The meaning of the golden age

[DMO]

I have a big question:is that useful to start a golden age? I have used the GPs at something else during my past games. What benefits will bring me a golden age?

 

[BCLG100]

Commerce and production boost-its pretty helpfull if you dont have anything else to be using your GP's on. Or if you've built the Taj

 

[petey]

I think Golden Ages are the way to go in the later game. Early on, there are much better uses for GPs and your empire is too small to make the golden age worth the cost of two of them.

Towards the end, though, your production and commerce should be enough that the GA boost to it is more valuable than the couple of turns they'll take off of whatever you're researching and settling them doesn't help out too much.

I usually use around 1500AD as the cutoff date between using GPs for techs/settling and hanging onto them for GAs.

 

[Esox]

Early shrines and academies for example are far more useful over the course of a game than an early eight-turn GA (I would agree that if you're building spaceship parts or modern-era units the extra production from mature cities is major). There are too many specific uses for great people to list right now, but each one can almost always be put to better use than a GA. And if I need units in a hurry, I am in Slavery and whipping them.

My Civ4 playing really improved once I gave up my fascination with "Hey wow I got a golden age!" (Old thinking from civ3)