I do slot all three of those policies, it still wouldn't be enough to bring my cities up from -1 to +3, so it wouldn't make any difference at all. And heck, even then, I only have a handful of governors to throw around, so Civil Prestige is still kind of crap.
Are other feeling that amenity just isn't worth the trouble, and that amenity policies are especially bad since the patch that re-worked the amenity thresholds?
So I'm wondering if maybe these amenity policies should be buffed. Here's my ideas:
Retainers = +1 amenity for garrisoned unit, +1 amenity from each encampment building.
(if that's too strong, I'm willing to settle for the extra amenity being from just the barracks or stable).
Civil Prestige = +1 amenity and +2 housing if city has an Aqueduct, Dam, Canal, or world wonder. +1 additional amenity and +1 additional housing if city has a governor with 2+ promotions.
Liberalism = +1 amenity for every 2 specialty districts in the city.
or, alternatively: +1 amenity for each economic policy slot in the current government.
New Deal = +2 amenity and +2 housing for every 2 specialty districts in the city. Luxuries provide an amenity to 1 additional city.
or alternatively: +1 amenity and +1 housing for each economic or wildcard slot in the current government. Luxuries provide an amenity to 1 additional city.
Sports Media = +100% Theater Square adjacency bonus. +1 Amenity from Stadiums. Arenas have a regional affect on amenity.
*Note that the above suggestions are based on standard game rules, and do not take into account any of the optional rulesets (such as the recent corporations mode). I haven't played any of the optional rulesets yet, so I'm not sure if they shake up the amenity system considerably.
The idea here is to increase the amount of amenities available from these policies so that they have more of an impact and might actually be worth the policy slot that they take up. I also tried to make the amenity scale with city infrastructure and/or size/type of government (with "freer" governments providing more amenity than more oppressive governments). So it isn't just free amenities. You still have to put in the leg work to properly develop your civilization so that it gets the benefits from each policy.
I find myself looking at policies like Liberalism (+1 amenity in cities with 2 specialty districts), Retainers (+1 amenity from garrisoned unit), and Civil Prestige (+1 amenity, +2 housing in cities with governor with at least 2 promotions), and thinking that these just aren't worth taking up a whole policy slot anymore. I'm even playing a game with Vietnam right now in which I've built/captured, Alhambra, Potala Palace, and Forbidden Palace, so have a bunch of extra policy slots. Yet I'm still thinking that these amenity policies just aren't worth the slot they consume. Even if I do slot all three of those policies, it still wouldn't be enough to bring my cities up from -1 to +3, so it wouldn't make any difference at all. And heck, even then, I only have a handful of governors to throw around, so Civil Prestige is still kind of crap.
Are other feeling that amenity just isn't worth the trouble, and that amenity policies are especially bad since the patch that re-worked the amenity thresholds?
So I'm wondering if maybe these amenity policies should be buffed. Here's my ideas:
Retainers = +1 amenity for garrisoned unit, +1 amenity from each encampment building.
(if that's too strong, I'm willing to settle for the extra amenity being from just the barracks or stable).
Civil Prestige = +1 amenity and +2 housing if city has an Aqueduct, Dam, Canal, or world wonder. +1 additional amenity and +1 additional housing if city has a governor with 2+ promotions.
Liberalism = +1 amenity for every 2 specialty districts in the city.
or, alternatively: +1 amenity for each economic policy slot in the current government.
New Deal = +2 amenity and +2 housing for every 2 specialty districts in the city. Luxuries provide an amenity to 1 additional city.
or alternatively: +1 amenity and +1 housing for each economic or wildcard slot in the current government. Luxuries provide an amenity to 1 additional city.
Sports Media = +100% Theater Square adjacency bonus. +1 Amenity from Stadiums. Arenas have a regional affect on amenity.
*Note that the above suggestions are based on standard game rules, and do not take into account any of the optional rulesets (such as the recent corporations mode). I haven't played any of the optional rulesets yet, so I'm not sure if they shake up the amenity system considerably.
The idea here is to increase the amount of amenities available from these policies so that they have more of an impact and might actually be worth the policy slot that they take up. I also tried to make the amenity scale with city infrastructure and/or size/type of government (with "freer" governments providing more amenity than more oppressive governments). So it isn't just free amenities. You still have to put in the leg work to properly develop your civilization so that it gets the benefits from each policy.