The most useless great wonders?

[Jason Fox]

The Great Wall, never build it.

I like Art of War, though I tend to play pangea maps.

 

[Cartouche Bee]

My four least built wonders are:

Great Wall
Oracle
Shakespeare's Theatre
Sistine Chapel

I've only made it to the modern age three times so I won't include modern wonders in my list.

CB

 

[-proletarian-]

Originally posted by bobgote
Longevity in the sense of genetic engineering??? That's why it comes with the advance of genetics you clod!

I hadn't seen this post before (haven't been here for the past 2 days or so).....but aren't you supposed to be banned for a few days for personally insulting other members?


Besides, what does it say about you when you resort to childish name-calling when someone challenges your opinion? Grow up.

 

[Evincar]

Originally posted by Cartouche Bee
My four least built wonders are:

Great Wall
Oracle
Shakespeare's Theatre
Sistine Chapel

I've only made it to the modern age three times so I won't include modern wonders in my list.

CB

Ok for the first three but...Sistine Chapel!!!??? Good Lord, you must have fever to say that!! there are very few things that can compete with that: 6 happy faces per cathedral!!! that's HUGE, specially if you are religious!!

Seriously, I can't imagine why you think Sistine is bad...it goes first in my Early mid-ages list:

 

[Sanaz]

Originally posted by Evincar


Ok for the first three but...Sistine Chapel!!!??? Good Lord, you must have fever to say that!! there are very few things that can compete with that: 6 happy faces per cathedral!!! that's HUGE, specially if you are religious!!

Seriously, I can't imagine why you think Sistine is bad...it goes first in my Early mid-ages list:

The timing can be really bad on this one. If I need to choose between Sistine Chapel, Sun Tzu's, and Leonardo's Workshop, there is good reason to skip Sistine if I'm not Religious (especially if I'm Militaristic, and I gain more benefit from fighting). I wouldn't say it's bad, but I would say I skip it.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Seriously, I can't imagine why you think Sistine is bad...it goes first in my Early mid-ages list:

I never build Sistine, either. When I have 100's of cities, I'm certainly not going to be building many cathedrals, otherwise I'll easily trigger a culture victory (which I don't want). I use Sistine as a place-holder for JS Bach's. 2 FREE content people in every city helps score a heck of alot more, than trying to build a cathedral in every city.

It certainly isn't a bad wonder, and with a different playing style would be much greater. But with my playing style, Sistine is useless.

 

[Cartouche Bee]

Originally posted by Evincar


Ok for the first three but...Sistine Chapel!!!??? Good Lord, you must have fever to say that!! there are very few things that can compete with that: 6 happy faces per cathedral!!! that's HUGE, specially if you are religious!!

Seriously, I can't imagine why you think Sistine is bad...it goes first in my Early mid-ages list:

Sanaz and Bamspeedy basically answered with what I would try and point out. I'll just add that I go with marketplaces which can supply more than 6 happy faces. Adam Smith provides a nice wonder later than Sistine's Chapel after I've filled my military requirements.

Sistine's Chapel is not useless but it does not usually fit into my wonder's build sequence. I will build it but usually only while banking up for some other Wonder and getting ahead of myself.

CB

 

[bobgote]

Originally posted by Ordep
SETI doesn't help much either because by the time you build it the tech race is almost over, though I suppose it has some use.

SETI helps ok if you research computers first in the modern age (I do)

(EDIT) (Didn't realise this had skipped onto a new page, that was quick)

Sistine Chapel is one of my most important wonders. i mainly build culture in my civs, and the happiness caused by the Sistine Chapel is huge. For me, culture is more important than military.

 

[Chris_b_89]

You put the great library on that list? Are you insane man?!

I usually work up to just get that one, then I put science on zero, build up my treasury and let the other civs do the work for me until it becomes obsolet, then I have to get off my ass and do the research myself again.

 

[Chris_b_89]

"I'm certainly not going to be building many cathedrals, otherwise I'll easily trigger a culture victory (which I don't want)."

You could always just turn off cultural victory.

 

[bobgote]

Originally posted by Chris_b_89
"I'm certainly not going to be building many cathedrals, otherwise I'll easily trigger a culture victory (which I don't want)."

You could always just turn off cultural victory.

Why turn it off when you can just complain instead?

 

[Ozymandius]

It is the strategy you use that determines the usefulness of the Great Wonders.. Now that I play to maximize my score for HOF entries, I find that I am no longer a builder nor a culture striver.
As so many of the above have stated in other posts (thanks for the information by the way),
to score high you need territory, people and happiness.
To get territory you need superior technology and fighting ability.
Barracks produce vets, Sun Tzu gives you free barracks everywhere on the continent (pangea optimum)
Pyramid gives you increased population growth (sometimes too quickly) Great Library allows you to concentrate on war technology and making gold while AI civs give you other techs free. Marketplaces are essential for happiness. Adam Smith pays for them. Hanging Gardens are better for happiness than Oracle. Oracle useful if you build temples but together triggers culture win without maximizing score. Temples are useful to expand city boundary from 9 to 18 tiles but not needed if you build closely. No temples, no cathedrals then no Michelangelo needed. Bach essential, Shakespeare useless.

 

[zeeter]

Each wonder depends on your personal strategy and the flow of the current game you are in.

Colossus: Good in an early, coastal city if there is nothing else to build and war is not imminant. Otherwise, building this prevents you from building Settlers and Workers who are more important early on.

Oracle: I'll build this if I have to switch from another wonder that someone else just completed. Frankly, I don't really know what this does. Something about a temple hike? Not really important to me.

Sun Tzu: In all three Civ games I have never wasted time building this wonder.

Great Library: Certainly not useful if you are ahead in Tech. If you are - forget this wonder and shoot for Education to make it obsolete asap. If you are behind, only build this if you know more than one or two other civs. Otherwise its not worth the trouble.

Leonardo's Workshop: Amazingly, this wonder was the most important in the game during Civ2. Now it is almost worthless. Since anyone can upgrade, it makes more sense to raise taxes after a landmark advance to upgrade rather than waste twenty or thirty turns building this wonder.

Lighthouse is important if you are on a map where there are no other civs. Unfortunately, by the time you've built your first Galley and circumnavigated your continent finding no suitable way to another continent, someone has usually built this wonder.

Magellan's: This is an "ok" wonder. I build it if there is nothing else to do.

Smith's Trade Company: This is a MUST wonder. At least it is for me. I will almost always drop everything to build this.

More later, as I cannot seem to remember the rest of the wonders now.

 

[damunzy]

Originally posted by -proletarian-



I hadn't seen this post before (haven't been here for the past 2 days or so).....but aren't you supposed to be banned for a few days for personally insulting other members?

Depends on the severity of the insult. For this I dole out a warning.

Moderator Action: bobgote, you are warned not to insult other posters. Continue to insult fellow CFCers and you could see your posting privs taken away.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Homie]

If we are going to talk about the best and worst wonders, it has to be those that are good and those that are bad no matter what map you play on. Here is the list, and it is not negotiable:

GOOD Wonders:
-Great Library (The best wonder unless you play easy level, but VERY difficult to build before the AI, therefore capture it if you can)
-Sistine Chapel ( it is not limited to one continent)
-Leonardos (also not limited to one continent)

BAD Wonders (Useless to build)
The Great Wall
Shakespeare's Theater
Longevity
Manhatten Project

There are other wonders that are great (e.g. Hoover Dam) but that are not always great regardless of what map you play on. And there are other wonders that are really bad and most often suck but CAN be useful.

I'm sorry Ozymandius, I forgot Shakespeare's Theater. I've now added it to the list.

 

[Ozymandius]

I still think that Shakespeare's Theater and the Free Artistry research is the most useless. Even the AI never attempts to pursue them. In Civ 2 when milltary units were absent from a home base, the citizens had a major coniption. Building Shakespeare's Theatre allowed me to use it as my airbase for miltary aircraft. In Civ 3 there is no need for it. The only places that would have 8 unhappy citizens would not be able to afford it unless you use a Leader.
The Theater should have a secular importance just as Bach's Cathedral; ie. at least one happy face in each city as a result of entertainment. This is extension of the "bread & circus" mentality the Romans used to keep the masses happy..
Firaxis: please fix this one it should be an important symbol for a happy kingdom.

 

[wohmongarinf00l]

if it doesn't appear on this list, i never bother building it:
sun tzu - i dont have time to build barracks, what with building all those horsemen/swordsmen.
hoover dam- this is a deal breaker...if i can't get this, i try to capture it as soon as possible, if not..i abandon game
adam smith trading - i build a marketplace in EACH city since i don't build cultural happiness improvements.
leonardo's workshop - i can never figure out why people think this is so unimportant. the ability to upgrade 100 horsemen rather than just 50 can make the difference in the whole game.
pyramids - if i could build it b4 AI i would, but i almost always capture it
JS Bachs - the less unhappy people i have, the better.
UN - gotta stop the vote
ToE - enables me to start on the hoover dam long before anyone else
playstyle is HOF type and thus the necessity to substitute cultural happiness improvements for other things.

 

[Trinity]

Wonders I never build:

Great Wall
Shakespeare's


Wonders I always build:

Those that affect happiness and add techs. The Great Library is useful in that it allows you to pursue a tech tree such as Economics that the AI doesn't normally pursue, giving you two other techs as soon as your rivals discover them. Having the extra income from Smiths and Wall Street sure gives you a nice boost. Theory of Evolution is another.

 

[Homie]

Hey, people, no use repeating or adding wonders that are good/bad, behold The List a couple of posts above.

 

[BCLG100]

i cant stand magellans voyage i only ever build it when i have nothing else to build i mean it only gives you 1 extra movement point